FromSoftware Games With The Steepest Learning Curves, Ranked

FromSoftware is known for creating some of the most compelling and interesting titles in the entirety of gaming, ushering in their own subgenre for the brutal difficulty and game design that fans have come to adore over the past decade. With a few exceptions, FromSoftware has become synonymous with Soulslikes, pumping out game of the year after game of the year and redefining what a good game is supposed to look and feel like.

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Much of their legacy is built on the back of difficulty, and there has been a fair amount of controversy and criticism regarding the entry requirements to some of their more grueling titles. With each new entry into the catalog comes a new set of challenges and tools that need to be learned and mastered in order to succeed in their respective worlds, and it is hard not to draw comparisons between the previous games and make statements regarding which is the hardest and which is the best starting point. This list will explore which FromSoftware games have the hardest learning curve, offering up the most prohibitive experience to new players — regardless of their overall quality.

9

Armored Core 6: Fires Of Rubicon

Cinematic Sequences Minus The Insane Difficulty

Armored Core 6: Fires Of Rubicon is the latest Armored Core game and a nice return for any fans of the series, marking a perfect introduction to the franchise for new players. While many of FromSoftware’s games might be associated with grueling fantasy combat against mythical beasts, the mech-on-mech combat found in Armored Core is a stark contrast in terms of gameplay and difficulty, presenting its own unique set of challenges that are rarely found in the developer’s other games.

The biggest learning curve is related to movement, where players have to learn to traverse across many surfaces at high speed and leap into the air to avoid oncoming attacks, all while raining down hellfire from the various weapons that can be attached to each mech. While it can feel like a strong departure from other shooter titles, the gameplay itself isn’t too hard to understand and come to grips with, and it is certainly a much less stressful and intensive experience when compared to some of FromSoftware’s other titles.

8

Demon’s Souls

A Different Feeling But Not Too Complex

The one that started it all. Demon’s Souls is where FromSoftware began their Soulslike journey and where their signature gameplay started to take root in the public consciousness. With a PS5 remake, many more players were introduced to the title that had long been overshadowed by the successes of its successors, and with an updated engine, graphics, and gameplay feel, it is much easier to compare the more modern titles with one another.

In terms of gameplay, everything is toned down significantly. There isn’t the fast, aggressive gameplay of Bloodborne or the giant epic battles found in Elden Ring, but it still has plenty of that Soulslike flair that players have come to expect from the developers. Featuring more segmented levels but with incredible interconnectivity within each biome, Demon’s Souls put a stronger emphasis on its world design and spectacle, rather than combat complexity — its creative bosses utilized movesets that, while compelling, were certainly less diverse and frenetic compared to the later titles in the series.

7

King’s Field

Ahead Of Its Time

King’s Field

Systems

Released

December 16, 1994

ESRB

Teen // Animated Violence

A forgotten gem that is often overshadowed by the rest of FromSoftware’s successes, the King’s Field series dates all the way back to the ’90s, and the gameplay definitely reflects that. The original game contains a lot of the DNA that would be used later to start off the Dark Souls era, such as slow, calculated attacks and a grim, bleak atmosphere that exudes just as much horror as it does mystery.

While the demands on the player are not nearly as high when compared to the later titles, the main difficulty curve is understanding how attacking functions, as each swing is slow and takes a while to recharge, leaving the player vulnerable to attacks from the array of undead enemies lurking nearby. Also, the dated nature of the games means that modern game mechanics and expectations just don’t exist, meaning that new players will have to spend plenty of time adjusting to the slower speed and more punishing mistakes. It has nothing on some of the more brutal games found in the modern gaming landscape, but it still holds up to an extent in terms of difficulty and early game struggles.

6

Dark Souls 3

Going Back To Basics

Dark Souls 3 took everything that worked and didn’t work in the previous games and piled it into the most complete Souls experience that anyone could have hoped for. Amazing weapon variety, gorgeous scenery, and boss fights that are remembered for years after they fall — it really succeeds at everything and goes above and beyond even that. In terms of difficulty, it has a much fairer curve than some of the later games, ramping up over time and not overwhelming the player with complex mechanics and movesets.

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The game does boast some of the hardest bosses in the entire series, but those are tucked away toward the end of the game and in the DLCs, so the player doesn’t have to worry about hitting a roadblock early on and can instead enjoy exploring the world and fighting through the wide variety of enemies that cross their path. It is quite the jump from something like Demon’s Souls, as boss attacks are faster and more complex, featuring more on-screen extravagance that needs to be avoided, but rolling is a player’s best friend and works well enough to get them through the entire game.

