Topic: Have the Soulsborne games ruined other video games for you?

I feel that this may be the case for me, I picked up Alien: Isolation the other day, and just couldn't get into it, the lack of constant action really was too much of a come-down after Dark Souls Remastered, and I feel similarly about a lot of other games I might potentially play. After beating all of Miyazaki's games in the series besides the DLC (no trophies) and Demon's Souls (Just too archaic and bereft of sufficient checkpoints), and, if it counts, Sekiro (which I am not interested in), I am left with The Old Hunters DLC (trophies) and nothing else until Elden Ring comes out. Starved for Miyazaki-related Soulsborne games I have created this post to see if anyone else feels like the unique and high-quality gameplay of the Soulsborne games has put them off other kinds of gaming, if not completely ruined it for them? What makes these games so special? Why can you only play a few, if any, types of alternative game now?

@LN78 To be fair, I didn’t particularly care for Sekiro and I’ve played the other ones to death. I think the lack of RPG mechanics meant I hit a wall and just couldn’t really see a way to move forward. Pretty much all of my friends that had played the Souls games didn’t like Sekiro either.

@LN78 Eh, I don’t like Bloodborne either. The Old Hunters was great but so much of Bloodborne was just uninteresting and the bosses weren’t exactly great. It peaks with Gascoigne and doesn’t exactly top it except maybe with some of the optional bosses like Logarius.

@nessisonett What's your favorite Soulsborne? And why?

@Draco_V_Ecliptic It’s got to be Dark Souls 1. None of the other games have felt as much like one interconnected world, with loads of routes and different ways to play. While there’s still some stinkers, the majority of bosses are great and the NPCs are classic such as Solaire and Siegmeyer. 3 was great too but the world just didn’t feel as tightly designed as the first one.

Nope. I've played some of Dark Souls and most of Bloodborne and, although I really liked the combat (especially in the latter, which has some exciting and dynamic boss fights), nearly everything else about the games irritated me.

I get the general sentiment of a game or series "ruining" you for other games or series, though. Etrian Odyssey ruined other DRPGs for me. Shin Megami Tensei ruined my appreciation for a lot of classic JRPG games, like older FF or DQ adventures, that have mind-numbingly easy combat. Mario + Rabbids ruined the XCOM reboot for me, I think.

Not at all, I like diversity in my games, variety is the very spice of life after all. I understand the sentiment though, I remember the reaction to The Witcher 3's combat where so many players had just come away from the phenomenal combat in Bloodborne.

I adore both games, I don't think it's really fair to compare them, as they are both very different and both raised the bar for video games in different ways.

Hi @Draco_V_Ecliptic,
there are several points I don’t understand.
1) You talk about a need for "constant action" and in my opinion, there is way more action in Sekiro than in any Dark Souls, but you are not interested in it. Why this prejudice?
2) You like Souls games, but you are going to ignore DLC only because there are no trophies related... That sounds crazy to me, like a car lover who leaves his Ferrari in the garage only because he knows nobody will award him with a fake gold cup for driving it. Shouldn't you play just for the fun?
3) Alien: Isolation offers, especially at Hard and Nightmare difficulty, a challenge full of tension and satisfaction, a characteristic feature of Soulsborne games. This is why I loved it even if it's a different genre. Can't you find some similarities between the games?

@andreoni79 1) The lack of RPG aspects, i.e leveling up, character customization etc. and the overall feel of the game (I've tried it). 2)I've already completed the games sans DLC and would have to go quite far into NG + to access the DLC second time around - I didn't play it during my first playthrough as I was keen to finish the game (I played it a bit during a previous playthrough when I had the game on a different Playstation, but lost all my saves when I replaced it.) Edit: I actually agree, the DLC is worth doing even if you don't get trophies for it, I'll still know that I completed it, and that's the important thing, so I'll do the DLC for 1 and 3, and the (trophy-laden) Bloodborne DLC 3)Hard and Nightmare difficulty may make the game more enjoyable for me, so, yeah, I'll give it another go, Thanks

I can see where you’re going @Draco_V_Ecliptic as I’ve experienced similar alterations in expectations after enjoying a seminal game. But I do like variety, so I haven’t felt my games are “ruined” by any new or innovative game mechanic or style. For example, I just finished the second Batman Telltale game. I liked it, although not as much as Detroit Become Human, a game which does choice-and-consequence / branching-narrative gaming miles better, yet I at no point did I want to give up on the Batman game even if the gameplay and story choices were so much less developed. I still enjoyed the game for what it was, albeit a simpler, ‘lazy-Sunday’ type of enjoyment.

