A Soulslike is not simply an action RPG with a high difficulty setting. Its signature is a connected loop: study an enemy, commit to an attack or evasion, learn from the cost of a mistake, and use exploration, equipment, or a new approach to improve the next attempt. The exact mechanics vary by game, but challenge is made meaningful through observation, risk, and retries.
How a Soulslike’s combat differs
Combat tends to reward reading an opponent and choosing when to act, rather than attacking as quickly as possible. Enemies signal moves; players watch those movements, evade or defend, then exploit an opening without overextending. Attacks and evasions involve commitment, so acting at the wrong moment can leave a player vulnerable.
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ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition | Digital | Nintendo Switch 2 Digital Code | $79.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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That emphasis is part of the design intent Hidetaka Miyazaki described for Dark Souls: strategy should matter alongside reaction speed. Bandai Namco’s description of Elden Ring likewise emphasizes responding to enemy movement, learning patterns, and finding openings. These principles are shared more often than any one universal timing system; different games have distinct combat rhythms and mechanics.
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In a Soulslike, a failed attempt can provide information: which attack caught you, when an opening appeared, or whether your current approach is working. Recovery points let players return for another try, while death may also carry a cost. The particulars vary by title, so the genre does not require one standard death penalty.
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Miyazaki described Dark Souls as a cycle of trying, dying, learning, and eventually overcoming a challenge. In a 2024 interview, he also explained the intended fairness of difficulty: a player should be able to understand why a death happened and feel that it made sense. That is a design aim, not a promise that every death will feel clear or fair to every player.
Why exploration matters mechanically
Exploration is more than scenery or a way to reach the next fight. Branching paths, shortcuts, hidden areas, and items can offer useful information or change how a challenge can be approached. Finding another route can also give a player time to prepare rather than forcing repeated attempts at the same obstacle.
Rank #2
- Collaborating with George R.R. Martin to create the ELDEN RING mythos has been a genuinely delightful experience and a source of wonderful inspiration. The team is working hard to ensure that the world of ELDEN RING will be a fascinating place for players to explore, filled with peril and wonder from its furthest reaches to its lowest depths. This is a FromSoftware title through and through, rich in fantasy and RPG action. We sincerely hope you look forward to it.
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Elden Ring adapts this idea to an open world: players can explore elsewhere, seek equipment or upgrades, use summons, or take another route. That openness broadens the ways to respond to difficulty; it is an evolution of the formula, not a requirement for every Soulslike. Earlier games can build exploration around more interconnected paths instead.
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In games such as Dark Souls and Elden Ring, weapons and equipment have different handling, and character choices can shape how a player fights. A difficult encounter can prompt a change in preparation or tactics rather than just faster execution. The amount of freedom is game-specific: not every title offers the same range of stats, gear, or builds.
Rank #3
- A New Fantasy World – Journey through the Lands Between, a new fantasy world created by Hidetaka Miyazaki, creator of the influential Dark Souls video game series, and George R. R. Martin, author of The New York Times best-selling fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. Unravel the mysteries of the Elden Ring’s power. Encounter adversaries with profound backgrounds, characters with their own unique motivations for helping or hindering your progress, and fearsome creatures
- World Exploration in the Lands Between – Elden Ring features vast fantastical landscapes and shadowy, complex dungeons that are connected seamlessly. Traverse the breathtaking world on foot or on horseback, alone or online with other players, and fully immerse yourself in the grassy plains, suffocating swamps, spiraling mountains, foreboding castles and other sites of grandeur on a scale never seen before in a FromSoftware title
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This flexibility reinforces the learning loop. A player can consider whether to change equipment, develop a character differently, or use a different route or tool before trying again. Discovering an alternative does not remove the need to understand the encounter; it changes the options available for meeting it.
What “Soulslike” does—and does not—mean
“Soulslike” is a family-resemblance label, not a universal checklist. Deliberate combat and learning through danger are useful recurring features, often supported by demanding encounters, meaningful exploration, consequential death, or player-shaped builds. Their relative importance varies.
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- Not a difficulty setting: A game can be challenging without using the connected combat, exploration, and retry loop.
- Not one death system: Retrieving a dropped resource or corpse is not required across the family.
- Not one map design: An interconnected world is common in some examples, while Elden Ring uses broad open-world exploration.
- Not one character system: Some games foreground stats and builds; others emphasize authored abilities, tools, or mobility.
How three games show the range
| Game | What it illustrates | Where it differs |
|---|---|---|
| Dark Souls | Deliberate combat, strategy, recovery points, varied weapon handling, and a try–fail–learn loop. | Miyazaki described room to strategize and the possibility that another approach could work after a death. |
| Elden Ring | A Soulslike approach adapted to open-world exploration, with opportunities to find gear, upgrades, summons, or alternate routes. | Its openness expands player choice without removing the need to learn combat. |
| Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice | A boundary case that retains demanding action and learning while changing character progression and death consequences. | Producer Robert Conkey described it as “Action-adventure with RPG elements.” It places less emphasis on stats and more on prosthetic tools, abilities, stealth, and three-dimensional traversal; its death penalty is not a recoverable corpse run. |
Is Elden Ring a Soulslike?
Yes, it is a Soulslike, though its open-world structure gives players more freedom to explore and find alternate approaches than a more tightly directed route might. Its combat still asks players to observe enemies, learn patterns, and take advantage of openings. The label describes its design lineage and recurring mechanics; it does not mean every Soulslike must share its world structure.
Quick Recap
Sources
- PlayStation Blog, “An interview with FromSoftware’s Hidetaka Miyazaki” (January 28, 2022), on Elden Ring and exploration.
- PlayStation Blog, “Dark Souls Q&A: Variety Is The Spice Of Death” (February 4, 2011), on combat, strategy, and learning through failure.
- Xbox Wire, “New Details Revealed in Our Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Interview with Producer Robert Conkey” (March 19, 2019), on Sekiro’s systems and its description as action-adventure with RPG elements.
- Bandai Namco Europe, “Is Elden Ring the best of the Souls series?” (published 2026; accessed October 13, 2026), on combat and level design.
- Game Informer, “From Software’s Hidetaka Miyazaki Discusses His Approach To Difficulty” (June 24, 2024), on readable causes of death as a difficulty-design aim.
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