What makes it a souls like?

[C1REX]

I really like this game but I personally don’t see it that similar to souls.

Why for some people it’s an obvious souls like game and not Tenchu like for example?

- is it the control scheme?
- healing and checkpoint mechanics?
- difficulty?

Can it be a souls like without RPG elements? Without lvl125 builds? Without individual stats levelling? With a single main weapon that can’t be upgraded? Without spells?

Why it’s not more often compared to FromSoftware’s Tenchu series?

https://youtu.be/x9G-40nenaQ?si=MGmUBDBe99AQoXkh

[DISRuPTED]

It's actually a lot like Tenchu but it doesn't have separate stages/missions, but also feels like Dark Souls too since it's a boss battle focused game, and of course the absurd difficulty.

[C1REX]

Originally posted by DISRuPTED:

It's actually a lot like Tenchu but it doesn't have separate stages/missions, but also feels like Dark Souls too since it's a boss battle focused game, and of course the absurd difficulty.

The absurd difficulty actually makes it more similar to games like Ninja Gaiden or Devil may cry in my opinion. Even the health upgrade mechanics is the same where you mostly find pieces of extra health hidden somewhere. I find Sekiro more difficult than a standard souls like.

[Renna]

Originally posted by C1REX:

I really like this game but I personally don’t see it that similar to souls.

Why for some people it’s an obvious souls like game and not Tenchu like for example?

- is it the control scheme?
- healing and checkpoint mechanics?
- difficulty?

Can it be a souls like without RPG elements? Without lvl125 builds? Without individual stats levelling? With a single main weapon that can’t be upgraded? Without spells?

Why it’s not more often compared to FromSoftware’s Tenchu series?

https://youtu.be/x9G-40nenaQ?si=MGmUBDBe99AQoXkh

Soulslike (also spelled Souls-like) is a subgenre of action role-playing games known for high levels of difficulty and emphasis on environmental storytelling, typically in a dark fantasy setting. It had its origin in Demon's Souls and the Dark Souls series by FromSoftware, the themes and mechanics of which directly inspired several other games. Soulslike games developed by FromSoftware themselves have been specifically referred to as Soulsborne games, a portmanteau of Souls and Bloodborne. The "Soulslike" name has been adopted by a number of critics and developers. However, there have also been questions whether it is a true genre or a collection of shared mechanics.

While the description is typically applied to action role-playing and action-adventure games, the core concepts of high difficulty, repeated character death driving player knowledge and mastery of the game world, sparsity of save points, and giving information to the player through indirect, environmental storytelling are sometimes seen in games in very different genres, the mechanics of which are sometimes described as Soulslike.
Literally visit Wikipedia sometimes lmao

[C1REX]

Originally posted by Renna:

Soulslike (also spelled Souls-like) is a subgenre of action role-playing games

So what does it mean for you?
Is Sekiro even a role-playing game? It feels less RPG than Devil May Cry.
Are metroidvanias also soulslike games?
Are Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden soulslike? Hard, limited save points. Fits the wikipedia description to the same extend as Sekiro.
Even Resident Evil 4 has many elements of SoulsLike definition from wikipedia.

What exactly makes Sekiro a souls like for you?
Honest question. No tricks or sarcasm.

[L9 dorothea]

It's a difficult game by fromsoft where boss battles are the highlight of the game and you respawn on bonfires with an estus flask. Of course the game doesn't play like Dark Souls at all but since fromsoft made it the label was inevietable

[L9 dorothea]

Originally posted by C1REX:

Originally posted by Renna:

Soulslike (also spelled Souls-like) is a subgenre of action role-playing games

So what does it mean for you?
Is Sekiro even a role-playing game? It feels less RPG than Devil May Cry.
Are metroidvanias also soulslike games?
Are Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden soulslike? Hard, limited save points. Fits the wikipedia description to the same extend as Sekiro.
Even Resident Evil 4 has many elements of SoulsLike definition from wikipedia.

What exactly makes Sekiro a souls like for you?
Honest question. No tricks or sarcasm.

the 3 main parts are checkpoints that heal you and respawn enemies, refillable healing potions and difficult grand boss battles

[C1REX]

Originally posted by maja blast:

Originally posted by C1REX:

So what does it mean for you?
Is Sekiro even a role-playing game? It feels less RPG than Devil May Cry.
Are metroidvanias also soulslike games?
Are Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden soulslike? Hard, limited save points. Fits the wikipedia description to the same extend as Sekiro.
Even Resident Evil 4 has many elements of SoulsLike definition from wikipedia.

