From Softwares dark souls series was so popular and groundbreaking that it led to the creation of its own subgenre, in the form of Souls-esque games, but the dark souls trilogy also inspired the creation of other titles created by FromSoftware, including: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Elden Ringand Bloodborne. There have been a lot of Soulslikes created by other developers, but the industry is now starting to see games that are more inspired by the goth world and fast-paced gameplay of Bloodborneespecially because it’s time to give up Bloodborne‘s PC port rumours.
The first true Souls game was Demon Souls on the PlayStation 3. It was this console exclusivity that led to its successor, the multiplatform dark souls, the breakthrough hit that inspired so many other titles. The dark souls games are dark fantasy titles, with lots of swords and sorcery, as well as elements from medieval European fantasy literature. There are some elements from other genres and cultures thrown in, but the games mostly consist of knights, dragons, castles, wizards and the likes of monarchs. It didn’t take long for games inspired by the dark souls trilogy, which led to the creation of the Soulslike genre. These games often had their own spin on the concept, such as: Salt and Sanctuary being a 2D Souls like and Code vein have in common with dark souls enough to be considered an anime Soulslike.
Bloodborne was a departure from dark souls in many ways, as it used a very different setting and changed the gameplay. This led to a difficult arms race that FromSoftware waged against itself, with: Bloodborne are much harder than the older ones souls games, leading to sekiro and Elden Ring raise the bar even higher. FromSoftware has shown no interest in telling the story of Bloodborne and there’s not even a word about a remake, a remaster, or even a 60fps patch on PS5. Many people still like Bloodborne and so are video game developers, meaning: Bloodborne-inspired games are starting to make their way to the market.
The differences between Soulslike and Bloodborne-inspired games
Bloodborne and dark souls are very different, despite what they have in common. BloodborneThe setting is that of a Victorian-era Gothic town, where the fantasy monsters are replaced by Lovecraftian horrors. The games have moved away from heavy armor, thick shields and destroying opponents with spells. Instead, the hunters of Bloodborne must rely on speed and dodge, as they must use their superior speed to avoid enemy blows, and pile up damage when an opening appears. The spells have been replaced by primitive firearms, which are more useful for running counters than for sniping. Removing shields is the biggest change, such as: Bloodborne forced players to move away from a turtle approach to combat and switch to a full offensive style. Needless to say the change was a big hit, and Bloodborne remains one of FromSoftware’s most popular titles.
The era of Bloodborne inspired titles is here
Bloodborne 2 takes a long time and FromSoftware may never make it, but it doesn’t need to, as other developers rush to fill the Yharnham-shaped gap in the market. The most recent example of this was: Steel Rising, the Soulslike set in Paris during the French Revolution. The gameplay in Steel Rising takes a lot of inspiration from Bloodborne, with the main character relying on speed and firearms to take down her massive enemies. The bloodstained streets of Paris resemble those of Yharnham, while the cosmic horrors and corrupt people have been replaced by clockwork machines that kill everything on the eye.
There are many of Bloodborne-inspired games on the go. The next will be moonscars, a 2D Soulslike in a Gothic world that resembles an oil painting. In moonscarsthe character is a clay-borne creature of blood, bone, and ichor, who must fight other artificial creatures as they search for her creator. moonscars is all about speed, parry and magic born of artificial blood as you fight through a dark and moody world. moonscars is not the only 2D Soulslike inspired by Bloodborne. The Future Games Show had a trailer for The Last Faitha pixel Bloodbornelike game. The images in The Last Faith are stunning, and the gameplay and character designs feel a mix between Bloodborne and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
The biggest Bloodborne-inspired game on the go is lies from P, an upcoming game starring Pinocchio. Like Steel Rising, this is a Souls-esque set in a gothic city inspired by real world locations, with an artificial protagonist opposing other clockwork creatures in the service of humans. The first lies from P gameplay trailer was incredible and obviously takes a lot of inspiration Bloodborne. lies from P won’t be released until 2023, so fans can get the Belle Époque . don’t explore city for a while.
Will there be similar titles inspired by Sekiro & Elden Ring?
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice wasn’t the first Soulslike inspired by ancient Japan, like Team Ninja’s Nioh series they have been beating for several years. Team Ninja is still at it, like the next one Wo Long: Fallen DynastyThe Three Kingdoms inspired story looks like sekiro if it was set in Chinese history. There’s plenty of room for Eastern-inspired Soulslikes in the future and more are likely to follow sekiro is more defined by its brutal difficulty, where the player must play the game on his own terms in order to succeed.
It is likely that there will be games that try to copy Elden Ring in the future, because this was essentially an open world dark souls game. However, creating such a game is quite a task and whether companies will succeed in shipping such a game is up in the air, especially given its raw form. Elden Ring launched in. The huge success of Elden Ring ensures that some companies will try their own Souls-esque games in the open world, but that will take a lot of time and resources to get it done. Elden Ring 2 unavoidable, or may not even appear, because FromSoftware probably wants to go to different projects. This explains why some companies prefer to make a game in the form of Bloodbornewhich is a highly focused experience with eye-catching visuals, rather than a huge world to fill.
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