is this more difficult than DK1?

Maybe it is just me imagining it, but i feel like the game may be even more difficult that DK1, now dont get me wrong ive played through 1 and 2 but 3 feels harder, and not for the right reasons

It feels like you get less souls from random mobs around the world, it seriously feels like everything drops maybe 20 souls. On top of that if your not careful a normal mob can kill you with a flurry attack. It also feels like poise is ALOT harder to come by in this.

With that i would like to say any deaths do feel like my fault, no mob or boss as a bullshit move or tactic, well maybe that undead king guy but thats cause i cant judge how far the smoke is, So every death feels more like my fault and not the game cheating it from me.

Back to ranting, it feels like shields are so much less useless in this game than before, sure it can block a few hits , but if you get caught in a bad situation, a shield wont do much. It almost feels a bit less extreme than bloodborne but still fairing closer to that than Dark souls 1.

What do you guys think? think this game is harder? do you think shields arent as effective as they used to be? do you even use a shield or do you just roll?

Id like to point out my normal builds was the super tank, and normally id be able to get a good weapon and armor relatively easily. most times it would end with havel's because its got some of the best prot in the game