I don’t know about you, but I’m getting pretty tired of hearing the term “Souls-like” get thrown around each time a game gets announced and shows off a protagonist fighting what appears to be a very large and formidable boss. Yes, tough bosses are part of what make the Souls games stand out, but no, that’s not the only aspect that makes these games special.
In order to filter out games that are actually Souls-like, and games that just happen to be mildly similar to what we’ve seen in Dark Souls, I’ve created a checklist of requirements that games have to meet in order to be considered Souls-like. They are:
- No auto checkpoints
- No map
- Lose ‘Souls’ upon death
- Has a stamina bar, rolling, and blocking mechanics
- Exploration and shortcuts
- Tough bosses that require learning of patterns
Of course, we can’t possibly expect every single Souls-like game to meet all of these requirements. A game might deviate from a couple of these requirements, but still retain enough elements that fans would consider it Souls-like. In order for a game to be regarded as a Souls-like title on this list, the game has to meet at least three out of the six listed requirements. Without further ado, let’s take a look at a few games that actually fulfill these conditions.
Lords of the Fallen
Lords of the Fallen was made by Deck13 Interactive and CI Games, and was widely advertised as a Souls-like game with a heavier emphasis on story delivery and character development. While it does deviate from the Souls formula quite a bit (talking protagonist, less freedom in class upgrades and development, etc), it’s undeniable that this game was rather heavily inspired by Dark Souls.
No auto checkpoints: Check. Each time you die, you restart at the last ‘safe place’ you rested at.
No map: Check.
Lose ‘Souls’ upon death: Double check.
Has a stamina bar, rolling, and blocking mechanics: Yes. Check.
Exploration and shortcuts: Well, Lords of the Fallen certainly isn’t as well-designed as the Souls games, and the areas definitely aren’t as interconnected as you’d expect from From Software’s titles. But the exploration is there, so yes. Check.
Tough bosses that require learning of patterns: Oh yes.
Is it Souls-like? Lords of the Fallen managed to check all six requirements, so yes. This is a Souls-like game.
Salt and Sanctuary
Touted as a 2D Souls game, Salt and Sanctuary is very obviously inspired by From Software’s Souls series. Instead of Souls, you have Salt. And instead of Bonfires, you have Sanctuaries. You wouldn’t expect a 2D game to have deep exploration and parry/block mechanics, but hey, Salt and Sanctuary certainly delivers.
No auto checkpoints: None. You revive at the last sanctuary you rested at each time you die.
No map: Check.
Lose ‘Souls’ upon death: Check. You also lose Gold when you die, in addition to the Salt you had on you.
Has a stamina bar, rolling, and blocking mechanics: Check.
Exploration and shortcuts: Check. In fact, Salt and Sanctuary has a pretty massive world, but is still somewhat able to connect all of its areas together.
Tough bosses that require learning of patterns:Â Very check.
Is it Souls-like? Hell yes.
Let It Die
I got to play Let It Die at E3 this year, and described it as Suda51’s own unique take on the Souls-like genre. Though to be fair, the game plays and feels a lot more like Bloodborne than Dark Souls. Coupled with tough but interesting bosses, stamina management, and exploration elements, Let It Die looks like a Souls-like game with a sense of humor.
No auto checkpoints: From what I played of the demo at E3, yes, there are autosaved checkpoints. Boo.
No map: Check.
Lose ‘Souls’ upon death: You don’t gain Souls or any form of currency from killing enemies. You gain experience points that level you up. So no.
Has a stamina bar, rolling, and blocking mechanics: Yes.
Exploration and shortcuts: The world of Let It Die is sprawling, and looks like it’ll be full of secret areas for you to explore. But because there aren’t any bonfire-like checkpoints, it’s unclear whether this game will have shortcuts. This gets a partial check.
Tough bosses that require learning of patterns: Yup.
Is it Souls-like? Let It Die qualifies as a Souls-like game, but just barely. It managed to meet 3.5 requirements out of the six I set.
