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[SCB3]

So if anyone saw my previous post on here regarding Demons Souls:

Demons Souls - LTTP

You will see that I finally got through the game and Got Gud. Well as I mentioned before I have completed the rest of the Souls games (and some Souls Likes like Jedi FO, Hellpoint, Nioh) and well it seems like that may have been a a bit of a lie or at least some bad memory.

See I decided that I wanted to Download the other 3 games on my PS5 and see where I last saved as I was feeling like a play around in those worlds, well this is what I found:

Dark Souls Remastered:

I own this twice, on Switch and PS4, I beat the Original game on PC with DSFix years ago though.

On PS4 I seem to be at Seath, or well on the way, I have a Full Silver Knight set, Black Knight Shield, and for some reason my weapons are a Gravelord Sword+3, a Gargoyle Halberd +10 (why? I have no idea why I did this) and a Pyromancy Flame+5

An interesting build to say the least, well with this I want to do the rest of the Game plus the DLC again, so I'll go with the best version on Console

On Switch I'm a bit further behind, just at the last boss before Anor Londo, not sure on the build, but I may come back to this much later

Dark Souls 2:

This one is not as strange as I remember I did this for a Friends playthrough (I've finished DS2 a few times, it was my first DS game) and so going back to my save I realised something, I've never played the DLC at all for DS2! I remember having it on Steam on the original (and I own SOtFS on PS4 and Steam) and I've not got the achievements or trophies for it, I know them well from Let's plays and speedruns, so maybe I misremembered playing them for myself.

I am currently just past the Dragonslayers in Dranlegic (killed them easy last night just looking around) , so not too bad with a nice Poison build looking at it (I'm using a double Rapier/Shield, one of the Rapiers is the Scorpion bosses weapon) with plenty of content to go.

Dark Souls 3:

I finished this easy, I reckon its the easiest Souls game, especially after Bloodborne, but there is a few Trophies missing and I kinda want to replay it after the other 2 on NG+

So onwards to Dark Souls 2 first I think, time to finish what I started

 

[The Cockatrice]

Dark Souls 3 DLCs are the hardest from the series so I find it hard to believe you find DS3 the easiest when you had a hard time with the easiest of souls games, Demon's Souls.

 

[SCB3]

Dark Souls 3 DLCs are the hardest from the series so I find it hard to believe you find DS3 the easiest when you had a hard time with the easiest of souls games, Demon's Souls.

By the time I did the DLC's in particular Gael and Midir, I was well versed in fighting those kinds of enemies, for example beating the Ancient Dragon in 2 and Kalameet in 1, they were hard for sure, but I still beat them, Demons Souls was a lot harder due to the World Tendency Mechanic and the Run to the bosses more than the actual boss

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

I think DS3 they started making the more challenging stuff more optional or secret, something they claim will be the case with Elden Ring as well, even moreso

 

[Chiggs]

Dark Souls 3 DLCs are the hardest from the series so I find it hard to believe you find DS3 the easiest when you had a hard time with the easiest of souls games, Demon's Souls.

I feel like 2 has the hardest DLC.

 

[SCB3]

I feel like 2 has the hardest DLC.

I am not looking forward to Crown of the Ivory King's bosses thats for sure

 

[skit_data]

I like DS2, it’s different but the DLCs are really interesting. Sometimes it feels like a more hardcore Zelda game, especially in the Crown of the Sunken King DLC.

Dark Souls 3 is fun and I love the weapon skills but its too grey and the World of DS3 is too linear and the lore is all over the place.

But the first Dark Souls is still the best.

 

[The Cockatrice]

By the time I did the DLC's in particular Gael and Midir, I was well versed in fighting those kinds of enemies, for example beating the Ancient Dragon in 2 and Kalameet in 1, they were hard for sure, but I still beat them, Demons Souls was a lot harder due to the World Tendency Mechanic and the Run to the bosses more than the actual boss

Eh I see. It's more annoying than hard, poor level design that has not aged well I';d say due to it's extremely linear paths and no way to move around and whatnot because the enemies themselves in Demons are quite easy.

 

[I_D]

The hardest Souls game is the first one you play. They become infinitely easier after you've gotten the hang of things from your first playthrough.
Regarding just pure difficulty, I've always found Bloodborne to be the most difficult of the bunch, but I also suck at parrying, which is much more important in Bloodborne than in the Souls games.

The halberd from DS1 has pretty decent scaling when rolled as "Enchanted," but otherwise, I don't know what you were thinking. The Gravelord sword turns the game into easy-mode, so that one makes sense.

You're in for a real treat with DS2's DLC. They're both fantastic.

Getting all of the trophies for DS3 requires a heck of a lot of grinding, but some people like that sort of thing.

 

[SCB3]

The hardest Souls game is the first one you play.

It's usually the same when you ask peoples favorite, its usually the first one they played, so for me that was 2

The halberd from DS1 has pretty decent scaling when rolled as "Enchanted," but otherwise, I don't know what you were thinking

Nor do I, I started the game up and was like "Why am I using a Halberd?" then looked at it in the menu and was so confused as to why it was a +10, maybe I fancied a change of weapon at the time, whats weird is that on the Switch version, I'm using a Winged Spear

 

[Kuranghi]

*tells OP he's a bad boy and slaps him around a bit*

Any good?

