Demon Souls vs Dark Souls: Which is the More Hardcore Title?

It’s no secret that Mike is a massive fan of the Souls series. From it’s intense boss battles, to its intriguing lore, From Software has definitely made a name for themselves over the past few years. As the first entry into the series, Demon Souls set the framework for the following games, along with a difficulty that quickly became standard.

[nucky64]

I think it comes down to which one did you play first. I started with demon souls - and consequently, I found dark souls to be easier. I'm sure those who played dark souls first or don't have a ps3 and can't play demon souls would say dark souls was harder.

[ArchangelMike]

Demon's Souls is the most Hardcore title between the two.

[Jughead3416]

Bloodborne focused on capturing the atmosphere that Demon's Souls had. Not Dark Souls. Dark Souls was great, but Demon's Souls had a certain feel to it. Definitely think this was the most hardcore. No checkpoints. Tougher bosses. Got a more dreadful feeling from being in that game world. Especially "The Valley of Defilement." What a horrific place.

[TheRedButterfly]

@1.1

I have to disagree with you. From Soft took everything they learned with Demon's Souls and put it in to Dark Souls. Level design, enemy design, inventory management ... Really just about everything.

By the time I unlocked "The Dark Soul" achievement, I knew that game like the back of my hand, but it could still kick my ass. (NG+++ will do that to you)

But by the time I had finished Demon's Souls, my each of my inventory slots that held any sort of grass was maxed out... I, essentially, had unlimited health regeneration - where as with Dark Souls you were limited to Estus and Miracles.

Plus the single massive world (instead of several mini-worlds) was just a better design IMO. It made for much better exploration and much better "story" progression. Plus going back to the Demon's Souls hub-world gave you everything you needed all in one place, which was much, much easier. (Too easy IMO.)

Edit: Yes, disagree with me instead of providing a counter response. Proves you sure have a lot of reasoning to back up your opinion.

[breakpad]

Demon souls by far...is not only the Hardest, has also and the most hardcore RPG elements

[nix]

Demon's Souls was the first. We all learnt the hard way. I really can't believe i finished that game. I don't think i can play that game again.

I bought Dark Souls and didn't open the seal for like 4 months. I was that scared to go back again to that world.

I haven't finished either Dark Souls or Dark Souls 2 because somewhere i got lost. I'll get back to DS2 because I'm closer towards the end plus i like the fact that if you kill enemies multiple times they disappear. I like doing ethnic cleansing, it's like getting rid of all the evil.

I'm also close to finishing Bloodborne. I just have to fight the first hunter now. I got those three umbilical cords too. Right now i just want to go around the places i missed out.

From my experience, it's clearly Demon's Souls because Dark Souls didn't have that aura to make me finish the game. I felt like it was just dragging on. I didn't feel that in Demon's Souls. I think it took me 3 months to finish that game but i finished it. I don't feel like finishing DS or DS2.

[Hellsvacancy]

Demon's Souls had no checkpoints or bonfires, that alone gimped the difficulty in Dark Souls, I very much enjoyed Dark Souls but it was easier than Demon's Souls

I did love the Painted World Of Ariamis in Dark Souls

[Baka-akaB]

I think that the bonfire alone makes Dark souls a bit easier . While having limitations like respawns , resting at a Bonfire will replenish stocks , cure poison and diseases , warp you around ..

It basically cut the path short after failing to clear entirely a section or a boss compared to Demon's Souls , where you restart the whole section .

And the Pure Black World Tendency events were something epic

[goldwyncq]

I played demon's first and found dark souls harder.

[RedDevils]

You're the first

[Xer0_SiN]

demons souls without a shadow of a doubt. those who said dark souls either never experienced demons souls at their peak, played demons souls but played it offline, or watched a play through of demons souls on youtube.

