Games with Dark Souls-ish Combat Mechanics?

[SnakeTrousers]

I really like Demon's/Dark Souls combat system but I feel that it's rarely put to good use. The environments tend to be quite restrictive and a lot of the enemies just aren't very exciting to fight. I was wondering if anyone knew any games with a similar system?

Oh, and I've already played Blade of Darkness.

 

[The Wykydtron]

I hear Lords of the Fallen is basically a Dark Souls copy so maybe check that one out? I don't even think it's a bad copy it's just hard to out Dark Souls Dark Souls y'know?

I want to recommend Metal Gear Rising because on the higher difficulties you better be good at split second parries otherwise you're dead as fuck. Yeah thematically and story wise they have nothing in common but the gameplay requires just as much focus to not get instantly killed.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

VaatiVidya recently posted a video about a new indie game called "Salt and Sanctuary" which is basically a 2D version of dark souls. The combat is very similar to that of the souls series, but in 2D. If you're interested here's the video:

 

[SnakeTrousers]

VaatiVidya recently posted a video about a new indie game called "Salt and Sanctuary" which is basically a 2D version of dark souls. The combat is very similar to that of the souls series, but in 2D. If you're interested here's the video:

The 3D aspect is kinda important to me. The only way I could really see myself going for a 2D Dark Souls-alike would be if the artwork/animation were top notch.

Hmm... maybe I should try making that myself?

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

VaatiVidya recently posted a video about a new indie game called "Salt and Sanctuary" which is basically a 2D version of dark souls. The combat is very similar to that of the souls series, but in 2D. If you're interested here's the video:

The 3D aspect is kinda important to me. The only way I could really see myself going for a 2D Dark Souls-alike would be if the artwork/animation were top notch.

Hmm... maybe I should try making that myself?

I really like the artwork in that game. The animation could use a bit of work, but this game was actually made by just 2 people (a husband and wife team), so I give it a bit of a pass on that.

 

[Launcelot111]

Give one of the Monster Hunter games a shot - they've got big enemies and heavy weapons and stamina bars and clutch rolls and all that good stuff.

 

[DanielBrown]

I haven't played it myself, but there's a game called Enclave that's very simular. It's like 12 years old though.

 

[MetalShadowChaos]

I neat sort of sidestep from Souls would be Monster Hunter, or at least I think so. I think of MH as the Arcade version of Souls. Big, over the top, contained missions. Your Dark Souls skills will translate very well, once you get used to having to manually keep your camera on the big guys themselves. Roll a lot, remember your moveset, remember the ENEMY moveset, chose your times for healing, know your weapon stats, there's a lot of stuff you'll find familiar. Just add it all to some CAPITALISM of essentially funding your own escapades into Hunting, a dash of time management and speediness and some good old fashioned hunting techniques like tracking, luring and trapping and you should be right at home.


Though if you want something a bit closer to Dark Souls in terms of tone and structure, Lords of the Falen is the closest and newest yet, until you stop foaming at the mouth for Bloodborne.

 

[barbzilla]

I haven't played it myself, but there's a game called Enclave that's very simular. It's like 12 years old though.

I have Enclave, and while it is fun, I wouldn't call it Dark Souls like at all.

OT: Lords of the Fallen as previously mentioned is a pretty good Dark Souls clone (I personally give it a 8/10), story is what really held it back imo.

Bound by Flame is dark souls like, while it isn't a direct clone, it is still pretty fun. The combat has some strange quirks and the story is also kind of weak, so I gave that one a 7/10.

So far those two games are the closest I've played to Dark Souls, I hope this helps.

 

[TrevHead]

Another recommendation for Monster Hunter

Fortune Summoners Deluxe is a bit of a DS lite both with it's combat system and death penalty.

There is also that straight 2D DS sidescroller clone called Salt and Sanctuary that's in development for the PS4/vita

 

[CellShaded]

If you have a 360 or PS3, I can only recommend Dragon's Dogma. It's not exactly the same, but very similar. Atleast in my opinion.

 

[Mutant1988]

My greatest wish is for someone to combine the Village building from Two Worlds 2 or the town building from Dark Cloud/White Knight Chronicles 2 with the combat system of Dark Souls. That would be an absolutely amazing game.

If you have a 360 or PS3, I can only recommend Dragon's Dogma. It's not exactly the same, but very similar. Atleast in my opinion.

It's much more heavy on the stats side of thing, due to how spongy larger enemies are. If you are under-leveled it takes forever to kill anything. That said, Dragon's Dogma is excellent, if a bit cryptic in how you actually progress through the plot.

That or I just lost track of what I was doing when I returned to it after a fairly long break.

 

[ninja666]

Mount and Blade: Warband. It has a very similar "weighty" feel to all the equipment.

 

[baddude1337]

Dragon's Dogma I always felt was similar to Souls, especially the DLC island. It's not a game for everyone as it is quite janky but if you can get into it it's great. IMO it has the best boss monster fights of any game, even beats a bunch of Souls ones.

 

[DoPo]

I haven't played it myself, but there's a game called Enclave that's very simular. It's like 12 years old though.

Umm, no - the game is nothing like Dark Souls at all. The combat is, basically, mash the attack button. And move a bit. Ideally, you'd want the enemies to be inside your attack arc (so, move back) but you can also avoid theirs (so, move back). Occasionally, you can block. But that explanation actually makes the combat sound more complicated than it is.

