i find the vague story elements and lack of hand holding immersive

also the dungeon crawl-like gameplay is my jam

I started playing games on the Sega Genesis. For me those classic games gave me a sense of adventure and mystery that I couldn't quantify. The inability to get to the next level left me wondering what it could be.

Dark souls was the first game to give me that feeling since we invented the auto save.

I like them because they tend to be very skill based. Sekiro is my favorite of all the souls like games. And that game is true skill expression. Every failure and success is based off what you're capable of doing. And everytime I die, I always think what I could have done different

They are quite difficult but rarely feel unfair, which is a hard balance to reach.

The sense of accomplishment when you finally beat a boss that you’ve attempted 789 times (looking at you Malenia) is a feeling unmatched in any other game genre I’ve played.

It just hark back to what I've played games for since my chilldhood.

-Good level design

-Good combat

-Fun boss fights

-Challenging experience

They are some of the very few games left today that gives me this package. I play games to conquer them, not to be told a story in cutscenes or to be led by the hand to objectives in an open world map.

The feeling of discovery, especially in Elden Ring, is unparalleled. The game is full of things and even entire areas/bosses that are designed to be missed by the average player. And that game philosophy extends to the world building and story as well, which is probably a love it or hate it kind of thing.

The level exploration is unmatched. When you find an item, best the enemies around it and pick it up, it feels like picking up a treasure because you really had to plan for it before. A room can be like a puzzle you solve. You constantly have to manage risk and reward.

Overcoming a challenge, being the hero of the story. I think they manage to make you feel pretty heroic, and the fights are often very cinematic, even if there aren't many actual cinematics. It's like being inside a classic hero tale like David and Goliath, but you're always David and its up to you to figure out how to beat Goliath. People love rooting for the underdog and you always feel like the underdog.

Other reasons are the vibe, the exploration, the build crafting, and of course, the combat itself is pretty fun with all the spells, and weapons etc.

The world building is like absolutely nothing else I’ve ever played. The way you’re thrown into a setting without prior explanation, only all of these remnants of histories and lives lived and choices made, all of them significant and most can only be guessed at or pieced together as a community.

In Dark Souls, there’s a cage full of monsters that gets opened, and they all come after you. When you approach the cage, you discover there are two that never left it, facing the corners, and quietly weeping with women’s voices.

If you kill them, you get the only spell in the game that lets you heal another player.

I never found out why, and I love that. I can only guess.

Combat is very good and it feels good when you overcome a challenge.

the artstyle. and yeah the gameplay

Atmosphere and gameplay

I'll be speaking mainly about Dark Souls 1 (haven't played Sekiro or Elden Ring)

• Carefully curated skill curve that will take you from "this is impossible" to "this is easy". They are games designed to be extremely punishing at first, but quite manageable once you know the main tricks. That's why some people say you get the real soul experience only once, i completed DS2 and DS3 with half the hassle of DS1.
• People say that it's heavily skill based but really, it's knowledge based. You need to know what moves enemies do, when it's safe to attack, when you need to retreat. This is why you always fail at first but the more experience you get, the easier it gets.
• This is more ture in DS1 and less in later games: early games have slower moves, both player wise and enemy wisem, so it feels more tactical and slower paced. Later games focused more on the dodge and speed part and are more reflex based.
• While the games aren't narratively interesting, there is some fascinating world building and lore behind, which never gets fully explained, you have to build the picture yourself based on what you see and by reading item descriptions.
• The vibes and soundtracks are really cool, there are some genuinely fantastic moments. Most of the time there is no music, which is saved for impactful moments.
• The map design is top tier, expecially in DS1. It's not open, but also not linear, as you can freely choose where you get, but it becomes clear really fast when you are going in the wrong direction cause you get killed very fast due to being underleveled. There are also some overly powerful enemies sprinkled around that you need to come back later to kill.
• It's cleverly interconnected, there is no fast travel until late, but you won't miss it due to shortcuts you can only open from one side.
• For the time, DS1 looked amazing due to some clever use of blur and shine, which really helped maxing it explode. It's not a surprise that the first souls game, Demon Souls, didn't make as much as an impact as Dark Souls.

I strongly recommend you play the OG Dark Souls. You don't need the remastered edition, you can find the original for a really cheap price.

I like difficult games I like swords I like magic I like rpgs souls covers all of the above

It’s challenging and I enjoy the process of figuring out patterns and using precision movements to solve them.

I only have played elden ring after refusing to play a souls game because I thought thr world looked cool. And I tried it 3 times before it finally clicked for me. Its very rewarding to get your ass kicked and to figure out how to overcome whatever kicked your ass. And the boss fights are very cool and cinematic

For me it's the sense of persistence. You can throw yourself at the wall as many times as you want, it won't get any easier or harder. I first played DS1 while getting over some bad news and it felt good to have a challenge to throw myself into.

Also, aesthetically I grew up playing Diablo 1 and 2, and the souls games really nail that gothic medieval vibe so well.

For the most part, the games are mostly mega-popular with the more "hardcore" gamers, with Elden Ring breaking through by being more accessible and, frankly, easier (base game) than most of the games before it.

They're games with high levels of skill expression. The skill ceiling, the maximum amount of mastery of the games mechanics essentially, is extremely high in these games and the journey of learning how to get better is absurdly fun if you're willing to die at least a couple hundred times throughout the game.

I love them because I love a good challenge, and its always consistently a challenge where I almost never feel like the game is being unfair. Its always my fault, and sometimes I laugh when dying instead of being frustrated. I like the basic gameplay loop, but its not for everyone.

This will sound corny I know, but it’s true for me. Last year I started skateboarding and it’s hard. I fall all the time, I’ve broken stuff, been seriously injured, struggled to learn basic tricks etc. it took me literally hundreds of tries to land my first shuv and not bullshit thousands of times to land my first heelflip. It dawned on me that I’d learned a life lesson for souls games and elden ring thru the process of breaking myself against the wall of skateboardings learning curve. In life you will face all sorts of boss fights, and you will lose. You can and will lose thousands of times, but you only really need to beat it once. The first time you beat that boss, land that trick, finish that book, conquer that fear etc etc the next time it’s easier. It’s not impossible anymore; it’s not failing anymore. You just gotta do it once, doesn’t matter how many times it takes, after that it was just progress on your journey. That’s why I love those games and that’s the lesson I took from them.

Exploration tbh

I'm going to go through opposite way and say that booting up a game to an hour long cutscenes or giant on screen prompts with paused time to let me know this menu means or tutorial areas or greyed out menus that get filled in later are so god awful terrible all I have left is Souls, Rogue, and Colony Likes.

