180°

9 games that are the Dark Souls of their genre

GameZone writes, '"e live in the age of comparison. Call of Duty versus Battlefield, 1080p versus 720p, Big Mac versus Whopper. Any way you spin it, you'll have one side comparing products to their beloved brand. Nowadays, it's almost impossible for a difficult game to come out and not have the "It's the Dark Souls of..." statement thrown around. However comparing various games to Dark Souls can mean a few different things. Whether it's the difficulty, the hidden layers of story elements or even if the game's very dark in nature. Here are 10 games that can be, and even have been, categorized as the Dark Souls of their genre."

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gamezone.com
rextraordinaire4143d ago

SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI IV - THE DARK SOULS OF PERSONA GAMES

...

Someone doesn't know that Persona is a spin off of SMT, not the other way around...

HyFackingDro4143d ago

This article is stupid! Demon's Souls was harder, yet I assume the writer never played it since it was PS3 only. Not only hat but lets just play with this idea for a second, if Dark souls is an Action RPG how is Path of Exile the Dark Souls of its genre when Dark souls holds that title, Dark souls is also based in a Fantasy world so therefor it would also take the crown from Dragons Dogma (Which by the way you're showing a screen from Dark Arisen). Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen while relatively hard in the expansion section was actually rather quite easy as a whole. FAIL

ChickeyCantor4143d ago (Edited 4143d ago )

He simply means the harsh penalties within it's own game mechanics of each game.

Why you trippin balls?

GameSpawn4143d ago

While I agree with you Demon's Souls is harder than Dark Souls, this is our opinion based on our playstyle of each game.

I've seen arguments to why one is harder than the other, but I've come to realize this is all dependent on how you play the games. Check-pointing makes Dark Souls easier than Demon's Souls in some respects, but infinite spell casting (meaning you can spam spells as long as you can restore MP) makes Demon's Souls easier in others. Both games have one thing over the other to make them easier or harder.

The one feature that these two and some (not all) of the games in the list in the article share is that they can be unforgiving to the inexperienced. If you don't take a little time to understand and master the mechanics of these games they have no qualms having you die over and over and over again in a mindless loop. How much you're punished varies, but we can all agree you are being punished to some degree for your ignorance and inexperience.

admiralvic4143d ago (Edited 4143d ago )

I would call Spelunker the "Dark Souls" of platformers. I mean, the key element of the Souls series is not difficulty (as it really isn't that), but taking things slow and learning from your mistakes. Everything has a way its suppose to be done and doing almost anything else will get you killed, which you're suppose to learn from and apply to the next attempt.

Anyway, I included a video of Spelunker below.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Also, I wouldn't call Spelunky or really any rogue like the Souls of their genre, because their genre goes against the key point of Souls. You see, you can learn from trial and error in Spelunky or any roguelike, but you can't always directly apply the reasoning for your death to resolve your current situation. In this sense, some of the deaths in say Spelunky feel cheap, as there are times when you're simply screwed. In my mind, this goes against everything that people like about the Soul series, as it's all about learning and applying your knowledge to prevent it from happening again.

majiebeast4143d ago

Rayman 1 is the Dark Souls of platformers i finished Super Meat Boy, i still cannot finish Rayman 1.

Summons754143d ago

I beat Rayman 1.....with cheats so i suppose it doesn't count :p

I agree with you.

alejandroelputo4143d ago

Rayman Origins last level was very close to impossible

MONKEYDLUFFY4143d ago

I have Beaten Super hexagon. I'm quite proud of that.

alejandroelputo4143d ago

Nice, you must be one of the greatest gamers alive.

MONKEYDLUFFY4143d ago

I realize you're being sarcastic but it really was a rewarding experience. I worked at it for months.

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140°

50 Best PS3 Games of All Time

The PlayStation 3 is Sony’s most interesting home console ever, but what’s most interesting of all is trying to nail down the very best games on a console with hundreds of incredible games. Let’s give it a shot.

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culturedvultures.com
darthv7278d ago

Personally, I'd rank Pacific Rift in my top 10. It's the best of the series.

badz14977d ago

We desperately need Motorstorm back. Evolution is no more though and this makes me sad

Cacabunga77d ago

Sly Thieves in Time
Stay the Party
Portal 2
Dj Hero
Demon’s Souls
God of war Ascension

rudero77d ago

2 of those games got railed through the “gaming media” during release.
Sly and god of war.
Both of which were fantastic games.

