A Soulslike is not defined by one mechanic or a universal checklist. The label usually describes games that combine deliberate, learnable combat with meaningful risks, dangerous exploration, and progression shaped by what players learn from failure. Hard difficulty, stamina, dodge rolls, or losing resources on death can be part of the design, but none proves by itself that a game is a Soulslike.
What does “Soulslike” mean?
“Soulslike” is a comparison for a family of design choices, not an official genre standard. Developers interviewed by GamesRadar highlighted ideas such as deliberate action, exploration, risk and reward, learning, and a feeling of struggle or mystery, but did not agree on a single definition.
A useful way to apply the label is to ask whether several traits reinforce one another: combat rewards observation and timing; failure has consequences but can teach; dangerous spaces reward exploration; and progression asks players to improve their approach. This is a practical description, not a formal test. When describing a game, name the traits it shares rather than relying on the label alone.
What makes Soulslike combat different?
Soulslike combat often makes each action a commitment. Players read an opponent, choose when to attack or defend, and account for the time it takes to recover. Stamina limits, attack timing, and recovery windows can make careless aggression risky. These are recurring design signals, not required mechanics in every game.
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The goal is not simply to make fights difficult. In a June 24, 2024 Game Informer interview, FromSoftware director Hidetaka Miyazaki described a design aim in which players can understand why a death happened and carry that understanding into the next attempt. Failure feels fair when the player can connect it to a mistake, a missed cue, or a tactic that needs to change.
Sekiro shows how the combat formula can change
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice illustrates why the label should not be reduced to stamina management or a standard RPG build. In an Xbox Wire interview, the developers discussed a combat loop built around attacking, deflecting, and applying pressure to an opponent’s posture. The interview also describes character progression as leaning more on tools and abilities than on stats.
That approach differs from combat systems centered on stamina and recovery, while preserving the broader emphasis on reading enemies, timing actions, and learning through repeated encounters.
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How do checkpoints and death work?
Checkpoints make dangerous routes repeatable, but their exact rules vary by game. A checkpoint may provide a safe place to rest, change where a player resumes, or shape which parts of a route must be faced again. Enemy resets, resource losses, and recovery opportunities are game-specific; there is no single Soulslike death loop.
Sekiro is a clear example of why those distinctions matter. The Xbox Wire interview explains that, after an unrecovered death, the game can permanently remove half the money on hand and half the progress toward the next skill point. Its resurrection mechanic has separate limits and costs. The interview contrasts these rules with the recoverable corpse-run system used in earlier FromSoftware titles. Those details describe Sekiro, not the genre as a whole.
Across different games, death can still serve a shared purpose: it makes the next attempt different because the player has learned something, and because the game may put carried resources or route progress at risk. To understand a particular title, check what its checkpoints preserve, what death costs, and whether lost resources can be recovered.
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How do exploration and progression fit together?
In many Soulslike games, exploring is part of learning how to progress. Branching routes, hidden items, shortcuts, and dangerous encounters can reward curiosity and combat skill. Bosses may act as gates that test whether the player has learned the game’s combat demands.
Bandai Namco’s overview of Elden Ring describes earlier Souls levels as interconnected spaces with branching paths, where exploration and puzzle solving can uncover items or areas. Elden Ring extends that approach into an open world: players can choose among challenges and, when blocked, improve their skills or build elsewhere. That freedom changes the order of progression, but major areas still demand combat skill or a capable build.
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In a PlayStation.Blog interview, Miyazaki described balancing exploration, boss fights, and progression order across the large map as a significant design challenge. The result is a broader choice of where to go, not the removal of challenge or progression gates.
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How can you tell whether a game is a Soulslike?
There is no official checklist, and developers disagree about borderline cases. GamesRadar’s developer feature documents that disagreement, including the use of labels such as “Souls-lite” for some games. A single shared mechanic—such as stamina, a dodge roll, or resource loss on death—is not enough to settle the question.
Instead, look at how the design choices work together:
- Combat: Does the game reward reading opponents, choosing when to commit, and adjusting after mistakes?
- Failure: Does death carry a meaningful cost or reset, and can players learn from what happened?
- World: Do dangerous routes, secrets, or shortcuts make exploration part of the challenge?
- Progression: Does advancement depend partly on improving skill or understanding, rather than only accumulating power?
- Variation: Does the game use its own combat, checkpoint, and character-development systems rather than simply copying one template?
These are comparison questions, not pass-or-fail requirements. Elden Ring shows how open-world exploration can expand Souls-style progression; Sekiro reshapes combat, death, and character development; and Lies of P is an example of a game that discusses Soulslike combat while emphasizing weapon assembly and playstyle variety.
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What to compare when two games are both called Soulslikes
The label can hide substantial differences. For a more useful comparison, describe the systems that shape what a player actually does:
- Combat rhythm: Compare stamina and recovery commitments with posture pressure, deflection, or other ways of controlling an encounter.
- Death cost: Check whether dropped resources can be recovered, are lost permanently, or interact with a separate resurrection system.
- Checkpoint loop: Look at what a safe rest changes, which encounters repeat, and how shortcuts affect retries.
- Progression freedom: Compare a fixed or branching route with the option to leave a difficult encounter and improve elsewhere.
- Character development: Distinguish stat-based builds from systems focused on tools, abilities, or configurable weapons.
For example, calling both Sekiro and Elden Ring Soulslikes is less informative than noting that they differ in combat emphasis and character progression, while Elden Ring offers more freedom to choose where to go when a challenge blocks progress.
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