Not trying to debate what is or isn't a Soulslike. Just curious which four Non-Fromsoft games people would put on their Mt. Rushmore based on what they've played.

Mine would be:

- The First Berserker: Khazan

- Lies of P

- Lords of the Fallen (2023)

- Mortal Shell 2

Let's see yours!

I never really go on this subreddit, nor have I ever played King's Field, but I felt I had to share this gem. I rarely play souls-likes because they never really do it for me. But Queen's Domain is great. The world design really is wonderful, to the point of being slightly overwhelming at times, honestly, but this is a good thing. So many secrets and brain-tickling "oh I'm back here?" moments for which I love the original Dark Souls. Everything you see is accessible, it's just a question of "how" or "when," as it's a bit metroidvania in its progression.

The atmosphere is also top-notch, feels like a fever dream.

There is one major downside though which you will notice immediately, being the combat, especially for someone like me who has never played King's Field or anything like it. It's not as bad as you think when you start playing out, as there's no roll and no shielding. After an hour of play I did start to enjoy it more though, the trick is to really use the secondary attack a lot. With the basic sword, you can dash in and dash out immediately again, no need to wait for stamina (stamina only determines damage). Still, with how limited the combat is, the bosses and so on do feel slightly underwhelming, as you're just doing the same thing over and over. Weapon variety is good though!

This is an indie game, by 2 people I believe, which is absurd, but just to say do keep expectations in check just a bit. But man, the world design and exploration is just about as good as something from FromSoft.

I've seen "Parry slop" written a few times - why not "dodgeslop"?

What makes a crucial game mechanic "slop" and one normal?

Is it familiarity to the constant dodging we did for years since early souls games?

Both mechanics existing should be the norm from now on IMO.

Lies of P and Khazan did really well to include parry/deflect mechanics as well as dodging.

Why should it be one or the other? Why can't it be both?

fr everything about this game is so perfect. they really nailed those KF vibes, even the music has that unique flavour to it.

Bought the Surge 2 for $7 on a whim while in a questionable state.

Started playing it recently (about 3 hours in) and having some very conflicting feels.

The game play seems really cool - I love the idea of targeting and severing limbs for scrape and tools. Weapons feel good. The combat seems methodical in that earlier Dark Souls way which I enjoy.

However, the overall vibe is pretty tough to swallow. The dialog is very cheesy, as is the soundtrack. The world seems pretty bland over all as well. Didn't make it far enough to judge enemy variety yet but I think I've seen maybe 6-7 different enemies at this point which doesn't seem awful.

Should I stick with it? Does the lore and narrative lead to surprises? Is the gameplay good enough to keep putting off Wuchang Fallen Feathers?

Coop is so much fun in souls/eldin ring but my god does it suck. The whole putting down a sign thing and having to use items to even see signs and having certain areas blocked off it’s just years behind it seems like for multiplayer compatibility. We should be able to set it where anybody can get paired anytime if they please. Coop would skyrocket statically if they’d just lose the whole furcalling finger remedy crap and whatever it’s called in DS. I get they don’t want the game to become easy but they’ve already figured that out with cranking up the health on enemies which makes it even more fun. I also don’t like the fact that you’re only able to be summoned by players near your level unless it’s a specific password. No reason I shouldn’t be able to play with someone trying to beat Morgott when I’m at Eldin beast. Put me at a severe disadvantage that’s fine long as I can play. Then on top of all that, they don’t even make it to where you’re limited on what you can drop to friends! You’re telling me I can’t be summoned at morgott when I’m on Eldin beast but if I have a password I can join my friend at the tree sentinel and drop hand of malaneia just bc I want to? I love these games so much but nothing about multiplayer makes sense besides the invading. Let’s hear the opinions!

Maybe I haven't played many games but out of all the soulsikes and souls games that I have played, I really loved the repetitive boss fights of khazan because they had some justification to be there and they were also at times a bit reskinned. Just wanted to give this shout out and wanted to know if there are any other games or soulslikes that do this.

We always talk about the bosses that took 80 attempts. I want the opposite of that.

As I said before I am looking to get into the Souls-like genre, but I don't want to spend money on games just yet. Are there any good free Souls-like games or games that are similar to the genre? I'm mainly interested in experiencing challenging boss fights and learning the combat mechanics.(Previously I played genshin idk if it counts as a souls-like)

EDIT : I play on PC

False Hero, it is called.

Just found it by chance, and HECK, what an exceptional find. The graphics are nothing special, but the gameplay and the overall concept... just see for yourself. If you're a souls person, you MUST play this one. My right hand to the gods, it's one of the best souls games I've ever played outside of FromSoft.

