Dark Souls - 'Souls-like' Label needs to die

[HiddenX]

PC Gamer thinks the 'Souls-like' label needs to die:

The 'Souls-like' label needs to die



Dark Souls is one of the most influential games of the last decade, but it shouldn't be treated as a template.

Why is every difficult action game a ‘Souls-like’ now? Dark Souls is an excellent game that many games since have been inspired by, I’m glad we agree, but this is out of control. Especially in the past few months, the Souls-like label has been bandied about so erratically that it’s now meaningless at best and counterintuitive at worst.

[...]

A meaningless label

These examples also illustrate how unspecific Souls-like has become. Which is what always happens when we invent labels instead of simply describing games using established, straightforward terms. Labels like Metroidvania and rogue-like are also misnomers for games inspired in some part by Castlevania, Metroid, and Rouge, and like Souls-like, their definitions are muddy. They’re treated like genres when they’re really just confused, insular sets of characteristics that conflate design sensibilities in place of accurate, detailed descriptions.

[...]

Thanks henriquejr!



More information.

 

[rjshae]

Cynical gamers need to retire and find a new hobby.

 

[TheSHEEEP]

What a silly article. What does he expect, that every definition must fit like a glove?
Genre definitions are almost always muddy, but they still help.

Plus, I haven't seen any Souls-like game that was not, well.. Souls-like.

If he saw people naming every difficult action game Souls-like, then he must be around the wrong people.

 

[SirJames]

Where is the souls-like game which improves on the multiplayer aspects? The element of randomness in a carefully hand crafted and static game world; nothing is more souls-like than being invaded.

I'd welcome a game which made a serious attempt to improve on all aspects of Dark Souls. There's even an opportunity to impress From Software by bringing back the Gravelord covenant and making it work.

 

[Morbus]

There is no souls-like game. All of them are not like dark souls.
I've recently played Immortal Planet, and it's a cool game, specially for the price, and it's basically a top-down clone of Dark Souls that copies a lot of the aspects of Dark Souls (including the crappy dialog, for example). There are a few differences, but they animated the combat a lot faster than Dark Souls, which makes the game considerably harder. That, coupled with the top down perspective completely changes the feel of the combat, to the point where only the trappings of the game (bonfire, or experience mechanics, for example) are souls-like, where the core of the gameplay doesn't feel like Dark Souls.
And it's the closest thing to Dark Souls I've personally seen. It's a good game, I feel, but not as good as Dead Cells, another "souls-like", and Dead Cells has pretty much nothing in common with Dark Souls, and, of course, feels nothing like Dark Souls.

Souls-like needs to die as a definition because it's a marketing buzzword that is never true. Bring back the epic immersive experiences!

 

[Ovenall]

Argh. DS was described as a "Metroidvania" which was completely meaningless to me. Game "journalism" is just plain terrible. So many assumptions are made of the readers. I don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of every game made, stop comparing everything new to 3-6 older games that I never heard of.

It's lazy writing, and it's bad writing. Why put so much work on your readers? Just fucking explain what the gameplay is like.

 

[flabbyjack]

Innovative. Epic!

 

[fatBastard()]

On the contrary, keep using the comparison when relevant.

Whenever I see the labels "souls-like" or "rogue-like" I know to stay clear of them. I'm too old to waste my time on something I don't like, so by all means, keep it up.

Now, if the moniker wasn't a deterrent to me then I guess can understand why it can be upsetting to see inferior games being compared to genre defining classic ... but that is not the case for me personally.

 

[fatBastard()]

Okaaaayyy .... timeouts aside, it DID register the post.
Sorry about the tripple posting.

 

[fatBastard()]

Nothing to see here .... move along.

 

[joxer]

https://www.vg247.com/2017/08/23/immortal-unchained-is-a-souls-like-shooter-rpg-hybrid/

Immortal: Unchained is a Souls-like shooter-RPG hybrid

Beat that, PCG.

For "darksouls fans unite" here, just so you know:

Immortal: Unchained is out in Q2 2018 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

 

[Wisdom]

Good luck getting humans to stop comparing one thing with another.