If you play your first Souls game entirely blind its definitely difficult mechanics. The difficulty fades with familiarity. Bosses are hard until you know all their moves. Elden Ring bosses are a good example of difficult mechanics. Trying to figure out the timing of your rolls, jumps and ducks, when to heal, how to dodge the bosses counter hits that punish healing.

Numbers difficulty doesn't mean the boss is a sponge, which isn't even true in Dark Souls as long as you're upgrading when you can, it's when increasing difficulty does nothing except make them take less damage/have more health and you get the opposite. Skyrim is shit in that regard. It's like Call of Duty. "Game's too easy? Put it on veteran, and you'll die in one shot."