5

Elden Ring

Overwhelming And With A Lot To Learn

The new gold standard for Soulslikes and even open-world games, Elden Ring accomplished so many things that few thought possible and is one of the few games out there that can truly be classed as era-defining. The game is effectively a boiling pot full of every FromSoftware game, having fast attacks, giant bosses, sprawling dungeons, and more, letting the player take on any role they choose to battle across the endless array of enemies, playthrough after playthrough.

While it is true that there is a certain degree of challenge found in the game, the biggest deal-breaker is the expansiveness of the map with little direction (apart from the guidance of Grace). Players may be used to objective markers or way points, or more linear levels, and without those existing, it can be daunting to venture out into an unknown world full of danger and evil. Part of what makes the game much easier to jump into for the first time is the lack of limits on playstyle and approach. With a wide array of weapons, armor, gear, and spells available, build options feel near limitless, which can greatly affect the difficulty of any given challenge.

4

Dark Souls

Punishing At Its Worst, Exhilarating At Its Best

A masterpiece that began an even more masterful trilogy, Dark Souls gives the players nothing and expects so much, not holding back on the difficulty even right at the start — and doing so unapologetically, even titling the DLC bundle as the Prepare To Die Edition. FromSoftware was well aware of the difficulty, but their design process keeps things feeling hard, yet fair. One of the hardest aspects of the original Dark Souls is the lack of fast travel early on, which makes traversing the areas particularly grueling, as one wrong step could set the player back significantly.

Even Soulslike veterans with a long list of accomplishments struggle to adjust to the older, more clunky style, as there is less reliance on dodge-spamming and a bigger emphasis placed on more calculated and patient moves to help deal with the countless iconic bosses found throughout the world. It won’t push gamers to their limit physically, but it still demands a good amount of learning to get used to how it feels and plays — especially if the player is used to a faster, more responsive combat system.

3

Dark Souls 2

Sometimes Hard To Comprehend

Love it or hate it, it can’t be denied that Dark Souls 2 is an important pillar in the FromSoftware catalog and stands as one of the hardest for reasons more than just required skill. For one, the game introduces an adaptability mechanics, which serves as a modifier to aid in speeding up certain actions like drinking and rolling. If the player is unaware of this, they can be in for a rough time as those simple actions that are used in almost every fight will feel sluggish and even tedious, bringing frustration and more than a few deaths.

The map itself is laid out in a rather curious way as well, with multiple paths being open at once, which makes deciding on the ‘right’ route incredibly difficult when compared to the more linear maps seen elsewhere. And, of course, there is the endless list of poor enemy placements, areas that belong in a nightmare, and boss run-backs that have surely broken more than a few controllers. The gameplay itself may be slightly harder than the original, but the entire experience feels significantly harder and downright awful at times due to some design choices.

2

Bloodborne

No Margin For Error

Widely revered as one of — if not the best — FromSoftware game, Bloodborne shifts gear into a completely different realm and adopts many of the features from the previous titles, while injecting an insane level of difficulty that is hard to match even today. For one, the lack of refillable heals might come as quite a shock for new players, as it may be rather daunting to go out into the streets of Yharnham and hunt for precious Blood Vials, while still grappling with the core gameplay mechanics.

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Other key aspects are the rally system, which encourages aggression in the face of absolute nightmares, and the parry mechanic, which requires precise timing and can make certain bosses nearly impossible if it is not used correctly. The initial hurdle of the opening streets of Yharnam, along with the first few bosses, makes for a grueling, visceral challenge that can put a stop to many players’ adventures before they have even begun. And even when the player has a nice stock of vials on hand, the gameplay itself is incredibly punishing and challenging, demanding a lot of focus and aggression, which is rarely found in the other titles.

1

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Learn To Deflect Or Get Used To Dying

The hardest and steepest curve that FromSoftware has ever made — and probably ever will — make is Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. It doesn’t take long into a playthrough to realize that there is something different about this game, and the usual techniques and traditional mechanics from the other Soulsborne games aren’t helpful here and might even cause more failures than successes.

If Bloodborne was challenging because of a timing-based parry mechanic, then a game where combat completely revolves around aggressive and rhythmic parrying is going to be one of the toughest gaming challenges that any player will ever face. It is pretty much a learn-or-die situation, and the game doesn’t typically start to click until pretty far in, requiring new techniques and new attack patterns to be learned, with each mistake normally spelling instant defeat. It is a phenomenal game, but at the same time, it is one of the most difficult and obscenely hard challenges for anyone to tackle for the first time.

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