Are souls type games your cup of tea?

Are souls type games your cup of tea?

  • Yes I love these games

    Votes: 22 40.0%

  • No I can’t play them as they are too difficult/don’t have time/don’t like game mechanics etc.

    Votes: 15 27.3%

  • I don’t care for them and never finished a game

    Votes: 10 18.2%

  • I tried and enjoyed it but never went back

    Votes: 3 5.5%

  • Elden ring is the only one that I enjoyed

    Votes: 5 9.1%
  • Total voters
    55
Armenius said:
Funny, because DS1 is one of my comfort games. I play it to relax. It's hard to explain. One of the things I love about the Souls series in particular is it's one of the few games that I know isn't bullshitting me. If I die, it's my fault. So many other games seem to have mechanics that are meant to assist the player, which in my experience does the opposite and makes you confused about why you died. This leads to frustration. DS1 is the exact opposite of that for me.
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I can get that, and I also get that some players feel a sense of achievement when defeating a difficult boss. I think this is a larger reasons for why these games do nothing for me. My brain doesn't function this way and I have never felt any sense of relief or achievement when beating a difficult boss or encounter. The reward isn't there for me so instead it is just a slog and timing mechanics which is something else that never syncs with me.

I am the same way with loot games like Diablo. My mind instantly sees the treadmill and the grind for gear doesn't interest me. I want to love the games and will for a while. I just very quickly hit the wall where I see behind the curtain and can't ignore it.
 
Rattle said:
These are the only games I play. I didn't like elden ring as much as any of their other games though. Demon souls PS5 was better than elden ring but yes best games ever in every way.
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Elden Ring was epic but it's not my favorite From Software game...I still like Dark Souls 3 the best...I'm a completionist and ER wore me out, mainly because I 'needed' to find every location, fight every boss and see everything in the game...with the other Souls games and Sekiro, Bloodborne I could see everything and it would not feel like it's taking me a lifetime to complete (literally 350+ hours in my first playthrough)...I usually replay all Souls multiple times but I haven't touched ER since I finished my first run in July 2022

too many bosses and mini-bosses also were repeated or upgraded versions (way too many Godskin Apostles, Ulcerated Tree Spirits, Tree Sentinels etc)...I also didn't like that they made invasions an opt-in...overall I give Elden Ring a score of 9.4...epic open world game but it had its flaws...From Soft usually delivers amazing DLC so the score could go higher whenever that drops (along with the RT patch)
 
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Not my style of games, looked at Elden gameplay for less than 5 minutes before it really turned me off /shrugs
 
I haven't played any of them but I've never been a big fan of that dark fantasy theme which makes them a hard sell from the start. I have looked into them since they're so popular and I have a friend that used to rave about the first one but it was one of those things where everything I found out about them made them less appealing.

I don't mind games having some challenging parts but I don't like dying frequently or enemies that feel like they're cheating and the style of the fighting doesn't appeal to me either. I don't like frequent respawns because it kills exploration for me to have to repeatedly clear out the same area. I also really dislike multiplayer stuff sneaking into what seems to be mostly a SP game.

They clearly do a good job at what they're trying to accomplish given how popular they are it just isn't my thing. I've got no problem with it spawning a new genre but I do hope that some of the stuff I don't like doesn't start creeping into games I do like.
 
The typical souls game isn't for me. I've never played one and doubt I ever will. There's a time I might not have minded the frustration and memorization of specific fights but that's not me anymore. I am currently playing a "souls-like" game, Asterigos: Curse of the Stars. It uses a good bit of the formula of souls games but doesn't go for the difficulty. It's fun enough and on story mode I don't have to worry about the frustration of fights. The game is by no means a AAA game and some of the negatives can be annoying but nothing is perfect. It's not a great game but it's not bad and it is a pretty good showing for a small developer.

I only mention it for those like myself who have some interest in the souls game type but want the option to avoid the frustration of the difficulty.
 
To me these games are the few worth playing in regards to modern gaming. No DLC bullshit, no handholding, no trite storyline about leading kids around - just pure gameplay bliss. In my mind, these games are the modern Castlevania. They perfectly marry skill-based gameplay with addictive RPG elements and topped it all off with beautiful music and artwork (in every single one of their games).

It's refreshing when games don't treat you like a complete moron, but understandably a lot of gamers aren't going to appreciate that.
 
w35t said:
Yeah but that site is pointed to by the first one and White Mask Vare tells you to follow it, it’s also directly ahead and leads right up to the path to Stormveil. Even before I had a clue I stumbled right to it.

For the spirit ashes you need the spirit calling bell, which you get from Renna after re-visiting the Church of Elleh. If you miss that I believe you have to get to the round table hold and buy it from the twin maiden husks though.
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you actually can unlock leveling after visiting 3 graces. It doesnt matter which ones (i do not believe anyways) so you need to do a bit of exploring and getting used to the terrain and combat. i LOVE souls games and am waiting anxiously for a 60fps BloodBorne because playing at 30 literally hurts my eyes so i never finished it.
 
