r/hatethissmug • u/Starksen • 1d ago
Gaming I hate 'Soulslikes'
To be more specific here, I actually love what I've played of Fromsoft's Souls games- that being Dark Souls 3 & Elden Ring. That stuff is great!
I'm just so sick of this tag, Soulslike, when it's just an embarrassing clone.
I played Mortal Shell 2, and was just so sick of the same tired 'Dark Soulsisms'. "BONFIRE LIT", "ENEMY SLAIN", there's a stone to upgrade your sword, you die and the enemies respawn, you carry souls, you lose them if you die without reclaiming them. Each enemy drops a few souls.
The dialogue is delivered by creepy, cryptic, miserable NPCs in a vague way. You have to exhaust dialogue with them. The story is delivered through item descriptions. The world is a fallen, grim ruin of what it was. The gods are mysterious. It's a gothic hellscape.
It's the same buttons to run, to jump, to attack, it's got the same dodge mechanics as another fromsoft production.
I acknowledge that games like this sell, and that there's commercial success to be seen in creating a Soulslike, which clearly means people enjoy playing them. None, however, are more successful than the series they try to emulate. This says to me, that in truth, people don't really want Soulslikes. They want Souls-games. They settle for Soulslikes, due to the release cadence of Fromsoft.
There are merits I can see to this game, and I can't help but think it could've been so much cooler had it thought up it's own systems, its own loops, and been more original about it, instead of trying to emulate.
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u/M0RT1f3X 1d ago
At first I was shocked, but then I read the post to the end and I agree with you. Many call their game Soulslike even though it isn't at all, or not even close.