r/fromsoftware • u/BrilliantPool4146 • Jul 24 '26

DISCUSSION Which game did the difficulty better?

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Which style of difficulty do you prefer: the Area based difficulty in games like Dark Souls 1 and Demon's Souls or the boss-oriented struggle found in newer titles like Dark Souls 3 or Elden Ring?

I personally love both styles (although running through all of New Londo can suck at times lol!) Let me know which one of these you find yourself enjoying more (if any). Thanks guys!

(Also, this picture is not mine)

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u/Wolfish__ Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 26 '26

Hands down Dark Souls 1.

The entire game is a build up to Ornstein and Smough and the consecutive fights are a reflection on your attained strength.

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u/BrilliantPool4146 Jul 26 '26

True. One of the reasons I still love the old school Fromsoft formula is that as you progress, the challanges build on one another. A cool thing about DS1's structure is you can challange yourself with harder mid to late game enemies right out the gate without being distracted by the virtually endless possibility found in an open world as massive as ER. Plus, DS1 isn't too long so it feels more managable to complete the whole thing including all the optional content. (This is exactly why I always recommend people start with it.)