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[vaibhavpisal]

Hello GAF,

So I finished Elden Ring about a month ago. Was waiting for it's DLC. I was craving for more so I decided to get Dark Souls 3 in recent sale. Previously I have played Demons Souls and Dark Souls 1 on PS3 so I was confident I will find it manageable.

Turns out, its manageable, but barely. In just 3 hours of play I have reached a point where I have 3 ways to move forward. One has a dragon guarding it, other two have those mutated dudes which too are very powerful for my starting low level character. I will have to grind in this small area if I am to kill one of them to proceed.

This has me thinking how far ahead Elden Ring is in terms of difficulty curve. It has pretty much perfected difficulty settings. It's a lot longer game and is by no means easy but never did I face walls like this.

Dark Souls 3 and other previous From Games still are good if you want to face extreme difficulty and want to overcome challenge by slowly learning and grinding.

For me personally there is no going back after Elden Ring. It's de facto From Soft experience. It takes their world building, twisted bosses and enemy design, combat and wraps it up in a package that eases you in the experience. Also it helps that ER is very ambitious and it's evident the moment you step in Limgrave compared to when you step in Lothric.

What do you say GAF? Do you agree or do you still prefer punishing difficulty of previous From games?

 

[GigaBowser]

The older games were tighter and more balanced.

Dark Souls 3, Bloodborne and Sekiro are king.

 

[SoraNoKuni]

Elden ring had way more options to bypass a difficulty spike/wall, still DS3 is rather easy and I am not trying to be an elitist, I remember being disappointed that I wasn't dying as much as I would like.

 

[GHG]

The thing with Elden Ring is the fact that if you face a wall somewhere you can always go off and expire in a different direction then come back later. No such luxury in the more linear Souls games like DS3.

I wouldn't even say DS3 is more difficult, it's just that the starting areas favour a particular play style and starting class.

 

[AV]

I remember DS3 being the hardest of the From games except for Sekiro. Maybe do 2 or BB first if you've already done 1 and DeS.

 

[Chittagong]

The inevitability of the battle was the thing that made stakes so high in Dark Souls. If you couldn’t get past Bell Gargoyles (DS1), your game wouldn’t progress.

In Elden Ring, if I encounter a particularly hard boss I tend to go somewhere else and return later. So there are less epic battles, imo.

 

[Banjo64]

Dragon’s early on in Souls games are not to be engaged. They’re basically there to say ‘fuck off and go a different route’.

You shouldn’t really have to grind to get past any enemy after 3 hours, so maybe you’re not going down the ‘correct’ path?

Personally I’d just Google ‘high end armour/weapons early in DaS 3’ and go from there.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Dragon’s early on in Souls games are not to be engaged. They’re basically there to say ‘fuck off and go a different route’.

You shouldn’t really have to grind to get past any enemy after 3 hours, so maybe you’re not going down the ‘correct’ path?

Personally I’d just Google ‘high end armour/weapons early in DaS 3’ and go from there.

I will power through it. Leveling up isn't hard right now it just needs 1500 souls.

Don't like using guides these days.

 

[Soodanim]

The transforming hollows in DS3 are proper cunty, to use the technical term. You either use fire or run away, because their ridiculous swings are not to be trifled with. Never enjoyed fighting them, they're too chaotic. Learn this one simple trick and you'll be fine. Strangely, they aren't in later areas so much despite them feeling like they should be.

As the game goes on, you'll see that the crafted experience that DS3 offers is better balanced than Elden Ring is towards the end

 

[k_trout]

i really thought ds3 was brutal till I tried the ringed city dlc - i gave up, just wasn't fun

 

[Kataploom]

I'm playing DS1 on Switch now, before Anor Londo it was one of the best games ever made, after that and having myself cursed by the fucking dragon in the fucking crystal cave, I'm deep on sorrow and frustration wondering "where did the budget for this game went?"... Definitely two different games using same base, damn..

Edit: My feelings were exaggerated but yeah, that boss and cave are shit tier compared to whatever previous to that, lacking almost any possible QA play testing it feels.

