For lack of a better word, I mean these ARPG elements or looter shooter elements of loot dropping in numerous rarities with stats and random attributes to min-max and crafting and stuff like that. Khazan uses this and, as far as I know, Nioh does as well.
I'm a little torn on this. On the one hand, it opens up build variety and presents an incentive to play the game outside of story progression and bosses in the form of grinding out materials to build weapons and armour, tailored to your liking and playstyle. On the other hand, crafting oftentimes isn't really worthwhile since a random drop off an enemy could have better stats, making your time spent wasted, in a sense. It also breaks the flow of the game so often for me because I keep checking my gear upon another pickup. I have to actively stop myself from checking every single loot drop and just re-check my gear once I return to the hub.
What's your opinion? Do you like it when soulslikes bring in elements from other game genres or does it just get in the way of the game for you?
I don't mind as long as I am not forced to use it as extensively as some min-maxers do. Most of the time I just want to play and I don't want to lose too much time to calculate all the possible combinations for the perfect build or meta, I just want to have fun with the gameplay and story.
Of course I understand that for others min-maxing is part of the fun and that's absolutely good, but it's not too much for me and I am very pleased when a game offers me the chance to just go on with the story.