It's not a bad game, mind you, I love it, myself. I just don't see how it could resemble DS at all.

OT: It's quite old now, but Blade of Darkness is what DS reminds me of the most. The combat is brutal, with you being able to dismember enemies (and then use their limbs as weapons, too) but moreover, every hit against you HURTS. It's because of the limited healing in the game, if you suck too much, you may even need to restart the level you're on (and they aren't a 10 minute thing). Some of the most intense fights involve an enemy which has a healing potion - you know you must kill them in order to get healed, but also, you must kill them fast enough, otherwise they would use it themselves. There is little that is more soul crushing than the 5k HP black knight getting down to 500HP and then downing the Full Life Potion when at in front of you, when you are one hit away from dying. Also, traps - these are EVIL. If you don't watch where you step, you might end up with a spinning blade going through your neck. Or several less damaging but harder to avoid traps could ruin your day.

I'm pretty sure the game was Dark Souls before there was Dark Souls. It's quite...aged, now. Funny, really, it was one of the first games (if not the first) to introduce dynamic shadows - it used to be state of the art graphics. I remember reading an article about it and the author drooled over the shadows and the fact that you can interact with most objects, similar to as if a new Far Cry was released. Yet now, the animations look weird and stiff and other things look out of place. I'd still recommend giving it a look, though - the game is on GOG.

 

[josemlopes]

VaatiVidya recently posted a video about a new indie game called "Salt and Sanctuary" which is basically a 2D version of dark souls. The combat is very similar to that of the souls series, but in 2D. If you're interested here's the video:

SkaStudios, I am interested.

Still, wouldnt a 2D game trying to emulate that combat style work better viewed from the top? A sidescroller has a lot of jumps and attacks while in the air, viewing from the top is more about 360 degrees combat. There isnt much love for top down shooters and especially for ones that are around melee combat.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

VaatiVidya recently posted a video about a new indie game called "Salt and Sanctuary" which is basically a 2D version of dark souls. The combat is very similar to that of the souls series, but in 2D. If you're interested here's the video:

SkaStudios, I am interested.

Still, wouldnt a 2D game trying to emulate that combat style work better viewed from the top? A sidescroller has a lot of jumps and attacks while in the air, viewing from the top is more about 360 degrees combat. There isnt much love for top down shooters and especially for ones that are around melee combat.

I think it's trying to emulate that metroidvania feel, with the combat and atmosphere of a souls game.

 

[SnakeTrousers]

I haven't played it myself, but there's a game called Enclave that's very simular. It's like 12 years old though.

Umm, no - the game is nothing like Dark Souls at all. The combat is, basically, mash the attack button. And move a bit. Ideally, you'd want the enemies to be inside your attack arc (so, move back) but you can also avoid theirs (so, move back). Occasionally, you can block. But that explanation actually makes the combat sound more complicated than it is.

It's not a bad game, mind you, I love it, myself. I just don't see how it could resemble DS at all.

OT: It's quite old now, but Blade of Darkness is what DS reminds me of the most. The combat is brutal, with you being able to dismember enemies (and then use their limbs as weapons, too) but moreover, every hit against you HURTS. It's because of the limited healing in the game, if you suck too much, you may even need to restart the level you're on (and they aren't a 10 minute thing). Some of the most intense fights involve an enemy which has a healing potion - you know you must kill them in order to get healed, but also, you must kill them fast enough, otherwise they would use it themselves. There is little that is more soul crushing than the 5k HP black knight getting down to 500HP and then downing the Full Life Potion when at in front of you, when you are one hit away from dying. Also, traps - these are EVIL. If you don't watch where you step, you might end up with a spinning blade going through your neck. Or several less damaging but harder to avoid traps could ruin your day.

I'm pretty sure the game was Dark Souls before there was Dark Souls. It's quite...aged, now. Funny, really, it was one of the first games (if not the first) to introduce dynamic shadows - it used to be state of the art graphics. I remember reading an article about it and the author drooled over the shadows and the fact that you can interact with most objects, similar to as if a new Far Cry was released. Yet now, the animations look weird and stiff and other things look out of place. I'd still recommend giving it a look, though - the game is on GOG.

A)

Oh, and I've already played Blade of Darkness.

B) It is, sadly, no longer available on GoG to anyone who hasn't already purchased it. I'm glad I managed to grab it before they took it off, the melee system is almost perfect. My only real issue with it was the controls, sometimes they can be a little unco-operative, but when they work it can be brilliant.

 

[DoPo]

A)

Oh, and I've already played Blade of Darkness.

Ah, sorry - I missed that.

It is, sadly, no longer available on GoG to anyone who hasn't already purchased it.

Damn, that's a shame. I wasn't aware of that. In fact, when I was writing my post, I couldn't remember the full name, so I went to GOG to look it up - when I typed in "blade" in the search bar, I only got "Mount and Blade" titles, which I thought slightly odd but didn't realize what it meant. I had to go to my library to find the game.

 

[EbonBehelit]

Gonna give another recommendation for Monster Hunter. It's basically going on missions to fight huge bosses that can deck you in a few hits. With 4-player co-op!