Apart from the special monsters and some bosses, its not that hard. But it is certainly a lot harder than most other RPG's I've played!

It doesn't hold your hand.

What class did you play with?  Demon's Souls is significantly easier or harder depending on the class you selected.   The game itself I thought was mostly a breeze depending on how itemized you made your character and your class composition.  

However,  it's a throw back game.  You need to block certain attacks or you will die.  You need to roll away.  You will learn through dying. You will die in ways you didn't foresee.  Beyond that though, there isn't much to it.   Oh and NG is really when it gets more difficult too.

The game just felt unique and didn't have you running from set piece to set piece.  It was a calculated, paced, cautious exploration.  This is more challenging for some than others but it sets an atmosphere of suspense constantly.

for me i LOVE exclusive games to the PS3 & i always find them very enjoyable,thats why i bought Demon's souls & also i thought the gameplay was kinda cool & it was my first RPG game & my last!.........it was the first game i bought NEW & sold it a couple of days later coz i was dying like CRAZY which made me so frustrated & i never liked the RPG elements

so safe to say it was VERY HARD for me.

Just wait until you shift to Pure black world Tendency and face some dark Phantoms...

the answers in your question.

its hard because 1) you die a lot and 2) you have to find ways of not dying by running past enemies rather than fighting them.

and you cant just blame dying on underestimating the enemies....that excuse could be used for every game and every enemy.

It's hard because the enemies damage you a lot. Early on the red eye knight and blue eye knight for example, will smash through your shield and damage you even if you block.

Demon's Souls is an extremely hard game by modern standards. By far the hardest game in this generation.

Aside from the black phantom samurai skeleton, the BP Fat Ministers, and that drifter in the swamp @ 5-2, they're not all that tough I say!

And the first is only tough because all the HP he packs. Then again, throw some soul remains and watch him fall off the cliff :P

@slimebeast: If so, then this gen is really pathetic for difficulty. Wake me up when we're in the 16-bit days again.

I've platinumed the game and I don't think it's hard. If you use tactics, think before you act and play smart you should do fine on the game. There are some cheap boss in the game that I found annoying at times. Games nowadays hold your hand and people's are accumstomed to it. I enjoyed playing Demon Souls, can't wait to Dark Souls.

Maybe it's pathetic but it's true. Maybe some arcade games like Icaruga are harder but from the retail games DS is the hardest.