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Difficult RPG games of the ‘Souls-like’ variety used to be somewhat niche, due to their unforgiving nature. In the last 18 months, however, the popularity of these types of games has exploded. Why is that?
Never had a tension headache from playing a game before? May I offer you some Souls-like?
If you haven’t heard that term before, it originates from Dark Souls – a gothic RPG created by FromSoftware back in 2011.
The third-person fantasy title was one of the first to introduce close-quarter melee combat where death is an inevitable part of the experience. Surmounting each area and boss battle is entirely dependent on learning unforgiving attack patterns, precise timing offensively and defensively, and managing a meagre stamina bar to avoid being killed in about just every which way you can imagine.
The game achieved decent commercial success and led to two further sequels, also spawning several other games and franchises that continue to use its formula – hence, ‘Souls-like’.
Due to the innate, uncompromising difficulty of these kinds of games, the communities that shared stories and advice about builds and strategy were considered hardcore and niche for a time. You only had to look at the percentages of trophy unlocks to see just how few players genuinely completed Souls-like games.
That disparity narrowed somewhat with the 2022 release of Elden Ring, FromSoftware’s attempt to combine unfettered exploration and worldbuilding with something close to Dark Souls combat. The winning formula secured Bandai Namco’s new IP the accolade of Game of the Year 2023, and the second-best selling game of the year behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II.
Firmly cemented as a mainstream genre of its own, a sizable list of Souls-like games have rolled out since Elden Ring including Lies of P, Lords of the Fallen, Steelrising, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and most recently the hugely acclaimed Black Myth: Wukong.
The last 18 months in particular has proved a real watershed period for the genre, with associated sales and popularity booming exponentially. Aside from a greater buffet of Souls-like offerings – and fresh thematic ideas – what else may have contributed to this mainstream explosion?
The role of the zeitgeist
In the same way that YouTube personalities like iShowSpeed used to rack up an eye-watering 170,000 concurrent viewers during Fortnite streams, the surge in popularity of Souls-like games can be linked in some capacity to the exploits of clip moguls like Kai Cenet.
Though I’m not overly keen on watching early 20-somethings cosplay and destroy their multi-thousand dollar PC setups every other week, it’s undeniable that the likes of Kai Cenet have popularised Souls-like games, broadening them to younger audiences that may never have explored them without his content.
Other streamers such as xQc and Pokimane have also twigged the engagement goldmine that the genre offers. Viewers want to see their favourite streamers exacerbated 20 hours and 100 attempts into a single boss fight – it’s entertaining.
Equally, the eventual moment of triumph is always a big deal across all social media. I couldn’t move for clips of Cenet howling in celebration after beating Promised Consort Radahn in the Elden Ring DLC (700 tries later!). At one stage, he had a therapist in the room with him. Fairs, that is funny.
The sense of joint-conquest created by livestreams aligns perfectly with Souls-like mechanics, too. FromSoftware’s digital worlds are awash with live community hints – i.e. ‘dangerous foe ahead’ – providing brief tips on how to beat a boss or dangerous enemy, directions to useful items, and messages of congratulations for progressing the story.
Unlike other genres of games, there is an acceptance from the majority of players that they may not finish the game in its entirety, but they relish in seeing how far they can get compared to others in these bustling communities.
The feeling of solidarity is both unique and palpable in a way that you can’t really describe unless you play a Souls-like game for yourself.