 

[SCB3]

OK, Shrine of Amana can fuck right off, I didn't realise they added enemies here and those clerics fucking hit hard

 

[ArtemisClydeFrog]

Shrine of Amana

 

[BabyYoda]

I found DS3 to be by far the hardest out of the main trilogy, with DS2 being the easiest. Not sure how you found DS3 to be the easiest tbh, did you skip a lot of optional bosses/group up a lot?

FYI, I did all three games solo and I started 3 as a deprived, man, doing the giant crystal lizard was rough, did it though, but yeah, 3rd was by far the hardest for me!

 

[SCB3]

I found DS3 to be by far the hardest out of the main trilogy, with DS2 being the easiest. Not sure how you found DS3 to be the easiest tbh, did you skip a lot of optional bosses/group up a lot?

By the time I got to DS3, I'd played Bloodborne several times over and DS2 a lot so I was used to it, its a lot faster than Souls games, but not as fast as BB so dodging was a lot easier

Its the same as Sekiro, there were points in Sekiro where it almost forced me to learn it, theres a section where you get the Mirikari counter and it pretty much hard forces you to learn it or struggle, you you get an enemies timing down for parrying, Sekiro is not as hard as people think

 

[BabyYoda]

By the time I got to DS3, I'd played Bloodborne several times over and DS2 a lot so I was used to it, its a lot faster than Souls games, but not as fast as BB so dodging was a lot easier

Its the same as Sekiro, there were points in Sekiro where it almost forced me to learn it, theres a section where you get the Mirikari counter and it pretty much hard forces you to learn it or struggle, you you get an enemies timing down for parrying, Sekiro is not as hard as people think

But you said in regards to DS3: "I finished this easy, I reckon its the easiest Souls game, especially after Bloodborne." So which is it, is it the easiest, or did you did you just better? But because neither that nor BB are the easiest, no way

 

[SCB3]

But you said in regards to DS3: "I finished this easy, I reckon its the easiest Souls game, especially after Bloodborne." So which is it, is it the easiest, or did you did you just better? But because neither that nor BB are the easiest, no way

I found it the easiest

 

[BabyYoda]

I found it the easiest

I can see that being true, we're all getting better at those types of games, mind you, I've only played DS1-3 and then only once each. So yeah, you're skill level is going to be much higher than mine frankly. Maybe they need to add a hard mode for hardcore veterans like yourself, I suspect you will find Elden Ring to be the easiest yet by far (from what From have said), gonna have to handicap yourself me thinks? Starting as hardest class and not skipping optional bosses is a given, no co-op obviously and no farming allowed, also no googling guides etc!

 

[Phase]

I just started another item randomizer run of DS1. It's the one I always come back to. It's got a slower pace which allows me to just chill out while playing. I don't get the same feeling with BB or DS3, though I love them both.

 

[Scotty W]

Been thinking about getting this on Switch. Is ut really that good, or just frustration?

 

[ArtemisClydeFrog]

Been thinking about getting this on Switch. Is ut really that good, or just frustration?

 

[SCB3]

I can see that being true, we're all getting better at those types of games, mind you, I've only played DS1-3 and then only once each. So yeah, you're skill level is going to be much higher than mine frankly. Maybe they need to add a hard mode for hardcore veterans like yourself, I suspect you will find Elden Ring to be the easiest yet by far (from what From have said), gonna have to handicap yourself me thinks? Starting as hardest class and not skipping optional bosses is a given, no co-op obviously and no farming allowed, also no googling guides etc!

No one can convince me that Elden Ring is not just Dark Souls 4 with a horse

And Dark Souls can have harder modes, the Covenants for example or starting deprived and always be human (to get invasions)or do a SL1 run but that’s down to the player to handicap themselves, which ideally is the best way all round

 

[22•22]

For some reason I dropped Dark Souls after the Orstein and Smaug battle.

I did finish a Bloodborne run (excluding the DLC) but I've far from completed it

Played DS2 for about 20/30 hours I reckon before I dropped it

Currently almost done with DS3. Got to the second bonfire in the dreg heap yesterday.

I dropped Sekiro when I reached fountainhead palace (there's a recurring theme, isn't there?)

I kinda want to Platinum DS3.. Have to see what the requirements entail..

Anyways I do want to give Bloodborne another go just like I did with DS3 and go through the DLC and every optional boss etc, Sekiro as well.

DS3 was my first Souls back when it came out and I've definitely gotten much better all these years later. For example Aldrich; took me about 40+ try's first time around and recently I got her on my third try. Same with O&S which I beat under 3 attempts. But by then I had Bloodborne experience under my belt..

 

[BabyYoda]

No one can convince me that Elden Ring is not just Dark Souls 4 with a horse

And Dark Souls can have harder modes, the Covenants for example or starting deprived and always be human (to get invasions)or do a SL1 run but that’s down to the player to handicap themselves, which ideally is the best way all round

Yeah, I wasn't being entirely serious about the hard mode, I find it funny people talking about these games being too easy, they are not easy for me!