I equally love Bloodborne and Oxygen Not Included for the same reasons.

The mystery, the depth, I don't even know what to call it. The fact that you jump in knowing nothing and slowly learn more about the world, characters, events, and everything else as you push ahead.

Those moments when obscure little bits and pieces "click" together are incredible. There's nothing quite like it.

Well I like how combat focused they are. The combat is so satisfying and feels great. The animations are fluid and beautiful.. variety in weapons amazing.

Not all Souls-likes are thin on story. Check out Lies of P for instance.

But even those that are, they make up for it with great vibe, scenery, and artistic direction.

For me it started with watching vati vitia content. Learning the lore and then wanting to experiance the world. This happened with dark souls 1 and then lead into blood born and dark souls 3 followed by elden ring. The rich lore and stories and being a character in the world mixed with a rock paper scissors system of combat is awesome.

The story is presented in a non-linear, non-traditional way. You can engage with it as much or as little as you like, though if you don’t try to engage with it you won’t really get a whole lot of it.

That’s not why I love the games, though it’s a part of it. They often feel surreal, kind of like a dream. Things are connected in a way that maybe they shouldn’t be but makes a strange kind of sense. Things happen off-screen and you just kind of roll with it. Like I said, I love that dreamlike quality they often have.

Ultimately, I like the challenge and the fact that the challenge usually feels fair. As in, if I die it’s either because I didn’t learn a lesson earlier in the game when it gave me a chance to learn it, or fair in the sense that if I keep trying I will win. Grit, not necessarily skill, is the deciding factor in the best iterations of this genre.

There’s a concept in the first Dark Souls called “going Hollow.” As most characters you encounter are undead, there is a distinction between those that are Hollow (senseless, crazy, violent, sometimes wasting away), and those that are not. While those that are not may not be ‘good’, they are at least possessed of their own mind and purpose. That’s what leads one to go Hollow: losing one’s purpose.

There is a character, a vendor/NPC of minor importance (except for certain builds), who says something when you disengage with him. He says:

Stay safe, friend. Don’t you dare go Hollow.

And it’s just a bit of dialogue that isn’t that important, but I think it resonates with a lot of people that were fascinated by the games beyond just enjoying them as something to play through. You see, the only way for the player character to go Hollow is if you, the player, give up. Then your character loses its purpose and, in the narrative context of the game, wastes away into a mad, wretched thing.

And if you step back a little from games-as-games and look at games-as-art, in the sense that art strives to impact those that engage with it, it’s good advice.

Stay safe, friend. Don’t you dare go Hollow.

Take care of yourself. Don’t give up. Find your purpose.

The Souls games, and their FromSoft siblings, typically take place in bleak, dismal worlds, and it would be easy to say they are bleak, dismal games. But I think it’s the opposite: you, your character, is (or at least, can choose to be) the bearer of a light in the darkness.

They’re hard enough that they really push you to make a solid build, but not so hard that you can’t brute force your way through if you made some mistakes in your build.

My biggest issue with other big RPGs is that your build is mostly irrelevant, or you quickly become overpowered. Despite being Action RPGs, the Souls games manage to avoid the pitfalls of leaning too heavily on the Action and not enough on the RPG.

There are of course better games if what you want from an RPG is choice in the narrative, dialogue that defines your character, or using your character’s skills to avoid combat altogether. If you want an RPG that challenges you with combat, and allows for a lot of variation in build-defining traits, you can’t do much better than a Souls game.

The games are ridiculously hard but also ridiculously easy. You bang your head against them long enough for you to become the real boss, where nothing can touch you. I love hack and slashes and I love grinding, this series brought those two together like peanut butter and chocolate.

The zero hand holding is also a giant plus. It's so much more immersive when you actually have to explore and think. Piece a story together yourself.

The world exploration - Elden Ring is the best, but all the games going back to Demon Souls had really fascinating worlds.

Difficulty level is interesting. I played ER first, had no idea what I was doing and struggled throughout the entire game, then I played DS1, DS3, Demon Souls, Sekiro, and finally DS2 before going back to a second play through of ER, and it was a breeze - I think only one of the later bosses required more than 2 attempts to beat them.

The exploration in From games is unmatched, particularly in Dark Souls 1. I’d recommend that for a newcomer since the combat is far slower & more tactical. I think the actual gameplay is most approachable, though there are, uh, arcane elements to that one in particular. Don’t be afraid to use google & always play online for community notes in ANY of their games imo. 

I think you’ll find everyone’s answers to be centered around gameplay, exploration, vibes / atmosphere, archeological storytelling, and the hard but fair difficulty that makes it so ANYONE can finish these games if they use the tools to their full potential. From games are not shmups or hardcore pvp or something, they really do want you to succeed and give you everything to do so :) Don’t give up or jump to more & don’t listen to anyone bitch about summons, magic, shields, etc. The game wants those to be there and wants you to use them.

You dont know what's around the next corner the first time, it could be an enemy that can easily kill you. That's very exciting. 

I like exploring every inch of the world whilst being scared of what could be hiding behind any corner

I love the exploration. Finding a short cut that loops back is never not a “oooooh” moment. Bosses are generally fun and challenging. I do tend to hate the slog of running back to a boss after dying. Least ER made this far more manageable.

For me, the fair difficulty provides a sense of tension and triumph comparable to multiplayer games, but its single player. Like, going after a boss in a soulslike is the same feeling as a 1v1 in an online FPS: the stakes are high, you’re both fighting for your life, you have to use your wits and react quickly, and there’s a bit of stress as you both struggle to be the victor.

The moment Dark Souls "clicked" for me, the game went from a tedious and frustrating experience to one of the most rewarding and satisfying i've ever had in gaming. I gave up 2-3 times before over multiple years, playing 10h+ combined. I think that wall for a lot of people is ringing the first bell, it was for me. Never looked backed after that and finished the game at least 3 more times since. 

The lore and world building is deep but you can ignore it and still have a great time.

There is also something about overcoming great odds by having the persistence to keep trying that I feel has genuinely influenced me as a person. I've taken these lessons and attributed them to real world problems that seemed insurmountable to me at first.

Depends on one's definitipn of 'souls like'.

Is it the dark fantasy with huge existential philosophical and esoteric alchemy themes? Is is the ambiguity of the narrative presentation that forces one to read between the lines and form a multitude of interpretations and theories that all evolve constantly during the gameplay but also long after? Is it the engaging, punishing but fair moment-to-moment gamepmay that forces one to be careful and strategic, or find ways to break the game with absurd builds? Is it the haunting music and atmosphere? Is it the adrenaline rush and the feeling of triumph when you fell a boss while you are with 1 hp remaining, after hours of failed attempts, while your mind is so focused that you think that you may be able to hear spacetime oscillations and you are 3 heartbeats away from a heart attack?

