The Dark Souls games are regarded as some of the most difficult games of the generation. The RPG has gained notoriety for its absence of a difficulty setting and its seemingly unfair gameplay. Many gamers are put off by the stories made by many players unable to progress past a certain point, giving many bosses an unfavorable reputation.
While the game has gained a niche audience, it's gotten more attention over the years as people are discovering that it isn't as frustratingly difficult as many make it out to be. That being said, there are still many moments in the Dark Souls series that can be met with vulgarity from even the calmest of players.
10 Being Cursed Is Expensive (Dark Souls)
Basilisks are first encountered in The Depths in the first Dark Souls and breathe a cloud of gas that inflicts Curse over time. This can be dealt with by simply waiting for the cloud to dissipate or killing the Basilisks before they have the chance to breathe it out. If players do happen to get cursed though, it instantly kills them regardless of their HP.
While that may be par for the course in a Souls game, Curse's residual effect is what makes it so frustrating. It cuts the player's HP in half, as well as disables kindling and becoming human again. The only way to become uncursed is using Purging Stones which are a walk back from The Depths to one of two NPCs for 3,000 or 6,000 souls depending on how far the player wants to extend their walk of shame.
9 The Road Through The Gutter Only Gets Worse (Dark Souls II)
Most DS2 players will remember The Gutter as the pitch-black area with a maze-like structure. The way to progress involves going up and down floors constantly while lighting torches for light. The place is mainly full of hollows but the annoying part of the area are the statues that spit poison. Even when past The Gutter, things only get worse in Black Gulch.
The area is much more linear, but the statues are still around with more enemies. Darksuckers and giant worms block all progression and exploration and to make matters worse, there is a scripted NPC invasion before the next bonfire. The boss of the area is relatively easy, but for players that hate poison, this will cause immense frustration.
8 Everything Is Fast, But The Player is Slow In Farron Keep (Dark Souls III)
As one of the most frustrating areas in DS3, Farron Keep doesn't get any better on subsequent playthroughs. The swamp slowly builds up poison, but it's the slow movement that really starts to be aggravating. Ghrus will attack at normal speed, and for the ones that sprint, they will do a grab attack that does a lot of damage.
Basilisks can be found there as well, with Yellowfinger Heysel invading before meeting them. The area is made a lot easier with Purple Moss Clumps but the only way to get them is either through farming or buying them from the Shrine Maiden after giving her the Paladin's Ashes.
7 Being Staggered To Death Is Exhausting (Dark Souls)
Poise in the first Dark Souls game can make the difference between trading blows with a fast enemy. Unfortunately, there are a few enemies that will look at the poise stat and scoff at it. One such enemy is the Bonewheel Skeleton that will continually spin into the player. Constantly doing damage and staggering the player out of rolling or reacting, it's one of the most frustrating parts within the entire series.
Holding up the shield will deplete the stamina quickly until guard is broken, making this an enemy requiring careful dodging. Avoiding the first attack and leading them into a wall is the best strategy to avoid certain death.
6 Getting Pushed Off The Ledge In Archdragon Peak (Dark Souls III)
After killing the Ancient Wyvern and dealing with the dreaded chain-ax, the next part of Archdragon only gets worse. To start things off, a familiar NPC is spawned to attack the player repeatedly. While this can be skipped, the area before the second Wyvern might have players coming back to the bonfire a few times. On the way to the next bonfire there are Rock Lizards often in the way that, while not dealing much damage, will send players flying.
Their high-impact roll is hard to dodge out of and usually results in being pushed off the edge. Dying over and over by gravity gets old quickly, and even when taking the time to kill a few Rock Lizards, there are still plenty more by every cliff face in the area.
5 Dealing With Ashen Idols Is Tedious (Dark Souls II)
The DLCs of DS2 are all brilliant additions to the game, however, The Iron King DLC has a particularly exasperating mechanic. Smelter Wedges are used to destroy Ashen Idols that give players a fragment of a soul. This wouldn't so bad if it weren't for these Idols also continually healing any surrounding Ashen Warriors.
Fighting them as they continually regain their HP can be tough and the traps and environments in Brume Tower don't help with this. Smelter Wedges have to be found to be able to use, and at the base of the Tower, there are Ashen Idols that will heal the boss as well. If they aren't both dealt with or the player runs out of Smelter Wedges, the fight can turn into an infuriating slog.
4 The Price To Cleanse Sins Can Be Far Too High (All Entries)
Throughout the series, any NPC encountered can be fought and killed, usually dropping any items they have on their person at the time. If the player accidentally hits an NPC, especially early on, they can expect to never go back to that place without drawing aggro from them.
For blacksmiths or the "Teachers" that give spells, this can mean being unable to upgrade or obtain more powerful materials. The way to make peace with them is by resolving sin, which requires traveling to a specific point in each game and spending souls to be cleansed. For the first Dark Souls, the price is 500 times the player's level, which can be quite a lot early on in the game.
3 The Human Effigy Mechanic Is Too Much To Deal With (Dark Souls II)
DS2's enemy placement is probably the most sadistic of the series with how many chokepoints there are in the game. In the game, upon death, humanity is lost which reduces the maximum HP. This is present in both DS3 and Demon's Souls, but in DS2, this effect stacks.
If there are many deaths in a row before using a Human Effigy, the HP can become drastically low, making the game much more difficult as a result. It's similar to how Curse works in DS1 but much worse and much easier to trigger.
2 Laggy Invaders Make PvP Anything But Fun (All Entries)
If players want to play with their friends in some Jolly Cooperation, it requires playing online and becoming susceptible to invasions from other players. The game's PvP community can be anywhere from respectful, greeting players with a bow before combat, to downright cruel, hiding by a cliff and using Force to push them off.
When a fight does occur, however, the invader's connection has a lot to do with just how fair the fight is. Without taking lag switchers into account, there are just some fights from people with low bandwidth that end up directly behind in the blink of an eye. It's worth playing with friends, but it's annoying dealing with rubberbanding backstabbers.
1 Losing A Bloodstain Is Downright Depressing (All Entries)
Everyone has dealt with dying and having to make the long trek back to where they died to retrieve their souls. The road between bonfires can be long and arduous so it's only natural players are going to die by a trap, an enemy, or by gravity. Dying on the way back to that bloodstain is upsetting, especially when it's a large number of souls.
Seeing "You Died" on screen, knowing that thousands of potential levels have gone down the drain only gets worse when it's in a frustrating area or dying by the exact same thing. It's something everyone can relate to, no matter the game, and represents so much time just lost to the ether.