Highlights

  • FromSoftware's recent games, Elden Ring and Armored Core 6, have both been successful due to their demanding gameplay, interesting worlds, and customization options.
  • While FromSoftware's future plans are unknown, FromSoftware should not be afraid to mix old ideas and find new niches, like making a sci-fi Soulslike game.
  • The roots of the Soulslike genre lie in fantasy, but games like The Surge have proven that sci-fi works too. FromSoftware should break its own mold and try a different style of Souslike.

The last couple of years have been great for FromSoftware fans thanks to the launch of Elden Ring and Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon. Although these games serve different audiences, both share FromSoftware’s signatures of demanding gameplay, interesting worlds, and plenty of customization. Elden Ring gained massive acclaim for bringing the Souls formula into an open-world, while Armored Core 6 brought its franchise back after a decade-long hiatus and gave mecha fans another strong entry in their underserved genre. These games achieved different kinds of success, but they are appreciated nonetheless.

At the moment, Elden Ring is headed towards its Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, while Armored Core 6 continues receiving updates that may culminate in an expansion of its own. FromSoftware's plans after that are unknown, but fans could be looking at a new game from the studio in a few years. Chances are this title will join either the mecha or fantasy legacies that most of FromSoftware's library draw their settings from, but it doesn't need to follow a single tradition. FromSoftware shouldn't shy away from mixing its old ideas to find niches it hasn't touched yet.

Armored-Core-6 Wall Boss Fight
Related
Why an Armored Core-Esque Soulslike by FromSoftware May Never Happen

Armored Core 6 wasn't a Soulslike like some wanted, and there may never be a mech-focused Souls game from FromSoftware, for a few reasons.

Soulslike Fantasy and Armored Core Sci-Fi Have Stayed Mutually Exclusive So Far

While there has been a lot of variety in FromSoftware's storied history, two throughlines of fantasy titles recalling elements of King’s Field and mecha games either inspired by or directly part of Armored Core, have been constants. Not only have these two groups maintained consistent visual and narrative identities, but also mechanical ones. The King’s Field line culminated in Demon's Souls and FromSoftware's other Soulslikes, but Armored Core persists as itself even after becoming the foundation for various mech games and even licensed titles.

FromSoftware Can't Return To Old Genre Divisions Again

These groups of FromSoftware games have been so rigidly defined that there was fan skepticism over whether Armored Core 6 could handle integrating Souls features. It ended up striking a good balance between that and tradition, but the fact remains that any science fiction titles FromSoftware makes are more likely to follow Armored Core’s template than King's Field or Souls. Bloodborne is the greatest aesthetic deviation a Soulslike game has seen under FromSoftware's roof so far, and the Souls formula has the potential to do so much more. Even as Armored Core lives on as a distinct experience, FromSoftware shouldn't be afraid to introduce a similar futuristic setting in a Soulslike title.

Armored Core’s General Setting Would Work Great In A Souls Game

As the genre codifier, FromSoftware Souls games set a strong example that imitators rarely deviate from. Off-kilter dark fantasy is the norm in Soulslikes, with that description being equally appropriate across Nioh, Remnant, and Lies of P. Deck13 Interactive's The Surge series may be the furthest any Soulslike has strayed from the fantasy core of Demon’s Souls, taking place in a far-flung future where rampant mechanization and AI have produced the same scenarios as any other Soulslike game. The Surge has its merits, but FromSoftware needs to take a crack at the same concept.

Stepping Into Sci-Fi Would Be A Big Soulslike Shake-Up

Not enough futuristic or cyberpunk Soulslikes are being made, and it falls to FromSoftware once again to set the trend for them. It doesn't need to focus on mecha or their pilots like Armored Core does, and the two IPs should be able to coexist without their identities overlapping. A sci-fi Soulslike from FromSoftware would also be a breath of fresh air after prior Souls games have exhaustively covered fantasy themes and iconography. With Armored Core hopefully continuing past Armored Core 6, FromSoftware should take a chance at sending the Souls genre to times and places still ripe for exploration.