The answer to all of the above is "yes".

It’s fun.

The challenge is what made it appealing. I never played any of these types of games either until I bought Elden Ring. It feels rewarding after beating a boss and you have the option to stop fighting that boss until you level up more if it becomes too challenging.

Their combat is a big reason. I like to be actively engaged in my media which is why I clung to video games over TV/movies/shows. Their combat also tends to feel more dynamic than other genres as you have more freedom weaving together attacks/abilities and will adapt to enemy attacks. Combat can feel like a dance (if designed well) where you aren't simply spamming your strongest attacks over and over again. This isn't always the case but far more often than other RPGs from my experience.

The other big reason is their difficulty. You will hear many varying opinions about the difficulty of these games but in my opinion they tend to offer a challenge that I find fair. Enemies will punish you if you don't learn how to handle their patterns and leverage opportunities for counter attacks. 'Harder' enemies tend to have more complex attacks and/or less frequent/shorter windows to counterattack. As someone that thrives on being challenged, I love that process of learning a boss and the feeling you get upon eventually overcoming them.

It's like playing a competitive game but offline in single player you against the world and when you stop it waits for you and gives you all the time in the world to overcome the challenges 

Acomplishment to actually get through a really rough challenge plus in elden ring's case so many ways to do it. So many legit builds or strategies to just either cheese the game into nensense or to challenge yourself to defeat something famliar but with an uncomfortable tool

i enjoy the trial and error, not just the result of beating a boss, but actually learning their moveset, changing playstyles/gear to better fit the boss, thats probably why exploration is one of my least favourite parts of souls likes

I find the gameplay loop of "keep getting incrementally better at this task until you complete it" very satisfying.

Don't get me wrong, I play a lot of Diablo style games so I'm not opposed to just blowing up entire screens of enemies either, but there's just something about dying to a boss 50 times in a Souls game where you get a little closer each time that and finally getting over that hump that no other gaming experience has been able to replicate.

Only thing that has come close for me is doing high end raiding in Everquest or WoW back in the day.

I remember trying out Bloodbourne on PS4 after it had been out a while. I loved to styling and atmosphere. Something never really clicked though and I set it aside.

Later a friend was really into DS3 and prompted me to try it. Again, I liked the game but, it never fully clicked into place and I set it aside.

Something about the punishing nature of the games was lost on me.

Later on I tried DS3 again, and there it was. The reward. I beat a boss after trying and learning and that feeling of accomplishment sealed the deal. I understood HOW the game worked and how to play.

The challenge, the level design by from software specifically is immaculate, the lore, the amount of loot and gear which lead to varying playstyles. 

They require a lot of thinking about how to approach the challenge in terms of builds, consumables, environment, combat style etc. And then they deliver such satisfaction when you overcome that challenge. Plus very cool settings and enemy design.

I love playing the historian and archeologists in games. Playing games like Skyrim and unraveling the world and its history, religions, ect is rewarding for me as a player.

Elden Ring has a very strong story and world building, most play the game and never learn or understand this because if you aren't dissecting every cutscene, dialog, and item description the story seems abstract and confusing.

I also like games where I feel insignificant and small compared to the world around me. Elden Ring excels at this, I feel like an ant in that world exploring a place that doesn't give af about me.

DS3 is like a warm hug where you have to learn all of the tips and tricks and make your fit look the best you can, otherwise you’ll die.

ngl, the first dark souls game i played i just wanted to play around with cool swords and wear cool armor, the difficulty of the games are not a selling point for me but goddamn do they nail that "medieval arsenal" combat, the weight behind each swing and the way you dodge in and out of combat, very satisfying.

and all that i'm talking about is dark souls 1 which is the clunkiest in the series, dark souls 3 was my favorite for a long time, i think i still refer dark souls 3 design wise but elden ring has better systems and more stuff to do so i usually play that most of the time.

Yeah they already said it but the sense of accomplishment you get after defeating a boss you've been struggling with... Few games can compare.

Also it's an RPG which I love, silent protagonist and all that.

And something you mentioned, while most Souls games are not story driven the story is really really deep.

You don't get it in your face with a long body of text or an NPC telling you all about it, rather through descriptions of items/locations and just a few lines of chit chat with the NPC's you find.

Nowadays is kinda hard to be surprised because the game is so old, but back in its time, finding the lore behind DS1 by just playing and finishing the game was a rabbit hole that if you liked it, pulled you down at light speed.

I remember reading every text of every item, exhausting conversation with NPCs, looking at every little detail I could inside the game just to find out a little more.

Nowadays there's long videos about the complete lore of the game and the universe and how things connect. How things came to be and why things and creatures are the way they are.

But the beauty is, those are all theories lmao.

Yeah there's some aspects of the universe that are pretty set on stone but a lot of things you can have fun thinking about if that's what you like

Pretty consistent ones but theories nonetheless and I love it.

Even the most common thing like "Why the age of fire began?" Other games could tell you something like "Yeah this happend because of this and that" or because it is the will of a deity or because it is the way the world is supposed to be.

In DS1 you have no idea at all. The First Flame just came to be. Something fundamental about the worldbuilding, something that dictates EVERYTHING that happens after it, the beginning of ALL you see in game and the reason is just "because"

Soul games DO have story and deep deep lore even if they are not story driven games and I love them for it.

They’re immersive, lores great, the gameplay style is unique, the combat is challenging and satisfying, super replayable, came out in a time where the big games weren’t even concerned with challenges and the series brought back an old school feeling that felt lost. The games have such a unique feel to them.

The challenge. The series challenges your intelligence, your patience, your aggressiveness and at the same time surrounds you in a unique and beautiful environment. You can play the game and do a story run, or get everything you can and beat the game with your wit. Both are satisfying. It challenges you, nothing more.

I never played a souls game until my friend introduced me to Dark Souls 3. He has seen me play and die constantly. The number one advice he gave me was “get good.” That’s all it took for me to keep trying until I succeeded. Since then, I’ve played every Dark Souls game, Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Sekiro, Elden Ring Nightreign, etc. multiple times and have enjoyed the challenge and amazing environments.

I love the variety of weapons, armor, enemies, etc. And also the amazing design of the world and environment, it's so fun to explore.

Elden ring was my 'first' souls like many. I got hooked to the feeling of bettering my skills, learning the attack patterns and this feeling of victory after finally conquering a boss! It taught me patience and challenged me in a way i did not know a videogame could. I loved the story and the atmosphere as well, its cryptic side was part of its charm

I got into dark souls 3 back in 2018 when I was super depressed and I just wanted to beat it for the sake of being the only friend in my group to beat a dark souls game. Ended up replaying it like 20 something Times because suddenly it became my goal to make that game my bitch and oh boy did I. After that it was just an itch for similar playstyle games and hence the search for soulslikes began.

