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[VisualFidelity]

I'm playing both games right now (Demon Souls for the first time) and both games are absolutely brutal to beat, and arguably the hardest of all time. A big reason Demon Souls adds a different layer of difficulty is the lack of checkpoints, there is nothing more frustrating than going through hell only to reach a boss and die in one hit and start over. I prefer NG2 method, allowing you to save but giving you limited health resources while throwing everything and the kitchen sink at you on the way to the boss fights.

Which game was harder to beat and rank on your list of most difficult games of all time?

Did you beat both of them? Which one took more skill and were you most proud of beating?

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

NG2. You can breeze through DS as a Royal.

 

[Ceadeus]

Ennemies in NG2 are numerous and ruthless. You can't really compare both game type of combat but in DS, ennemy can stand still and let themselves die. In NG2 they all come at you at once and want you dead.

For fun, here's the world first NG2 no hit run on master ninja difficulty!

 

[Sleepwalker]

Ninja Gaiden was so fucking hard for me lol. Loved that game tho, they should bring it back

 

[Magnific0giganticus]

Completely different games, and also NG has difficulty options. It will also depend on which type of game you're most familiar with. If you're new to "Souls", or don't play RPGs and you like to button-mash your way through action games, then any Souls game will eat you alive. Mindless play in NG2 can only take you so far, but if you play on the easier difficulties you'll certainly beat it with less suffering than a complex RPG with many more systems to learn like DS.

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

Also, in DS you can open a shortcut to basically all of the bosses.

 

[Elder Legend]

Dumb comparison, sorry. 2 very vastly different games.

Njnja Gaiden needs to be compared to other Ninja Gaiden titles or games in similar playable such as DMC. Why compare a high fast paced action game to a more methodical slower paced RPG action hybrid game? Super stupid.

 

[v_iHuGi]

DS is as easy as it gets.

 

[cireza]

Demon's Souls is pretty easy.

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

Dumb comparison, sorry. 2 very vastly different games.

Njnja Gaiden needs to be compared to other Ninja Gaiden titles or games in similar playable such as DMC. Why compare a high fast paced action game to a more methodical slower paced RPG action hybrid game? Super stupid.

He asked which game is more difficult and takes more skill to beat. That they're different style games is irrelevant.

 

[VisualFidelity]

Dumb comparison, sorry. 2 very vastly different games.

Njnja Gaiden needs to be compared to other Ninja Gaiden titles or games in similar playable such as DMC. Why compare a high fast paced action game to a more methodical slower paced RPG action hybrid game? Super stupid.

Dumb response to my thread, sorry.

DMC is not hard, that's why its not compared. Try reading the initial post again, I simply asked which takes more skill to beat, and regardless of their differences, that is a very valid question given their reputation in the hack and slash genre.

 

[Phase]

Ninja Gaiden 2 by far.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

Ninja Gaiden 2 is harder IMO.

DS is as easy as it gets.

I still, to this day, find it crazy when folk describe the Souls games as “easy”.

They clearly aren’t easy, they didn’t just get this reputation from nowhere.

 

[Fredrik]

Haven’t managed to finish either of them, so it’s a draw for me.

But since we’re comparing games in different styles, what about Ikaruga? I’ve played hundreds of shmups for 35 years, but Ikaruga is imo completely impossible. I think I’ve made it to the final boss but my brain just can’t handle the insane required multitasking at that point.
Dodge bullets, dodge lasers, swap color, dodge bul... swap co... no wait... swap back, dodge las... gah! where did that bullet come from?! oh no the laser! swa... *dead*

 

[Ceadeus]

Ninja Gaiden 2 is harder IMO.

I still, to this day, find it crazy when folk describe the Souls games as “easy”.

They clearly aren’t easy, they didn’t just get this reputation from nowhere.

Exactly. People just got used to the serie mechanics. It used to be a new genre for most and the learning curve was high.

 

[Haggard]

Games like Ninja Gaiden or pretty much any old school jump & run are infinitely more difficult than anything From has put out so far.

From games have never been hard/difficult imho.

 

[Max_Po]

Ninja Gaiden black is where it's at.... NG2 is inferior product....

Pimple face itagaki tried to bring gore to copy God of War...

 

[LazyParrot]

Skill will get you through a Souls game, but so will patience. The same definitely can't be said for Ninja Gaiden.

