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[I_D]

The first one you play is always going to be the most difficult, at least for a while.
I find it funny how much the answers vary, though. I think it really depends on what other types of games you find difficult.


For me, in terms of difficulty, it's basically: Bloodborne, Dark Souls 1, Demon Souls, Dark Souls 2, Dark Souls 3.

 

[Ocirus]

I wouldn't honestly say Bloodborne was difficult in the first place, but DS3 is certainly easier.

 

[ChaosInTheRain]

I have a policy of not leveling up health in either game. I've finished both on new game+++ and for the min health scenario there is no contest in my opinion, Bloodborne is far more punishing than Dark Souls 3. I think it's because Dark Souls 3 is slower and even on base level health you can survive most attacks, while in Bloodborne almost all boss attacks are lethal at base health.

 

[what-ok]

Not harder, but different. There are plenty of 1 shot kills to be had so dodging is a must in B.B. and shields in DS3 can offer some protection. Practice practice or summon some help.

 

[Giever]

He's not the first boss is he? Am I remembering wrong?

He can be, since Cleric Beast is optional. Most people will fight Cleric Beast first, though.

 

[CopperPuppy]

It really depends. For some people Bloodborne can be considered harder because you have no shield while Dark Souls 3 does and you're also faster in DS3 compared to DS2.
Then you look at how tough the bosses are. For me Dark Souls 3 had harder bosses compared to Bloodborne in the base game, but the Chalice Dungeon bosses are MUCH harder than the bosses in the base as well. Watchdog of the Old Lords is clearly the hardest boss I've face in the Chalice Dungeon when you fight it a second time.

But, guess what? The hardest enemy that I've faced in all of the Souls games and Bloodborne wasn't even a boss, it was these fuckers from the DLC.

Fighting 2 of them at the same time is a real pain in the ass. You will DIE by default.

Can confirm those guys are bastards. The 2-on-1 is a tricky scrap for sure. Maybe the hardest non-boss encounter in the game, outside of some Chalice craziness.

 

[Egida]

That boss was freaking cake. His pattern is easy, as long as you're patient, he's not a challenge. Yet you say nothing in DS3 compares. Have you fought Unnamed King or Midir?

Well, the Watchdog 1-hit killed me, so even if I learn the pattern, there was not space to miss. I had to learn to restrain myself (the basis of Souls combat) and attack when it was safe, which sometimes was a very small window, and I made so little damage. Also, the wathdog has a very weird hitbox, with its big, long mouth able to split in two directions and some of his attacks being very fast.

I killed the Nameless King first try, playing on Vita (Remote Play), easy peasy. His movements were so foreseeable he only got to hit once on his second phase. But, as I said earlier, I'm sure it would have been much, MUCH difficult if I haven't played Bloodborne before, which I think prepares you to this more mobile fights.


I haven't played the DLC though *blushes with shame*.

 

[labx]

If you count the "true" boss of BB and of course the Old Hunters (not skipping Laurence) is way harder that any DS game. Demon's Souls in the other hand....


edit:

Yep you are right. But at least you are using the shaman bone blade.

But, guess what? The hardest enemy that I've faced in all of the Souls games and Bloodborne wasn't even a boss, it was these fuckers from the DLC.

Fighting 2 of them at the same time is a real pain in the ass. You will DIE by default.

 

[The Living Tribunal]

Bloodborne has harder bosses, Dark Souls 3 has harder levels

This is my take as well. In the end I would say overall Dark Souls 3 is the harder game for a variety of reasons.

 

[Arkeband]

It really depends. For some people Bloodborne can be considered harder because you have no shield while Dark Souls 3 does and you're also faster in DS3 compared to DS2.
Then you look at how tough the bosses are. For me Dark Souls 3 had harder bosses compared to Bloodborne in the base game, but the Chalice Dungeon bosses are MUCH harder than the bosses in the base as well. Watchdog of the Old Lords is clearly the hardest boss I've face in the Chalice Dungeon when you fight it a second time.

