Half of the soulslike appeal is the world design and exploration, which I assume AC is all about, as I haven’t played any. Elden Ring also explicitly gave people summons which make the game easier for almost every fight, so they can be approached by more casual players, and it worked.
Lastly, Dark Souls fans are tryhards that will tell you you’re playing the game wrong for using magic, summons, or sometimes even a shield. Dark Souls 1 for instance is way easier early if you have the Heal spell, and the game’s practically begging you to learn it by giving you all you need before the first real area. The “Prepare to die” slogan was introduced after DS1 hit mainstream.
redsand@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 weeks ago
They’re more difficult than average but like elden ring and skyrim weren’t known for being grinds. You know what has a grind rep? AC Valhalla. No one finished it. AC was great but it feels like it’s been down hill since Origins.
Rose@lemmy.zip 4 weeks ago
My impression might be skewed because I’ve only played from the first through Syndicate so far. Based on those, yes, there’s a lot of pointlessness even there. After finishing all quests in Rogue, I had to spend as many hours to open all the chests and collect everything for achieving 100% completion. Still, I got to explore new places and see more of the game world. I also could just abandon that and still see the game as finished, but you can’t do these things if you’re stuck trying to beat a boss in a souslike, or at least how I understand those games.
redsand@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 weeks ago
You would have to look up strategy for boss fights but fromsoft usually leaves a cheese build in the game if you want to play more for story. It’s the attention to detail and solid design fundamentals that make set them apart though. Nintendo does similar quality work on Mario and Zelda where you can tell the team cares about the game.