Ranking the Souls Games From Easiest to Hardest for New Players

[@tlk777]

I actually think Demons souls is the hardest for new players for several reasons. It has the jank that you mentioned that put dark souls 1 up higher, but to an even greater amount. Yes it has technically "infinite healing" but this is not a very accurate way to look at it, as what will happen in reality is that new players who struggle, will have no healing at all, and can't rely on any reusable healing. This means that they will have to farm repeatedly, and also possibly navigate to merchants who aren't even next to checkpoints(as most of the ones that sell higher tier healing are). Another thing, is that while the bosses are fairly easy, the areas are incredibly long and punishing. Very long areas with no additional bonfires, only the occasional shortcut to help you out. This also goes back to the aforementioned healing issue. Even if they don't die, they might burn through all their healing getting through an area, and then have none left for the boss. Also this game has other stuff, like the enemies in the mining area that are highly highly resistant to most damage types, a boss that steals your levels, a very long poison swamp etc. I think your opinions about the other games are pretty solid, but I disagree pretty strongly with where you put demons souls.

[@MattackGaming]

You make some good points. Although, I don't think Demon Souls has anywhere near the jank as DS1 or DS2. Your point about the healing is valid. Additionally, I guess a new player may not even realize they can farm heals or know where is best. But at the same time, if they struggle to get through an area when they had a stash of 15-20 heals or more, what is going to happen when that type of player tries another souls game. The areas are long, but even areas in other souls games that are shorter are going to be a nightmare with 4-5 heals and a tougher boss at the end. But like I said, you make some good points. I will have to think on them.

[@issi529]

​@@MattackGamingDark Souls 3 and elden ring are way harder! Especially for some bosses in ds3 and the dlc from elden ring. I disagree so much with you!

[@MattackGaming]

@ Well, I did say that the DLC's were not included in this ranking. Which bosses in DS3 do you think make it so hard?

[@issi529]

@@MattackGaming Well lets see, Nameless king was really hard, Pontiff too. Champion gundyr was extremely agressive. Aldrich was also very hard. Some runs and enemies were extremely challenging as well. Don't know why people are having that opinion on ds3 but i disagree so hard. Even chatgpt said that ds3 is the hardest dark souls game out there. Elden ring base game is still very hard imo.

[@mjolniracmjolnirac4935]

agreed, also he's not mentioned the original game on PS3. I think it was harder than the remaster imo

[@LoudButtons]

I think Sekiro can be both the hardest and easiest. It has some very difficult bosses and even regular enemies, but once you master the mechanics it's a breeze and you can basically no-hit your way through the game. Feels very speedrun-ish in that way. I also didn't find Bloodborne that hard but that's just a personal thing, I must have happened to gel with it just right as I beat every boss first try.

[@MattackGaming]

It's true that once you start vibing with Sekiro it just starts to flow. But I think it takes the most consistent amount of skill through the whole game and there isn't much you can do to make it easier besides git gud. Thats crazy about Bloodborne though! First attempting everything is legend stuff is you ask me.

[@drexelspivey872]

Now I played Sekiro when I was a seasoned souls like vet (probably like 5th or 6th souls / souls like) and granted my first game was wonlong which is parry but to me Sekiro feels very fluid and great. Sekiro is more a rhythm than a souls game

[@issi529]

@@MattackGaming Sekiro is getting a lot easier when you are upgrading your attack power.

[@Tysonhollingsworth2008]

Not a single ranking on this video corresponded to my experience with the games, infact it was quite closer to being completely opposite, rather than similar

[@MattackGaming]

Wow. So you felt DS, DS3, and Elden RIng were the top 3?

[@mjolniracmjolnirac4935]

Sekiro was the hardest for me. I took great pleasure in getting the platinum. Now back playing Bloodborne and it is a cakewalk in comparison

[@MattackGaming]

Interesting. For me the timing of Sekiro is just so much easier to grasp than Bloodborne's

[@mjolniracmjolnirac4935]

@@MattackGaming the parry window in bloodborne is so forgiving compared to Sekiro i find. Sekiro made me a better bloodborne player!

[@MattackGaming]

@@mjolniracmjolnirac4935 I disagree. To me, Sekiro has one of the most forgiving parry windows. Crazy how different people can view the same thing.

[@Khaled-oti]

That’s exactly how I’d rank them. Great video

[@MattackGaming]

Thanks! glad you enjoy enjoyed it

[@Matt-d6d6w]

I cant comprehend how you can find bloodborne even remotely difficult. In the base game i died less than to sekiros demon of hatred or laxasia from lies of p(less than 30 times to each), dlc was just slightly harder but still easiest fromsoft game

[@MattackGaming]

Well your natural playstyle might just fit with bloodborne. Bloodborne to me is the toughest by far except for Sekiro even as an experienced player.

