Articles The Surge 2

The soulslike genre owes its existence to Demon's Souls, released by FromSoftware in 2009. A PlayStation exclusive, it first earned a cult following among hardcore players in its homeland of Japan. From its core mechanics, FromSoftware's lead designer Hidetaka Miyazaki built a new game — Dark Souls — which launched a series that became iconic the world over. Soon the "soulslikes" started arriving: games that copy the Dark Souls formula of success. An entire genre was born, built on the hallmarks of Dark Souls — punishing difficulty, "bonfires" (checkpoints for saving and leveling up), enemies that respawn on a location once you die, collecting experience ("souls"), stamina management in combat, fragmentary storytelling, and — most importantly — gruelling boss fights that force you to learn every move set.

Some particularly successful virtual entertainment titles leave a lasting impression not only on gamers but also on developers. When an excellent game pushes an entire genre forward, it sometimes sets trends for the industry, inspires studios, and becomes a model for imitation. This article will focus on such projects — those that have influenced many modern games.