- Souls-like games have gained much attention in recent years thanks to recent releases like Sekiro and Elden Ring.
- Out of other FromSoftware games, Sekiro has the best combat system thanks to its fast-paced fighting and posture system.
- Future FromSoftware games should adapt Sekiro’s combat system and improve it even further.
FromSoftware games such as the Dark Souls series have been famous among gamers since the 2010s for their callous and medieval tone. Many gamers have also been introduced to the Souls-like genre in recent years.
FromSoftware is currently the gaming industry’s foremost developer, renowned for consistently delivering high-quality projects. Their latest title, Elden Ring, has also seen tremendous success. However, before Elden Ring, the developers released a smaller project.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice surprised Souls-like fans, especially since the title was a side project. Even five years after its release, Sekiro still impresses with its combat, which is the most satisfying part of the game.
Why it matters: Departing from the traditional slow-paced and dodge-focused combat, Sekiro emphasizes action and features much faster battles. This is why I believe that more FromSoftware games could benefit from Sekiro’s combat.
Innovation At It’s Peak
Previously, we’ve discussed how smaller projects often enjoy more design freedom compared to bigger titles, primarily because developers have greater autonomy without publishers breathing down their necks.
This freedom is why Sekiro innovates so much and introduces numerous new features. One of Sekiro’s most emphasized features is its stealth mechanics. Given this title’s more linear approach, players have minimal opportunity to bypass enemies, making stealth crucial.
The posture system stands out as one of the game’s best features. It replaces the traditional stamina bar from games like Dark Souls and Elden Ring. Instead of relying on dodging, Sekiro compels players to parry and deflect attacks, providing the closest experience to a duel one can find from playing this type of game.
Despite these significant innovations, Sekiro retains the essence of a Souls-like and features some of the most challenging bosses in the franchise. It also serves as an excellent entry point for newcomers to the genre; it’s shorter than titles like Dark Souls and Elden Ring.
Sekiro’s Influence on Elden Ring
In Elden Ring, FromSoftware introduced jumping to add a new layer to combat.
Nearly every enemy in the Lands Between can be staggered with enough damage, and stealth can be used in the open world to varying degrees of success. Many of these systems were lifted directly from Sekiro, even if staggering bosses was a feature initially present in Bloodborne to a large extent.
Mount riding adds another new dynamic to the open-world battles, but bosses remain fairly similar to past enemies. The biggest difference between an Elden Ring and a Dark Souls boss is the former’s tendency to delay attacks.
This, while a neat addition, is not enough to make the experience vastly different. I also noticed that Elden Ring’s bosses, like Sekiro’s most challenging foes, often go on unrelenting attacking sprees.
This does not work nearly as well in Elden Ring, however, since players are so much more limited in their defensive options.
What Souls-Likes Can Learn
Introducing RPG elements like weapon choices and expanding the skillsets within the Sekiro combat style could be the ideal direction for future Souls-likes or potential sequels to Sekiro.
In my opinion, this genre needs more defensive options the most. Bloodborne introduced a neat side-step, but Elden Ring returned to the rolling approach by default. Players have access to a similar Bloodborne-like dodge, but many could have missed the Bloodhound Step Ash of War on their first playthrough.
In my opinion, players also need a clearer way of determining when an enemy can be staggered. For strength builds, in particular, the game plan often revolves around breaking an enemy’s posture, with this playstyle even extending to boss fights.
However, certain boss moves are inconsistent in that various animations negate posture damage. This can lead to confusing moments where a boss that may have been staggered by x amount of heavy hits on one run does not get staggered again by the same amount of hits.
An indication of posture like Sekiro’s system would immediately solve this issue.
Future Souls-likes could even benefit from more tools for verticality, like Sekiro’s grapple hook. This was already a part of Elden Ring to an extent, with Torrent allowing players to double jump mid-combat.
These are just my thoughts on the future of FromSoftware combat, but knowing the team’s penchant for innovation, they might take a completely different approach in their next release.
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[News Reporter]
Shaheer is currently pursuing a Business degree while also working as a part-time Content Writer. With his deep passion for both writing and video games, he has seamlessly transitioned into a role as a Journalist. Over the past two years, Shaheer has contributed as a freelancer to various websites and landed positions on acclaimed platforms like Gamerant. Currently, his role at Tech4gamers is as a Features Writer, but he also covers News occasionally. Shaheer’s favorite gaming franchises are Assassin’s Creed and the God of War series.
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