Can't vote because I haven't played it yet, but I'm usually pretty decent at melee games. I didn't find the Dark Souls games to be nearly as impossible as people made them out to be. You just have to have a little patience, study the opponent and not try to get that extra swing in that ends up getting you hit. That's the hardest thing for me. I always think, "Just one more swing, and I'll dodge out of here..." and end up getting plastered.
Actually what was really the hardest thing for me was getting used to a controller, but I've heard the mouse/keyboard controls are serviceable in this one.