[@Matt-d6d6w]

@@MattackGaming A lot of people find especially easy time in Bloodborne, just open internet, it's really not uncommon. Still masterpiece of a game

[@MattackGaming]

@@Matt-d6d6w I have almost always ever seen Bloodborne in the top 3.

[@walter-bijeli]

Usually sekiro and bloodborne are in the top 3 hardest lists

[@lonelyshpee7873]

Well, I personally found Bloodborne to be quite difficult, even after beating DS3 and Elden Ring beforehand. Sekiro, on the other hand, was super easy once I figured out the combat. Different players have different experiences. Although, to be fair, my difficulty with Bloodborne was probably due to my stubborn refusal to engage with some of its mechanics.

[@chloeplaysacnh]

Got a PS5 a few months ago and started platinum trophy hunting. So far I’ve got the platinum for Elden Ring and Bloodborne. Working my way through Dark Souls 3 and Sekiro now

[@MattackGaming]

Nice! How are you liking the games so far?

[@chloeplaysacnh]

@ Love them!! Bloodborne is definitely my favourite so far. I tried out demon souls too, but I found it to just be frustrating so I’ll save it for last lol

[@MattackGaming]

@@chloeplaysacnh Lol What was frustrating about Demon Souls? Difficulty?

[@chloeplaysacnh]

@@MattackGaming I didn’t play much of it, but I just didn’t like the level design. To be fair, I tried it immediately after Elden ring, so I found having no map was difficult to navigate. I might enjoy it if I went back now though

[@MattackGaming]

@ Yeah, I bet you would. You were probably what I call "Elden Ring spoiled" lol A lot of times it's hard for new players to go back to the old games after Elden Ring just cuz of all the quality of life improvements that are missing.

[@noru_no]

I started with Elden Ring, then stopped playing DS3 about 70% through because it was too easy and a little boring because of it. Now playing Lies of P and getting my ass beat but having a great time. Nioh 2 is next on my list, then I'll try Sekiro while chilling in the Bloodborne remake waiting room.

[@MattackGaming]

You might be chilling for awhile unfortunately😅 Lies of P is the best Soulslike (not made by fromsoftware) ever made. And it has what I believe is the hardest souls boss across all the souls genre. Fromsoft bosses included.

[@hunterreber6922]

@@MattackGaming Laxasia or the nameless puppet?

[@bigbigchungus103]

you traitor. fromsofrtware doesn’t want you anymore.

[@MattackGaming]

@@hunterreber6922 the nameless puppet. That dude blew my mind. I’m pretty sure I blocked out the memory of how many attempts it took due to trauma 😂

[@WeiterHimmel05]

@@MattackGaming really? Imho Laxasia was soooo much harder. And still i agree: I played Lies of P and then i just finished Bloodborne...bloodborne bosses seem challenging but except for that amygdala cursed challice dungeon creature thingy i was able to beat every bosses under 10 tries, most of them under 5. most of them were a real good, challenging but not too overpowered (yes, i look at you pre-nerf Radaahn!) fight. In Lies of P i needed 4 hours (!) for lax Oo. Nameless puppet was fairly easy in comparison imho.

[@robotzombie9]

Hardest= camera. Great video. Just finished first playthrough on DS2 and it was awesome. Totally agree on Sekiro. genichiro took me longer than even Malenia, and after a few playthroughs it turns into a rhythm game. Still amazing though. It spawned Lies of P and 20 other clones.

[@MattackGaming]

Glad you enjoyed it! And yes, camera is the undefeated champ 😂

[@bucketet]

I've beat all except ds1. Ds1 pisses me off beyond belief

[@grandoldone2552]

What part are you stuck on?

[@bucketet]

@grandoldone2552 it's just the run backs rn I'm on tomb of the giants and it's just so annoying

[@MattackGaming]

It is worth the piss though lol

[@grandoldone2552]

@@bucketet You on PlayStation?

[@brahmanwithin6623]

DS1 is easy if you do the souls glitch multiple times. I beat the game on level 350+. I feel like the only reason the game is hard is because of the very high damage output from the enemies when your level is low.