 

[Barry Burton]

They're different kinds of difficulty. The Souls games give you ways to deal with their most challenging aspects, you don't necessarily have to "git gud" to progress through those games. It's why I think Sekiro is a better comparison, as it's the first FromSoft game where I really had to become more skilled at the combat in order to make any headway.

Generally speaking, I find character-action games to be more difficult for me personally than Souls(-like) games. Games like Ninja Gaiden, DMC3, Viewtiful Joe, MGR, and others have had at least one moment where I felt I was screwed and had no chance of getting any further, whereas outside of Sekiro I've never felt that way with a FromSoftware game.

Demon's Souls may require more patience and discipline, but I'd say Ninja Gaiden 2 requires more skill .

 

[Elder Legend]

Dumb response to my thread, sorry.

DMC is not hard, that's why its not compared. Try reading the initial post again, I simply asked which takes more skill to beat, and regardless of their differences, that is a very valid question given their reputation in the hack and slash genre.

You are talking to someone who has 100% trophies in all the souls games including Bloodborne.

I would argue to say that Soulsborne is far from a hack'n'slash . Hack and slash usually consist of fast combos and fast paced action which Soulsbourne barely have any of that. Bloodborne is a bit of a faster paced game and so is Sekiro but not fast enough to be considered a hack n slash.

Actually, if you wanna compare Ninja Gaiden to a modern day of something that's a lot similar to Ninja Gaiden then it would be Nioh 1 and 2.

If I am not mistaken both were made by same devs and published by same company. While Nioh borrows a lot of elements from Soulsborne it is far much faster paced and is an actual hack'n'slash where combos are more more prominent.

And to be quite honest, none of the Soulsborne games are actually hard. It's the morons that cry about it and usually have no brains or patience to learn the game's mechanics and prefer having their hand held.

Regardless, matter of fact is Ninja Gaiden and Soulsborne are not in same league of games/genre. If my memory serves me right, there are far fewer rpg elements in Ninja Gaiden 2 if any at all. But its been a very long time since I played that game. Nioh and Nioh 2 is the modern Ninja Gaiden and those are facts.

 

[SpiceRacz]

I've only played a bit of Ninja Gaiden 2 and can say without question it takes more skill.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

I still, to this day, find it crazy when folk describe the Souls games as “easy”.

They clearly aren’t easy, they didn’t just get this reputation from nowhere.

If you are a patient person they are incredibly easy, since it's all just figuring out patterns, like some sort of action puzzle.

Meanwhile the enemies/bosses in NG barely have patterns, they constantly react to what you are doing, so you have to react back like a fighting game; the bosses got tons of bullshit too like ignoring hit reactions if you are few frames too slow countering, or spamming grab attacks while you are in recovery frames.
This is also why enemies in NG swarm relentlessly, you can't just stand still and block, you'd get grabbed almost immediately (again like a fighting game).

 

[Belmonte]

Even NG Sigma 2 on Mentor/Master Ninja is harder to beat IMO.

That said, dudes, it is not because you mastered a game that it becomes an easy game. If Demon Souls is an easy game, than most games post PSX should be considered walking simulators.

 

[Sub_Level]

Ninja Gaiden difficulty is so overrated its hilarious.

Step 1: Kill an enemy. Just one is fine.
Step 2: Keep the block button held while jumping to a different spot.
Step 3: Charge Y/Triangle upon landing to release your ultimate technique.
Step 4: Repeat Step 2 using the essence from the enemies you just killed.

Congratulations you have beaten 90% of the regular combat encounters in NG1 and NG2 even on master ninja. There's some enemies that require a different approach (ghost fish, berserkers) but most will fall before you as you cut through like butter.

 

[TxKnight7]

NG2 wasn't too hard for me beat it many times all the way to very hard, only one trophy left for platinum

 

[Certinty]

Got stuck on the skeleton boss on NG2 so that.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

Ninja Gaiden difficulty is so overrated its hilarious.

Step 1: Kill an enemy. Just one is fine.
Step 2: Keep the block button held while jumping to a different spot.
Step 3: Charge Y/Triangle upon landing to release your ultimate technique.
Step 4: Repeat Step 2 using the essence from the enemies you just killed.

Step 2.5: get hit mid air by a fireball/exploding shuriken/flaming arrow/rocket.

On land UT is fine for a bit later in the game, but if you do it from the start you'll just gimp yourself, since the essence absorbed loses most of it's actual use; iirc you'd only get like 10% of the yellow essense value if you absorbed it for UT.