[oasdada]

After playing all of them.. demon souls was the most hardcore and the best souls game imo.. world tendancy, bossess, weapon/shield upgrades, every thing was amazong.. plus it had the the most smallest patch

[nucky64]

I agree! I was just presenting what appears to be the way people decide on which was more difficult - other than dark souls being a "first experience", i don't know why anyone would think it was harder. it certainly was a challenge, but demon souls was definitely harder. remember that stretch leading up to and after adjudicator in shrine of storms?? on a first time play-through, that is some hardcore stuff!..... oh, heck, just about every area had those long, lonely (and deadly)stretches - and no hand-holding bonfires to help you in demon souls.

[OmegaShen]

When a boss forces you into pvp, you know the game is hardcore.

[Germany7]

Exactly. Demon's Souls it's more challenging, both games are great, but Demon's it's better.

[VileAndVicious]

Demon Souls...hands down

[_-EDMIX-_]

Watching anyone play that game is even painful. Its such a hard title.

[Rookie_Monster]

Both of those titles pale in comparison to the classic hardcore game 'Super Ghouls n' Ghosts"

But between the 2, I have to give it to Dark souls.

[starchild]

Yeah, that game was brutal.

The original Ninja Gaiden games were also pretty difficult, but I beat all three of them. I beat Battletoads as well and that was notoriously difficult.

[Summons75]

Demon's Souls hands down. Though both games are amazing. Also you spelt Demon's Souls wrong in the title. It has a 's on Demon.

[WildArmed]

I've always thought that Demons' Souls would have made more sense.

[Baka-akaB]

The original title seems fine to me . The game is clearly centered around one peculiar and particular main demon gathering souls . It could also be coy and refer to the player, collecting more and more souls along their quest

[Summons75]

The literal title of the game is "Demon's Souls" not Demon Souls...that's wrong.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/w...

[Baka-akaB]

Wich is why i'm saying that it's about one major demon , the Old One gathering souls , rather than the souls of multiple demons . I was talking about the original title of the game , not the way it's spelt in the article

[WildArmed]

The one with "Souls" in it!

[goldwyncq]

Dark Souls for me. In Demon's, most of the difficulty lies in actually getting to the boss. Most of the boss fights aren't terribly hard save for two. Not to mention that you're allowed to pile up on healing herbs, and acquiring herbs in the latter half of the game is extremely easy. Dark Souls has bonfires, but you've got limited flasks throughout and you can't teleport back into earlier areas until much later, which makes level grinding a bit of a pain in the process. Also, the boss fights are much more challenging, at least for me.

[Baka-akaB]

I can understand that kind of argument ... but some of use would argue that part of the difficulty for all of those titles is more about getting to the bosses than the bosses themselves (in most cases with quite a few "rest" bosses after a particular hard one) .

If you find patterns to destroy the boss, it’s not that hard. It’s how you get to the boss that makes this a difficult game . Something that remains true for all Souls/Borne game so far

So it would seem to us that the games making it easier to access them would globally be easier .

And again world tendencies and the black phantom added to the difficulty , and werent exactly reproduced in all following games

[goldwyncq]

It's not like getting to the bosses in Dark Souls is a walk in the park either. There were plenty of areas where I struggled a lot to even reach the boss. Just to name a few of them - The Lower Undead Burg, Blighttown, Sen's Fortress, Anor Londo (those damn archers!), Catacombs, and Tomb of the giants.

[Baka-akaB]

Sure , but it's generally easier once you got that kind checkpoint system , even with huge limitations . Well that's how i felt .

Since people mentions it , imagine the Valley of Defilement with that kind of "help" , and with still no world tendencies effect .

There is only two aspects where i'd truly judge Demon's easier ... it's when people use magic builds . Then again magic was a problem that was nerfed in each games and neutered in Bloodborne ...
And then the presence of invincibility frames for the parries and backstab

[Insomnia_84]

Demon Souls hands down!! I bought Dark Souls right after I finished Demon Souls and I didn't even finish it. I just didn't get into it for some reason. Then came Bloodborne and I had the same feeling feeling as I did with Demons the first time.

[DVAcme]

I consider Dark Souls a refinement of Demon's Souls' mechanics, and I generally like it better, but Demon's Souls is WAY more hardcore. No area in Dark Souls comes anywhere near the suck of the Valley of Defilement, and no area is as ingrained in players' memories like the Tower of Latria.