Cacabunga76d ago

Ascension is VERY underrated. Remake please!

Venoxn4g77d ago

Decent list.. I would put the Castle Crashers as well..

1Victor77d ago

Yes it’s a decent list of popular games with a heavy hand on FPS and no Warhawk or Starhawk 2 of the best games (not sale wise) on ps3.
I would buy a Starhawk again even if it didn’t have a graphics upgrade hell I would even take a new one with micro transactions 😱🤯

Profchaos77d ago

I've noticed a recent nostalgia for the PS3 and I don't get it for me it's been my least favourite generation to date and I've been gaming since the NES I just feel like the ambition of the developers outweighed the capabilities of the consoles so I remember lots of games running in the lower end of 20fps range and I remember for the first time ever actually disliking the duelshock 3 and it's curved triggers

Sure there were some standouts and great games but that's the only gen I switched entirely to PC gaming

darthv7277d ago

Maybe the recent nostalgia is because pretty much all of its games are trapped on that console. People want to play them on more modern hardware. hell... if XB can do it then so can Sony. there are competent emulators out there that can run on PS4/5 hardware but Sony just wont let them become official... why is that?

If we are talking least favorite generations (personally) then this one is certainly mine. i had more fun playing 8th, 7th and 6th gen stuff than 9th. And it isnt like i dont have access to do so... the heavy hitters just havent shown up anywhere close to those previous gens. The few here and there just doesnt cut it compared to the likes of constant good games that showed up in 6th, 7th and 8th gen. hell.... I'll even throw in 5th gen has been better than this one.

Profchaos77d ago

I tend to agree there's lots of amazing games locked to the PS3 like GTA IV or mgs 4 but then again my issue was never with the content the PS3 had but rather it's performance many other people have said the PS3 felt like it couldn't walk and chew bubblegum at the same time using PSN and downloading a game could take a few minutes to just start a download.

I typically don't worry all that much about performance I've never had a problem with games that run at 30 but games like crysis 2, Skyrim are good examples where the performance was so unstable you would never even touch the top of the frame cap and the hitching was worse than say Goldeneye on the n64

I think emulation is more than possible on the ps5 though it's just that Sony has no incentive to rush it's development it will likely be a ps6 feature if it ever happens at all.

But yeah the 9th gen has been so bad from a content perspective thats a given I see constant articles where people are frequently expressing their disappointment around the industry as a whole right now to much live service competition that sinks longstanding studios and consumes Devs time less ambition and games cost so much to make they have to play it safe.

The 5th gen was easily better than the 9th we had some all time greats crash, Spyro, Tony hawk, mgs, Mario,64, Goldeneye, Mario kart 64 the list goes on. The 5th gave us a new dimension and I remember being blown away by how much more open gaming had become the 4th gen with the mega drive and SNES was great and very easy to still revisit some of the greatest games of all time came out like earthbound, secret of mana, sonic , Mario world etc but saving our games was still not a standard function or a given so gaming was still evolving but it was very impressive to see some of the tricks Devs used like dithering to give us new experiences those earlier gens limitations bred innovation.

Michiel198977d ago

if XB can do it so can sony? I didn't know xbox had a cell processor in their older consoles, that's the reason why ps3 was so cool, but also the reason why games are hostage there and no, xbox did nothing similar even though their backward compatbility is good, they always had a similar architecture to their consoles.

darthv7276d ago

Sorry Michael... I guess you missed the obvious part where i said there are already emulators out that do this. and that is what XB is doing... emulators for OG and 360 games. Its why the full slate is not BC on XBO/Series.

coolbeans77d ago (Edited 77d ago )

The list is missing Folklore.

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370°

FromSoftware didn’t want Sony to publish Dark Souls due to how Demon’s Souls was treated

Former SIE president Yoshida explained that Sony wanted to work on the sequel to Demon’s Souls with FromSoftware, but the developer turned it down and instead decided to work with Bandai Namco on what would become Dark Souls.

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videogameschronicle.com
Luc2088d ago

Not sure what Sony was thinking. Wrong people testing the game. It was my favourite game from the PS3 days. Had to import it from Canada because it wasn't available in Europe at the time. Then I bought it again when a local version was available. It was fun to play online and get two separate platinum.

