it's difficult for the sake of being difficult
also masochism is a thing
See there's the thing though, Dark Souls isn't even difficult to learn.
I finished Dark Souls in less than a week(not 100%, just mandatory bosses), it took me longer to master the rope well enough to finish just basic training, and takes much, much longer to compete at the top level in any roping scheme. Granted, I sit and played games for like 10 hours a day every day back then lol.
And that's just Ninja Rope... All the different schemes, weapons, maps and combinations of all these would take way, way longer to master than all the Dark Souls games combined, i'd bet my life on that.
Dark Souls is for sure more challenging than the average game to memorize the patterns, because that's all it is, patterns and beautiful visuals with amazing sound. Speed runs are brilliant to watch that's where the real skill is in my opinion.
I'd say the top level of pretty much any game takes about the same amount of effort from anyone, because they all seem to dedicate the same amount of crazy hours and practise to get there, but that still doesn't make it hard if you are having fun.
My mentality is that nothing in this game or any other game is hard to learn, if you have the passion and the time it will come naturally over time, that doesn't make it hard, it's just time consuming.
Two of my favourite quotes in life:
"If you're not having fun then it's not worth doing"
"If something is 'too hard', then you would rather be doing something else"
Every single scheme in this game is easy to learn if you dedicate enough time and enjoy doing it with a burning passion, not just "Ooo, this is fun", i'm talking about constantly thinking about it night and day, having dreams. Skills will come naturally with time and practise, that's a fact.
All the best players i've ever seen in anything don't just practise, they always raise the bar, look at people like Dario and Mablak and their burning passion/addiction not to mention fascination for the game. They didn't just get good, they took it to the next level, guys like Dario and Mablak spent time learning how the game actually works, they learned the foundations then experimented, tested, memorized and shared that information which in turn made it possible for everyone to get even better.
You don't do that kind of thing if it isn't fun, if it's too hard.
zar, w2, classic roper are all easy very simple to understand and learn, it's a matter of improving your motor skills and cognitive abilities which is a simple matter of practise and time.
If you think either is more difficult then you are simply stroking your own ego.