Preferably on the easier side, especially if 3D. I had a grand old time figuring out the openings in Deaths Door and am hopeful I can pick up Titan Souls soon. Is Another Crab’s Treasure as decent for a warm up to soulslikes?
What I liked about Death’s Door is that it was simple enough to figure out how to level up, maneuver, and time mechanics so that it didn’t slow me down from discovering more of the world or progressing the plot. At first it felt too difficult, but lasting longer through the hard fights was actually fun. I felt a short sense of accomplishment getting through each major fight. And when I felt like I was hitting a brick wall, I had a way to enhance stats. I’m currently stuck practicing the boss fight on the umbrella challenge.
I’ve watched videos of Dark Souls, and I can tell it’s not for me. In MHW, though it’s not a soulslike, I’m forever stuck on Deviljho - I’ve never been able to solo it, only carried. @.@ 'just mentioning it for skill reference.
Blasphemous
i picked up Blasphemous once again yesterday (or the day before?..) and its amazing. the bosses are pretty easy (so far) and its more narrative driven than dark souls is imo. im not entirely sure what the story is about yet but its like a setting where the gods are angry and people are trying to repent or something. art is great and it challenging yet very much not ‘difficult’. it has a bunch of epic cutscenes and the occasional puzzle-y segment, highly recommend. (for reference, im pretty new to 2d souls-like metroidvania-like games yet so far none of the 4 bosses i fought took me more than like 30 minutes)
Not really 2d, more like 2.5d, but, TUNIC. It’s a mix of old zelda games with soulslike mechanics and puzzles. Requires lots of thinking though, so might need to look things up at times.
Hollow knight and ender lilies spring to mind
The name makes it sound like it is some sort of cash-grab rip off, but trust me when I say that Eldest Souls is well worth your time.
Hollow Knight for real. Some of the best game art and atmosphere I’ve ever seen, and it can get pretty challenging, but it never stops being fun.
Second that. The exploration can sometimes get a little frustrating, from my experience, if you’re not quite sure where to go next. Usually, you’ll make a mental note of roadblocks on your way and remember when you receive a new upgrade to further progress. The music is fantastic, though, as is the art direction, the fluidity of the gameplay and so much more
That game is a work of art with some good lore.
As far as traveling, the PC wemod turns the game into a version of flappy birds with unlimited jumps. Really speed it up the game when I got tired of platforming and just wanted to get to a location.
Wait are sections rebuilt to accommodate that change in architecture or is that like a fast-travel screen?
No it is a cheat. You basically fly by all the platforming by keep pressing jump which in a platforming game is defeating the purposed but I Hate platforming and just want to get to my location.
Oh so that was a joke about is turning into Flappy Bird :D Gotcha
Blasphemous 1&2 and Nine Sols
As a big fan of the series, I felt like I got a similar vibe from Dead Cells.
It’s fast, but the rooms are about one bonfire long. As you play you unlock lots of new weapons and items to allow a lot of different play styles. It’s hard, but not unfair. I’ve never felt tricked the way the FromSoft games will trick you.
Come on, Salt & Sanctuary? Nobody? Salt & Sacrifice is ok, but imho not as good.
Bleak Sword DX
While it’s not an exploration type of game, it has the “drop xp on death with one chance to recover” mechanic, and the combat feels quite similar to Souls games (dodge roll, parry etc). Worth checking out.