 

[H4ze]

You are stopped by the first dragon on the wall? You just have to trigger his fire, wait a second and run down the wall, you don't habe to fight on the path.

 

[Fess]

Haven’t played DS3 but I still understand what you’re saying OP.

Going around a difficult area to explore and level up is so much more enjoyable than being stuck to grind. I hated some parts of Demon’s Souls, I would do so many dumb grinding sessions, spending like half an hour or more killing the same blue knights or a reaper to rake in the souls to level up.

I know there are people good enough to never have to grind but that’s not me and therefore I prefer Elden Ring’s way of dealing with difficulty.

 

[Spaceman292]

Just run past the mutants bro

 

[Graciaus]

Elden Ring has almost zero difficulty until the end game unless you speed run. The old style is much better in every way.

 

[MadPanda]

I'm in a similar situation with demon's souls so I quit the game. I just feel so underpowered like I have never felt in from games. I even did that trick for demonBrandt or however it's called and I still can't do any meaningful damage. I feel like I'd have to suffer hitting even basic mobs many times or grind a lot and I don't have any desire for either so I just gave up. That running to tower knight isn't fun and it just doesn't respect my time.

 

[worldwithpyramids]

None of the FromSoft games require grinding… If you feel you need to grind then you’re in the wrong spot or you need to upgrade your weapons.

 

[anthony2690]

I really enjoyed Elden Ring, but due to the amount of exploration and side content I did, I felt over powered most the game sadly.

 

[engstra]

I really enjoyed Elden Ring, but due to the amount of exploration and side content I did, I felt over powered most the game sadly.

Yea I'm in that situation, I have the final boss left after having explored every area now. No grinding and I'm I've managed to still level up to level 185. With the exception of Malenia I have been beaten most bosses on my first try

 

[anthony2690]

Yea I'm in that situation, I have the final boss left after having explored every area now. No grinding and I'm I've managed to still level up to level 185. With the exception of Malenia I have been beaten most bosses on my first try

Melania only took me three tries at launch, was pretty disappointed after seeing how everyone was going on about crazy hard or impossible she was.

I think I was about level 150ish when I beat the game, but I went full Dex/strength as I like whacking things

 

[Bonfires Down]

My motto is that if the game is gonna throw bullshit difficulty spikes like that at me I’m also going to ”cheat” and look up a walkthrough.

Generally speaking in Souls, ignoring your problems and running often works well.

 

[rofif]

I find ds3 more balanced if you play it slow and methodical. It is much faster than ds1 and 2. It's speed is bloodborne inspired

 

[BlueAlpaca]

DS3 was my first FromSoft game and those first few hours fucked me up. I spent a long time in Lothric.

Sekiro was second and it was even harder, but it was mostly the bosses. Lady Butterfuly made me seriously think about quitting videogames. And she wasn't even the hardest boss.

Bloodborne third and final, just finished a few weeks ago, not really hard outside the DLC. I was overleveled though and that might have spoiled the game. After Logarius I had very few blood vials and thought I needed to farm therm and level up, especially as Logarious was the first really tought boss so I thought the game is getting serious now. Turns out it didn't really get much harder and I only made it even easier. I do plan to play it again and I will definitly not farm echoes when I do. Will be using threaded cane. Hopefully there's a remake announced within a year cause otherwise I can't wait and will jump in again. Fantastic game.

Elden Ring could be my fourth but I'm hesitant and apprehensive. It's just too big and I'm easily scared, irriated and frustrated. Maybe one day. I read it's not consistantly 60fps on PS5 so maybe waiting isn't so bad if they fix it.

 

[BlueAlpaca]

Edit: mistake.

 

[DragonNCM]

I played DS3 also after my Elden ring playthrough & for me DS3 was whey easyer. Maybe because I invested huge time in Elden ring combat mechanic's & farming to pass some obstacle's.......like Melania.....

