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Dark Souls 3 v. Bloodborne: Which is more difficult?

ornery

Member
I've had Bloodborne for a couple months now, and I just picked up Dark Souls 3.

Bloodborne completely demoralized me to the point where I haven't made it past the first bridge with the two wolves

Is Dark Souls 3 as difficult and unforgiving as Bloodborne?
 

Servbot24

Banned
Bloodborne is more difficult imo, though DS3 has a few bosses that rank up there. DS3 was my 4th Souls game so that could be a factor, while with BB I had to learn new controls.
 

Anura

Member
Bloodborne is more difficult. BB is especially difficult at the start. DS3 does a much better job of easing you in.
 
I'm not sure I can pick one. They seem on par with each other. Both games had moments that demanded a lot from the player.

Bloodborne might get more mentions, but I think it's because it plays differently from the Souls games. I had played every Souls game up to the release of BB, and I still had to get used to it in the beginning. But once it clicked, the game's difficulty level seemed on par with the Souls series.
 

Timeaisis

Member
I think Bloodborne is harder at the beginning and Dark Souls 3 is much, much harder at the end. The last few bosses of Dark Souls 3 are a pain in the ass.
 

Switch Back 9

a lot of my threads involve me fucking up somehow. Perhaps I'm a moron?
Dark Souls 3 is the hardest Souls game, Bloodborne probably got the roughest start though.

Noooooo way.

Of course, I was at different levels of expertise during all my initial playthroughs but I do remember Ds2 giving me the most trouble.
 
I'd argue DS3 is more difficult because you can definitely spec yourself in a way that makes the game harder (or, in fairness, far easier).

There's no way to play Bloodborne that makes it more difficult for you to dodge out of the way of an enemy attack, that's all defined and set. You can build a Dark Souls 3 character that is incredibly poorly suited for a boss.
 

antitrop

Member
For me personally, Bloodborne was the easiest game in the series and Dark Souls III was the most difficult.

That was just me, though. There's so many ways to play through the games that it's impossible to make a general statement about the difficulty.
 

F0rneus

Tears in the rain
I found Dark Souls III harder, but Bloodborne's opening stretch up to Fasther Gascoigne is pretty rough. Then, it becomes considerably easier. DSIII's hardest areas are in the back half on the other hand, and boy are they hard.
 

Guevara

Member
Bloodborne definitely starts the hardest.

Gascoigne is probably the hardest first boss in any of the Souls games, and BSB is up there too.

As I recall, only about 30% in does BB get easier.
 

Bersi

Member
DS3 is harder than BB in general for me,although The Old Hunters is probably the hardest piece of content in the series.
 

CHC

Member
Bloodborne, overall, felt more challenging. Early bosses were quite resilient... While I know it doesn't translate 100% evenly, Cleric Beast had around 3000 HP, while Vordt had about 1300. Bloodborne also gave less options for defense - if you were uncomfortable dodging, that presented an enormous obstacle to overcome.

I also still stick by sentiments that Bloodborne's DLC bosses are the hardest of any game in the series.
 

Lumination

'enry 'ollins
BB has a tougher opening because some enemy roadblocks and no shield. And that's not a Souls vet thing, it's being able to hold L1 to not die is generally a nice mechanic.

In that regard, DS3 starts off gentler. I think BB is generally harder, but DS3 has a difficulty spike when you start meeting super fast, hard to hit enemies around the midgame.

Either way, have fun and remember that for these games, the journey is as important as the destination.
 

Kiyo

Member
Bloodborne is harder at the start and harder at the end (I hated some of those half health Chalice dungeons where 1 mistake kills you). I'd say DS3 has an easier learning curve and it's end difficulty doesn't really come close to BB.

Once you get used to parrying and dodging in Bloodborne though, the main story line gets way easier.
 

MGrant

Member
First time through, probably Dark Souls 3. But when you learn how to build a character and where items are in subsequent playthroughs, it becomes far, far easier.
 
For me personally, Bloodborne was the easiest game in the series and Dark Souls III was the most difficult.

That was just me, though. There's so many ways to play through the games that it's impossible to make a general statement about the difficulty.
Gonna agree with this. There are some tough parts in Bloodborne (Lady Amelia, Blood Starved Beast) but the hard in Souls 3 is HARD (like the dancer, the 3 Knights that slide around, and that guy that rides a dragon or something)
 

ZangBa

Member
The only thing that would be difficult in DS3 is an optional boss that you probably won't know about without looking it up. Bloodborne isn't really hard, but there's no shield to turtle with, so DS3 will probably be easier just for that.
 

tei15

Member
to the point where I haven't made it past the first bridge with the two wolves

hahaha oh my god, no matter how many times I see stories like this about soulsborne, they still make me laugh so hard. oh boy

anyway, to the point: I wanted to say that BB is def more difficult than DS3, but i was thinking about certain boss fights, esp from the dlc. i don't think DS3 has anything on the same level. but since OP's struggling with opening sections of BB so much, i dunno if he'll find DS3 any easier.
 
I think Bloodborne, simply because of the speed at first. The timing is way different, but that's coming from a Souls player. Now if you were to just pick it up without playing before, maybe Dark Souls, since you wouldn't have had that pre disposition to be blocking and taking your time.
 

