From Software Is there such a thing as Souls-like?

[Lyric Suite]

By Souls-like i mean something that is actually like Dark Souls and not some 2D pixelated side-scroller that's called Souls-like just because it is teh hard.

Nioh, Lord's of the Fallen, The Surge, and recently Mortal Shell is what i see mentioned. Lord's of the Fallen is actually shit from what i hear but is often mentioned because it is a AAA game or whatever.

Beyond that i have no idea what else is there. And yet, the scene is supposed to be literally drowning in Souls-like games from the way people talk.

Either there's not really that many or most of them are total shit and just not worth mentioning.

 

[TheImplodingVoice]

Hellpoint is literally a sci-fi Dark Souls clone. Haven't played it. But apparently it's pretty decent.

Immortal Unchained is also Souls-like with guns. Unfortunately it's also shit and I wasted money buying it.

 

[fork]

No really good ones, no. But it is draining in shit games trying to cash in/make a quick buck.

If you just want some other mentions of shit games whose devs, fanbois and/or jounos call souls-like, then there's Ashen, Code Vein, Hellpoint and a lot of other shit.

That Iron Pineapple guy on youtube has a whole serious on souls-likes, worth a watch, but there are no good games there.

 

[Falksi]

Lord's of the Fallen is actually shit from what i hear but is often mentioned because it is a AAA game or whatever.

I found Lords of the Fallen great. Fun combat, fantastic armor sets, nice vibe, top blast.

It's defo "Dark Souls-lite" in terms of difficulty, but it still remains enjoyable.

 

[toro]

Salt and Sanctuary

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Salt and Sanctuary

Salt & Sanctuary is a great game, but aside from not using pixel art, Lyric Suite would probably consider it a "2D pixelated side-scroller that's called Souls-like just because it is teh hard", although I think it is legitimately categorized as a 2D version of a Souls-like.

 

[racofer]

Souls-like is the modern equivalent of Diablo-clone.

Several attempts at copying a successful formula, but they all suck compared to the originals.

 

[mogwaimon]

Hollow Knight would be another candidate, in that it retains the hard but fair Souls challenge (up until Godhome anyway) and the story is told through NPCs and cryptic item descriptions more than anything else.

When it comes to 3D games OP pretty much nailed them all as far as I can remember.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Salt and Sanctuary

Salt & Sanctuary is a great game, but aside from not using pixel art, Lyric Suite would probably consider it a "2D pixelated side-scroller that's called Souls-like just because it is teh hard", although I think it is legitimately categorized as a 2D version of a Souls-like.

Look it may be a good game but the cutsey graphics trigger me and a side scroller just isn't what i'm looking for.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Souls-like is the modern equivalent of Diablo-clone.

Several attempts at copying a successful formula, but they all suck compared to the originals.

Seems like it. Not as successful as Doom-clones sadly.

 

[Funkified Chicken]

Yes. Just like you have doom clones, Wizardry clones, etc. As with most clones, the vast majority of them SUCK.

 

[Alphard]

Honestly aside of first Nioh and other games by FRom the only 2 games i found very good were S&S already mentioned (very good) and Hollow Knight (excellent). Both of them are 2d tough and may not fit your criteria, but i'd say give them a shot. HK especially is a fuckin masterpiece and while the main game is not that hard , last bosses are genuinely difficult. Also rewards exploration a lot, an aspect that i find quintessential in a "souls-like"

 

[Jaedar]

The quick answer is yes, obviously. If there is an object "x" there at least in theory exists objects similar enough to be called "x-like".

I think it is a fairly valid cluster too, in that demon/dark souls is an aRPG that has a specific approach to combat (limited by stamina), a specific approach to difficulty (enforced ironman but respawns with zero or temporary penalties) and storytelling (vague background lore leaving players to guess). Soul and sanctuary hit basically all of these points, hollow knight imo misses enough (in particular: it is not an RPG) to not qualify. Hollow knight imo makes way more sense to describe with "metroidvania".

 

[Alphard]

The quick answer is yes, obviously. If there is an object "x" there at least in theory exists objects similar enough to be called "x-like".

I think it is a fairly valid cluster too, in that demon/dark souls is an aRPG that has a specific approach to combat (limited by stamina), a specific approach to difficulty (enforced ironman but respawns with zero or temporary penalties) and storytelling (vague background lore leaving players to guess). Soul and sanctuary hit basically all of these points, hollow knight imo misses enough (in particular: it is not an RPG) to not qualify. Hollow knight imo makes way more sense to describe with "metroidvania".