Edit: Plus, Dark Souls gives is the mercy of not throwing on us a boss that can SUCK AWAY LEVELS.

[ziggurcat]

The false king... So much hate.

[Der_Kommandant]

False King, Flamelurker and Maneater say Demon's Souls.

[goldwyncq]

Ornstein and Smough says otherwise.

[WelkinCole]

Freaking man eater man. You thought you were done with him after a very intense fight then hell. I was literally swearing non stop.

[bloodybutcher]

Freakin Flamelurker...had to use ''stuck in environment'' glitch on him, couldn't defeat him otherwise.

[TheSaint]

Me either, to my eternal shame.

[Der_Kommandant]

Oh man... the pain, the memories, the goosebumps.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[AlokTheDemon]

demon soul :-(

[Drakul]

demon' s....

[St0rm_Cr0w]

I have to admit, being able to say that I've finished every Souls game with squishy pure mages is my proudest achievement as a gamer.

[Tex117]

Dude, they may be squishy, but in all of the Souls games, they will DESTROY bosses to the point of it being laughable.

I think playing a pure melee build is tougher for the Souls games, but perhaps its just not my playstyle.

[St0rm_Cr0w]

True, they may be glass but they're still cannons.

[Tex117]

I too think Demon's is the more "Hardcore" (that is not necessarily better) of the Souls games.

Most things on your stat screen were just symbols. The levels, IMO, were much harder if only for the fact that you really did have to repeat the entire thing upon death. The shortcut often came at the very end of the level linking you to the boss...But again...Not always. Getting back to the bosses were often brutal. Some bosses were still some of the hardest in the series. Flamelurker, Maneater, False King, were are still some of the series hardest.

Demon's Souls is still the "center" of Miyazaki's (and Souls).

It was obtuse, plenty of stats, and confusing weapon upgrades. However combat with the fast roll (and there were only two), was fairly quick. Armor couldn't be upgraded.

Dark Souls was a step in the RPG direction of things. More stats, the levels wrapped around in amazing ways. More weapons, more upgrades, upgraded armor.

Dark Souls 2 was a further step in the RPG direction...and one could argue in waivered slightly under its own weight. Many stats, many playstyles...just more of everything.

From Demon's, Bloodborne took a step towards the action part of things. Streamlined stats and playstyles...Armor plays less of a critical role. Shorter than the others.

ALl that being said, there is a certain love affair (and usually viewed the hardest) with the first one you play. Mine was Demon's so I will usually defer to that.

Regardless, Demon's Souls, Dark Souls and Bloodborne are masterpieces of gaming. Reasonable debate could be had of why one is better than another. Even Dark Souls 2 is a great game (but is just not quite the masterpiece of the others). FromSoftware back in 2009 reminded me why I still continue to pick up a controller. And as long as they are making these types of games, I will be buying them day 1.

[Gamesgbkiller]

Demon for sure.

I played a lot of Demon souls and it got easier for me each time I complete the game.

DS1 is still harder in term of difficulty. Maybe I need to play it more in order to compere it fairly.

[Maxor]

DS 2 Scholar of the 1st Sin is hard as hell. Bloodborne felt easy compared to this.

[linkenski]

If you play without shields in DS2, for sure... but personally I found Bloodborne to be really hard and then I just ploughed through DS2 Scholar of The First Sin, but I had already played DS2 before, so maybe that's why, lol.

[Gamesgbkiller]

I bet they just add more NPC's randomly to make it harder.

[linkenski]

Personally I just find Demon's Souls to have a more uneven difficulty curve and some really unfair moments, but it redeems itself in other areas. I think Dark and Demon's are kind of hard to compare though because I like both a lot.

[starcatcher]

Something about Dark souls was harder than demon souls. I think
it was the limited healing flasks.
Bloodbourne (regular) is too easy once you over level. Dark souls,
no matter how much you leveled, it could still kick your ass
if you weren't careful. Not sure about dark souls 2. Haven't
played yet.

[thricetold]

Demon's souls all the way. Dark doesn't even compare for me. Dark souls fans also ruined the souls community.