 

[The Eradicator]

Dark Souls 3 actually has a good difficulty curve, but you have to be careful where you go. Early on, there's a bunch of different ways to explore, and shortcuts that lead to more difficult areas. Try to stay in one area, and clear it out first before moving on, and you should have enough souls to level up regularly.

Also, that early dragon isn't blocking your path. You can run around him on the side, or roll under him to a doorway. Just beware the mimic in there.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

In general I think FromSoft games are too difficult, they step over the invisible challenge line into straight up frustrating too often for me.

I’ve played them all, but only managed to finish Dark Souls 2 and 3, but I’ve yet to play Sekiro.

I put Elden Ring down after 40 hours. I’ve tried picking it back up a couple of times but always just find it too frustrating and meandering in terms of progress.

 

[nominedomine]

I don't relate at all, Elden Ring biggest weakness is how it fails to balance anything because the game has no idea what path you'll have taken to get to a certain point. I don't think that From Software was able to come up with a good solution and it looks like they didn't even try.

I always like getting stuck in a couple of bosses or feeling like most of them are a challenge. It sucks when you just wipe the floor with the boss and doesn't even get to appreciate the fight.

 

[Pedro Motta]

Hello GAF,

So I finished Elden Ring about a month ago. Was waiting for it's DLC. I was craving for more so I decided to get Dark Souls 3 in recent sale. Previously I have played Demons Souls and Dark Souls 1 on PS3 so I was confident I will find it manageable.

Turns out, its manageable, but barely. In just 3 hours of play I have reached a point where I have 3 ways to move forward. One has a dragon guarding it, other two have those mutated dudes which too are very powerful for my starting low level character. I will have to grind in this small area if I am to kill one of them to proceed.

This has me thinking how far ahead Elden Ring is in terms of difficulty curve. It has pretty much perfected difficulty settings. It's a lot longer game and is by no means easy but never did I face walls like this.

Dark Souls 3 and other previous From Games still are good if you want to face extreme difficulty and want to overcome challenge by slowly learning and grinding.

For me personally there is no going back after Elden Ring. It's de facto From Soft experience. It takes their world building, twisted bosses and enemy design, combat and wraps it up in a package that eases you in the experience. Also it helps that ER is very ambitious and it's evident the moment you step in Limgrave compared to when you step in Lothric.

What do you say GAF? Do you agree or do you still prefer punishing difficulty of previous From games?

Oh come on, that beggining of DS3 is easy peasy, that Dragon is just for scares, the fire doesn't do all that damage, and those mutated dudes you can kill'em before they transform.

 

[Soodanim]

In general I think FromSoft games are too difficult, they step over the invisible challenge line into straight up frustrating too often for me.

I’ve played them all, but only managed to finish Dark Souls 2 and 3, but I’ve yet to play Sekiro.

I put Elden Ring down after 40 hours. I’ve tried picking it back up a couple of times but always just find it too frustrating and meandering in terms of progress.

I've played everything except Bloodborne, and I bought Sekiro a couple days ago. It's a completely different beast to Souls, and the Tenchu DNA is so strong that I on many occasions have snuck up on enemies and pressed square for my stealth kill because that's what you did in Tenchu (square does not work in this game). Combat itself is very different, doing away with most things you expect from Souls in favour of poise being so important that if you break it you get an instant kill. Enemies can and will fuck you up, so in a way Sekiro is the hardest From game I've played and I'm not far from the beginning. Good thing you can grappling hook away.

I'm having a lot of fun.

 

[Fools idol]

It amazes me how players find the different games more difficult than the others in a wild degree. I personally found Dark souls 3 the easiest of the whole series, but my go-to build is priest / cleric so maybe it was just that.

 

[lyan]

Well, those aren't meant to be difficulty spikes...

 

[The Infectious Paradox]

DS3 is way more balanced. Seemed a lot more satisfying that Elden ring, though it was harder.

