It's funny, I totally think the decisions you make about your character early on in either game are going to determine which feels more difficult right up front. They're incredibly different though. Dragon's Dogma almost feels like a version of Dark Souls you'd find in an arcade. It doesn't have that like completely hopeless sense of dread and panic and helplessness at all times, your character is a much more capable asskicker from the get-go (not that there aren't tense and scary moments, especially re: nighttime, but there of course is another big difference from Dark Souls).