What exactly makes Sekiro a souls like for you?
Honest question. No tricks or sarcasm.

the 3 main parts are checkpoints that heal you and respawn enemies, refillable healing potions and difficult grand boss battles

For me it’s probably the controls and the look.
Ninja Gaiden and many other games (most metroidvanias) have similar checkpoint mechanics that heal and reset enemies. Even healing spells can work similar to the healing flask. They also have big bosses.
But they have different look and controls so don’t feel like a fromsoft game.
I think some people categorise Jedi: Survivor as a soulslike game for that reason.

[L9 dorothea]

Originally posted by C1REX:

Originally posted by maja blast:

the 3 main parts are checkpoints that heal you and respawn enemies, refillable healing potions and difficult grand boss battles

For me it’s probably the controls and the look.
Ninja Gaiden and many other games (most metroidvanias) have similar checkpoint mechanics that heal and reset enemies. Even healing spells can work similar to the healing flask. They also have big bosses.
But they have different look and controls so don’t feel like a fromsoft game.
I think some people categorise Jedi: Survivor as a soulslike game for that reason.

yeah but you have to make some stretches to make the connection. you dont have to make the same stretches for soul and sanctuary because its made to be a souls like. if you compare a regular metroidvania and soul and sanctuary you can clearly see why one is considered souls like and the other isnt

[C1REX]

Originally posted by maja blast:

yeah but you have to make some stretches to make the connection. you dont have to make the same stretches for soul and sanctuary because its made to be a souls like. if you compare a regular metroidvania and soul and sanctuary you can clearly see why one is considered souls like and the other isnt

I know but the definition is already stretched so much it's kinda crazy.
According to steam these games are also souls like:
Jedi: Survivor
Hades
Cuphead
Remnant
Ori
Kena
Sifu
Monster Hunter
God of War
Armored Core VI
Dead Cells
Hollow Knight

[Don Lobo]

If it serves as any help, Hidetaka Miyazaki has stated, on an interview, that no one in their team believes they've created a new game genre, and that they know that almost every single one of the mechanics in their games is directly taken from other games simply because they liked them.

So, as far as the people making the games goes, there's no such thing as the Souls-like or Soulsbourne genre or subgenre of games. They're simply ARPGs and an action-adventure game to them.

Also, considering how terms such as rogue-like are now used to describe games that are virtually nothing like how the game Rogue was (even neglecting some of the fundamentals of Rogue's design to facilitate play for blind people), I no longer hold anything but contempt for their use and see them as often less descriptive of the game they're talking about than simply stating the main genre of the game.

[L9 dorothea]

Originally posted by Don Lobo:

If it serves as any help, Hidetaka Miyazaki has stated, on an interview, that no one in their team believes they've created a new game genre, and that they know that almost every single one of the mechanics in their games is directly taken from other games simply because they liked them.

So, as far as the people making the games goes, there's no such thing as the Souls-like or Soulsbourne genre or subgenre of games. They're simply ARPGs and an action-adventure game to them.

Also, considering how terms such as rogue-like are now used to describe games that are virtually nothing like how the game Rogue was (even neglecting some of the fundamentals of Rogue's design to facilitate play for blind people), I no longer hold anything but contempt for their use and see them as often less descriptive of the game they're talking about than simply stating the main genre of the game.

rogue like is objectively useful though. even if its boiled down to "progress is reset to a large extent after death" it tells me a big part of what i want to know before i buy it

[kat998]

If Ocarina of Time was released today, it would be considered a Souls-like

[the_bastarded_one]

hard but fair, challenging enemies, no handholding, lots of shortcuts and open level design with interconnected areas, losing currency when you die and often having to pick them back up. no explanations, you often figue out whats going on with item descriptions and broken lore from people who know little more than you and the currency is also how you level up.
one or two of these could be missing from any soulslike, especially as the genre has aged and developed. but they seem to be the most common things. its not even all third person now, with grime, blasphemous and the salt games adding metroidvania elements.

[Lil Grandpa]

a souls-like is dependent on a stamina bar.

[THE IMPALER]

soulslike for me means it offers rpg mechanics. You have a stamina bar sometimes a mana bar. you have a lot of stats and builds and many weapons to choose from. the bosses are hard but you can approach them any way you want.

Meanwhile Sekiro offers none of that besides punishing bosses. You're forced to play a specific way with a weapon you didnt choose on a character you didnt make. I'm just gonna come out and say it this is the only fromsoft game I've played I genuinely dislike. I don't think deflecting is fun. Even when I "got it" I thought it was the least fun way to play. Pisses me off when people say sekiro is a soulslike when it has ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ nothing to do with souls besides having the same developer. They play nothing like each other. inb4 people say "mad cuz he cant cheese with magic"
Not at all I'm not a magic user in souls/elden ring I'm a strength build

BLOODBORNE IS A SOULS LIKE
ELDEN RING IS A SOULS LIKE
SEKIRO is just an action game. Also it has Activisions name on it. As far as I am concerned Sekiro enjoyers are no different than cod players.