[@Vman_95]

Atleast you can summon in game NPCs or freinds in Bloodborne to help you out. But in Sekiro, You're on your own with One Katana 😅💯

[@CyrusHD]

Elden ring is the most difficult game to start at for several reasons: Elden ring is generally the hardest soulsborne game if you face the major bosses head on without preparing yourself. Here many argue that the freedom of deciding where to go and how to play are the reasons for Elden ring to be beginner friendly. I´d rather say the requirement of already having your own idea on how to play and working your way around challenges by yourself adds an extra layer of skill. The absence of guidence in these games with the already overwehlming nature of Eldenring can effortlessly make the player feel lost. Usually from this position players decide to seek external help harming their Elden ring experiences. Furthermore I think to truly appreaciate the open design of Elden ring you have to know the opposite first. Apart from that if you complete Elden ring as your first soulborne game the other ones will be significantly less challenging (except maybe Sekiro).

[@MattackGaming]

I would agree that Elden Ring is probably the hardest right off the bat. But after a little bit most players will start to figure the ways to make the game much easier vs some of the harder games that don't give them many options besides gitting gudder lol

[@CyrusHD]

@MattackGaming Depends on the type of person at the end. As a complete beginner I would much rather master something presented to me than figure everything out by myself

[@cal7772]

Tiers should be renamed ngl because every souls game is still very hard for new players

[@MattackGaming]

True. But I am ranking them based on comparing them to each other. So Demon Souls is very easy compared to Bloodborne.

[@pieceoftrash184]

From my expierence with Elden Ring I think the difficulty depends HEAVILY upon what build you play as. On my first playthrough, I did a melee only build and I genuinely found it way harder than bloodborne (I haven't played des, ds3, or sekiro yet). I recently beat ds1 and ds2 for my first time and rebeat bloodborne and none of them gave me nearly as much trouble as elden ring did. But on my second ER playthrough I switched to a str/fai build and the game did ended up feeling about as hard as you said. TLDR Elden Ring can be the hardest or easiest souls game depending on how you want to play

[@MattackGaming]

That is true. But that is also true of pretty much all the Dark Souls games too.

[@spelv1104]

@@MattackGamingGuideless elden ring is nuts.

[@AiMdExP]

I’m so confused because for the longest time people put these games on high pedestals saying they were some of the hardest games ever and like 8 months ago I picked up my very first souls game that being ds1 remastered and I beat it in under a week less than 10 deaths per boss am I just naturally good or something?

[@MattackGaming]

That's very possible. Souls games are known for their difficulty. They aren't top tier in difficulty. But for the average gamer, they are pretty hard. You must be above average.

[@spelv1104]

Harder than other games being released at the time. But if you’ree familiar with NES games, they’ll shit over any difficultly the souls games.

[@MattackGaming]

@ I'm not. What games on NES would you say are harder?

[@spelv1104]

@ Games like Ninja gaiden 3, Holy diver, Battletoads are utterly brutal. Zelda 2 and Ghosts n Goblins are honorable mentions. Don’t get the wrong message though, i’m glad that we’re in an era of difficult yet beatable, not “Is this humanly possible?” So many times where I felt I wasted money because I couldn’t beat a game…

[@logandishner3194]

Bloodborne was the very first game i beat out of the souls games and I beat it 4 more times to platinum it

[@MattackGaming]

Where would you rank it?

[@StudioSynth-sr6qs]

I think Dark Souls 3 is definitely the most “Approachable” game for new players who wanna get into the franchise. Wouldn’t go as far as to call it the EASIEST in the franchise but I definitely think it’s the most serene to get into. It has your bare bones dark souls formula, where you hack and slash, and roll to dodge enemy attacks, other than that I think it’s the most fair game out of the franchise. None of the bosses really have bullsh** crap gimmicks and they all feel so fair and responsive to fight, and the bonfire placements are also great, and the Runbacks aren’t as short as Elden rings or Sekiro’s, but they’re not atrocious like in Demons souls and DS1 & 2. The bosses’ attacks are also super readable, and can be mastered by just about any player who’s willing to put in the effort. Overall just the “definitive” souls experience imo.

[@MattackGaming]

I agree with a lot of that! I love DS3 and I think aside from DS it's the best place to start. But some of the bosses will be pretty big road blocks like Pontiff and the Abyss Watchers

[@giuliar2539]

I struggled more with dark souls 3 rather than ds1....i got stuck on some bosses for hours and even stopped playing quite a few

[@MattackGaming]

Interesting. What bosses did you get stuck on?

