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…