What Makes a Game a Soulslike?

Published: 21 Mar 2023 5:05 PM +00:00 Updated: 21 Mar 2023 8:12 PM +00:00

Soulslike games have been around for over a decade, at the time of writing, considering that FromSoftware's Demon's Souls was released way back when in 2009. Since then, many different action-RPG 'soulslike' games have come out. With different settings, mechanics, stories, and much more, there's tons of variety in the genre, but there are still common traits between them

So, today, we'll answer the question of what makes a game a soulslike.

The Basics of Soulslikes

Naturally, the term 'soulslike' comes from FromSoftware's series of Souls games, including Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, and even Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Elden Ring, too. Essentially, a soulslike is a game that follows a similar basic formula to something like Dark Souls.

Now, the following won't apply to every soulslike, but there are some basic commonalities with most soulslikes. Most are third-person RPGs, usually action RPGs, and most are quite challenging, too. Most will have an emphasis on worldbuilding and exploration, while most also tend to come with a darker tone, theme, and setting, too.

Generally, the soulslike style of RPG doesn't play like a game like Diablo or Path of Exile where the gameplay loop is more about finding the right gear to be able to survive a particular boss encounter or get enough DPS to be able to kill a particular enemy. Usually, these games rely on dodging and learning the mechanics of different enemies to defeat them.

Of course, though, there's a lot more to a soulslike. Below, we'll get into exactly what makes a soulslike a soulslike, but make sure to keep in mind this isn't a rigid definition. Some soulslikes will try different things, and some may simply not have every listed characteristic.

A soulslike like Nioh has way more of a loot grind in the vein of a Path of Exile, while a soulslike like Ashen is a lot more colorful, vibrant, and cartoonish than you might expect. Soulslikes like Salt and Sanctuary are 2D, while most soulslikes are more familiar, traditional 3D RPGs. Point being that there's always going to be variety in this genre.

Now, let's talk about what makes a soulslike a soulslike.

Difficulty & Balance in Soulslikes

As mentioned above, soulslikes tend to be difficult, but there's more to it than them just being hard games to beat.

In general, a soulslike doesn't tend to rely much on bullet sponge enemies with tons of health to make things tough; instead, they try to make enemies aggressive and come with complicated movesets that are hard to predict and require you to learn them first.

Soulslikes tend to make enemies fierce enough that you'll be pushed to make use of every mechanic you can and engage with every system in the game available to you in order to defeat an especially powerful foe rather than encouraging you to mash your face against something over and over.

However, the best soulslikes also tend to be balanced quite well, making it possible to defeat challenging enemies with far fewer levels and worse gear than you'd be expected to have for a certain fight whereas in other RPGs like Diablo that just wouldn't be especially possible.

Put simply, soulslikes tend to be hard but fair games. They're more challenging than an RPG like Witcher 3 or Skyrim, but they're less punishing than simply whacking up a difficulty slider to max on some random game that just makes enemies deal ridiculous amounts of damage with infinite health.

Combat Focus in Soulslikes

A big characteristic of soulslike games comes down to a focus on combat. Sure, some soulslikes will have stories, even cutscenes, but in general, the focus is never on narrative or anything else outside of combat.

You play a soulslike because you want an engaging gameplay loop with satisfying combat that comes with a lot of depth, progression, and nuance built right into it. Of course, the Souls games themselves are also known for their lore and worldbuilding, but that doesn't change the fact that combat is still the primary focus of every Souls game.

While a game like Witcher 3 might be an action-RPG that can be challenging on its hardest difficulty, it's not much of a Soulslike because of its heavy focus on narrative, characters, and roleplaying much more like a traditional RPG. On the other hand, soulslikes tend to be less focused on that stuff.

Level and World Design in Soulslikes

When the world first started playing the Souls games, one of the coolest things about those games was their level and world design.

Areas would frequently wind back around on themselves, offering up shortcuts between earlier and later parts of a level and making you feel like you were always progressing while creating a more direct path for you to take to a boss after you hit the end of a particular area.

World design, as well, tends to be more focused in soulslikes. There's usually a cohesive aesthetic or feeling to the different locations you go through in soulslikes, whether it's exploring a dark fantasy version of Japan in Nioh or the sci-fi wreckage of The Surge.

While most soulslikes manage to design labyrinthian levels with lots of shortcuts and secrets, the overall world design of a game like Dark Souls is an aspect of soulslike games that never really manages to measure up to the games that FromSoftware actually makes.

Replayability in Soulslikes

Another key element of a good soulslike comes down to replayability. Of course, lots of games are replayable in the sense that if you like them enough, you may choose to replay them, but soulslikes are usually designed with replayability specifically in mind.

Oftentimes you'll see new game plus type mechanics in these games, or at the very least, there'll be lots of build variety and different ways to approach combat encounters such that you might feel compelled to play through the same content once more but in a new way.

A soulslike like Nioh, for example, takes this idea to its furthest extent, offering tons of different builds with easy ways to change up your build to try out new things alongside a robust new game plus system that's constantly adding in new mechanics and types of loot with each further playthrough.

Exploration in Soulslikes

Exploration is another big part of the soulslike genre. Outside of big, complicated levels that fold back in on themselves, a key part of the soulslike formula is encouraging players to explore and uncover every secret.

You never know in a soulslike if right around the next corner is going to be a chest with a new weapon you'll just fall in love with or some kind of build-enabling piece of gear you didn't even know existed.

Or, perhaps, by exploring you'll find a secret path that leads you to a secret boss that offers up an exciting challenge with plenty of rewards, too. The fact of the matter with soulslikes is that in each nook and cranny there's likely to be stuff to find and uncover that you'll actually want to find.

Worldbuilding in Soulslikes

Outside of exploration and level design in soulslike is another key aspect, worldbuilding. As mentioned above, narratives in soulslikes tend to be on the minimalistic side, and with a game like Dark Souls, for example, there's relatively little actual direct story at all.

However, soulslike games do tend to have lots of worldbuilding. With every secret hidden in a level is going to come an item description with some lore or a character you can talk to, and just by way of exploring the world of a soulslike you're almost inevitably going to get to know more about the world you're in.

It's a subtle process, one you yourself have to choose to engage with, but it's a very real part of the genre, and if you want to learn more about the people around you or place you're exploring in a soulslike, you usually just have to start paying attention.

In more traditional RPGs, this kind of stuff is usually done more directly through interactions with characters or cutscenes, but it's generally a more abstract, organic process in soulslike games.

Tone in Soulslikes

Of course, different games have different tones and aesthetics, but there are, even still, some commonalities between soulslikes here, too.

In general, soulslikes tend to be on the darker, bleaker side with often a fantasy or sci-fi element to them, but they aren't necessarily all doom and gloom all the time, either. There also tend to be moments of lighthearted, quirky humor in soulslike games, like petting cats in Nioh.

A dark, mysterious, foreboding world with silly moments peppered throughout is very much a classic soulslike tone. In general, you'll see far fewer soulslikes with bright, colorful environments and happy-go-lucky tones to them, nothing like games like Fall Guys or anything similar.

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