Summary
- Soulslike games have diversified beyond
Dark Souls
, offering various unique spins in gameplay and storytelling. - The recent surge of soulslike games showcases creativity and innovation in the genre, with titles like
Another Crab’s Treasure
and
No Rest for the Wicked
breaking conventions. - The future of soulslikes is promising, with a growing variety appealing to a broader audience.
The soulslike genre has been shifting and evolving for over a decade now, and with the rapid release of recent entries like Another Crab’s Treasure and No Rest for the Wicked, it’s clear just how much has changed over that time. Although Demon’s Souls was the first game to codify many of the core soulslike mechanics, Dark Souls was the one that shot the concept to worldwide popularity. Within a few years, the ideas that made Dark Souls so compelling were starting to spread throughout the gaming industry, and plenty of titles have benefited from them since.
There’s no hard set of rules as to what defines a soulslike, but it’s usually easy to tell when a game fits into the genre. Tough combat with precise hitboxes is one key component, and progression that centers around a bonfire system where healing up at carefully placed checkpoints respawns enemies tends to be another. It’s also common for soulslike storytelling to rely on the careful discovery and assemblage of information, following the subtle approach employed by Dark Souls developer FromSoftware throughout many of its games.
Elden Ring DLC: You Probably Missed This Hidden Shadow Of The Erdtree Detail
A subtle detail in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC for Elden Ring may have gone unnoticed, and it gives more details about one of the new enemies.
Soulslike Games Have Branched Out From Dark Souls
2024 Soulslikes Aren’t Bound To A Restrictive Formula
Nearly all the systems and ideas found in FromSoftware games click together in impressive synchronicity, and this careful balance makes it hard for games to borrow one idea but skip others. Lords of the Fallen (2014), arguably the first major attempt at a true soulslike, was fairly thorough in its emulation. It never rose above emulation, however, and with the only real points of distinction being elements that were more generic or less satisfying than Dark Souls, there was never much reason for anyone to come back to it when they could have another go at the real deal instead.
In 2024, that isn’t the case at all, and a flurry of April game releases has shown just how much diversity can be found in games inspired by FromSoftware’s masterpieces. Another Crab’s Treasure might be one of the most striking soulslike games yet, leaning into an aesthetic more in line with casual platformers and introducing a fun shell-swapping mechanic. It also puts the narrative at the forefront of the affair, leaning on appropriately heavy themes but going about things in a much less subtle way.
Another Crab’s Treasure Review: “Challenging But Entirely Accessible”
With its cute graphics, customized difficulties, & dark themes, Another Crab’s Treasure is a Soulslike designed by Aggro Crab for everyone.
No Rest for the Wicked, currently in early access on PC, marries traditional Diablo-esque ARPG elements with soulslike concepts. It finds an unusual balance with an isometric view and bonfires that don’t respawn enemies, and although time could help hone its ideas, it already has obvious strengths. Stellar Blade isn’t quite as innovative as its peers, but its mix of Sekiro, Nier: Automata, and Bayonetta ends up looking very little like Lords of the Fallen, to say the least.
The Future Of Soulslikes Is More Exciting Than Ever
A Soulslite Approach Makes The Genre More Interesting
These certainly aren’t the first games to take soulslike ideas to new places, and there’s been a lot of creativity in past years. Hollow Knight stands out as a masterful metroidvania with a healthy helping of Dark Souls inspiration, and titles like Remnant 2 and Salt and Sanctuary certainly manage to carve out their own niches. Having multiple major releases offer unique spins in such short succession is definitely unusual, however, and it’s a sign of how far the genre has come.
A great comparison can be found in the path of roguelike games, which ultimately picked up the “roguelite” qualifier to cover the many titles grabbing some key elements of the original Rogue while leaving others out. There’s a lot of value in true roguelikes, but the embrace of the roguelite has allowed the genre to flourish with boundless creativity. Games like Hades and the recent hit Balatro have captured hearts through their own innovations, and a rise in soulslites has the potential to mirror this scene.
Balatro Review: “The Next Great Deckbuilder Roguelite”
Video poker and deckbuilding combine in Balatro, an unassuming but obscenely addictive card game that is one of the first indie hits of the year.
At the end of the day, not every game with soulslike strains needs to be exactly what fans of Dark Souls are looking for, as there are plenty of other people to welcome into the genre. Traditional soulslikes will probably be around for a long while yet, and accompanying them with games that blur lines does more to bolster them than detract. From Another Crab’s Treasure to No Rest for the Wicked, there’s no shortage of new ideas in the soulslike scene, and it’s more exciting than ever to wonder what might come next.