[@giuliar2539]

@MattackGaming well the abyss watchers was my first big obstacle. I'm not sure if it was because I was doing the whole DS3 run on Dex instead of strength (usually I go for strength builds). Then other big stop was the lothric prince the second phase killed me every time. All the dlc bosses I found them very challenging, was only able to beat sister friede after quite a lot of attempts

[@MattackGaming]

@@giuliar2539 Yeah, the difficulty of DS3 is higher if you include the DLC's. I usually run strength too. Switching to DEX may have have been part of it.

[@segers97]

Elden ring is the only souls game i ever played and damn for a beginner it was really hard. I completed 4 legacy dungeons and alot of mini dungeons. Near the end of the game i just got tired of dieing al the time and didn't finish the game. I honestly don't think i will ever play another souls game because for me it's just too difficult. It's a shame really because apart from the difficulty it's an amazing game. I hope that future souls games get a difficulty option.

[@MattackGaming]

It can be hard to learn. But if you run the right build, the games become much easier. Elden Ring kinda has difficulty option they are just hidden in the game mechanics.

[@segers97]

@@MattackGaming I had a strength build with a little bit of faith. I mainly used melee combat with a little bit of magic but not alot. I think it would probably be easier with a different build with more magic involved so you can attack your enemy from a distance.

[@MattackGaming]

@@segers97 Typically the easiest builds are either sword or spear with greatshield or a caster.

[@segers97]

@ Thx for giving your opinion. Maybe i try that sometime.

[@jayrmazing019]

How about Nioh?

[@MattackGaming]

I love Nioh! But technically it is a soulslike not a soulsborne game. Soulsborne games are made by Fromsoftware and they are in their own class because they are what soulslike games are based off of.

[@IndoRex40629]

For me (at least thus far beating gywn about 20 min ago), I think dark souls 1 is one of the best games made, but fairly easy. The only boss i really struggled on was ornstien and smough, and maybe gywn for a bit, every single other boss I first tried. I’m not sure why but it was abnormally easy for me (and scorpius if u remember him). Sekiro is just plain hard and u can’t change it, Elden ring you can make it the hardest or easiest game of the bunch. Dark souls 3 is a nice middle ground, has some easy bosses REALLY hard bosses but also not too flashy like Elden ring. Final ranking (for now) is: sekiro>elden ring>dark souls 3> dark souls 1. (May have a bit of bias towards Elden ring cuz first souls game🤣) (also keep in mind im ranking all games with dlc, with dark souls 3 all four bosses taking me about 3 hours weirdly)

[@MattackGaming]

Congrats on Gwyn! DS1’s bosses aren’t the main problem. It’s getting through the areas while dealing with the jank. But is your ranking based on your favorites or the difficulty?

[@IndoRex40629]

@ I was ranking them on difficulty, my favorite ranking is: dark souls 3> Elden ring > sekiro > dark souls 1

[@MattackGaming]

@@IndoRex40629 Dark Souls 3 at the top makes me happy. My first love lol

[@IndoRex40629]

@ yessir haha, I would have ranked dark souls 1 higher but everything else is just better and there’s no place for it

[@MattackGaming]

@@IndoRex40629 Yeah. DS1's main problem is just it's age. A lot of the other games are just so much smoother.

[@Sargatas]

Sekiro isn't related to other souls games anyhow. You can be good at parry games in general and Sekiro will be pretty easy because it has very forgivable parries. Also completing this game won't help you at all in other games because you still will have 0 clue about how stats and builds work, how weapon classes work, dodge/strafe things etc.

[@TheCanadianFrog]

Nicely done bro 👌🐸

[@MattackGaming]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it

[@King_Brentx]

Hardest part about Elden Ring is gravity

[@MattackGaming]

What do you mean?

[@King_Brentx]

@MattackGaming I feel like I'm constantly falling to my death lol

[@MattackGaming]

@@King_Brentx lol you think that's bad, try Dark Souls lol

[@talhaayaz3456]

Completely disagree. Sekiro, DS1, DeS and elden ring are much harder than Bloodborne and DS2. DS3 is placed correctly tho

[@MattackGaming]

Well at least I got one right😂 You don’t think the jank and design changes of DS2 make it one of the hardest??

[@ChrisOliver4307]

Sekiro is way harder than Bloodborne. I finished Bloodborne, rage quit Sekiro

[@MattackGaming]

That's surprising. The Bloodborne seemed way tough for me than Sekiro's did.

[@Flashandrevan]

My ranking 1.Elden ring -my first Game 2.Dark souls 2 3.Dark souls 3 4.Sekiro 5.Dark souls1 6.Demon souls 7.The easiest Bloodborne -i dont know but every boss fall with 10 attemps or lower

[@MattackGaming]

Dark Souls 3 in the 3rd spot? What about that was so hard?

