All Souls Games Ranked By Difficulty (Including Elden Ring)

My personal ranking of the souls games from easiest to hardest.

[boix]

The moment i see sekiro :
"I expect none less from you my boy"

[juhaojanpaa]

Me beating Sekiro as my first FromSoftware game 🗿

[christiantorres]

When you get good at sekiro the combat just feels so fluid and satisfying and not to mention how good it feels when you finally get that deathblow.

[turklericindarksouls]

The reason why ds1 is the hardest isn't combat or anything, it's actually how desperate you are due to not being able to fast travel. The feeling of being stuck in Blightown for the first time just doesn't have any comparison

[vbrant]

Finally, a great list where the guy actually played all of the games and view DeS and DS2 are harder in terms of level and regular enemies.

[simonesamperna]

If u look at ps4 bloodborne throphies u'll find out that only about 50% of the players beat Gascoigne, who is the first non optional boss.

[diligturbo]

Actually very in depth for such a short video

[asistenmiserfa]

For me Sekiro is the coolest and hardest, when you feel the game it was so badass when you parry the boss man, like holy, im feeling like an main character for once

[justscrollinginthecomments]

Sekiro is a difficulty I'm divisive about. Some people will tell you it's the easiest game, others the hardest. I'm in the former. I've beat the game 11x, and I'll tell you that even on the first playthrough, as soon as Sekiro clicks (either by Genichiro or slightly later), it becomes brain dead easy. Even bosses like Isshin are not that hard, and regular bosses are child's play. The only genuine challenge is the Demon of Hatred and the Gauntlets, but those can be learned as well. Sekiro's difficulty hinges on the skill of the player, more so than any other game. If the player learns how to deflect, it's easy, if not, then it's impossible. It's a rhythm game. If for whatever reason anyone reading this is struggling with Sekiro, learn to count enemy patterns and deflects. The timing for the parrys are also generally incredible forgiving. You could press the button a second late and it will still typically deflect.

[Mars-eudz]

Ds1 will always have a place in my heart as the first game I ever beat… I was 8

[billsamoy]

The Nameless King is still haunting my dreams. You vs Camera. The hardest boss ever.

[hazukifink]

Dude Gaels 2nd phase theme is the banger of bangers

[The.Reilly]

Sekiro is definitely the hardest on a first playthrough but it's so satisfying to replay. That boss rush feature is the best addition to any Souls game because I just keep coming back to fight Isshin over and over again.

[seansandberg]

I think a list like this is really tricky to make. It really comes down to what order you played the games in. By the time I got to DS1 I had already beaten Sekiro, Bloodborne, DS3, and Elden Ring so it felt like the easiest game out of all of them. That being said I think this list is pretty well thought out so great job!

[ErKiwii_]

Ds3 was my first souls, ill never forget sulyvan, gael and all those bosses that made my soul leave my body, in my opinion, it has the best and most difficult bosses in the soulsborn saga.

[miniafuze]

I think that the reason sekiro is so difficult is because up until that point, we’d been primed to dodge as much as could and generally just avoid attacks at all costs. This worked for me until I got to genichiro, then hit a brick wall. He’s a great early game boss that forces you to learn the combat system. I must’ve died to him 50 times trying to brute force it, whereas now he’s not even a challenge. That’s also part of the reason it’s my favourite from soft game. It’s the most rewarding imo in terms of feeling like you’re improving at the game. I think it’s so poetic that your first proper encounter with genichiro, for most players was a colossal challenge and yet, by the final boss, he’s literally the easiest phase of sword saint that you won’t really die to.

[kmccw]

Dark souls three is one of my personal favorites because it got difficulty, progression, and aesthetic so perfect out of all of the games. Something about the world just feels so real, but I also understand why the linear levels could be seen as a negative, but I also enjoyed the simplicity as it really allows you to explore each level to its full depth

[bourne.]

sekiro is the most rewarding game imo once you get good

first time I fought isshin it took me over 12 tries
now I rarely even get hit by the guy

learning movesets and areas is really fun in the game thanks to the unique gameplay

[filippopaolillo]

Personal ranking:

-7: Demon’s souls: although it has long levels, the combat system, enemies and bosses are relatively simple, while sometimes it mat be frustrating. Also it has grass stacking and even with half health is still manageable so, i don’t get all the challenge.
-6: Dark Souls 3. Best game for begginers and a linear yet beautiful gameplay. The areas are a cakewalk, the real challenges are bosses. But with the right weapon (like the longsword, the greatsword or the Sellsword Twinblades) and some help, you’ll be able to grind through this game. Also the movement is way faster and controllable than its predecessors.
-5: Elden Ring. This could be your easiest souls gameplay experience ever or a straight up nightmare. It all depends by your character and gear level. As long as you’re doing things good, your adventure would be pretty enjoyable, despite the complex movements of bosses and the difficulty of some areas. Also, the advantage of being an open world and giving you the opportunity to ride a horse whenever you want, gives you more freedom on your gameplay progression. And there are many ways to get op in this game. Just don’t give up, it will take a while to finish the game.
-4: Dark Souls 1. The areas are the general hard part of these games, and some bosses being the notorious blocks that keep players from going on. The enemies are pretty simple but do a hell lot of damage. Also, combat system is clumsy and harder to control and the world structure is very infamous to new players. If you know where you’re going and what you’re doing tho, it will be passable. If not, well, prepare to die. Also, there are a lot of ways to get OP, in this game, such like Black Knight Weapons or Sorcery.
-3: Dark Souls 2. Dark Souls 2 is just an enhanced Dark Souls 1 and you can’t deny it. Way clunkier combat and animations, easy ganks, unfair bossfights, stronger enemies and a progressive HP decrease each time you die if that wasn’t enough. Despite the vary health-ware system and number of good builds, this game is not joke. Seriously. Two advices tho: LEVEL ADP AND USE SORCERIES/HEXES.
-2: Bloodborne: Clean gameplay with a smooth parrying system helps you a lot in this hell of a nightmare. On the other hand though, this game is why you call it as that. The healing system is minimal, there are punishing bosses that have many unpredicatble moves, enemies on drugs and some of the hardest areas in the series.
-1: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice: Do I even have to explain this? God, i’m not touching this game anymore until i’m mentally prepared enough.

[blakepuntervold]

In dark souls one, there was no teleporting until halfway through so you had to remember and walk the entire map if you wanted to navigate it. I'd also say that the increased speed in 3 can also make things challenging if you had gotten used to the slower speeds of 1 and really slow speed of 2. Then again in Bloodborne you had no real defense system and Sekiro is difficult for a lot of reasons so they all have their own mechanics that make things their own brand of difficult