I was really traumatized by that Golem archer on my first playthrough. I still don't get his sight lines… Sometimes he sees me all the way from the outer wall at night and sometimes he only sees me when I'm nearly at the castle itself.
But he actually doesn't do that much damage… Even naked at RL1 you don't get one-shot from a direct hit. Also he is non-respawning. Bite his ankles a bit and smash in his chest and you have your peace.
Yeah, I saw the "like" genres when it started on reddit.
I was being purposely obtuse for the sake of comedy.
Tis a silly thang, to create a genre based on a game that was based on a game that belonged to a genre before said game became synonymous for/with that genre.
I'm not sure if these existed, but maybe there's also a predecessor to Metroid and Castlevania yet the genre is called Metroidvania since these two are the ones that have majorly influenced and created the genre to begin with. Prior to those, you'd likely have called them sidescroller adventure games or something. Names and definitions of things can change.
Okay and how do you group games together that take the main ideas and design philosophies of Castlevania and Metroid? Sure, you don't have to, but that's how humans work. "The game is like Metroid/Castlevania" is a roundabout way of just saying "Metroidvania".
Literally every genre name is dumb and non-descriptive. Is Muse Dash or Risk of Rain 1 in the same genre of "side scroller" as Metroid? Is Smash Bros or Street Fighter also there?
Soulslike has become to mean a specific subset of games, not all necessarily played exactly like Dark Souls, by consensus. Language is descriptive, not prescriptive.
👏🏻👏🏻 👏🏻 that's the most important takeaway from this. It's hard sometimes to deal with language being used in an unusual way or in a way you're not used to it, but language is not a monolith: it's ever-changing and adapting and it never stands still
That's why you combine genres, dum dum.
Like how dark comedies can be in both horror and comedy genres.
Soulslikes need a few bloodstain, bonfire, estus or just dodge mechanics - which already sets a gameplay loop Souls fans would like - and then you slap a roguelike element, or sidescroller, or whatever you want.
Mina the Hollower could be called a topdown Soulslike Zeldalike, for instance. Sounds silly since Dark Souls was inspired by Zelda, but I know what I'm getting into.
24 Comments
teft@piefed.social · 12 pts · 74d
Worse are those ones near Castle Morne.
“…why is the battle music starting? No one is near me…”
MissingInteger@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 74d
I was really traumatized by that Golem archer on my first playthrough. I still don't get his sight lines… Sometimes he sees me all the way from the outer wall at night and sometimes he only sees me when I'm nearly at the castle itself.
But he actually doesn't do that much damage… Even naked at RL1 you don't get one-shot from a direct hit. Also he is non-respawning. Bite his ankles a bit and smash in his chest and you have your peace.
MissingInteger@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 74d
brem@lemmy.world · -8 pts · 74d
What is soulslike?
Is this a genre for people that aren't good at naming things?
The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 74d
Games like Dark Souls.
If you search that tag on steam in 2026 though, you'll see it applied to literally anything.
brem@lemmy.world · -5 pts · 74d
Yeah, I saw the "like" genres when it started on reddit.
I was being purposely obtuse for the sake of comedy.
Tis a silly thang, to create a genre based on a game that was based on a game that belonged to a genre before said game became synonymous for/with that genre.
v4ld1z@lemmy.zip · 8 pts · 74d
I'm not sure if these existed, but maybe there's also a predecessor to Metroid and Castlevania yet the genre is called Metroidvania since these two are the ones that have majorly influenced and created the genre to begin with. Prior to those, you'd likely have called them sidescroller adventure games or something. Names and definitions of things can change.
brem@lemmy.world · -7 pts · 74d
If you need labels, Metroid and Castlevania are "side-scrollers".
Or, just call them Metroid and Castlevania. Because that's what they were.
v4ld1z@lemmy.zip · 11 pts · 74d
Okay and how do you group games together that take the main ideas and design philosophies of Castlevania and Metroid? Sure, you don't have to, but that's how humans work. "The game is like Metroid/Castlevania" is a roundabout way of just saying "Metroidvania".
brem@lemmy.world · -5 pts · 74d
I understand, but I don't have to like it. This is my opinion & it's not a terrible one. Just come up with a better name, that's all I'm tryina say ;)
v4ld1z@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 74d
Sure. Give me an example tho
rockerface@lemmy.cafe · 8 pts · 74d
Literally every genre name is dumb and non-descriptive. Is Muse Dash or Risk of Rain 1 in the same genre of "side scroller" as Metroid? Is Smash Bros or Street Fighter also there?
Soulslike has become to mean a specific subset of games, not all necessarily played exactly like Dark Souls, by consensus. Language is descriptive, not prescriptive.
v4ld1z@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 73d
👏🏻👏🏻 👏🏻 that's the most important takeaway from this. It's hard sometimes to deal with language being used in an unusual way or in a way you're not used to it, but language is not a monolith: it's ever-changing and adapting and it never stands still
Datz@szmer.info · 3 pts · 73d
That's why you combine genres, dum dum. Like how dark comedies can be in both horror and comedy genres.
Soulslikes need a few bloodstain, bonfire, estus or just dodge mechanics - which already sets a gameplay loop Souls fans would like - and then you slap a roguelike element, or sidescroller, or whatever you want.
Mina the Hollower could be called a topdown Soulslike Zeldalike, for instance. Sounds silly since Dark Souls was inspired by Zelda, but I know what I'm getting into.
brem@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 74d
Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦!!!
brem@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 73d
Inconsequential, some might even be as bold to say
But debating over such things isn't
It's the conversation which is the means to the end.
Community, or humanity
We are but the echoes of our questions and actions
brem@lemmy.world · -2 pts · 74d
Imagine if people called every RPG "Chronolike"..