[@Flashandrevan]

@ imo Elden ring was a horror , i die like a 300 times on malenia , dark souls 3 on 3 spot Because the rest of the Game i beat with lower than 25 attemps on one boss , the hardest on the ds 3 was friede , gael , midir - 64,21 and 11 attemps .Really that was not hard but other games are just easy

[@MattackGaming]

​@@Flashandrevan Elden Ring for me was pretty easy my first time because I played a caster. Elden Ring is sort of the hardest and one of the easiest at the same time. Depends on how you play it.

[@TyBayagaAgain]

Armored core 6 bros 😥

[@MattackGaming]

I LOVE Armored Core! One of my favorite franchises of all time and 6 was the best one yet! But it’s not a Souls game. Which is why I didn’t include it on this list.

[@TyBayagaAgain]

@MattackGaming ya I get that always left out. I quit to play ds3 but I'm gonna go back

[@MattackGaming]

@@TyBayagaAgain how far did you get?

[@TyBayagaAgain]

@MattackGaming I got to the mission your doing recon and shield enemy and others spawn while your in like a pit. I couldn't figure out how to get high enough to kill the other mechs before fighting the shield mech. Didn't get very far only like 2hrs

[@Killu-e9n]

Xd how ds1 and ds2 with their slow mo bosses are higher than ds3 and elden ring ? Some mobs in elden ring are harder than ds1 and ds2 bosses

[@MattackGaming]

Cause the Jankiness of DS1 and DS2 makes even the slow bosses hard. Elden Ring and DS3 are so smooth that it offsets the faster bosses.

[@grandoldone2552]

@@Killu-e9n Ds3: a million hits times zero damage equals zero damage. Ds2: 2 hits times 50% of your hp = death

[@Killu-e9n]

@@MattackGaming lol ds1 has literally afk bosses even with slow movement 90% of ds1 bosses are 1-2 try, ds2 little bit harder but overall ds3 and elden ring bosses are 5x times harder because you need to actually remember patterns of boss, you cant kill them without brain like in ds1

[@Killu-e9n]

@@grandoldone2552 maybe cuz you need to wear armour and also you can upgrade it 😰

[@grandoldone2552]

@@Killu-e9n In Ds3, you don't need to remember anything because the bosses don't do enough damage to kill you with 1 combo.

[@griffindavis1920]

I don’t see bloodborne as the hardest I found it kinda easier

[@MattackGaming]

More people than I thought seem to be saying the same.

[@griffindavis1920]

@ oh

[@grandoldone2552]

Ds3 should be at the bottom along with Elden Ring.

[@grandoldone2552]

Oh, it kinda was. W ranking, bro.

[@MattackGaming]

lol thanks bro!

[@frank-ug8xw]

I actually found bloodborne easier than elden ring and dark souls 3

[@MattackGaming]

Really? There have been a lot more people than I thought saying that.

[@Exotic89292]

Demon souls is peak

[@MattackGaming]

Agreed!

[@spelv1104]

Ds2 apologists unite!

[@MattackGaming]

If we stick together, one day DS2 will get the respect it deserves lol

[@spelv1104]

@ Growing up on wii shovelware will show you what bad gaming truly is.

[@Grapelordz]

I actually found Sekiro kind of easy. After being taught how to play by the false corrupted monk, genichiro was easy (3 tries), lady butterfly one try and every other boss wasn’t too bad. I also breezed through Bloodborne to the point where I was shocked I was seeing end credits, like I didn’t even know I completed the game. I think i rate these two like this because I find the deflection mechanic in sekiro easier than dodging and in Bloodborne, your dodging is faster than others. Idk though. I’ve only been playing fromsoft games for a year now, sekiro during last January to March, Elden Ring during the summer, Bloodborne in like 2-3 days in December and I Haven’t quite completed DS3 yet but besides Aldrich and Pontif so far, every thing else has been easy

[@MattackGaming]

Sometimes people with good timing are able to breeze through those games because if you can hit things right, you destroy everything. Idk, for me Sekiro and Bloodborne seemed like the hardest to learn.

[@Killu-e9n]

Kidna the worst tier list of souls games ever

[@MattackGaming]

The worst ever? Dang 😂 I'm curious though, just cause I like feedback, was it the quality of the video? or the order of the games that you didn't like?

[@Killu-e9n]

@MattackGaming the worst tier list not the worst video

[@AkiyamerGaming]

kidna

[@Ss-nj2tj]

My guy thats bullshit.respectfully

[@MattackGaming]

At least it was respectfully 😂