But I do remember after playing Bloodborne that I felt an emptiness in other games for a while. And when I say “emptiness” I don’t mean the landscape or in-game world, I mean an emotional emptiness where the exact dopamine rush of the Soulsborne combat with the oft-cited “it’s so satisfying” aspect of finally killing a boss was absent. So, although I was enjoying my waking sims, narrative games, and open world action-stealth games, the exact satisfaction of the FromSoft nightmare-turned-adventure was noticeably absent. I think if you push through however, that you’ll eventually distance yourself enough from the crack cocaine-like rush of a FromSoft game and eventually grow to appreciate the other game mechanics out there to relish in.

@Draco_V_Ecliptic I wouldn't say the Souls games have ruined other games for me, but I do get the itch every now and then, and I can feel the series pulling me back in like no other can. So I kind of get where you're coming from!

Interesting topic, oddly I love Bloodborne but struggled to get into Dark Souls. I also failed utterly at Sekiro and I had to put it down for my sanity. My main problem with them is that I am not a very good gamer and the time it takes to git gud is very long and I found it hard dedicate my limited time. I also play late at night and struggling against a boss was affecting my sleep!

However I do get the sentiment - when you love something thoroughly it is a massive come down to move to something else.

My only advice is try other genre similar games. Hyper Light Drifter has the action and bosses and there are some similar themed indie game’s like Blasphemous and Salt and Sanctuary?

@Draco_V_Ecliptic Just a last thing about Sekiro. I remember once I wrote on this site complaining about its setting, enemies and skills: I thought they lacked the magic seen in Souls and Bloodborne since they were way too realistic, but I was still in the first area (Ashina castle) and, as other players stated, after a while the game revealed its true From Softwareness!
How far did you go with Sekiro?

@Draco_V_Ecliptic I get what you mean, but this happens to me almost every time I complete a massive game and not just a Soulsborne game. Like @Th3solution says games feel empty and soulless, if you excuse the pun. I usually go through a few games before finding something that clicks, and sometimes that does mean only playing a game only briefly. Maybe try some smaller indy games, or a racing game, or a puzzle game, something a bit different which you would not normally play.

If that doesn't work there are plenty of other games that are very similar to the Soulsborne games. Nioh 1 and 2, The Surge games are as deep RPG wise. It's a shame you did not get on with Sekiro, I thought it was brilliant and Miyazaki-san's best piece of work. And you really need to play the DLC's for the Soulsborne games, trophies or no trophies. Even for DS2 as the DLC's put the main game to shame with some fantastic areas and memorable boss fights.

@JohnnyShoulder That happened to my mum after Red Dead 2. She’s tried quite a few more games but just ends up saying she wants to ride around on her horse.

@Draco_V_Ecliptic have you tired this soulsborne game call remnant from the ashes? That is a hidden gem! Definitely recommend that one. The best part about is that the location / boss are different every play through,! And the reward is different depend on how you kill the boss etc

@Draco_V_Ecliptic As @JohnnyShoulder says, Nioh is great if you haven’t played before. Plenty of stats to boost and the array of weapons is great.

The stance mechanic is also a clever addition so each weapon can be used in three ways; high stance for slower heavy hits through to low stance for quick and less powerful strikes. It means almost all weapon classes can be used depending on your preference for combat style.

It does lack the connected world vibe of DS1 and Bloodborne as each area is a separate level in itself.

@Th3solution 'I’ve experienced similar alterations in expectations after enjoying a seminal game.'

This this this.

After finishing and uninstalling Astrobot I was at a loss for a good 3 months. Nothing hit the same happy points in my head.

That's changed now of course, seemingly endless nights on Rocket League punctured with making music in Dreams. But for 3 months I was bored with games as nothing came close, it felt like I had a death in the family.

@andreoni79 That's interesting, I did really enjoy the part with the giant snake in the cave, but, no, I only got up to Genichiro and the mechanics of that boss fight put me off...indefinitely. (Is Genichiro the guy on the horse fairly early on....the "YOU....WILL...NOT...PASS!" guy? If not, I am thinking of a different boss.)

@Ridwaano I looked at a couple of videos on Youtube but need to research it further. It certainly did look enticing, but, no, I've decided to go back to DS1 Remastered and play through to Anor Londo to get the Great Lord Greatsword, so that should keep me occupied for a while, in addition to playing the DLC and Bloodborne DLC.