 

[SCB3]

OK, after a few more non serious attempts (I'm doing it more casual as I have finished DS2 before, its my favorite one after all) and I have a few thoughts on "Shrine of Amana"

1. Its Complete Bullshit
2. It feels out of place because of it, let me explain

So DS2 is known for its over abundance of enemies and ones that attack in groups, generally they're either weak or you've got a decent weapon to handle them, DS2 has a lot of weapons that can deal a AoE attack or smash, Ultra Greatswords for example.

However, up until this point, you barely need to defend against Magic at all, but where SoA handles this is to throw loads of hard hitting Clerics at you with magic hammers and once past them, clerics with homing soul arrows that fire over and over with no reprieve - Honestly they're non stop with it

So the easy answer to this is to look at what can counter them, range or Magic defence

Range: bows and Magic is a good way of handling them, except they trigger on a hit and now theres 3 soul arrows aiming for you, then lizards and now in SotFS, giant knights

Magic defence: a better option, especially just to run past, issue here is, I have no magic defence armor or a shield that can handle MD and Physical defence at the same time

The one good thing I'll say, its a beautiful area and tbh the Demon of Song boss here is easy and doesn't hit hard at all, its the 2 areas leading to him that suck, even co op struggles here, I am considering summoning to get past, but even that seems like a struggle.

I don't want this to seem like a rant on DS2, because its not, just some thought on this area, I own the Design Works books, some other books on DS and plenty of links for research, I'm super interested on the reasoning behind why this area is like this compared to the others

 

[SCB3]

Well, SoA down, did all up to the King's Ring, now need to go get some Giant Souls. Now on to Aldia's keep (which I forgot was not optional for some reason) I've not died yet since my last Amana run, which is nice

 

[SCB3]

Spent a few hours getting through to the last boss of the game (Gonna do the DLC first) and I've gotta say, I'm not having much issues yet, all optional stuff done as well, though I am Level 190 somehow

Maybe I'm just used to faster Souls games at this point, DS2 feels slow

 

[SCB3]

That Vendrick huh? What a bastard! I have all the Giant souls though, so the plan is Kill Vendrick, do DLC in release order, end on Aldia

I may take some breaks though, Skyward Sword, Deaths Door and Avengers are taking some attention away

 

[RoadHazard]

Dark Souls 3 DLCs are the hardest from the series so I find it hard to believe you find DS3 the easiest when you had a hard time with the easiest of souls games, Demon's Souls.

I also found DS3 (base game) easier to get through than the others, except for maybe DeS. Sure, when I played DS3 I had already beaten all the others, so that helped I suppose. The hardest ones for me were DS1 (because it was the first one I played) and BB (because it's hard).

 

[Mondai]

I found DS1 to be the easiest, most of the bosses are a joke. DS2 is my favorite and DS3 has the best DLC (I’m not counting BB right now).

 

[NeverYouMind]

That Vendrick huh? What a bastard! I have all the Giant souls though, so the plan is Kill Vendrick, do DLC in release order, end on Aldia

I may take some breaks though, Skyward Sword, Deaths Door and Avengers are taking some attention away

Hillariously enough you can just leave Vendrick alone as he has retired and the only thing you need from him is the ring, which he dropped ages ago and never bothered to pick up. If you want his shield, clothes, long sword, or greatsword as the shell he currently is, he is only a minor inconvenience. His cursed shard of a wife and amoral scientist brother are the real villains.

Shrine of Amana enemies need to be approached like the Silver Knight Archers of DS1 and DS3 but are fortunately far less likely to kill you. I would say the ghosts of New Londo and blowhards of Blight Town in DS1 are far more menacing as they cannot be picked off from a distance as easily.

---

Having played the lot, starting with the unpleasant introduction of DS3 and following it up with DS1, DS2, Demon Souls, and a return to DS3 I can honestly say that the difficulty of the franchise is largely a matter of not knowing how to exploit the weaknesses of enemies and not utilising the tools the game provides you with. I would say that the most frustrating experience I have had has been with DS3 throwing a third stage into boss fights in the DLC. They reminded me of this scene from Dracula Dead and Loving It:

---

If I had to rank the wave of FromSoftware games based on replay experiences: DS2:SoFS > DSR modded > Demon Souls > BloodBorne > DS3.

 

[NeverYouMind]

I found DS1 to be the easiest, most of the bosses are a joke. DS2 is my favorite and DS3 has the best DLC (I’m not counting BB right now).

I only found the DLC of Bloodborne to add substance to the base game. The rest have been an unnecessary detour with worse level design and more potential frustrations built in. Maybe each one had a single nicely designed boss fight, but otherwise the DLCs were a complete waste of time. I did find the Sunken King DLC of Dark Souls 2 to be unrivaled for farming upgrade materials.

 

[rofif]

2 is my fav but I hate the dlc. I like the vanilla 2 more.
1 is the classic
3 is the best and dlc is amazing

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Dark Souls 3 DLCs are the hardest from the series so I find it hard to believe you find DS3 the easiest when you had a hard time with the easiest of souls games, Demon's Souls.

No