Whats the appeal? Well a lot of people see it as a challenging experience, and it is, especially when you’re not used to it and you’re not used to playing hard games and you’re not used to dying.

Once you get used to these types of games they really do just start to become easy and it starts to just feel like a regular ass action game. This is especially true for faster paced soulslikes like Nioh.

I’m pretty happy that I sucked it up and actually took the time to learn hard games years ago because nowadays I’m much more encouraged to play every game I play on harder difficulties, and I honestly think I enjoy things a lot more this way. A good example is both GOW 2018 and ragnarok. I played both of these for the first time this year and played both on the second hardest difficulty, and I can’t imagine playing it any easier because once I learned the game i already felt strong as hell. An easier difficulty would make the game feel trivial.

I felt the same with playing Expedition 33 on expert blind vs playing normal or blind. The game felt natural on expert and like how it was meant to play. Seeing that by end game I was mowing through absolutely everything like a hot knife through butter, I can’t imagine playing it on an easier difficulty.

Now the question is, are you missing out on anything by not playing these types of games? No, not at all. They’re a great experience but they’re not for everyone. The genre is over saturated these days for sure. That being said, there’s plenty of places to start both easy and hard.

If you’re looking to get into the genre, the best starting point imo is Star Wars Jedi Fallen order and Survivor. They’re still tough in some spots but they’re probably one of the easiest souls-likes that anyone can pick up and play. You don’t even have to like Star Wars, I sure don’t. But I really love these games and I think it’s a great starting point. My wife’s been trying to get into the genre for years because she’s always wanted to beat elden ring, so she beat Jedi and she’s made considerable progress in Nioh, and she’s actually gotten into the habit of challenging herself more and playing games harder just to prep herself for when she’s ready to give Elden ring a shot.

The journey. You know it's hard but you know you'll either finish it or give up

really didn't like dark souls 1 when i first played it. and then a friend pulled me into the genre by playing coop with them, until it finally clicked. and now they are my favorite games.
it could be the sense of challenge and the perception that those games are hard.
it could be the world and detail they put into them.
for me the favorite is sekiro and elden ring, sekiro for the perfect sword combat (parry)
elden ring for all the above.

They are challenging and dont hold your hand much if at all. Elden ring is probably the one game that gives the most direction and even then its not much. I enjoy figuring things out on my own. Its about overcoming challenges and the journey. As for the story/lore side of things, these games are very rich in lore that you can completely miss if you dont seek it out yourself. A lot of the lore comes from item/weapon/gear descriptions and is not told to you directly but if you are interested enough you can go and find it. Those who want the lore seek it out and those that dont care are not bogged down by something they dont care about

dark souls 1 has one of the greatest level design and most immersive universe I've ever seen. finishing that game was trully one of the greatest most fullfilling gaming experience of my life. loved how every boss every location every item hides a little piece of lore that slowly paints a greater picture. and the gameplay is so deep and interesting, I totally get why some people got 1000 hours on that game and replayed it to death in every way possible. one of the goats.

I think different people get something out of different flavors of soullikes. Some people really enjoy faster combat with a focus on dodging and parrying. For me, I like slower paced gameplay and hiding behind a big fuckin' shield. I don't like the fast pace of the others and I feel like the feeling is shared with my Dark Souls 1 style gameplay enjoyment.

But beyond that, you're taking in the atmosphere and exploring the world to see what's going on. There's also the element of getting better over time and mastering difficult sections of gameplay.

Heavily based on skill without having a super high mechanical skill ceiling. Making the games simultaneously easy to get into and play without compromising the challenge. Which also can be as hard or essy (up to a point) that you want. You can choose to keep your character at a certain level or spend 3 hours farming souls before a boss to make it easier to beat

I just find them fun without being overly complex. I enjoy collecting the armor and playing fashion souls. I enjoy that there's only one difficulty, so when I'm griping about how hard a boss was with someone I know we had the same exact experience and struggle.

Ironically, the only Souls games I didn't finish were Bloodborne and Sekiro. Bloodborne I made it about halfway and Sekiro I made it less than a quarter. So it seems like the less fashion souls a game has the less invested I am. Partially the same reason I struggle to get into jrps, I think.

High level skill-based gameplay that can be rather subverted by thinking through your obstacles. And that thinking of the game extends to getting the most out of the limited narrative and obscured worldbuilding.

It's as no-bullshit as single player games can be. It's a dangerous world and you will die. But every death is an opportunity to observe your enemies attack patterns and study your surroundings. You can solo every boss in these games at level 1 with starting gear - you just have to be skilled.

Atmosphere, where even basic exploring can be tense since anything has the potential to kill you.

For him this is also where good souls and bad souls games separate. A souls game only works when it seems fair. It's not the game that is screwing you, it's your mistakes or decisions. Bad animations, lazy hit boxes, super cheap tactics to arbitrarily raise the difficulty don't work for me.

What appeals to me is an intense dungeon crawl with new discoveries. It's the hero fantasy that if you were 'that guy' and had the skill (and the luck) you could survive this senerio.

The mainline souls games are very story-lite for sure, but the background lore and world building is always top notch.

If you want to try a soulslike game with more story, go with Lies of P. The story is front and centre and not hidden behind item descriptions, and the game is fantastic.

They typically have very tight, rewarding combat, and good build variety. The difficulty is a fine line, but as long as it isn't too bang-my-head-against-the-wall punishing, it feels amazing to beat a boss after a dozen or so attempts. Fromsoft titles obviously do this the best, but Lies of P and Nioh both do a pretty solid job as well.

I like the weird form of storytelling and the overall imaginary of the games, specifically the fromsoft games

Extremely satisfying combat and exploration. The world's are super obscure and immersive because it doesn't feel like a theme park. The games are extremely dark and that combined with the difficulty makes beating them extremely satisfying.

Elden ring is my favorite game of all time, easily. It's just pure magic.

99% of the problems in the game can be and even need to be solved by combat. lore and the story is super to the point with no time wasted. difficulty gives a feeling of accomplishment. i love melee and medieval combat

Elden Ring lore is more compelling than most of the story-driven games. I’ve bought two lore books for this game.

It’s like learning Ancient Greece history from documents but if gods were real and still there.

Same with other Miyazaki games.

Once you “get it” there is no going back.