Cacabunga88d ago

I understand, sony acting so cocky when it came out. But they quickly realized what they were missing on. I remember an interview of Yoshida saying clearly he hated the game.

SDuck88d ago

"But they quickly realized what they were missing on."
So they've been sleeping on Bloodborne too

RaiderNation88d ago (Edited 88d ago )

Sony didn't realize what they had with Demons Souls. It happens. Marvel approached Xbox to make Spider-Man before they went to Sony and Phil Spencer said "thanks but no thanks". You win some, you lose some. Personally I wasn't THAT bowled over by Demons Souls either when it launched on PS3. I thought it was slow and clunky. The remake on PS5, however, is fantastic! So I get why Sony was lukewarm on the franchise. I dont know if anybody could've foreseen what From Software would eventually become.

Palitera88d ago

To be fair, not even From Software knew the huge success it would become. Their revenue target was tiny, as already confirmed by Miyazaki.

LoveSpuds88d ago (Edited 88d ago )

Exactly, these nipple head 'journalists' trying to spin this into a story to wield against Sony are ignoring the fact that hindsight is 20/20.

As you correctly point out, Demons Souls was incredibly niche at the time so it's not a surprise that Sony were cautious about investing huge amounts into advertising and support etc.

Pyrofire9588d ago

You can't just find the RIGHT people. This kind of thing didn't exist yet. FROMSOFTWARE started something huge and you could never see it unless you happen to get someone who not only gets a gut instinct but also the will and authority to act on it. You can't look back from 2025, you have to see it in a 2009 landscape. And Demon's Souls didn't even hit big, it wasn't until Dark Souls that it all started hitting, shortly after it's release in 2011.

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GamingSinceForever88d ago

Hey sometimes you just can’t see the potential.

It’s like the Chicago Bears moving up in the draft to take Trubisky over Pat Mahomes.

Pyrofire9588d ago

I don't know one ounce of these sports teams, but yes, exactly like that.

88d ago Replies(2)
jznrpg88d ago

I bought the Japanese version of Demons Souls before US release. Me and my friend heard about it from an online friend in Japan. It took a while for it to become popular in the US. It was a new IP with nothing like it at the time and it wasn’t easy to play obviously. Eventually word of mouth spread about it and sales picked up after launch. I don’t think anyone could have seen how big it would be at the time. It was considered very niche and hardcore games were minimal.

Scissorman88d ago

I do wonder if we'll ever see Demon's Souls 2. Sony clearly wanted it. FromSoftware's subsequent releases penetrated the mainstream in ways the developer likely never imagined. Any stigma or negative perception around the original game's release has long passed. Bluepoint's remake sold very well on PS5. I think the time has come to visit the IP that started it all.

ocelot0788d ago

With Sony now firmly in bed with Kadokawa now. I think a Demon's Souls 2 and/or Bloodborne 2 is fairly likely.

Pyrofire9588d ago

They also seem to not want to get on Fromsoft's bad side or undercut them in any way. I think it's completely up to FS. (which is kinda funny cause FS themselves makes weird moves with their games whenever it's not Miyazaki helming the project. ie DS2 and Nightreign)

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130°

30 Years Ago, Elden Ring And Dark Souls Dev FromSoftware Released Its "Mind-Boggling" Debut

Today marks the 30th birthday of King's Field, a PlayStation title with an incredible legacy – and one which some Western players might be unaware of.

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timeextension.com
Pedantic91153d ago

If only they would remake or make a sequel to shadow tower abyss.

Babadook7153d ago

I remember. It showed potential for a new type of action RPG.

Loktai153d ago (Edited 153d ago )

I still have my original release PS1 long box King's Field right here on my shelf. Great game., Looks better on a CRT than you can really appreciate in emulators or screenshots too, or Im just nostalgic. Note: actually it would be kings field 2 in japan but released here as kings field, so I guess its the second game. Great none the less.

gold_drake152d ago

i recently played it, its pretty good

Grilla152d ago (Edited 152d ago )

It was great. I always wondered what happened to the series/developer. Wasn’t til a few years ago I found out they moved on to the souls games. It’s nice to see them get the appreciation they deserve.

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