I don't mean this in the sense of "The beginning and end of a soulslike should be equally hard" or "They need to be easy", but more like how DS3 is way harder than DS2 or Bloodborne. I feel like whenever there's a new soulslike, instead of letting me rely on my skill of other games, they have to add something to make it harder and more challenging and frustrating with every new game.

Essentially, I feel like, throughout my journey with all kinds of soulslikes, I've already built up skills in those games and I'd rather be able to use those skills in new ways instead of building up new skills I'll only be able to use in that specific game.

Like, perfect parries, perfect dodges, reflections in Khazan are awesome, but only really good for this game. The combat is awesome and lots of fun, but since its combat is so different to its contemporaries, the skill you build is not really transferable, at least not fully.

I guess in a sense I get why soulslike get so much more difficult these days: fans of the genre had years of practise with other titles, so the challenge needs to be upped to accommodate for their skill. However, unless you accommodate for the rise in difficult and offer difficulty options, which some soulslike have started to adopt recently, it also artificially bars people from playing the game, be it because they lack the necessary mechanical skill or because they lack the patience/tenacity/perseverance to keep at it. Some bosses still just feel absurd (shoutout to Khazan's final boss who's easily comparable to Sekiro's)

I'm just not a huge fan of this arms race that soulslikes have fallen into where every new soulslike has to have the new hardest boss or whatever. I didn't like it with Elden Ring, even though I appreciate a lot of its boss designs, or Lies of P or Khazan. Just let me feel good about being good again lol. And maybe focus a bit on other aspects of the genre that are so beloved: storytelling, world building, level design, atmosphere

What do you think?

Ive been revisiting elden ring and have been keeping my summon sign up helping people.

I helped 5 people get through Malenia today when i had an interesting one... we beat the first phase, skipped cut scene, but instead of going up for her scarlet bloom....she didn't. I look at the health bar and she's got no health left. Before i could do anything she got attacked and died for good. It was bizarre. Hopefully the host didn't mind they got robbed of the 2nd phase lol.

So how about you-- any boss fights that glitched unexpectedly? Or non-boss fights? I know there are glitches people intentionally exploit for speed runs and skips so this isn't about those unless you happened to find them unexpectedly.

The learning curve for Khazan was insane. The first two bosses were hard enough as is, but I managed. Why was Viper so god damn hard? I barely managed to get by phase 1 only for a second phase to start.

The devs published some data on the game, and apparently, Viper is the boss most people died to. I think he's that much of a hurdle - not comparable to something like Genichiro in Sekiro in terms of complexity, but I think once you beat him, the game sorta opens up to you. Not to say that basically any other boss after Viper is even harder, but Viper is such a huge early roadblock, man.

What were your experiences?

Spent all weekend working on her and the Elden Beast. I was determined to beat her before the ending. Yesterday I got up a little early and grinded a few quick levels to use Black Flames Protection. After a long ass day, eventually I finally sat down, loaded in...

And whooped her on my first attempt.

With any luck I can figure out a way for me to deal with the Beast and then its on to Shadow of the Erdtree!

Thank yall for all the great advice here and on other forums, if it wasn't for the community it would've been a much different experience playing through. But goddamn im having fun.

💜

Miyazaki plz

I just love that they keep pumping out updates for the game. Sure, it's only 3 months old now, so regular update should be expected, but not to such an extent. Lots of QoL, balancing, new features etc. Very happy with the game

Found a post on rxddit discussing that Lies of P is really high quality, and between the game's quality by itself and the recent DLC, they claimed it's among the best of its genre.

Another user chimed in and put together this comment that I found quite interesting (TL;DR at the bottom):

TL;DR: FromSoftware's level design and exploration are on a different level compared to Lies of P. While Lies of P has solid gameplay, its levels are linear and predictable, often looping back on themselves. In contrast, FromSoft games like Bloodborne and Elden Ring hide entire unique areas, bosses, music, and gear behind obscure paths or enemies, rewarding curiosity and exploration with awe-inspiring discoveries. These secrets and intricate designs make FromSoft titles feel special beyond just the "soulslike" label—something Lies of P hasn't quite achieved despite being a strong entry in the genre.

What are your thoughts on this? How important is the exploration to you?

I liked the visuals of Demon's Souls a lot and appreciate the level designs, but even though I managed to finish the game, I found the levels themselves a little too hard sometimes - especially the poison swamp levels. A little too much going on for how little is available to you, I feel like.

How about you?

can weapons actually break in Bloodborne? I've seen that pop-up from time to time, but I never bothered to try to break it - always switched weapons and repairer them

not sure when that screenshot was taken, but I imagine the player numbers will be looking the same right now