Really good combat, enemy design and environment design

To me, theyre adventure games. Ocarina Zelda Clones. The best ones also have puzzles. They usually have good power progression and build variety. (Combat for me isnt too too troublesome after the first day; learning the timings of dodges)

they're the cure for movie-style gaming, where your input doesnt mean much and your brain dont have to work.

Any GTA game, see ur Grandpa become a hustler

They are like a beautiful math equation where you have all these numbers at your disposal and can make actual builds very satisfying.

A lot of them are really pretty and at least in terms of Lies of P & Code Vein, I really enjoyed their combat mechanics. Lies of P's story is also really good, ESPECIALLY when you get to the DLC.

Lots of different builds and playstyles. Lods of secrets to uncover. The right amount of difficulty to make it all worth uncovering.

I haven't beaten any of them yet but I've tried over the years and I've found i really began to enjoy them recently.

It took some time to understand that dying is a MECHANIC. You're supposed to die, often and in dumb ways. You're going to get comboed by the boss but In my experience it's more likely you're going to get kicked off a bridge by an enemy you could've 1 shotted of you weren't so arrogant. You're going to misjudge a jump, or get scared parry instead of dodge. It's SUPPOSED to happen, as every mistake makes you better and thus your character stronger. This was my first step to enjoying them.

Second is becoming powerful. I achieved this two ways, first I decided to say "i don't care if magic makes me a "coward", I don't care what's "Meta" according to friends or the internet." I just started using stuff i thought was fun and leveled my character up while trying different things. Next thing I knew, I was a badass, spellsword. I could clear that castle without taking damage that just an hour before I couldn't even get to the end. You kill, you level up, and you get gear, all that slowly level the playing field. And you're constantly finding cooler toys to play with.

I've found souls games aren't for everyone, however they are for more people than you'd think. I use to say it's not for me and now the only reason I haven't beat elden ring is my memory unit got currupted and I had to start over.

I play them for the worlds and the deep lore. It’s good to watch some Vaati videos on YouTube to gain a deeper insight and understanding. The environments are amazing, especially Bloodborne. I am terrible at bosses so always summon someone to help after a couple of tries. Oddly I did manage to beat Dancer (DS3) first time without getting hit. No idea how.

The combat. I don’t care for the story in those games because there basically isn’t one. I play them because the combat and boss fights are amazing. The only thing holding them back from my personal favorite genre is how difficult they are. I personally wish there were difficulty options like in God of War. It took me 2 years to progress further than Godrick in Elden Ring. I could never do much of anything in there. I only just recently beat the game and I didn’t even do everything I wanted to but I stopped because the difficulty was getting to me.

If I could get a souls game with difficulty options similar to god of war or Devil May cry it would have the potential to be my favorite game ever.

Played and completed remnant from the ashes on the hardest difficulty solo about 2 months ago not felt giddy for completing something so hard since first play through of ds1

Struggling for two weeks to get a euphoric feeling when you finally win. Only to find a bigger mountain to climb once you reach the summit.

Combat = tense and fun, very rewarding

World and lore = not in your face but extremely interesting with some great themes and environmental storytelling

Music = God tier

Bosses = like half the reason I play these games, I just love boss fights in games and I don’t get frustrated at dying in these games or any games for that matter since I started with NES when I was a kid

They’re my favorite game series, just excellent games through and through

I know most people will say combat and that’s definitely one of the reasons I enjoy it, but for me, I love fromsoft games because of their incredible level design. They pack in so many secrets within their levels and open world map. It’s just fun to explore and stumble upon what you think is a small dungeon only to go deeper and discover a whole new area with unique enemies, bosses, and loot.

Exploration, combat, and art style.

Exploration is my #1 thing in basically any game. I love Souls games for letting me just wander around and find cool secrets and shit.

The combat is also a necessary aspect of the game. I used to like basically any RPG but going back to stuff like Skyrim is HARD when the combat feels so basic. I love a good parry mechanic, or getting my slapped around by and enemy that requires me to learn its moveset or mechanics. The smoothness of rolling through attacks and finding my own damage windows based on my build is always fun.

I grew up on 3D platformers like Jak and Daxter or Sly Cooper, and I stand by the fact that Souls games are the modern evolution of those games. There's generally cool secrets hidden around a map to find, tight movement controls, and they're still a little bit "video-gamey." And by that I mean, like with the Witcher 3 it has more realistic movement that I find makes combat a slog with things like having a turn radius. But Souls games has you turn on a dime which cuts into the realism, but I think makes for more crisp gameplay.

I like the world/level designs. All the areas are interconnected, and you find and unlock shortcuts along the way connecting areas in really cool ways.

And also how many things you can find in a seemingly small area. When you come to a crossraod, turning right or left could mean discovering an entirely new section of the game, that you would have otherwise missed if you went the other way.

The only reason I play them is for the art direction and environments. I play it modded just so I can enjoy the world and not worry about gameplay much.

DS 2 has great combat and very vibrant levels imo, 3 is a grand adventure and start to lay into some more crazy special attacks that only got crazier with Elden Ring, and DS1 has personally become a vibey comfort game with a fun world to explore that I can play through in a weekend.

I like exploring the world and trying to piece together the lore. It's the only piece of media where I'm really interested in the theory crafting people in the fandom do. I'm awful at the combat though, seriously the worst. 

I like them because once you get good at souls games, they're incredibly rewarding. Getting good doesn't mean it's not hard, it just doesn't feel impossible anymore.

Elden Ring is especially fantastic for exploration. I absolutely adore that game and have played through it 6-7 times.

Gameplay is mostly around skill so I can switch between games without too much problem.

The accuracy, timing, and patience of the fighting. No spray and pray, no hold your shield up and mash swing. The hit boxes are accurate, you have to dodge, you need to strike with precision. Makes it feel like the decision making of a real sword fight.

For me it was the whole western rpg meets Japanese developer aesthetic initially. I was keeping an eye on gameplay videos of Demon's Souls back before it came out and was intrigued. It looked a little arcadey but I loved the aesthetic. When it turned out to not only be good but also difficult in an era where games were generally easy, I knew I had to buy it. The rest is history.

Problem solving - it made sekiro so satisfying

Tons of reasons

I love the feeling of overcoming a well designed challenge (I’m also a longtime fan of challenging platformers even before soulslikes were really a thing. The challenging aspect of these games is just so fun to me.

On a mechanical level, I particularly love the concept of stamina management the way it’s done in most masocore/ARPG games

To me, stamina management is like the game changing mechanic that gives most soulslikes their depth compared to more standard action games and genre offshoots.