 

[Wildebeest]

The biggest fault with Dark Souls 3 was that it was mostly linear, with fairly shallow and rare side paths. The bosses were mostly well-designed, so it played into the concept of replayability for Souls games being a sort of speedrun/boss rush mode. Souls games were not that balanced for grinding to win. After a point, you know the weapons and stats levels which make you good, and increasing more doesn't help all that much. Weapon upgrades cap out at "skill check" points, and side grading weapons isn't a thing worth mentioning. You can say DS3 was designed so that boss battles are satisfying and intense, but to do that they make it so there is not so much you can do in the way of build to get an advantage.

 

[Metnut]

Legacy dungeons were my favorite part of Elden Ring so I hope for a tighter focus in future games.

 

[DonF]

I got to Irithyll of the Boreal Valley and quit. I couldn't get pass that area. All enemies just playing with me. I had a great time until that point. Then I moved on to other games. I might start a new character down the line.

 

[Thief1987]

How can anyone have difficulties with DS3? It's a borderline casual game.

 

[Futaleufu]

The thing with Elden Ring is the fact that if you face a wall somewhere you can always go off and expire in a different direction then come back later. No such luxury in the more linear Souls games like DS3.

I wouldn't even say DS3 is more difficult, it's just that the starting areas favour a particular play style and starting class.

For some reason every difficult enemy in the starting area is very weak to fire

 

[GHG]

For some reason every difficult enemy in the starting area is very weak to fire

Yeh to be honest playing pyro is OP for the whole game if you spec correctly.

 

[MikeM]

Man I tried the Demon Souls remake and oofff I can’t get passed the first level…

Don’t know how you guys do it.

 

[existensmaximum]

None of the FromSoft games require grinding… If you feel you need to grind then you’re in the wrong spot or you need to upgrade your weapons.

Oh, really. And you don't need to grind for materials or souls to upgrade your weapons either, right?

Either way I'm sure a majority of all players won't be able to beat these games without grinding.

 

[Kataploom]

Man I tried the Demon Souls remake and oofff I can’t get passed the first level…

Don’t know how you guys do it.

Can't speak for Demons Souls but in Dark Souls you just stop doing the same thing, act paused and advance in small chunks trying to get a way to pass through that specific chunk, don't focus on the final goal, focus on that specific task right in front of you, once you get it, repeat... then you'll realize that it's not "hard", it just asks you to understand it because you'll just start passing through everything with ease, you'll gain muscle memory for specific segments and won't get killed... Of course, then you'll get killed because you get overconfidence and stop following your created method, then feel stupid but that's just the reminder for you to know it's a Miyazaki game

 

[DragonNCM]

Legacy dungeons were my favorite part of Elden Ring so I hope for a tighter focus in future games.

Damn I wish they had at least 3 more legacy dungeons.......game would be a blast.

 

[bitbydeath]

I think most bosses have a summon outside their door which makes them all a hell of a lot easier.

 

[j0hnnix]

Man I tried the Demon Souls remake and oofff I can’t get passed the first level…

Don’t know how you guys do it.

Firestorm. End Boss just senpuku's himself because he knows what's coming.

 

[SteadyEvo]

The thing with Elden Ring is the fact that if you face a wall somewhere you can always go off and expire in a different direction then come back later. No such luxury in the more linear Souls games like DS3.

I wouldn't even say DS3 is more difficult, it's just that the starting areas favour a particular play style and starting class.

What class? I moved on after the mutating guy in the roof raped me repeatedly. This was literally an hour into the game.

 

[DragonNCM]

GL killing Margid after 1h gameplay.....you will needed

 

[Alebrije]

DS3. Is the the most difficult to get platinum throphy....You can miss easily some quests and others are very difficult to find out what to do.

Instead Elden Ring has just one misseable throphy about a special weapon. It's a walk in the park vs Souls Games regarding Thopies.

 

[Alebrije]

Man I tried the Demon Souls remake and oofff I can’t get passed the first level…

Don’t know how you guys do it.

Easily ....just Git gut...

 

[Black_Mamba]

I also played DS3 after ER and didn't find it much different in terms of difficulty. I'd say that Demon's Souls is the one that stands out, but because of the sadistic design. Enemies, especially the bosses, are easier in Demon's in general.

You should just run away from the dragon and that monster, btw.