Summary
I loveDark Souls, but I would never pretend that I’m particularly good at it. The Soulslike genre thatDark Souls, Bloodborne, and other FromSoftware games defined is typically built on the idea of difficulty, and any struggles with hand-eye coordination or response time can be punishing. With how many games have followed in those footsteps by now, however, some are bound to be easier than others, and one game that significantly reduces the level of challenge isSteelrising.
I had my eye onSteelrisingever since its launch, and I finally decided to play it this past month. It’s the kind of game that’s perfect for a bundle purchase, with an interesting hook that comes with the caveat of an apparently flawed execution.Steelrisingtells an alt-history story of the French Revolutionwhere robots known as Automats run amok, placing players into the shoes of an unusually sentient Automat tasked with rescuing Marie Antoinette’s children. Developed by the French studio Spiders, it’s a game straining for AAA production with AA resources.
Jehanne Rousseau Interview: Steelrising & Greedfall 2
Screen Rant recently spoke to Spiders co-founder and CEO Jehanne Rousseau during Bigben week about the upcoming Greedfall 2 and Steelrising.
Steelrising Just Isn’t Hard Enough
A Broken Difficulty Curve Baffled Me
The gameplay ofSteelrisingstarts much like any Soulslike might, with a fairly linear section of introductory challenges to introduce the rhythm of dodging and countering enemy attacks. I was pleasantly surprised by the weapons, which offer up some creative options like fans that can be sliced forward or spun into a shield, and the standard Soulslike invitation to mastery feels immediately apparent. The movement might not be as honed as in thebest games of the genre, but the first boss forced me to work out the rhythm of gameplay and emerge better.
Then I kept playing, andSteelrisingkept getting easier. Both the arc of player improvement and the actual progression of weapons and leveling feel like they significantly outpace the game’s difficulty curve, to the extent where I suspect the game was nerfed in development. Designing games that are satisfyingly hard can require a lot of precision, and maybe that wasn’t coming together forSteelrising.The result, however, begs to be more challenging.
Steelrising Review: A Fast & Fluid Soulslike
Steelrising is a fast-paced Soulslike set during the French Revolution, with fluid combat and expansive levels to explore.
The difficulty of Soulslikeshas always been a bit of a hot-button topic, and I get it. Again, I’m not great at them. Accessibility options are always nice to see, andSteelrisingdoes admirably offer those in addition to its generally low level of challenge. But FromSoft’s games always show how much the difficulty feeds into the gameplay loop in a rewarding way, andSteelrisingshows how meaningless things can start to feel when that system breaks down.
Soulslikes Need Difficulty For Everything To Click
I Can’t Invest In Mechanics That I Don’t Need
More than anything else,I found myself playingSteelrisingcarelessly, and that just doesn’t feel right. InDark Souls, every enemy can feel like a genuine threat, and the solace of a bonfire feels like a light in a world where danger lurks at every step. Reduce that challenge, and everything starts to matter less, from the bonfires (called Vestals here) to death itself. The careful dance of dodging enemy attack patterns and striking back in tense, narrow windows becomes sloppy, and the incentive not to just get hit starts to fade away.
It’s presumably still possible to challenge yourself inSteelrising, but doing so would mean you’d have to start ignoring its systems. I don’t tend to care much about building characters, but you might have to stop leveling entirely to keep things truly tough. In my playthrough, I comfortably ignored everything from spirit essences that can be redeemed for Anima (souls, essentially) to an elemental system rife with grenades. I should have wanted to engage more with these things, but I didn’t, because there wasn’t any semblance of an incentive to.
Steelrisingalso throws healing consumables on top of the ones that recharge with rests, and an enormous surplus of them further mitigates any sense of threat.
I don’t want to sound like I’m just harping onSteelrising, which isn’t ultimately the point here. Although it struggles with repetition, especially in enemy variety, there’s actually quite a lot that I enjoyed about the game. The difficulty issue lets down so many other facets of it, however, and it’s a great reminder of just how well-honed FromSoftware’s standard for the genre is.
Sekiro Shows Why Challenging Games Feel Great
Accessibility Matters, But Some Games Should Be Hard
I also played most ofSekirorecently, a game that doesn’t take any prisoners. It’s often called a rhythm game because each fight comes down to perfectly timed button presses, a very streamlined approach compared toDark SoulsandBloodborne. I playedSteelrisingonce I reached the final boss and needed a break before mastering him, because — say it with me — “I’m not that good.” But it’s thisdemanding nature that makesSekiroso compelling, and truly learning the rhythm of deflection for the first time because Genichiro Ashina demands it is one of the most rewarding experiences possible.
Sekiro’s lack of accessibility options is another debate entirely, although I think there’s a legitimate reason behind it committing to exactly one gameplay experience.There’s definitely room for Soulslike games that are willing to extend a helping hand, like the recent titleAnother Crab’s Treasure, and making the joy to be found in the genre an option for as many people as possible is a good thing. When it comes to the default experience, however, the challenge inherent to Soulslikes is the piece that makes all of its other elements click.
Another Crab’s Treasure Review: “Challenging But Entirely Accessible”
With its cute graphics, customized difficulties, & dark themes, Another Crab’s Treasure is a Soulslike designed by Aggro Crab for everyone.
The more interesting avenue to explore is the world of possibilities that comes from merging elements of Soulslike games with other design prerogatives, which opens up more room to create less challenging experiences without fundamentally breaking things. I’d love to see games that figure out how to recapture the thrill of a bonfire for reasons separate from punishing combat, for example, even if it’s not an easy thing to work toward.Steelrisinggenerally sticks to the script, though, and I walked away from it remembering why punishing difficulty is always a factor in that formula.