I love having to think about every solitary action vs just being able to button mash

The challenge is just different , after playing Elden Ring all other action games pale in comparison

It was never my thing. I gave Dark Souls an honest try years ago.. (Got to level 45.) However, it's archaic narrative, grinding the same area over and over to level, huge learning curves, et cetera just wasn't my jive

Throwing middle fingers at the screen after spending 4 hours on tree sentinal

There’s very few feelings as good as after failing to beat a boss 72 times finally kicking his ass

If you play games for stories only, the soulslike games will not be your favourite. they have rich worldbuilding but not concrete narratives.

the thing people like about soulslike games is that they are some of the best games for Player Agency. they put you in a world and let you do what you choose to do. there are firm rules of the world that will punish you if you dont learn them. every success is all because of you, and every failure is all because of you, the game never helps you or cheats you. its all in your hands where you go and what you do. this is particularly true of elden ring, which is why its so famous.

The combat mainly.

For the souls games, I liked going against the bosses and I had fun testin' my skill. I never cared a whole lot for the land in each of em' (aside from the end of DS3, both base game and DLC) and I found the lore in the Souls games to be more engaging than Elden Ring.

This one's just my personal preference but I'm not a huge fan of how the story's presented, having cutscenes to explain what's goin' on isn't handholding and I feel like I'd like the Souls games and Elden Ring a lot more if the story was more direct rather than you have to pick up the pieces and fill in the blanks, 'cause with the Souls games I could pick up the gist of what was all goin' on with Gwyn, meanwhile in Elden Ring I didn't and still don't know a lot about most major characters, 'cause I was more focused on wantin' to progress rather than read any item description I came across.

Souls games are like 3D metroidvanias. They fill a gap in the market that games like Zelda, Metroid, Castlevania, and other classics that were heavy on exploration and puzzles largely abdicated, either intentionally or unintentionally.

The combat is simple, it is usually clear why you lost when you do, and the ambient storytelling is very impressive. It's very refreshing playing a game where there's no filter dialogue, every word matters, and the player is expected to listen and think about what they heard.

The feeling of overcoming a challenge when you finally kill that boss that's been kicking your ass for the last hour purely due to your skill is pure exhilaration that you don't get from nearly any other type of game out there.

Also the metroidvaniaesque map and progression of exploration is pretty satisfying.

More than any other series, it feels like being in the world of the game. You explore\play\fight on your own timeline, with the tools you think are cool or interesting, through a huge variety of challenges to discover and tackle. It is awesome specifically because it doesn't hold your hand with cutscenes and hours of NPC characters dialogue explaining exactly what is happening, how you should feel about what is happening, and dictating the pace of the story by removing your control of the character. You will never win a fight only to have a cutscene start and save the opponent, or force you to loose. With very few exceptions, every second in the game is time spent PLAYING the game.

The learning curve makes me feel like making progress. The amount of things I had to learn by playing instead of reading is basically the whole gameplay.

From now on it's more personal:

It's not really different from my reality navigating the world (I'm autistic), specially Elden Ring which I only have vague directions, thoughts and prayers to tell me what to do and no guidance on how to do. It helped me to deduct things better and apply skills in real life, stop to think more carefully how my choices impact the others before acting (since I used to be very impulsive this was a godsend), specially with lack of context and letting go of rigid thinking in seeking absolute truths, for in FROM's souls there is no hard coded truth, it's all up to interpretation. Also it rewards me for giving use to my pattern recognition.

I won't say it took me off depression because I was no longer depressed when I played it, but it made me more confident in taking the reins of my life and trying to push my limits (in a healthy way, the way that won't give me a burnout) and what started as escapism became a life lesson for me. I even got to play in therapy to have my therapist analyzing my behaviors because I had a permanent "mask". Overall for me the appeal is that I had personal growth.

(I had played Code Vein before switching to From's souls but it... Was kinda more like other games I had played narrative-wise, same with Lies of P, which is my favorite.)

Ds1 has so much depth. People have beaten it without leveling up at all... people have beaten it without upgrading weapons or armor... you can min-max to an absurd level.

Build variety, bosses, the soundtrack, characters, atmosphere and tone, challenge, cooperative play and player vs player, art-style and design of weapons/armour/spells, piecing together the story as you go along.

My biggest appeal was PvP/Invasions/Covenants but unfortunately got neutered in ER, non existent in NR and won’t matter in Duskbloods(new ip) since I’ll never buy a Switch 2.

I remember being a young pre-teen and seeing my friends older brother in the forest/darkroot garden of DKS1 with full Ornstein armour and that pretty much had me interested off rip.

I enjoy subsequent playthroughs more than the initial one lol. On my second run I can beat if reasonably easily because I’ve done through all the trial and error. But they are usually my comfort games when I’m stressed or anxious since at that point it’s this nice balance between being easy-ish for me but I still have to pay attention and not just play on auto-pilot.

I just like action RPGs. They are way too few of them I think. Dark souls does it well and also the story is interesting.

As to the difficulty, it’s not really that hard actually. It is punishing, yeah but the bonfire is rarely that far, many times you can rush back to your death location and the fights are doable. The thing is that you need to accept the fact that you will die and sometimes loose your progress.

Once you get over that fact and realize that the souls you loose aren’t actually that important and level ups don’t make that much of a difference at some point, you start enjoying just playing the game.

"they all seem very combat focused and not so much on story or cutscenes"

Well that's a lot of it. The art style and designs are cool as fuck, the music slaps, the combat feels engaging and rewarding, good sense of exploration lots of secrets to find, the sense of progression from levelling up your character and weapons, memorable boss fights. 

I would start with the first, I'm biased because it's my favourite but I think the warping restriction early in the game is more immersive and it's easier to progress through the games forwards rather than backwards because of age.

Everything looks cool and the combat is fun.

If you are looking for an introduction to the genre, coming from a history of enjoying more story driven games, I'd recommend "another crab's treasure". :)

I'm here for the bosses

Because playing games where you cannot possibly lose is boring.

PvP games can be fun, but they can also be incredibly frustrating when you don't have a ton of time to play because your skills fall behind, you aren't always able to keep up with the meta, your teammates will constantly let you down, etc.

Souls games are unchanging and still just difficult enough that you will feel rewarded for learning the mechanics and you can come back any time and it'll still be the same exact game.

FROMSOFT's games are a rare gift in this day and age and I think everyone should play Dark Souls I & III, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring.

I think during a time where cinematic games really just made you watch a long ass movie with levels inbetween, it was really refreshing to have a game that drops you into the world and then forces you to make sense of it. There's clues and lore drops when you pick up treasure and lots of setting-based stuff to uncover. Not only are the bosses incredibly memorable and challenging to defeat, but they make you feel like you've conquered a piece of this ancient world full of secrets. I don't play Souls games just for story or just for challenges, I also like games that have multiple ways to approach building your character so I can replay a whole different way for a brand new challenge. I get how it can be a turn off for some people if a game is overtly cryptic and esoteric, or just plain difficult to beat. But those are the aspects I've come to love most, and I think a large swath of the fanbase would agree with me.

