It has been just over a decade since the first Dark Souls hit consoles in 2011, and since then a whole genre has been born. While it wasn't FromSoftware's first game, it's undeniable that it had struck gold as the industry began to evolve in response to Dark Souls bucking traditional gameplay experiences.
However, it's worth looking at how Dark Souls revolutionize the scene, and what its legacy will look like the longer games follow in its wake. As of this writing, an exceptionally difficult title can earn itself the moniker of a "Souls-like" game as a badge of honor, guaranteeing a certain degree of success just by mere association. But whether this will last forever remains to be seen.
The Appeal of Dark Souls
The genre arguably first began in full with Demon's Souls, a precursor to the Dark Souls that served as a spiritual successor to FromSoftware's King's Fields. What differentiated the two Souls games was a matter of timing and platform, with Dark Souls no longer being a PlayStation exclusive and launching at a time when the industry was under fire for producing games that "held players' hands" by making things too easy and obvious.
Unlike contemporary games of the time that focused on formulas like tutorials with in-game prompts, Dark Souls was developed so that polished combat mechanics and balanced game design could complement one another, with deaths not merely being a possibility, but an inevitability. When players failed, it was never attributed to poor game design, but a lack of player skill. Moreover, the ability to progress and a limited availability of checkpoints - bonfires - were tied into this system. Deaths meant losing significant progress, something few other titles allowed for, and Dark Souls made no apologies for how challenging or difficult the game could get.
Defining The Souls-like Genre
Following Dark Souls' monumental climb into notoriety, a new generation of games that sought to emulate the style came into being. This was especially prominent within the indie scene, as AAA developers appeared slow on the uptake. The likes of Hollow Knight and Salt and Sanctuary followed the path that Dark Souls forged, combining unforgiving combat and nuanced gameplay with dark fantasy narratives. These titles even welcomed the association with Dark Souls, as if the comparison were a testament to their careful design.
The Souls-like genre did not have a solid, concrete definition or determining criteria, yet it escalated to a point where any game with a high difficulty would draw ire from players for likening itself to Dark Souls. As more time passed and Dark Souls' impact solidified, core components of the genre it inspired would emerge: high levels of difficulty, recurrent deaths, resource management, and a focus on subversive worldbuilding with environmental storytelling and cryptic interactions. While this often leads Souls-like games to embrace dark fantasy settings, recent games are beginning to challenge this, opening more potential for Souls-like interpretations.
The Future of Souls-like Games
A remake of Demon's Souls made its way to PS5 in 2020, led by a different studio, as FromSoftware moved on to other projects like Elden Ring. With Elden Ring's open-world nature seeming to change the industry once again, one could argue the traditional FromSoft Souls-like genre ended with Demon's Souls, the same way it began. Though that being said, other games developed by studios beyond FromSoftware have garnered cult followings, with sequels such as Hollow Knight: Silksong and Salt and Sacrifice awaiting their own releases.
Over 10 years on, it's hard to imagine how one game could reinvigorate the industry and spawn an entire genre. Dark Souls' legacy is sure to keep gamers' attention as future titles are released, with the prospects of what might be in store for the likes of Elden Ring successors or games such as Star Wars Jedi: Survivor hopefully painting a bright future.
Dark Souls is available now for PC, PS3, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