Yes HK is more a metroidvania but as an avid soul player a enjoyed it almost as first DS because the vast map, the focus on rewarding exploration, the lore explained trough bits of informations here and there, the fluid combat , the challenge, the beautiful graphics. Maybe S&S is more similar to DS , but it is also lower budget and less polished (while still being better than 100 % than AAA trash) than HK. My recommendation to Lyric Suite is to try both since both while not being 100% DS scratch part of that itch and are good games

 

[Nortar]

Lord's of the Fallen is actually shit from what i hear but is often mentioned because it is a AAA game or whatever.

I found Lords of the Fallen great. Fun combat, fantastic armor sets, nice vibe, top blast.

It's defo "Dark Souls-lite" in terms of difficulty, but it still remains enjoyable.

I second this.

I'm not a console peasant, and so it happened that I played Lords of the Fallen before Dark Souls.
It had sparked my interest to the genre, and so I did not understand why DS veterans dissed it.
Now I realize it's mostly due wider market appeal - brighter colors, better looking armor and more coherent (although still shit) story.
But now, after games like Surge and Sekiro, those points are pretty moot.
And other than that, it has as souls-like gameplay as it gets.

 

[Falksi]

Lord's of the Fallen is actually shit from what i hear but is often mentioned because it is a AAA game or whatever.

I found Lords of the Fallen great. Fun combat, fantastic armor sets, nice vibe, top blast.

It's defo "Dark Souls-lite" in terms of difficulty, but it still remains enjoyable.

I second this.

I'm not a console peasant, and so it happened that I played Lords of the Fallen before Dark Souls.
It had sparked my interest to the genre, and so I did not understand why DS veterans dissed it.
Now I realize it's mostly due wider market appeal - brighter colors, better looking armor and more coherent (although still shit) story.
But now, after games like Surge and Sekiro, those points are pretty moot.
And other than that, it has as souls-like gameplay as it gets.

The dislike for it is baffling. All I can think is that the easier difficulty puts off gaming snobs who think being good at DS type games will get them laid.

I'm all about gameplay and fun, but just looking at some of those armour sets and they're probably my fave from any DS style game.........

 

[DJOGamer PT]

The proper term is Severance-like

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Hollow Knight would be another candidate,

I didn't realize all the Metroids, Castlevanias, Batman Arkam Asylum and System Shock 1 were inspired by Dark Souls...

 

[Verylittlefishes]

Hollow Knight is the best of 2D Soulslikes and is actually interesting game (also art style and music are awesome). I would rate it higher than Dark Souls 2 for sure.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

The proper term is Severance-like

Agreed, Severance and Crusaders Of Might & Magic were the most close thing to Souls before Souls.

 

[Alphard]

Hollow Knight would be another candidate,

I didn't realize all the Metroids, Castlevanias, Batman Arkam Asylum and System Shock 1 were inspired by Dark Souls...

HK is a metroidvania but has soul elements as i already mentioned : the most obvious would be your resources ( called geo) spawning where you die with the possibility to lose them if you die before recollecting them. But more importantly the interconnectedness of the map, focus on exploration and combat, the way the lore is presented, the atmosphere of some of the locations,...

 

[DJOGamer PT]

The way Geo and Soul work are literally the only thing that ressemble to DS

But more importantly the interconnectedness of the map, focus on exploration and combat, the way the lore is presented, the atmosphere of some of the locations,...

Yeah, exactely like all those games I mentioned, doesn't make them Souls-like
Shit by those aspects I could even add RE1+2 to the list

 

[Verylittlefishes]

The way Geo and Soul work are literally the only thing that ressemble to DS

Also the lack of infodumps (with hints of lore here and there)

 

[Villagkouras]

Souls-like game with no stamina based combat? Nope.

I'll add Lucah: Born of a Dream in the discussion, I enjoyed this game, although the graphics and plot are very hard to sell.

 

[Lutte]

I'm all about gameplay and fun, but just looking at some of those armour sets and they're probably my fave from any DS style game.........

The presence of very practical, no nonsense armor that doesn't look like WoW pauldron and other disgusting thing is one of the many things that made the souls series unique and its own flavor in the first place so I don't really get your argument here because everything you show looks like gutter trash ultra high fantasy nonsense and I need eye bleach right now.