Masterful Level design where the spaces interweave and connect to each other seamlessly, you can play for hours through a level and unlock a shortcut back to the beginning that makes sense geographically and serves as clever checkpoints (less used outside of dark souls 1/bloodborne) immersive way of telling a narrative where it does not overload you with information in the form of audio recordings or walls of texts/books, just very clever environmental contextual clues and a satisfying drip feed of lore and reveals through small item descriptions and brief chats with NPCs. It also respects your intelligence by not overwhelming you with UI elements telling you where to go or what to do, a real big you vs the world vibe. Basically, they're games made for people who have played a lot of games before. They're challenging games but not impossible, the more knowledge you gain about them the easier they become rather than being fully skill based. (Figuring out the best tools/build for the job, understanding how the rpg elements function)

It's like walking through a long-forgotten world steeped in ancient history that's been buried and decayed over an age, all while facing down great threats beyond measure and earning victories that serve as pale imitations of godhood in the wake of your doom

Cool swords too

They have a high level of intentionality in their design, in gameplay and aesthetic. They respect the player's intelligence by just placing things in front of them and letting players figure it out without hand holding.

It took a bit for me to find my fun with them when my partner bought me my first souls-like (Elden Ring). But then it was when I was fighting a bonus boss in the overworld that something absolutely completely clicked for me.

Boss fights.

The learning of the actions, patterns, dodging parrying, and taking the chances where they come. It was so absolutely thrilling to me. And it reminded me of another franchise where I lived for the same thing Kingdom Hearts. While KH and Souls games are very very different in almost every way, the experience of learning and beating the super-bosses in KH2 and KH3 felt the same way and I loved it then, so I loved the boss experience in Elden Ring.

After that I had no issue in devouring the game, always seeking the next boss and gleefully wondering what new dance it would demand of me.

Fighting for small but tangible progress. It isn’t go here go there collect blah blah blah. It’s “fight your way through this forest and we just might let you have a checkpoint or a badass enemy that makes you wish you hadn’t”

The reward of overcoming a genuine challenge

The atmosphere

Story wise, they are probably the best examples of 'show, don't tell'. I think any writer for a future TV shows should take notes from how the world building is so present yet not shoved down your throat at the same time.

Elden Ring is probably the best example of them all (which is kinda not fair since it was really created by one of the most legendary writers of our time), which is probably why they've thought about creating a movie/TV series based on the games (kind of like asoiaf but even more complicated).

Gameplay wise, it does give you a huge rush when you beat a boss that on paper should destroy you instantly (for example, all of the dragon fights in Elden Ring or the O&S fight in DS1). For me though, I really do love the exploration aspect of the games, even the linear ones.

HEAVY environmental storytelling, very little handholding.

They also hugely reward skill, if you learn attack patterns, know when you press an attack and when to back off, you can do extremely well. But if you make mistakes, you overcommit to attacks, if you're overconfident, the game will absolutely punish you for it.

Plus the general vibe of despair and artstyle is pretty awesome.

I can usually beat most bosses in a huge majority of games in the first try and if not easily the second; Dark Souls series truly tests me and the feeling of achievement for taking down a difficult boss is like no other in any other game.

While exploration was always good in the Dark Souls Series; Elden Ring took it to the next level and the exploration was fantastic in a world of surprises that were beautiful and deadly.

The stories can be a bit vague but that also adds to the mystery and exploration of the worlds; the story is there; you just need to find it.

Bambishart's brocade.

They’re very skill expressive. You can beat any enemy in the game at the lowest level with the weakest weapon if you’re skilled enough.

If you have a PS5 play Demons Souls and you’ll see.

Learning the timing and getting better on reading the moves. It nice seeing the gradual improvements and more health you take away each try until you finally beat that boss. Very rewarding.

The atmosphere, which is why I prefer Demon’s Souls out of them all.

Creating interesting builds, the challenging boss fights, and their overall design, and the story( specifically the way it's done through in game items and visually)

Bloodborne is the only one I fell hard for . I beat all 3 dark souls and Elden ring but just the vibe of Bloodborne hooked me so hard I platinum it and kept playing afterwards. Always liked the feeling of playing it. the impossible odds at first then becoming a master of the game later and helping others through it.

Challenge and the freedom to approach it the way you want.

Big swords!!

Exploration, the challenge, the freedom of approach, the story is deep at least for fromsoft ones but you have to five in willingly.

Apart from great level design and atmosphere, they actually feel like games where you are expected to be resourceful, have skills and overcome obstacles; unlike many other modern AAA slop games which feel like armchair monkey food

I love how the worlds are put together, but I've started playing it for the hard combat itself. Not even the basic enemies, but the bosses.

The best part of Dark Souls is getting better and better slowly but surely. The feeling when you finally are able to beat a boss is just the best. If you happen to first time beat a boss it also feels amazing every now and then. It'd be boring to just breeze through everything first try, so overcoming these obstacles is the greatest thing these games offer.

The lack of handholding

The sense of danger when you risk going deeper into an unknown area, often requiring you to commit to jumping down a ledge or something without knowing how you will get back out.

And most importantly the carefully finetuned difficulty (when the games get it right at least). Never feels unfair, every mistake avoidable once you learn patterns. And when you get it right you feel like Neo in the matrix, dodging every attack with perfect timing, like a flawless execution of some beautiful choreography. I'd say beating a boss in a soulslike game is like nailing a difficult piece of music on your guitar/piano/whatever. Just feels very satisfying.

But, I might get downvoted for this, but I don't care at all about the "hidden pieces of lore" part. I love the atmosphere, art direction, level design whatever, but i think it is a awful way of telling a story imho.

Level design is king in those games. No other game does it like that. Then comes challenge and game believes you are a thinking person. Figuring stuff out during Dark Souls 1 days was so cool, the community which formed is still present to this day. EpicNameBro, Zullie, Oroboro, Ironpineapple, Quelaag, Peevepeeverson, Vaati, ThePruld and many others.
I was playing a lot of things on xbox360 back then and just happenes to try Dark Souls and boy it was like a third eye opening to what games can be.

Oh, I think you'd love the Souls games. It's pretty easy to get into the swing of things and start crushing combat without having to rely on raw skill. Most people realize that once they get to new game plus and the game just becomes a cakewalk. Even though enemy damage and health is scaled up, it's just easier because you know what to do. The voice acting and the story are top notch in my opinion. It's honestly a great position to be in, not having played any of them. You have so much to look forward to and I'm jealous. It's not a series that tells you everything about it's story, you have to do some digging, reading, and theorizing. Trying to complete all of the quests in each game will give you a better sense of the overall story imo.