DarkMaus
DarkMaus is basically Dark Souls, but with a mouse for a protagonist. The concept might sound a little silly to you, but the difficulty and challenge of this game is nothing to scoff at. DarkMaus will punish you for not managing your stamina properly, and the early goings of the game can feel extremely unforgiving until you get into the rhythm of things.
No auto checkpoints:Â Nope. Check.
No map:Â There is, in fact, a map that you can bring up. So nope.
Lose ‘Souls’ upon death:Â Yes. Check.
Has a stamina bar, rolling, and blocking mechanics:Â Check. Stamina management is pretty brutal in this one.
Exploration and shortcuts:Â Check, there’s quite a bit of exploration in this one.
Tough bosses that require learning of patterns:Â Hell yes. Check.
Is it Souls-like? Very much so.
Eitr
Eitr is a Souls-like game steeped in Norse mythology, which is cool. It’s also a top-down isometric game with gorgeous pixel art, and from what we’ve seen of the game, very creepy-looking bosses too. Eitr doesn’t have a release date just yet, but it’s aiming for a 2016 launch.
No auto checkpoints:Â None. You rest at ‘Bonfires’ to gain a new checkpoint.
No map:Â From what we’ve seen so far, doesn’t look like there’s a map.
Lose ‘Souls’ upon death:Â Yup, you’ll lose your stored up ‘Points’ after dying.
Has a stamina bar, rolling, and blocking mechanics:Â Yes.
Exploration and shortcuts:Â Quite a few, from the previews we’ve seen.
Tough bosses that require learning of patterns:Â We haven’t seen that many bosses yet, but yes, there will be challenging bosses.
Is it Souls-like? Yes, and Eitr actually looks extremely promising.
Nioh
Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja are working on a samurai-themed Souls-like game, and it’s looking pretty slick so far. Instead of allowing you to create your own character, Nioh’s protagonist is actually based on a historical figure who finds himself stranded in Japan and decides to learn how to become a Samurai. Nioh’s combat still needs a little bit of work, but everything else looks promising so far.
No auto checkpoints:Â None. Each time you die, you revive at the last shrine you were at. So check.
No map:Â Well, there’s not exactly an in-game map that allows you to check your surroundings when you’re out in the field, but you do have an overworld map. Not having a map is a big part of the Souls games, as it encourages you to explore and get a bearing of your surroundings on your own. Gonna say no to this one.
Lose ‘Souls’ upon death:Â Yep.
Has a stamina bar, rolling, and blocking mechanics:Â Movement seems a bit clunkier than the original Dark Souls, but yes, it has all of those. Check.
Exploration and shortcuts:Â Yes, quite a bit in fact. Check
Tough bosses that require learning of patterns:Â Check check check.
Is it Souls-like? Not quite as Soulsy as some of the other games on this list, but it does borrow quite a few elements from the Souls series. Even Team Ninja has admitted to being some of the most hardcore Souls fans around and that Nioh was partially inspired by Souls gameplay, so yes.
Bloodborne
Bloodborne was developed by From Software and developed by the big M himself, so, of course, you can expect some Soulsy gameplay from this one. But with a twist. Instead of blocking attacks and playing passively, Bloodborne forces you into a more aggressive play style where you have to act fast if you want to survive. If you consider yourself a huge Souls fan and you haven’t checked out Bloodborne, what are you waiting for?
No auto checkpoints:Â None whatsoever. Check.
No map:Â No of course not. Check.
Lose ‘Souls’ upon death:Â Yes, very much so. Check.
Has a stamina bar, rolling, and blocking mechanics:Â Yes you can block in Bloodborne. The game gives you a wooden shield, and a magic shield in the Old Hunters DLC. Good luck trying to survive with those. Check.
Exploration and shortcuts:Â Check.
Tough bosses that require learning of patterns:Â Yeah… Check.
Is it Souls-like? Hmmmmmm. I’d say so, yes.
Published: Jul 7, 2016 10:28 am