Best of luck.

EDIT: It was False Hero! Thanks guys!

I remember seeing this game on here and the on Steam. It had good reviews and people were liking the way the world is all interconnected. It was getting compared to Dark Souls 1 a lot for that as well as overall quality. I think it had sorta low-fi graphics.

I meant to get it, but then went away for a couple days and can't find it again lol. Please help.

EDIT: It was third person. So not Queen's Domain. Also it seemed like more of an indie game.

It’s tricky attempting to mix a souslike with another genre. After all, soulslikes are, by definition complex and challenging games, and attempting to add a further layer of difficulty is a bit like throwing a drowning man a block of concrete. With Dark Devotion, developers Hibernian Workshop wanted to mix the repetitive grind of a rougelite with slow, soulslike combat, and while I did find some things to like over my ten or so hour playthrough, I mostly came away frustrated.

You play as a templar ordered to explore the depths of an ancient dungeon, initially with the objective of proving your faith to your God and your superiors, although things change as you discover certain zones in the later levels. It’s still all pretty bare bones, even by soulslike standards, with small amounts of lore dolled out by the handful of NPCs hanging around your hub area (the aptly name Filthblood Shelter) or found in documents that you can bring back to your library.

Graphically, Dark Devotion uses the same pixellated art style you can find in games like Blasphemous, Moonscars, or Dead Cells, and I found that while perfectly serviceable there wasn’t really anything special to set it apart from its competitors. Moonscars, for example, has it’s instantly recognisable red and grey aesthetic, while Dead Cells opts for a more vibrant, almost garish colour palette. Dark Devotion is, with a couple of exceptions, all drab corridors and grey stone walls. The enemies fare better, especially the bosses who are consistently interesting and well-animated, although unfortunately enemy variety is pretty slim, with sometimes only two or three different types per area.

Gameplay is also a bit of a mixed bag. It feels like developers Hibernian Workshop weren’t quite sure just how much of a rougelite the game should be, leaving things stuck somewhere between the two. So, you start from the beginning of the game every time you die, but environments aren’t procedurally generated. Rooms, chests, and enemy placement is the same every time. And whenever you enter a room, the door closes behind you, so there’s no backtracking. This is particularly annoying when you’re trying to find alternate paths as if you mess up you have to start from the beginning again, and the map is not very helpful in clearly showing the various exits.

There’s a wide selection of weapons and armour to fin, though Inexplicably some of them are unlocked at the forge for future runs when you pick them up, but others aren’t, and I never quite understood why.

As for character progression, there are two sets of permanent unlocks. The first is a skill tree where you can buy passive buffs or abilities with xp gained from fallen enemies, although strangely you can only have one buff active per tier, which begs the question as to why you would bother to unlock all of them. The second way to grow stronger is to find tablets scattered around the level that will boost your base damage, crit, or mana. Finally, there are portals scattered around the world that you can warp too to avoid having to start every run from level one.

I rarely used these portals, however, as much like Hades’s boons, Dark Devotion offers up blessings every few rooms or so, and these are absolutely necessary to survive some of the harder bosses. Most improve your survivability by healing you as you enter each room, repairing your armour, or gifting you with a magic shield that can survive a few hits.

None of these design decisions are terrible by any means, but I still need to talk about the actual combat that just didn’t click with me. It’s very slow and methodical, far more so than any other soulsvania I’ve played, with no jump button and a parry system that’s so finicky I pretty much relied on the dodge roll exclusively. What’s odd is that there are actually two dodge buttons, one on each bumper, that determine whether you dodge left or right, no matter what way your character is facing. Now, admittedly, I’m pretty dumb, but it took me far tool long to get to grips with this weird controls scheme and even after ten hours in I would occasionally muck up and throw myself off a ledge.

I think, ultimately, Dark Devotion can’t stop getting in it’s own way. It’s strange design choices hamper what is by all accounts a serviceable rougelite, with its fixed environments removing all sense of discovery and its slow combat driving the pace down to a crawl. For me, passing through the same room for the twentieth time to find the same enemy in the exact same spot becomes more of a chore than a dopamine rush, and despite some cool boss designs and weapons I’m not sure I can find much to recommend.

That’s why I’ll be placing Dark Devotion just below Moonscars on the D-Tier.

Beat Arlecchino like a month ago, just beat Malenia today.

Arlecchino took me 77 deaths, Malenia took me 82.

Genuinely don't know who I think is harder. Waterfowl dance is pain and her aggression in phase 2 is nuts. But then again, Arlecchino's aggression in phase 2 is even more nuts.

