Is Elden Ring harder than other soulsborne games?

As a soulslike title by FromSoftware, it is natural that Elden Ring won’t be the easiest of games and would require a fair amount of skill from players. However, how difficult is it compared to other soulsborne titles? Here’s everything you need to know.

The topic of Elden Ring has risen once again in the RPG community as FromSoftware have announced the release date of the much-anticipated Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Now that the expansion is set to release on June 21, many would be looking to get back into the title.

However, any new DLC attracts a large amount of new players as well, and they might not be prepared to face the bosses in Elden Ring.

Here’s how hard Elden Ring is compared to other soulsborne titles.

Elden Ring difficulty explained

Just like any other soulsborne title, Elden Ring is quite difficult and would require players to get used to the punishing mechanics and boss fights to progress forward in the game. From delayed attack wind-ups to massive damage, Elden Ring’s bosses are hardly any less lenient compared to previous titles’ enemies.

Malenia, Blade of Miquella is regarded as the most difficult boss in the game and many players even go as far as counting her in the hardest bosses of all-time list as well. Her fight was nothing short of a massive ordeal for anyone who dared to take her on solo, even co-op for some players.

Aside from Malenia, other difficult boss encounters such as Radahn, Radagon, and the Godskin duo have all been parts of the massive Elden Ring boss lineup, and have proven to be insurmountable walls for some playthroughs as well.

However, the difficulty does not only stop at bosses, as some random enemies and puzzles have all been the cause of thousands of deaths in Elden Ring. You can also add jumping, platforming, and difficult environments (looking at you Lake of Rot and Leyndell Sewers!) to the list of extremely difficult mechanics in the game.

How hard is Elden Ring compared to previous FromSoftware titles?

Even though Elden Ring is quite difficult to begin with, it might not be as difficult as other soulsborne titles by FromSoftware. Elden Ring provides some great mechanics such as Spirit Ashes and parkour that help in many boss fights and in-game encounters.

However, the Dark Souls series and Bloodborne were quite more difficult compared to Elden Ring due to a lack of options in boss fights and extremely dodgy hitboxes. However, it is more or less unanimously agreed in the community that Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is by far the most difficult soulsborne title ever.

Dark Souls, Demon Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring follow a similar pattern of combat and movement, relying heavily on dodging and slowly assessing the opponent’s moveset before attacking. However, Sekiro is the complete opposite of it.

FromSoftware had a completely different approach to Sekiro as the playstyle shifted from slow-paced to extremely fast and parry-based combat. The feeling was so unorthodox that many veteran Dark Souls players had to learn the mechanics from scratch to progress in the game.

Even though players could die twice in Sekiro, the excruciating enemy combos and fast gameplay were a pain for many, which is why the satisfaction after defeating bosses made it worthwhile. No wonder it won the Game of the Year award in 2019!

This was everything you had to know about Elden Ring’s difficulty level compared to previous soulsborne titles. For more on the game, check out our other guides:

Where to find Castle Sol in Elden Ring: Location, items, more | How to get Bloodflame Blade in Elden Ring & best builds | Where to find Somber Smithing Stone 7 in Elden Ring | How to get Bloodhound’s Fang in Elden Ring: Best builds | All Elden Ring achievements & trophies: Hidden, Platinum, more | Elden Ring Blasphemous Blade: How to get and best builds