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Most people active here probably know of the FS catalogue. Given Lemmy's population, the term soulslike may be applied to games quite liberally, so games like Hollow Knight, Nine Sols, Blasphemous and similar games, which incorporate soulslike elements, would all fall under the same umbrella term.

What are your must-plays? What surprised you? What is a sleeper hit you feel like people don't talk about enough?

Let us know!

Edit: I do know that the games in the thumbnail aren't soulslikes in the traditional sense; however, they show some elements that are often associated with soulslikes, so they serve more as a conversation starter to think outside the box and the rigid ideas of what a soulslike truly is and can be

Be it in terms of gameplay, story, music or anything else that makes them be the best-designed in your opinion.

I think Isshin from Sekiro is definitely up there. It's a fight that keeps you on your feet, is super challenging at first, but allows for good improvement and still a very fun and cinematic fight. It's a very good ending for an amazing game.

Ludwig in Bloodborne's Old Hunters DLC is amazing too. His transition into phase 2 is one of the most cinematic I've ever seen in any game. The soundtrack is amazing and technically very engaging, his lore is one of the most tragic in the entire game. Speechless.

Who's your favourite?

I had given DS1 a try on PC back when I saw the game played by PewDiePie (jesus this was ages ago) and didn't really get the game at all; keyboard controls prior to PTD edition probably didn't help either lol

My first real venture into soulslikes was Bloodborne and it went horribly to say the least. I killed the Cleric Beast and Gascoigne the first evening I tried the game and put down the game afterwards but it was just too much for me. I was scared, didn't know what I was doing, and it was just waay to hard for me.

Took me a couple of years to get back to it and give it another shot. One of my all-time favourite games today.

How about you guys?

Just imagine: soulslike combat plus Naughty Dogs' stellar storytelling. Could be really cool.

In Interviews, they have mentioned that they'd focus on gameplay a lot more compared to previous games. Now, that doesn't mean is has to be a soulslike, but these do have a heavy emphasis on combat and gameplay first and foremost. And given the success of the soulslike formula, who's to say they wouldn't try their hands at it, right?

Other studios that have not forrayed into the soulslike sphere previously have made good additions to the genre: Nioh, Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order and Survivor, Lies of P. Could probably present good competition to FS, even.

What do you think?

Are there any games' mechanics you like a lot and would like to see again? Aesthetics, combat, exploration? Maybe a complete change or scenery that hasn't been seen before?

For many, Elden Ring is as close as it gets to the dream soulslike. I do appreciate what ER has done for the fandom and for FromSoft's recognition in the gaming sphere as a whole, but I just don't vibe too much with the open-world approach. Stellar bosses, most of them at least, really good soundtrack, beautiful world, but just not really my jam.

Lies of P comes pretty close to my dream, actually. Sekiro is my favourite FS title and Bloodborne is a close second - Bloodborne was my first, even. I feel like Lies of P is the perfect mix between the two, so it's the best of both worlds. I'm really excited for the DLC.

Bloodborne 2 with a completely different story, still loosely related to BB of course, would be amazing. There have been fan concepts thrown around years ago where we would explore the ancient pthumerian labyrinths, kind of a desert-y sandy vibe to the game. Sounds amazing and would probably work well.