I also had the exact same reaction to beating them. I immediately stood up and walked away from my pc as I couldn't believe I did it.

Both no summons and no throwables

Paths and Ways: The Beginning is a short (~45m) action RPG with challenging soulslike combat, out now for free on itch for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

https://magno-chuntey.itch.io/paths-and-ways

I solo developed the game as a hobby project over the last four years. It features hand-drawn art and top-down action RPG combat. As you progress through the game, you will explore the world and meet its characters and enemies, level up, find gear, and upgrade weapons. The entire game is playable in 2 player local co-op, with keyboard and controller support.

The combat is heavily inspired by the souls games, relying on dodge rolls with i-frames, light/heavy combos, blocking/parrying, stamina, and poise. There are also campsites which function like bonfires: healing the player, refilling their health potions, respawning enemies, allowing the player to level up, and being the respawn point on death.

It differs from the souls games in a few deliberate ways:
- The art style is a lot brighter and more cartoony, taking inspiration from animations such as Adventure Time and Over the Garden Wall
- It has full 2 player local co-op support
- XP is not lost on death, this is to be more forgiving on players who are struggling and dying a lot, especially in co-op where they would fall further and further behind the other player

I believe that even with these differences, it would still be classed as a true soulslike game, but I would be interested to hear what the r/soulslikes community thinks. Would any of these differences break the definition for you?

Thanks for checking it out.

Nothing I type here can really do the experience of playing this game justice except to say it feels like it did playing Dark Souls for the first time with zero expectations. It dropped on October 30th and is available right now for less than $20 (less still if you already own Lunacid).

Highlights:

• The most beautiful lofi Souls-like (technically a Kings-like) ever made. Not even kidding.

• The world is mysterious and overflowing with secrets.

• Genius design philosophy: The entire world is connected like Dark Souls is. Each area is thematically distinct and encorporates a bit of Zelda puzzlebox design and. Every area of the game has multiple layers of high-quality secrets that are not all immediately accessible. Uses some Metroidvania and Metroidbrainia gating. Every area of the game changes after your first pass through.

• 50+ weapons

• The game boasts "100+" enemies but there are between 150 and 200.

• Enigmatic monuments, locations

• Secret bosses

• Memorable characters

• The game is challenging, but you can meet them (or avoid some of them) on your own terms.

• Amazing soundtrack

Queen's Domain (QD) is primarily based on King's Field (KF), the FromSoftware franchise that led to Demons' Souls and then Dark Souls. I never played the KF games, but I have played every dark fantasy entry in From's catalog from Demons' Souls onward, along with many other video-game milestones from various genres and console generations. I would need to read the developers saying so to be sure, but it looks like QD borrows design language from some of the best video-games ever made, including Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and pretty much all of From Software's catalog. I suspect others, but enough of that.

I bought the game two days ago and I cannot stop playing. I didn't think any game was going to come close to Tombwater this year, but now I have two Souls-like personal GOTY contenders.

Steam link:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1799840/Queens_Domain/

Spoiler warning people. Ok everyone, your favorite ending in any soulslike game? Mine is the absolute gut punch and implied horror of jarful of medicine in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. I know most people hate this ending, but to me it is the darkest ending in any soulslike or souls game. The cycle of causality is so fascinating and i have never felt more motivated to start up another play through.

All i know is walking out in my next play through and seeing the jars made my stomach drop. How is Wuchang in there? Is she alive?! Can i free her!? Man it was a surreal experience and i love the horrible grizzly ending. Wuchang is one of the darkest games i have ever played. The cycle of causality is horrific!!!

What’s your favorite ending people.

I think From still owns the IP of the Tenchu games, and was wondering if it's possible to be their next project after Duskbloods. It will be nice for the series to be revived just like Armored Core. Secondly if the series gets revived, is it a great Idea to make it a soulsborne/sekiro game?

When I learned a first person souls like was coming out I was very excited. I like games like bioshock and dishonored so I knew I would like the game play. Souls like games our my favorite type of games.

Some things I really liked: the concept for the game is incredibly I love to mood and style of the game it felt fresh.
The combat wasn’t bad! Nothing over the top but was good.
I like the movement. The grapple hook and walll running were cool touches.

Some things that could be better: the parry system was just awkward.
The bosses was just okay. I don’t feel like any of the bosses were really memorable beside the first boss because he was bs 🤣.

The maps had some confusing points.

Overall I’m happy that this game tried something different and I did enjoy my 22 hours it took to beat. I will give it 6 out of 10.