Souls-like Games Rated Easiest to Hardest
The Dark Souls series is famous for its hellishly high difficulty, which requires, above all, patience. Games inspired by Dark Souls are trying to emulate that, with various results. Here's our list rating souls-like games from easiest to hardest.
4. Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin
- Release date: April 2, 2015
- Platforms: PS3, X360, PS4, PC, XOne
- Developer: FromSoftware
- Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Dark Souls 2 is the most polarizing installment in the entire trilogy. I actually like this part of the series, but much of the criticism is not without merit. However, for the comparison, I didn't choose the original version but the complete edition, which was released on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Why? Well, someone decided that the difficulty level is best raised by adding in random spots much stronger opponents than normally. The dragon in the Heide Flame Tower became a monument of this foolhardy design decision. On the one hand, I understand the desire to surprise players, but that wasn't the way. Stronger enemies, combined with the increased trigger range, often forced the player to run away rather than face the challenge.
3. Nioh 2
- Release date: March 13, 2020
- Platforms: PS4, PC, PS5
- Developer: Team Ninja
- Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Perhaps not everyone will agree with my choice, but overall, I considerNioh 2 to be a slightly more difficult title than the first installment. The game expanded the combat system with the so-called Burst Counter, allowing you to counter normally unblockable attacks, but learning to use this mechanic efficiently is not as easy as it seems. Opponents were created with the idea of taking advantage of this move, so not mastering it automatically increases the challenge.
Team Ninja ensured that they removed several elements from the game that allowed for significant gameplay simplification in the first installment. The community was most nettled by the optional removal of leveling up our spiritual companion, which in the predecessor allowed you to become virtually immortal. In NiOh 2, we have to work a lot harder.
