Originally posted by Trainee-Ninja:

to be honest once you've come up against the bosses once and learn them, you realise there are ways to tackle them even in early game gear. Remember the bow is your very best friend and that you can use it to kite enemies or even lure 1 at a time.

The mountains are tougher because the mobs are harder and also because you can get mobbed easily. The swamps are tough because you regen less because you are always damp. But once you figure out the tactics you'll be fine.

I'd want to dispute this. This was the case for the first two bosses, but if just one of the ice-cones that the dragon boss fires (in a rather random pattern) hits you even with high level copper gear, you die. If one blob in the swamp poisons you for any reason, and you don't have poison resistance, you die.

I'm sure it's possible, just like it's possible to finish Dark Souls at soul level 1 (probably), but to me as the game is now it feels like there is a major oversight in the difficulty curve. The game plays smoothly and feels well-designed up until after the second boss, then when you get to the swamp it's just another level of difficulty, and you have to kite enemies for long distances, try to exploit the AI, and so on. It just feels wrong.