What's a soulslike you've been putting off for years but definitely (wink wink) want to play some time in the future?

I've played through most of the soulslikes I put my mind to but I still haven't played/finished DS1/2.

I started a playthrough of DS1 and got to Quelaag but didn't actually fight her because I was cursed and wanted to cleanse it first - couldn't find my way back, unfortunately, and didn't want to look up guides lol. And now the save is gone, so I'll have to start over - ie. I probably won't play anytime soon :D

Haven't played DS2 yet because I wanted to play them in chronological order.

What about you?

38 comments

Previously Sekiro the parrying scared me for the longest time. I'm still sure the game will absolutely kick my ass, but maybe not that bad.
Right now... DS2 , the mechanic that punishes you for dying sounds awful, I'm dumb and die a lot on a first playthough so.... I'm tempted to skip to 3 and then come back.
- The max HP reduction caps at 50% and the items to return back to full are pretty common. There's also a ring you can find very early in the game that caps the the reduction at 25%.
  The game also throws a silly amount of souls at you. IMO DS2 is easier than DS1, a lot longer though, especially if you play all the DLC (and you should).
  
  Wow, a LOT longer? I don't mind if it doesen't feel like a drag. Is there good exploration in DS2 in your opinion?
- DS2 was a lot easier to me than other dark souls entries (Didn’t play DLC) which helped soften the blow of that mechanic.
  
  Really? What made it easier in your experience?
I started with Bloodborne, then did DS1, DS3 and Sekiro. Still waiting for the right time to get DS2 and elden ring.
The thing is, my wishlist is so large that whenever I finish a game I can always find something I'm excited about on a good sale. I don't know when the right time will come..
Lies of P and Sekiro. I will get to them at some point, but I don't get through soulslikes very quickly and they're not the genre that I play the most either. Fine by me though, there's all the more chance of getting them on a good deal!
Quelaag is actually where I got stuck and stopped playing the first time I tried Dark Souls too. In my case I was not cursed, though, I was just regular old bad at the game
- if you kill man-eater mildred in the swamp, you can summon her to help you fight Quelaag. takes a lot of pain out of the fight
  
  I don't super enjoy summoning, unfortunately. I'm definitely not of the opinion that people are somehow playing wrong if they do summon, it just reduces the satisfaction I personally get from the win. I got there eventually though! Just had to accept that not summoning meant I had to get good the slow way
Demon's Souls is great. I beat both the 2008 and PS5 versions. All the DS games are great. There is some DLC to get also. To me Wu Kong was like Sekiro. It was okay. Lies of P was good. Lords of the Fallen, the new version, is good (currently on NG+2). Bloodbourne was great also. I forgot to play tue DLC, so I bought it but stopped because Elden Ring came out. Elden Ring was good but I actually disliked the open worldness. It took too long to realize that an area was not just souls hard, but I had to come back later when I was stronger. Too much wandering around that is time-consuming. Still an absolutely wonderful game.
- I think Bloodborne's best boss (which is also my personal favorite soulslike boss) is in the DLC! The whole dlc is so so good! This is your sign to go back to it... ^if ^you ^feel ^like ^it ^of ^course
  
  Sign taken to heart. I noticed I have only one thing to do in Lies of P to get platinum, so I'm going to do that and then go back to Bloodbourne.
The only one I might check out eventually is Entoria. The reviews did not make it sound like it would be one I would like so I didn't buy it.
- I'm playing it right now, though only through the first major area so far. It definitely has some jank, but if you can tolerate it I'd say it's worth playing. I'll reserve full judgement for when I've finished it, but thus far I'm tempted to say it's worth playing just for the level design, art direction story and lore. The setting and theme is just so unique and interesting, and the game is beautiful.
  The combat has a lot of fun things to play with, but perhaps not perfectly balanced. At the end of the day though it's still a Soulslike so if you can tolerate some AA and jank you get your usual trappings, with a bigger emphasis on parrying than mainline souls games. The loadout system is interesting and getting into the "awakened" state every time you switch loadout (even if you switch to one using the same mask) encourages you to engage with the stance switching mid combat.
  I'm having fun so far.
Can't say I've put it off for years because it's still quite recent (came out a year ago), but I've been putting off Enotria: The Last Song because of its mixed reviews on Steam. Well, I got reminded of it being on my Wishlist thanks to a recent sale, and while I didn't buy it it did make me pirate it to try it first.
It's actually really good so far. It runs well so far for me, though I can't say whether the performance issues that seem to be behind the mixed reviews were patched or it's just me having a decent machine.
The theme, setting and art direction is amazing - the Commedia Dell'Arte basis for the lore is super unique and it's great to play a soulslike that is bright and beautiful for a change instead of the usual grimdark. The story seems intriguing, though I've only just played the beginning.
Combat and character building seems deeper and more involved than typical, with both skill trees, four active abilities in combat and a sort of stance change system. I also have to give praise for a very unique and different element and status system that is completely unlike the usual tired fire-water-earth-air and its derivatives.
From what I've seen I definitely recommend checking it out, though maybe pirate it first just in case.
Never put off any of them, I replay (a few runs/NGs) them at about regular intervals (one or two titles per year).
Just like Dooms, and Quakes - which is a bit more often the 20 or so other titles I also (re)play from time to time.
any game that actually has the word "souls" in the title. only elden ring and sekiro so far
- Any one that fancies you in particular?
  
  Not really, if I ever manage to pry myself away from Space Station 14 to try anything different, which one of the Souls games would you recommend most?
I really want to finish Steel Rising. I love the aesthetic and find the story interesting. I had to uninstall before I had gotten that far into it because I was running out of disk space, but that's not a problem anymore.
I don't know why but I found Elden Ring unsatisfying and I walked away about a third of the way through.
I love Bloodborne and Sekiro though and I'm very intrigued by them, but I keep bouncing off. I was always either a shield guy or a mage, and that's the exact play style they were (perhaps rightly) trying to discourage/remove.
- That’s why Elden Ring is great, you can change your play style. I stopped Sekiro because it only encourages one play style.
  
  Agreed but I wish I knew what my problem with Elden Ring is. It just didn't shine for me and I couldn't never put my finger on why

38 comments