Truant

Member
Bloodborne, overall, felt more challenging. Early bosses were quite resilient... While I know it doesn't translate 100% evenly, Cleric Beast had around 3000 HP, while Vordt had about 1300. Bloodborne also gave less options for defense - if you were uncomfortable dodging, that presented an enormous obstacle to overcome.

I also still stick by sentiments that Bloodborne's DLC bosses are the hardest of any game in the series.

BB is basically a character action game compared to the souls series, especially the first third. There are no real builds to speak of, besides certain combos of stats and weapons - neither of which come into play until very late in the game. This means you can't really rely on any particular class, weapon or spell early on. It's just you and your skills
and jolly co-op.
 

Van Bur3n

Member
Base game wise, I personally didn't find either of them too difficult. The DLC is where things get tough for both of them, and I found Old Hunters to be the most difficult with some terribly hard mobs (fish ogre is an asshole) and bosses like Laurence and the Orphan.

Gael and Friede can prove hard to best the first time around, but on returning playthroughs I find myself mowing through them on the first or second try. Orphan still gets me a few times before I can get him.

Still, I think most will end up saying BB is harder since most have trouble with the early game.
 
Bloodborne by far, I rarely got stuck on a boss in D3 for more than a few times for only a few bosses. In Bloodborne many of the bosses gave me trouble because I was still in the defensive Dark Souls mindset whereas Bloodborne went for a more 'press the advantage' mindset.
 

brawly

Member
Bloodborne early game, Dark Souls 3 late game. To me.

Bloodborne can fuck you real nice early on, but imo gets easier as it goes on.
DS3 is business as usual but has some tough costumers once you reach the Dancer. That whole castle is pretty hard imo.
 
Personally, after playing demon's souls and dark souls 1 & 2, I found bloodborne more difficult, if only because I had to retrain my brain from DS mode to BB mode.

Overall I'd say they're similar in difficulty, though DS3 contains more bosses that made me sweat, like the nameless king.
 
Maybe it's just because I played Bloodborne first but I found the Souls games much more difficult. I prefer the combat of BB by leaps and bounds.
 

NEO0MJ

Member
Once you adjust to the changes and let go of old habits Bloodborne is the easiest action RPG From made. Though the DLC did a good job of ramping up the difficulty, especially if you took them on right away in NG+.

BB is basically a character action game compared to the souls series, especially the first third. There are no real builds to speak of, besides certain combos of stats and weapons - neither of which come into play until very late in the game. This means you can't really rely on any particular class, weapon or spell early on. It's just you and your skills
and jolly co-op.

Come on now. It's faster and more action oriented but BB doesn't compare at all to a character action game.
 
I can't tell if Bloodborne was actually more difficult for me or if the lack of a shield just made the bosses feel more brutal due to the heightened sense of vulnerability.

Despite having beaten Demon's and Dark prior, Bloodborne's bosses (and hostile hunters) just fucking crushed me for quite a long stretch there.
 

Alebelly

Member
Bloodborne was easier overall, for me, I was able to beat it solo. Dark Souls 3 had some difficulty spikes that were way over my head and I had to co-op.
 
I had way more trouble with bosses in DS3 than I did with any of the other games in the series. It dawned on me that by the time I'd finished the game I'd summoned for help for probably a good half to three quarters of the boss fights.
 
I think Bloodborne's bosses were harder than DS3's, but getting through the environments is easier. I think Dark souls 3 and the other souls in general have harder "levels" than Bloodborne. The only exception is the very beginning of Bloodborne which can be difficult.
 

Floody

Member
Nothing in DS3 gave me anywhere near as much trouble as the Old Hunters did in BB. Though I still haven't gotten around to the final piece of DLC for 3.

Base games were about as hard as each other. Rom and Blood Starved Beast gave me the most trouble in vanilla BB and Nameless King was almost Old Hunters levels of hard for me. The rest not too bad, usually take no more then a few tries.

Sister Fiede
from the first DS3 DLC was Old Hunters levels of hard for me, best boss fight of 3 too imo.


Edit: Not counting Chalice bosses, but most of the Defiled ones are much harder than anything in either base game.
 
I think DS3 has a slight edge here (in base game) but they're pretty close imo.

The one with estus flasks.
Old Hunters NG+ is a totally different league though.

Indeed. I still haven't finished Old Hunters on my NG++ character lol. It was too brutal even with summons so I just gave up. Someday I'll go back and do it on a new char.
 

Aikidoka

Member
it's kind of hard to say. Bloodborne may feel more difficult because it really wants you to dodge forward and be aggressive. You may find DS3 easier by virtue of having a shield and armor from the beginning (Knight class is a good starting class)
 

Sulik2

Member
I've had Bloodborne for a couple months now, and I just picked up Dark Souls 3.

Bloodborne completely demoralized me to the point where I haven't made it past the first bridge with the two wolves

Is Dark Souls 3 as difficult and unforgiving as Bloodborne?

Bloodborne has an absolutely horrible onboarding process. The first zone is brutally difficult, tough to navigate and they compound it by not letting you level. It actually gets easier past that point. Look up a guide and get out of the zone ASAP. This exact thread gets made on a regular basis and its because Bloodborne is a near master piece that is nearly ruined by the worst onboarding process of the entire series.
 
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