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I don't mean this in the sense of "The beginning and end of a soulslike should be equally hard" or "They need to be easy", but more like how DS3 is way harder than DS2 or Bloodborne. I feel like whenever there's a new soulslike, instead of letting me rely on my skill of other games, they have to add something to make it harder and more challenging and frustrating with every new game.

Essentially, I feel like, throughout my journey with all kinds of soulslikes, I've already built up skills in those games and I'd rather be able to use those skills in new ways instead of building up new skills I'll only be able to use in that specific game.

Like, perfect parries, perfect dodges, reflections in Khazan are awesome, but only really good for this game. The combat is awesome and lots of fun, but since its combat is so different to its contemporaries, the skill you build is not really transferable, at least not fully.

I guess in a sense I get why soulslike get so much more difficult these d

Found a post on rxddit discussing that Lies of P is really high quality, and between the game's quality by itself and the recent DLC, they claimed it's among the best of its genre.

Another user chimed in and put together this comment that I found quite interesting (TL;DR at the bottom):

TL;DR: FromSoftware's level design and exploration are on a different level compared to Lies of P. While Lies of P has solid gameplay, its levels are linear and predictable, often looping back on themselves. In contrast, FromSoft games like Bloodborne and Elden Ring hide entire unique areas, bosses, music,

I liked the visuals of Demon's Souls a lot and appreciate the level designs, but even though I managed to finish the game, I found the levels themselves a little too hard sometimes - especially the poison swamp levels. A little too much going on for how little is available to you, I feel like.

How about you?

Between Nightreign and the surprise drop of Lies of P: Overture, there's lot to play right now soulslike fans. What will you be playing this weekend?

I've just started NG++ for Lies of P to clean up the trophies needed for the platinum and to get a fresh playthrough in up until the DLC. Looking forward to it a lot - I've never bought a game or DLC as quickly upon release as I did last night.

Also mid-way through my NG+ run in Khazan, also for the platinum trophy. I feel like I might be a tad overleveled because most bosses are not a challenge at all. Though those bosses have mainly been those that I've had to practise in and out on my first playthrough, so maybe it's more so muscle memory vs. being overleveled. Quite weird to go back to Lies of P after playing Khazan for around 70h

Whether it be a particularly annoying mechanic, bad design, poorly optimised... What are some of the worst soulslikes you've played? And what makes them so bad?

I was watching a few videos on the difficulty in Khazan recently (https://youtu.be/iRn_4QtYFiM and a different one which I can't find any longer) where the creators argued that the difficulty, while very hard, is essential to the experience of the game. If the bosses were any less difficult, they would not pose enough of a challenge to players, thus diminishing the sense of accomplishment when beating the boss.

This made wonder if difficult bosses really are the most defining characteristic of soulslikes since that's what most people seem to focus on. Dark Souls was notoriously marketed as the difficult game franchise, with FromSoft even leaning into this reputation with their DS1 Prepare to Die edition. But is difficulty really that important to a good soulslike?

Demon's Souls, for example, mainly has gimmick bosses. Sure, Allan and Maneaters are quite difficult objectively speaking, but apart from Flamelurker (?) there was no boss in the game that gave me major trouble - it was p

Haven't watched anything on how good the game is but it seems to review fine so far? Any of you tried it yet? With randoms or friends?

Khazan is definitely the title I think of. I was very sceptical about the game and its aesthetics mostly founded by impatience during the demo. I gave the demo another shot, ended up liking the game quite a bit, and now I'm finishing up my first playthrough at around 50h. I feel like it's a game that has gotten quite a bit of attention from "hardcore" soulslike fans but hasn't really entered the mainstream yet - it very well could, tho, from a quality standpoint. The combat is quite unlike any other soulslike, and the shade cell look is a good change compared to most semi-realistic looking soulslikes I've played before. My only gripe is the rather cliché and empty story - they could have done so much more - and the level design.

Have you played any soulslikes recently, which you would classify as a "sleeper hit", which more people should be playing?

For me, it's probably a toss up between Sekiro and Bloodborne. I've finished the games in their entirety probably around 4-6 times - either for their respective endings, just for fun, or trying to do a challenge run, like a BL4 Bloodborne run. Lies of P follows them closely at around 4 and soon 5 once the DLC rolls around.

Bloodborne and Sekiro were my first two soulslikes, and once it clicked, I was obsessed with both. I got platinums, watched video essays, listened to the OSTs all the time. They're very near and dear to me.

What is your most-played soulslike?

Haven't done these in a while - I'll probably post these once in a couple of weeks now since the responses were a little sparse the last couple times.

Any games you're currently playing? Anything you're trying to finish or want to pick up soon?

I remember Orphan of Kos and Isshin taking a long time for me. Multiple days of several-hour long sessions, I assume. I would probably have trouble beating Orphan today too, but Isshin has gotten pretty easy for me over my 4 or so playthroughs. Laxasia from Lies of P is also a huuge pain despite my four playthroughs. I feel like her second phase is just waaay too much whereas her first phase has gotten pretty easy by now.

Currently playing Khazan and some of the bosses did give me a lot of trouble too. Especially the first two you get to after beating the tutorial were a pain because the bosses felt really spongy, I didn't have a lot of damage, and they dealt damage like a semi-truck. I've gotten better at the game, though, and now bosses don't take nearly as long. I've gotten better gear by now, I've got better skills to use, and my overall skill in the game is also good enough to not struggle as much anymore.