 

[01011001]

Ninja Gaiden requires more skill, Demon's Souls and the Souls games in general require more patience

 

[01011001]

NG2 wasn't too hard for me beat it many times all the way to very hard, only one trophy left for platinum

we are talking about NG2 not NG2 censored easy edition + filler aka. Sigma 2

 

[sublimit]

Ninja Gaiden 2 is harder but for all the wrong reasons. It's a bad/mediocre game and incredibly repetitive that wants you to fight the same mobs and bosses again and again in the same bland uninspiring levels.

Demon's Souls quality in terms of gameplay and level design (both the original as well as the remake) is on a whole other level. Actually it feels insulting to Demon's Souls to compare the two games.

 

[01011001]

Ninja Gaiden 2 is harder but for all the wrong reasons. It's a bad/mediocre game and incredibly repetitive that wants you to fight the same mobs and bosses again and again in the same bland uninspiring levels.

Demon's Souls quality in terms of gameplay and level design (both the original as well as the remake) is on a whole other level. Actually it feels insulting to Demon's Souls to compare the two games.

if you chose any other souls game it would be debatable but demon's souls is mediocre at best

 

[MDSLKTR]

Lock-on and timing based gameplay vs fighting game mechanics, both require mastery at least.

 

[sublimit]

if you chose any other souls game it would be debatable but demon's souls is mediocre at best

Demon's Souls is the best Souls game so no.

 

[Codes 208]

Ninja gaiden without a doubt. Demon souls is arguably the easiest of the series (the remaster is no exception) so if it was bloodborne or dark souls 2 (or even sekiro) I would have to legitimately think about it but ninja wins this one.

Demon's Souls is the best Souls game so no.

It’s really not though. The remaster gave me a new appreciation but I would still take dark souls 1 and bloodborne over it all day every day.
Hell, after beating it I went right back to dark souls 3.

 

[Fbh]

The one that has enemies spamming rockets at you from off screen?.

But seriously though, Ninja Gaiden 2. It's way more timing/reflex based.
Demon Souls has never been that hard. If anything the hardest part about it was learning how to play, figuring out that it wasn't an action game like Ninja Gaiden or God of War and you aren't supposed to just run towards enemies and start hitting them with combos. Once you make the mental click of "Oh ok, I need to take things slower, stay on the defensive, look for openings and pay attention to my surroundings while exploring" it's not too bad.

The only part of the original Demon Souls that I remember being really hard (at least for me) was the Flamelurker.

 

[Aion002]

Demons Souls is about being careful and having patience.

Ninja Gaiden is all about reflexes and memorization.

They are too different to compare.

 

[sublimit]

It’s really not though. The remaster gave me a new appreciation but I would still take dark souls 1 and bloodborne over it all day every day.
Hell, after beating it I went right back to dark souls 3.

I dissagree. To me Demon's feels the most complete and most solid out of all Souls games. 2/3 of Dark Souls were incredible as well but some sections felt unfinished and those bring down the whole experience when compared to Demon's. In that aspect Demon's Souls world felt much more coherent than Dark Souls. Bosses were easier in Demon's but almost each one of them felt very unique. The only true improvement that i can think of Dark Souls was the Estus Flask and the level design of some of the areas. All in all i still think Demon's Souls is the Souls game that feels most true to Miyazaki's vision of not making a game hard just for the sake of being hard.
Dark Souls 2 was a great game in its own right but paled in front of Both Demon's and Dark 1.But it did had the best PvP in the series.
Dark Souls 3 was also great and very polished but felt uninspired and it rehashed a lot of ideas from previous Souls (and Bloodborne) games.

Bloodborne is at the top along with Demon's but also very different and can't be really compared.

 

[Carna]

Anything that has to do with Ninja Gaiden, is immediately harder than any Souls game. If we are talking about the Master Ninja difficulty setting.

 

[Danjin44]

I would say Ninja Gaiden, with Demons Souls its takes careful play and patience rather than pure skill.

 

[Geki-D]

In DS you can ultimately just grind a shit load and make a ridiculous OP character, not to mention cheese most bosses if you're really stuck and not bothered actually applying skill. NG2 generally stacks the deck against you and you can't do much about it. That said, either are hardly "impossible".

 

[MrMephistoX]

I’m probably over simplifying here but the beauty of Ninja Gaiden to me is how fluid and dynamic the combat is: it’s a different battle each time. With Demon’s Souls it’s all timing and pattern memorization: the enemies are in monster closets and pop out the same place each time. As long as you memorize the timing you’re good. Memorization won’t get you anywhere in NG at the harder levels.