But, guess what? The hardest enemy that I've faced in all of the Souls games and Bloodborne wasn't even a boss, it was these fuckers from the DLC.

Fighting 2 of them at the same time is a real pain in the ass. You will DIE by default.

Shaman Bone Blade is your friend in this battle.

(It makes them fight each other)

 

[what-ok]

Can confirm those guys are bastards. The 2-on-1 is a tricky scrap for sure. Maybe the hardest non-boss encounter in the game, outside of some Chalice craziness.

It’s been awhile and I forget the name, but there is a one use item; some sort of ritual dagger thing that will make monsters fight each other. Stab one of the two sharks and watch as they kill each other. Makes the battle less of a challenge.

Edit... oh yeah. Shaman bone!!!

 

[Sephzilla]

It really depends. For some people Bloodborne can be considered harder because you have no shield while Dark Souls 3 does and you're also faster in DS3 compared to DS2.
Then you look at how tough the bosses are. For me Dark Souls 3 had harder bosses compared to Bloodborne in the base game, but the Chalice Dungeon bosses are MUCH harder than the bosses in the base as well. Watchdog of the Old Lords is clearly the hardest boss I've face in the Chalice Dungeon when you fight it a second time.

But, guess what? The hardest enemy that I've faced in all of the Souls games and Bloodborne wasn't even a boss, it was these fuckers from the DLC.

Fighting 2 of them at the same time is a real pain in the ass. You will DIE by default.

Fuck this room. Fuck it so hard.

 

[PetriP-TNT]

I either totally screwed up my build in DS3 or the game was much much harder than rest of the series. Irithyll Of The Boreal Valley start is incredibly hard and it doesn't help that Pontiff boss fight is insanely difficult.

There are hard parts in Bloodborne too (cough cough DLC) it's much more manageable all in all if you get over how different it is from Dark Souls.

 

[Conkerkid11]

Bloodborne

 

[mellow]

After playing the entire series and DLC nothing was as challenging as the Bloodborne DLC. Final boss + optional boss took me many attempts.

 

[iLLmAtlc]

Both were pretty similar overall. I think Bloodborne had more consistently difficult bosses whereas DS3 had a few walks on my playthrough.

But there was nobody in the Bloodborne main game that made me feel like I was gonna quit but in DS3 it crossed my mind against the Abyss Watchers and the Lothric Brothers. >_>

 

[Taruranto]

BB I guess, the game moves much faster and it doesn't allow many play-styles (Plus no respect option).

 

[MGrant]

Bloodborne by a country mile, Dark souls 3 was not as difficult as dark souls 1 and demon souls.

I think you may be misremembering how hard Dark Souls 1 was. It had maybe... 5 hard bosses, off the top of my head?

- O&S (admittedly harder than anything in DS3)
- Gwyn
- Artorias
- Sanctuary Guardian
- Kalameet

with everything else being easy-to-manageable, as long as you avoided the cheap bullshit (Capra, Bed of Chaos).

DS3 has

- Pontiff
- Dancer
- Oceiros
- Champion Gundyr
- Friede
- Demon Prince
- Midir

I think you could generously argue both games are at about the same difficulty, but the levels in DS1 are so much smaller and most of the bosses so much easier that I can't say I feel the same. Neither game is as hard as people say it is, though, so maybe it's totally pointless to nitpick.

 

[Akuun]

deleted

 

[Leezard]

Bloodborne DLC is brutal, but for the base game I found it quite a bit easier than DS3, at least after the beginning since I struggled with the two wolves. Father G was simple for me though, and I didn't know of the music box.

 

[Egida]

But, guess what? The hardest enemy that I've faced in all of the Souls games and Bloodborne wasn't even a boss, it was these fuckers from the DLC.

Fighting 2 of them at the same time is a real pain in the ass. You will DIE by default.

This was the only time I used one of those shaman knives. I have been playing for hours and was planning on calling it a night, when I saw those two. I said fuck it, I got some presents for you.
It was so much fun to watch them turn against each other using those big ass clubs.