Which ones did give you trouble on your playthroughs?

I was watching a video by Frost (used to be with Second Wind doing the Cold Takes) about extraction shooters and their recent rise to popularity and what it means for gaming. He mentioned there that Miyazaki seems to be a fan of Tarkov and that he took inspiration for their upcoming multiplayer games from the game, concluding that both Nightreign as well as Duskbloods could be considered "extraction" games. Does that fit the bill?

I mean, in a sense it does: you drop into the world, no resources which you need to farm up, you fight enemies and explore the map for more resources and weapons, and you lose all your progress once you die. Could this be a new sub-genre, then?

Recent statistics for PS5 video game sales suggest that, on a title-by-title basis, most contemporary video game releases favour digital copies over physical copies. Physical is still holding on at slightly less than 50%, but digital sales definitely have been going up these past few years.

Where do you see yourself? Is there any soulslike you own a digital copy of and would like a physical one - for collection purposes or otherwise?

I know of Sekiro and Khazan so far - Sekiro via its reflections and Inner variants, and Khazan via just repeating the boss fight where you fought them initially. I quite like both and think it's cool to re-experience the fights if you feel like it. Which other soulslikes do that?

For lack of a better word, I mean these ARPG elements or looter shooter elements of loot dropping in numerous rarities with stats and random attributes to min-max and crafting and stuff like that. Khazan uses this and, as far as I know, Nioh does as well.

I'm a little torn on this. On the one hand, it opens up build variety and presents an incentive to play the game outside of story progression and bosses in the form of grinding out materials to build weapons and armour, tailored to your liking and playstyle. On the other hand, crafting oftentimes isn't really worthwhile since a random drop off an enemy could have better stats, making your time spent wasted, in a sense. It also breaks the flow of the game so often for me because I keep checking my gear upon another pickup. I have to actively stop myself from checking every single loot drop and just re-check my gear once I return to the hub.

What's your opinion? Do you like it when soulslikes bring in elements from other game genres o

I feel like this has become a somewhat contentious topic as of recent. Upon release, ER was heralded as a grand new direction for soulslikes, praised for its seamless open world, amazing bosses and freedom of choice. It's regarded as one of the best open world games, being put in the same conversations as games like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.

However, not everyone seems to resonate with the game equally: repetive mini bosses and dungeons, rather empty open stretches in the overworld, leading to the feeling of just being funneled from one boss to another (at least on repeat playthroughs). Its lack of tight linearity compared to "classic" soulslikes is also brought up as a negative sometimes, with people wishing for more tight and honed experiences.

What's your guys' thoughts on this? I feel like Elden Ring is owed a huge deal since it's the de facto soulslike that's brought in millions of players who would never have touched a soulslike ever. It's debatable whethe

I was playing Khazan yesterday and fought Viper who gave me a lot of trouble for some reason. After struggling through its health bar and thinking it's finally over, a cutscene plays and a hidden second phase starts. At first, it kinda pissed me off, but after giving it a few more tries, it was fine in the end. Still a little annoying.

Other soulslike mainstays do this quite often too: Godfrey and Hora Loux, Malenia, many of the Lies of P bosses like King of Puppets, the Green Swamp Monster, Nameless Puppet.

Sekiro is quite upfront with its phases since the red dot indicators show how many healthbars a boss has. Apart from Guardian Ape and the final boss (if you know you know), I'm not sure if there's any bosses with surprise second phases.

Sister Friede does this in DS3 from what I've heard? Haven't played the game yet

Do you mind when bosses do this? What's your reaction? Does it make you want to fight the boss any less?

We all know them, we all love them: bonfires. I mean lamps. Eh, sites of grace. Sculptor's Idol! Whatever...

Which "bonfire" has the best integration into its respective game's lore and world building, though? Can't comment on Dark Souls too much since I haven't really played any of them, but I feel like the lamps in Bloodborne fit the game quite well. They serve as a guiding lamp in the darkness and bleakness that is the world of Bloodborne, shepherding hunters to the Hunter's Dream, to safety.

Which is your pick?

Most people agree on the second half of DS1 being rushed and quite bad compared to the iconic status of the first half of the game. Did you find it as bad though? I've not played DS1 till the end myself, so I can't tell. From what I've heard and seen on YouTube as well as judging by From's self-assessment, the second half was a little rushed, thus leading to the drop in quality. Is that true?

I've still got a couple to clear off my backlog.

I've finished Bloodborne and Sekiro multiple times, have finished Demon's Souls once, and we're on our second playthrough of Elden Ring. I have not really played any of the Dark Souls, however.

DS1 was actually the first one I've ever played after watching PewDiePie play the game (holy shit, this was ages ago). I didn't really get the game and I didn't know what a soulslike is yet, so I dropped the game quite quickly after killing the Taurus Demon.

Fast forward to a couple years ago, I bought the DS collection for PS4 and started a playthrough of DS1 and DS3 which I've both played a couple hours of but then dropped again because I preferred the other FS games.

I would really like to play DS2 sometime soon, however. I want to know if the game is really as bad as people make it out to be or if it's just hyperbole.