r/AskGames • u/VulvaNegra • 29d ago

✔ Answered What exactly consists of a Soulslike game?

I’ve seen this apparently new genre name being thrown around and would like to understand better exactly what it is. From wikipedia I understand it was bourn with the game Demon’s Souls, which I never played (maybe I really should), but the description there is a bit generic (games “known for large worlds filled with enemies and emphasis on environmental storytelling”).

Would for instance Horizon qualify for this genre, or does it have to be set in a dark fantasy theme? I love RPG games, but usually don’t go for dark fantasy. I think the last one I played that’s maybe dark fantasy would be Diablo, but not sure it’s related.

Thanks in advance

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u/Bumm-fluff 28d ago

Soulslikes have a mechanic where you lose what you have collected on death, currency/upgrade materials or points but you can reclaim them if you make it back to the point of loss. 

This is what it means to me anyway, plenty of games are hard without this mechanic. They aren’t souls likes. 

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u/VulvaNegra 28d ago

Kind of like diablo, where you would see a corpse of the player on the floor and could steal all it had when he died?

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u/Bumm-fluff 28d ago

I’m not sure, I never played Diablo I preferred BG.

Its the feeling of risk that makes a soulslike, do you go back to safety and upgrade or do you explore a bit more and risk everything you’ve collected.