They all feel like janky messes to me. I really want to like them, stepping into Elden Ring for example looked great (story was a huge letdown), but generally the combat turns me off these games. Sekiro was the exception and I had a great time with it, but the rest of the souls games just feel like janky combat ruining an otherwise good game.
 
KickAssCop said:
Finally, to learn something you actually have to read wiki and watch videos. I have a job. I don’t have time for this much research to “try and enjoy a game”.
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I don't know if you're kidding but if not you're being hilariously melodramatic about a game that isn't really all that difficult. The game's difficulty is a marketing gimmick that, ironically enough, a lot of gamers seemed to have taken way too seriously.

Above average difficulty? For modern games, sure. But you guys paint this picture of a game where you die hundreds of times and start from the beginning after each death. Reality is that the game has constant checkpoints and you're not really punished for dying much at all. All the enemies and bosses have relatively straight forward patterns and the combat couldn't be any more intuitive (and appears to have influenced the combat systems in other game series).

Everyone has preferences and that's cool if you don't like the style of the Elden Ring or the Souls games. But to claim that these games are impossible or even painfully difficult seems like a stretch. I'd argue they're easier than the average NES or SNES game from back in the day. Ghouls and Goblins, Castlevania 3, Ninja Gaiden - those are difficult games. Souls is just a fun action RPG that has successfully built upon each previous entry.
 
Different strokes. I don't think difficulty is above average. And in 2+ hours I played I died maybe 6 times. That is 6 times more than any other game.
Anyways, I am reinstalling and going to do OP build watching a video. There is one that claims you can be OP in 2 hours. Going to try that and see what's up.

Something I definitely didn't want to do but 2 hours is like watching a movie.
 
They're fine. I enjoy them every once in a while but it's not my favorite system.

Elden Ring was by far my fave.

I actually find them a bit easy now after so many thousands of hours on Monster Hunter.

The environmental art though, especially FROM software, is absolutely incredible. I like it more than the combat.
 
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I like Sekiro a little more than the Souls games but I do enjoyed them all the same. One thing the Souls games have going for them is PvP is always fun. So I was a little disappointed with the Elden Ring PvP being opt-in so kind of quit playing it after my first two characters.
 
Never played one of them before but if it means dying a lot and restarting because of incredible difficulty levels that's not my cup of tea. I don't have that kind of time to spend on gaming.
 
I am playing through Hades on my steam deck and it's loads of fun, would this classify as something similar to what's being discussed here?
 
legcramp said:
I am playing through Hades on my steam deck and it's loads of fun, would this classify as something similar to what's being discussed here?
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Hades is a "rogue lite." When you die you start the whole thing over, but keep certain character progress (items, currency). In the Souls games you just go back to the last bonfire you rested at and lose absolutely no progress aside from your humanity and "soft" souls, which you have one chance to recover (regular enemies respawn). "Souls like" games have variations on this mechanic.
 
LittleBuddy said:
I like Sekiro a little more than the Souls games but I do enjoyed them all the same. One thing the Souls games have going for them is PvP is always fun. So I was a little disappointed with the Elden Ring PvP being opt-in so kind of quit playing it after my first two characters.
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I suuuuuuck at sekiro. I never got gud at parrying in souls and it shows. I need to look up a noob guide on basic mechanics for it because i try to play it like elden ring and it never works
 
klippel said:
I suuuuuuck at sekiro. I never got gud at parrying in souls and it shows. I need to look up a noob guide on basic mechanics for it because i try to play it like elden ring and it never works
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Parrying in Elden Ring is pretty tough. Highly depends on your equipment and the window is typically small. Most of the tougher enemy types you can't parry anyway. I have a good history with parrying in FromSoft games, but I didn't enjoy it so much in ER. Whenever I tried I did it for the lulz. Parrying in ER is absolutely for show. That's why ER has the break stance mechanic. You're better off just beating them into submission.

Sekiro is far more forgiving in that area. In fact, it's pretty much a critical game mechanic thus, non-optional. If you can't figure out how to parry in Sekiro, then, man, you're going to have a rough time making it to the finish line.

I enjoyed parrying in Dark Souls 3. It has the right balance of challenging parrying window and of course reward. It's far more satisfying and the parrying and riposte animations are equally satisfying. Do you have to parry in DS3? Absolutely not.

Parrying in Bloodborne is pretty good too, just a bit different.
 
I inevitably bail out at some point as the juice isn't worth the squeeze.
 
Never played any of them. I did play Lords of the Fallen up until the fucking game CTD every time I entered that maze, if that matters at all.

I'm not a glutton for punishment, unless it's coming from my wife.
 
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CAD4466HK said:
Never played any of them. I did play Lords of the Fallen up until the fucking game CTD every time I entered that maze, if that matters at all.

I'm not a glutton for punishment, unless it's cumming from my wife.
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Hey man, children browse these forums you know!
 
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