Soulslike - Discussion, News, Memes
This is a community for discussion, news, and memes pertaining to the video game sub-genre "soulslike".
Given Lemmy's size, the definition of soulslike may be treated relatively loosely. While games like the numerous FromSoft titles, the recent Star Wars Jedi games, Lies of P, Nioh and similar games should be the focus, games that incorporate soulslike elements - like Hollow Knight and Blasphemous, for example - may also be discussed here.
Basic Lemmy-quette applies. Additionally, since flairs don't exist yet, please do make sure to include a marker to denote what game your post is about in square brackets for clarity's sake. An example could be:
[BB] This enemy is so difficult!
or
[DS1] Anyone struggling with the gargoyles?
Friends:
Should you have any questions, please do let me know.
- Druid
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Fun and Time.
With these two almost anyone can beat a Souls game. To actually get into a Souls game, you first need time to actually get comfortable with the gameplay feeling. This isn't like clicking through a 2 hour tutorial section. You actually need, in my opinion, probably ~5 hours of actually gameplay and that simply needs time. And later in a game you need time to progress your gameplay ability, even if you don't progress your in-game RPG character.
But no person would actually take that time if they didn't have fun during it. Now you could probably pressure people into playing it and they maybe would complete it. But we play video games first and foremost to have fun!
Another factor in completing a Souls game is game knowledge. On the one hand, that's in-game paying attention and learning from the enemies, trying out different gameplay elements (weapons, items, spells etc.) and reading (item descriptions, dialogue etc.). On the other hand that's knowledge from outside the game. If you get frustrated, have no fun anymore, or if you simply like to look things up in a wiki while you play, then you might research in the internet how to defeat an obstacle in the game or even how to play it in a more general sense. And this is okay! No judgment! Play the game how you enjoy it! For some, Souls games are about discovery and exploration in the game of both locations and mechanics and it can be a bit of a balancing act to keep the fun of exploration alive while not get frustrated and also not ruining your fun by looking stuff up.
Where game knowledge can help, is of course time. If you know the or a solution then you can progress faster through the game. I could probably guide someone who never played a 3D game through the whole of Elden Ring. But would that be fun for them? Just the other day on Lemmy, I asked someone who couldn't beat the final Bosses of Elden Ring (DLC and base game), if I could help them by for example suggesting some good strategies and they said no, they said "it’s more of a “Ok, I’ve seen the game, this is a slog, I’m moving on to something else.”"; they didn't have fun anymore (Happy ending in this case, since they have now fun re-playing Demon Souls on the PS5).
I don't know how to conclude my ramblings… Have fun while playing Soulslikes?
I also lost track of time and suddenly it was Sunday (⌒_⌒;)
I didn't really play anything or really do anything this weekend… Just kinda lay on my sofa and re-watched a tv series.
Nicely put! Determination and perseverance are key to anything really - same goes for soulslikes. Also good point that it just takes a couple hours of actual gameplay to get into things. Makes a lot of sense, and I don't think I've ever thought about how many hours you'd need to invest into a game to get a good grasp on mechanics and the inner workings of it.
What are you/were you watching? :)
The first hours of a game are so important. Many companies front load fancy cutscenes interspersed with tutorial bites, when it's so important to actually get to the gameplay to get the player hooked. I stand by my 5 hour estimate to get a grasp on the gameplay, not a firm grasp, but in that time you get a feel for it. That would be about the time it took me to get to the Scrapped Watchman in LoP, and that feels about right. Real insidious gets it when you actually completed 2+ playthroughs and mastery feels ever further away because you have now such a firm understanding of the gameplay.
Person of Interest. It's a decent show with a very 2010s outlook on surveillance and AI. The show has it's ups and downs, some better than I remember and some a bit worse.
What are these strange and unfamiliar words coming out of your mouth hole?