Aesthetics is one reason and difficulty I guess I love how elden ring looks particularly

Played only Bloodborne and Demon's souls remake. For me is art, level design, and addictive gameplay. Sense of progression from very difficult challenge to manageable, especially for boss fights. Adrenaline rush when you beat a boss. Satisfying combsct system. Sense of wonder and constant menace of the map, since you don't know in every corner which trap or enemy you are going to encounter, and even the stupidest mi could be fatal.

But unfortunately I cannot stand the long boss run. Since bosses are the most repeated enemies in the game, and they are supposed to be very difficult, for me is not acceptable to have to walk 2 minutes to reach them. This is particularly evident for some bosses in the two games I pkayed: Gascoigne and 3 ghosts in bloodborne, giant Knight, flamewalker and 2 gargoyle in demon s souls.

There is no reason for that long walk and they are annoying a fuck.

Also for bloodborne there is no automatic replenish of cure items, even though I understand the reason behind it (push the player to use the gameplay mechanic to regain health trough attacks). Demon s souls has a lot of curative items even if they are not regenerative, so is not a problem.

No BS. In many other Medieval themed RPGs, Witcher, elder scrolls, KCD, some assassin's creed and many others, you have to listen bunch of NPc, talk, go from point A to Point B then to C until you finally get a chance to kill somone or something. In Dark Souls you go and do stuff.

the closest i played is hollow knight, you felt like an ultimate pro, knowing the map like the back of your hand, perfectly dodge everything felt invincible as if you never died 200 times before this

FYI souls-games have like tens of hours of analysis of story and characters on youtube for each entry.

They're filled with worldbuilding, story and history. It's just not thrown into your face and you have to explore it and in some cases even do it outside the game with the help of people putting all the pieces together.

At least for elden ring i've easily watched like 10+ hours of Vatividya explanations and it's sooo interesting.

Elden Ring is a masterpiece in both gameplay fun and interesting world and story.

I'll go against the grain.

I don't play Souls-like games because there's nothing worse than having to repeat sections of a game. I think they're unnecessarily difficult and that somehow they've convinced people that's by design and not, somewhat, a product of crap design and controls.

So, I die a lot and get pissed off. I play games to have fun and not get pissed off.

However, I totally get the appeal of the games, the difficulty and so on. They're good games to watch when the person playing is good at the game.

Tbh I’ve never understood how repeatedly dying on the same boss for hours until you beat him for no payoff other than accomplishing the fight is fun. But then again story intensive games are the ones I tend to enjoy more. Not saying they’re bad, just not my cup of tea.

First played Demon Souls for the ps3, it was a random pick up from a gamestop visit. I must've died at least 25 times just getting up the front steps leading up to the castle! I was hooked by the challenge and the fact that I got stronger and better at playing every attempt. I ended up playing through most of Demon Souls without even knowing I could lock on to enemies.

The way the game doesnt hold your hand while you play, and the feeling of finally beating a boss thats been caving your skull in for the past 12h or so is exhilarating, reminds me of the old-school era, where you had to find stuff on your own, at most looking up a guide for tips, but without the game going “this fight seems to be too hard for you, would you like lower difficulty/this super OP item for this fight?” just because I died a few times

Its not a style that caters to everyone, especially some newer folks tbh, and thats ok, its meant to be a niche thing anyway, if you do have an interest in the genre and would like to pick it up, one tip I can give to you is for you to expect to be frustrated, you will struggle, die and come back just to die again even quicker than before, get used to this feeling, and you’ll be conquering these games in no time

I had never played any fromsoft game cause I just thought it’ll be too hard and annoying and I just wouldn’t enjoy it. Then I played Elden ring and was hooked. The world design, the combat, the mechanics and so much more

Also when you finally beat that one boss that you’ve been stuck on for hours and learning the attack patterns and hitboxes etc it’s so satisfying

The attention to detail, art style, aesthetic, challenging but fair difficulty, understanding that risk deepens immersion.

One other thing harder to describe is that I've never much loved video games where you "play through a movie," like The Last of Us, etc. I love how Fromsoft normally eschews this by having a story, but the cataclysmic event has already happened. You're often stepping into the aftermath wondering wtf is going on, and you can kind of choose how deeply you want to invest in learning what happened. It's a much better balance for me, and abides more by the idea that you make the player seek out more information about what interests them instead of shoving narrative in their face and assuming they want to hear it.

Nothing feels quite so peak in gaming as when you ‘git gud.’ You’ll know it when you feel it. You’ll feel it with these games.

The gameplay and combat is fun. The story is hit and miss but the level and enemy designs are really good. You get a good feeling of progression as well since you don't become super OP early on or because you chose this one skill. The weapon variety mixed with the more basic combat style (no big flashy skills) means it feels more player skill based instead of character skill based.

They don’t treat the player like an idiot, have a nice learning curve and are hard but fair

They're fun right away, there's lots of stuff to collect, and there's lots of ways to approach each challenge. I enjoy a good challenge but the difficulty is not why I enjoy the souls games, but it does helps justify all the things that go into it. Exploring is fun because you never know if you'll find something that's perfect for a specific boss, killing enemies and leveling up feels satisfying because ever edge matters for the fights ahead. Gear doesn't necessarily get out classed so everything you find has value that's up to you to assess, experimentation feels rewarding because your knowledge of the game is just as important as your skill. Don't get me wrong I still bang my head up against bosses because I'm too stubborn to try something new, but when your skill and your build start to come together that is the itch that the souls games scratch for me.

Once you understand the design language it becomes very easy to enjoy just about any of them and they get very hard to put down because they pull at your curiosity, they're not skinner box systems designed to keep you in a dopamine loop like some RPG's. I also really enjoy how fast they get going, no big exposition lore dumps, the tutorial area's give you key information but leaves it up to you to learn the way the world works on your own. For the broader concepts the game teaches you by showing not telling, with boss fights that punish you for ignoring mechanics, and placing difficult enemies in a way that encourages you to explore instead of pushing through. It's a master class in game design if you pay attention, it all feels chaotic, and many try to replicate it's style, but there's a real intentionality to it.

No overly long cut scenes, simple interactions with NPCs that don’t take you out of the game, lots of action, the choice to take on as may or few bosses/missions you want aside from the main ones. I find that I’m playing the game more, rather than sitting watching 2 characters talk for 20 mins

I loved legend of Zelda as a kid, and from soft scratches that itch for me now.