Apologies for the overtly negative title, but I’m getting a little frustrated over here. This year, I’ve played Khazan, which I’ve enjoyed a lot, the Elden Ring DLC, which I need to get back to at some point but enjoyed so far, and Lies of P (again) + its DLC, which I’ve loved. All of these have one thing in common: quality. This makes it really hard for me to give smaller soulslikes a fair chance.

A few months ago, I gave Thymesia a shot. I definitely see the potential and vision and liked some of its mechanics quite a bit, but it just doesn’t hold up to the greater soulslikes I’ve played. I didn’t even manage to kill the first boss out of impatience and because of a lack of enjoyment.

Just tried Lords of the Fallen too and, man, I feel like they didn’t even try to make this second attempt any better than the first. I was taken aback by the wide range of classes to choose from, but the gameplay just feels so unnecessarily convoluted, floaty and weightless. All of these different mechanics are thrown into the mix that end up being next to meaningless because you end up going from point A to B with a minor detour because you’re travelling through the Shadow Realm™. That first boss was also an absolute nothing-burger.

Like, what gives? Are games like Khazan and Lies of P that much of an anomaly? I woild have really liked to expand my repertoire of soulslikes to play, but I’m just getting disappointed left and right despite going into it with an open mind.

Have any of you guys experienced something like that? I really wanted to give both of these a try, but man. Maybe I just need a break from the genre…

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 @pawb.socialEnglish
    3·
    1 month ago

    I thought LOTF was pretty good. Not as good as Lies of P, but up there. Certainly better than a bulk of the soulslikes I’ve tried or seen featured by Iron Pineapple’s series about finding new soulslikes. The weakest thing was the story for me. It felt like it was trying too hard and had no original ideas.

    Have you tried The Surge? Its kinda hit or miss across various aspects depending on whether you play the first or the second, but for the most part they are also fairly good. First one has a Dark Souls 1 feel for most of it, though the bosses kinda suck. The second one has better bosses, but the world vibe is really weird since it’s actually populated and there are loads of side quests lol

    • Druid@lemmy.zipOPMEnglish
      2·
      1 month ago

      Yea, I remember you enjoying LotF, so I was excited to give it a try - didn’t vibe with it at all, sadly. I might have given up too early on it, but at this point, I feel like I know what I like and forcing myself to get to a point where I enjoy the game enough to not get annoyed at the combat at all times is unlikely.

      I’ve not played either, no. I prefer getting used physical copies for PS5 and since both are 18+ titles in Germany, I can’t get them second-hand on our Craigslist-equivalent. Might have to look into it on ebay, maybe. Heard some good about both, though, so I’d be willing to try it.