 

[meech]

Completely different games, and also NG has difficulty options. It will also depend on which type of game you're most familiar with. If you're new to "Souls", or don't play RPGs and you like to button-mash your way through action games, then any Souls game will eat you alive. Mindless play in NG2 can only take you so far, but if you play on the easier difficulties you'll certainly beat it with less suffering than a complex RPG with many more systems to learn like DS.

Lol, there is absolutely nothing complex about souls games, neither as a game nor "rpg". A game that allows you to beat it staying level one isnt a rpg anyway. The only thing that is has in common with rpgs are attribute checks for weapons the character wants to equip, thats basicly it. Everything else is personal skill, not the skill of the role. The player has just to memorize the move set of the enemies,and he can beat this game even with a broken sword if he wants to.

 

[Blood Borne]

I find FROM games way more difficult than Team Ninja games. Sekiro is way more difficult than any Ninja Gaiden game.

I’ve probably put in more hours in Ninja Gaiden than most players here on GAF. 363 hours in NGB, 152 in NGS, 50 hours in NG2 and over 100 hours in NGS2. However, it took me much more longer and more difficult to finish Sekiro than any NG game.

With NG, Izuna Drop, Flying Swallow and On-landing UTs makes the game piss easy. I just don’t understand how people find NG games super difficult.

 

[kiphalfton]

Is NG2 more difficult than Devil May Cry 3? Can't rember which version of DMC3 (probably baby the original, non-SE version), but I couldn't get past Cerberus.

 

[Zekra Dezivad]

NG is a pure action title, so it's only skill based. Souls games are ARPG, skill is important but also stats.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

I find FROM games way more difficult than Team Ninja games. Sekiro is way more difficult than any Ninja Gaiden game.

You're probably just impatient, souls games are by nature "wait and see" games, because of how much they rely on patterns; you can also just farm souls and become insanely OP.

With NG, Izuna Drop, Flying Swallow and On-landing UTs makes the game piss easy.

This is more reflex oriented, izuna drop is a combo, people who suck at fighting games will be dropping it all the time, especially while also trying to evade enemies who swarm to attack, grab and spam projectiles off screen; it's like people who can do combos in training mode, but then crack when something actually fights back.

 

[Zekra Dezivad]

Lol, there is absolutely nothing complex about souls games, neither as a game nor "rpg". A game that allows you to beat it staying level one isnt a rpg anyway. The only thing that is has in common with rpgs are attribute checks for weapons the character wants to equip, thats basicly it. Everything else is personal skill, not the skill of the role. The player has just to memorize the move set of the enemies,and he can beat this game even with a broken sword if he wants to.

I think that it can be one definition to role play

 

[v_iHuGi]

Games like Ninja Gaiden or pretty much any old school jump & run are infinitely more difficult than anything From has put out so far.

From games have never been hard/difficult imho.

Sekiro is hard.

 

[Captain Toad]

Having never play Ninja Gaiden 2, I have to say Ninja Gaiden 2.

I've beaten Demon's Souls many times. I can not even imagine how I ever or anyone else finds the game difficult. I had more difficulty beating games such as Sackboy than I did Demon's Souls Remake.

 

[Blood Borne]

You're probably just impatient, souls games are by nature "wait and see" games, because of how much they rely on patterns; you can also just farm souls and become insanely OP.

This is more reflex oriented, izuna drop is a combo, people who suck at fighting games will be dropping it all the time, especially while also trying to evade enemies who swarm to attack, grab and spam projectiles off screen; it's like people who can do combos in training mode, but then crack when something actually fights back.

Nah. Once enemies appear, land an Izuna Drop on just one enemy, he’ll die and drop an orb, then perform an on-landing UT, kill another enemy, he'll drop an orb, chain another on-landing UT, rinse and repeat.

I finished all NG games on MN without dying once, I’ve never finished a FROM game without dying, I almost did it with Bloodborne. It’s virtually impossible with Sekiro.

I guess my play style just fits NG.

Sekiro is hard.

Agreed. Way harder than any NG game. Each enemy must be taken very seriously. Also unlike NG where you can pause to use health, Sekiro you have to use health whilst in the middle of a fight. Sekiro pushed me to the edge. Even Nioh is much difficult than NG.