 

[Boy Wander]

Haven't played either. Regarding Bloodborne, My 12 year old has made it to some crazy boss on a beach in the DLC on NG+ after beating the main game including all the bosses. So how hard can it be really?

 

[Sweet Bellic]

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.

That must be it, because I found DS2 pretty easy (played it after DS1, DS3, and Bloodborne). Seemed like there were ample NPC summons for all the tough bosses in DS2, and none stand out to me as particularly frustrating. In DS3, on the other hand, I found those Twin Princes and the Nameless King very challenging. I recall being fairly traumatized by Rom in Bloodborne too. YMMV.

 

[Toxi]

Haven't played either. Regarding Bloodborne, My 12 year old has made it to some crazy boss on a beach in the DLC on NG+ after beating the main game including all the bosses. So how hard can it be really?

 

[Millsington]

I haven't played either DLC yet, but I found Bloodborne to be more difficult in general. Maybe it's because I am used to playing Souls games on PC where I have a solid framerate? I'm not sure. It was also extremely aggravating to have to interrupt retry attempts to farm vials.

 

[Carlius]

Bloodborne was easier, but way more satisfying. DS3 is just trash.

 

[Sumio Mondo]

Bloodborne DLC is the hardest anything From has ever put out.

 

[Rival]

I found ds3 to be way easier to get into. BB was really hard at the beginning.

 

[Servbot24]

I feel this way about Pontiff Sullyvahn. Fuck Ponty Sully...

This guy kills me just for the shits and giggles.

Yeah he was really difficult for me. I think it's partly because I never parry in Souls games

 

[JensenBeeswax]

Well, there's Orphan, but there's also an unnamed monarch..

 

[Shadowhaxor]

He's not the first boss is he? Am I remembering wrong?

He is the first, yet I thought he was cake. You can cheese the first phase by staying on the other side of the tombstones. The second phase, hit and run, and use the music box to get those extra hits in.

 

[Sephzilla]

soulsborne gifs are the best

 

[Shadowhaxor]

This is my take as well. In the end I would say overall Dark Souls 3 is the harder game for a variety of reasons.

Everything here is subjective. There's no right or wrong.

 

[CGwizz]

Dark souls 3 have probably 3 of the top 5 hardest bosses i ever faced in any game.

Slave Knight Gael
Nameless King
Darkeater Midir

Nothing in bloodborne comes close to them IMO ( didnt played the DLC )

What is hard in bloodborne is the world and knowing where is all the gates, doors and entries from one part of the game to another, the first time i played i was always lost.

 

[sankt-Antonio]

I breezed though Bloodborne but could never actually finish D3. So D3 i guess.

 

[pretty done]

Bloodborne easily, but I'm wondering how much of that difficulty is because of the not quite 30fps and the frame pacing/laggy controls.

Dark Souls 3 on PC was more enjoyable to me for that alone. Co-op framerate in Bloodborne LOOOOOOOL

 

[Ferr986]

I felt they were pretty similar on difficulty, Bloodborne gives you more tools to survive though.

 

[GIANKRATOS]

They are probably equally difficult. I have to say that at least i had a challenge with a few bosses in bb, while in ds3 i had no problem at all,

Spoiler

nameless king

aside.

 

[Toxi]

Dark souls 3 have probably 3 of the top 5 hardest bosses i ever faced in any game.

Slave Knight Gael
Nameless King
Darkeater Midir

Nothing in bloodborne comes close to them IMO (didnt played the DLC)

What is hard in bloodborne is the world and knowing where is all the gates, doors and entries from one part of the game to another, the first time i played i was always lost.

 

[Zetta]

I was going to say Bloodborne and then I remembered Champion Gundyr and I changed my mind. FUCK Champion Gundyr, this bastard must have killed me well over 30 times. I could not for the life of me beat him in the set I was running and had to switch to a more parry friendly build. This is crazy to me since no other boss in the DS/BB games made me change my playstyle. Seriously though FUCK Champion Gundyr.

 

[tjlee2]

I am also of the opinion that your first souls game will be the hardest, so whichever one you end up finishing first will probably be the harder one. If viewed objectively, DS3 is probably the harder game as it did a very good job in improving on ideas and aspects that were introduced in previous games.

 

[Griss]

Bloodborne was definitely easier for me than DS3 because I naturally play souls games with an aggressive, risky style, which is what Bloodborne often demands.

 

[mrmickfran]

Bloodborne made me it's bitch. The hardest Souls game by far.

Dark Souls 3 is the complete opposite. Easiest in the series aside from Pontiff, Nameless King and the Twin Princes.

What the fuck 😂😂😂

 

[Akuun]

deleted

 

[ZOONAMI]

Why does DS3 feel so much clunkier than BB?

 

[lord_of_flood]

DS3 is really hard at the end, with Bloodborne being mostly difficult at the beginning (though Ebrietas is definitely a huge pain), with Bloodborne edging DS3 out in mid-game portions. Haven't played DS3 DLC to compare to BB's DLC, but The Old Hunters has some of the most difficult bosses I've ever had to deal with in video games.

 

[galv]

I found Bloodborne to be easier than Dark Souls 3, with that being said, I played the former after playing through the rest of the series so YMMV.

Bloodborne's easy to adapt to unless you've relied on shields in Dark Souls upto that point - DS3 is probably the only Dark Souls game that you do not want to use a shield in (especially against the bosses at the very least). The other benefit of playing the Souls games first is that DS2 prepares you for heavy ganks during which you should learn to manage crowds. If you've done this, you should have few issues in Bloodborne.

Because Bloodborne is all about dodging, the game is built around it and is quite a lot more forgiving in terms of i-frames (not completely, I'll explain - quicksteps have far less startup frames which means that the ~11 frames you get start almost the instant you press the button as opposed to DS3's ~13 frames/roll that have a ~5 frame startup animation), and similar can be said for parry-frames. Having practiced dodging, parrying and crowd management in the Souls games, Bloodborne becomes a lot easier.

(Numbers may not be accurate, from Google searches, it doesn't look like anyone's actually done the research.)

DS3 is really hard at the end, with Bloodborne being mostly difficult at the beginning (though Ebrietas is definitely a huge pain), with Bloodborne edging DS3 out in mid-game portions. Haven't played DS3 DLC to compare to BB's DLC, but The Old Hunters has some of the most difficult bosses I've ever had to deal with in video games.

Wait till you meet the DS3 DLC bosses which are definitely going to give you some tough fights

He can be, since Cleric Beast is optional. Most people will fight Cleric Beast first, though.

By that logic, Sif is the second boss in Dark Souls and the Four Kings are third.

 

[DriftingSpirit]

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?

Tip - You can run pass enemies and come back to them later.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

DS3 was easy for a souls game, still a hard-ish game.

The leveling is really easy and you can make your HP very high in just a few levels.

For a player who played all souls games, I don't think they will step up the difficulty in the next games. Got used to it.

The problem with these threads (IMO) is that it's impossible for people to give an objective assessment. Of course DS3 was easier for you - you had already played 3 Souls games beforehand. DS3 was my first Souls game and I thought it was extremely difficult, especially bosses like Abyss Watchers, Pontiff, and Nameless King. But after 360+ hours I really got the hang of how the mechanics work, so I'm fairly certain if I were to go back and play the other Souls games, none of them would be as difficult as my first run through DS3.

 

[Van Bur3n]

By that logic, Sif is the second boss in Dark Souls and the Four Kings are third.

I'm not seeing the logic you're seeing. Cleric Beast is often the first boss players encounter as the path to it comes earlier and is more accessible than the main path to Gascoigne, even if it's guarded by scourge beasts.

Sif and the Four Kings are not as easily accessible and it's much less likely to be anyone's second or third boss. Also, you forgot about the Moonlight Butterfly, which is a possible early game boss.