Dark Souls, and the resulting series has been able to define a style, an almost unique game system. From that moment on, several clones have come out, some of little success, others instead of excellent workmanship and well articulated. The question I asked myself is: that genius of Hidetaka Miyazaki did he really invent it all by himself? Where did he "study"? What were the games that may have influenced the birth of Demon's Souls (which in my opinion made less clatter than Dark Souls solely because it was a Sony exclusive)? I will try to retrace this journey backwards, analyzing some titles from the past that will remain milestones of that time and others that are returning, in the form of remastered.
Onimusha
Let's start with a bang! The saga of Onimusha it was undoubtedly one of the luckiest in the Sony PlayStation 2 era, with chapters more or less appreciated by critics. Well focusing on the second chapter of the saga, we can certainly find analogies with the modern Dark Souls: in both games, the enemies are in a predetermined position on the map which turns out to be "new" if faced for the first time but which becomes "repetitive" at a second or third run; each enemy has a specific attack pattern that once learned allows us to avoid hits and inflict various wounds on the attacker. There is almost always an end-chapter boss in each level and several mini bosses as you go along. Enemies drop new items with difficulty and when they do, they are often objects that must be "given" to our teammates in the inn which, if you think about it, very realistically recalls the classic Bonfire or if you prefer the Nexsus from Demon's Souls . The character leveling system is related to the consumption of souls similar to what happens in the Souls series. Finally, it is possible to lock each enemy, in order to focus on that opponent: very precise similarity with the series we are talking about. For anyone who has missed it, recovering such a title may not be silly, both as a cultural background and as fun.
Blade of Darkness
Released way back in 2001 and only for PC, Blade of Darkness is undoubtedly one of the pieces that have marked the Souls style of play: set in a medieval fantasy, the game proposed a combat system almost identical to the one we already know in the Souls, proposing different adjacent areas that can be explored in free roaming.
Monster Hunter
The saga needs no introduction but analogies as between the Base Camp and the Bonfire, the choice of different armor, the system of patterns peculiar to both the weapons and the monsters that surround the various play areas, make the progenitors of the Monster Hunter saga and his sons, real Souls Like. Moreover, on several occasions, Hidetaka Miyazaki himself declared that one of his favorite sagas was that of Capcom, and not surprisingly in the last chapter, Monster Hunter World, we see how the influence of free roaming zones has been fully taken by the Souls worlds.
Shadow of the Colossus
Recently returned in a completely revisited guise, this title from the past has many similarities with the modern world, to the point that we could define it as one of the milestones of the videogame world in general. The things that stand out most in the eyes are certainly the loneliness of wandering in a "dead" world, devastated and abandoned to itself, but also the "enemies" strong in their patterns, their predetermination and the difficulty they pose in facing them. All this makes Fumito Ueda's masterpiece an unforgettable Souls Like. Last, but not least, a plot not told with multiple words but more with the videos and information in tatters that are found here and there.
Medievil
Here I went back in time but perhaps not very much: we are in full Sony PlayStation hegemony, the title comes out quietly and then explodes like a firework. The events of Sir Daniel Forteque have made this skeleton in armor famous, where if we analyze the game system, we will notice the many similarities with Dark Souls First of all, we are talking about an undead who comes back to life and who has no human form, rises from a tomb and must stop an ancient sorcerer. The camera is almost always placed behind our hero who has different weapons at his disposal, each with specific characteristics and different attack patterns. Each weapon is subject to breakage and then a blacksmith is needed to repair it accordingly. There is one Hall of Heroes, similar in many respects to the Nexus from Demon's Souls or Dark Souls bonfire, where you can refresh yourself and change weapon settings. Predetermined enemies and bosses with different patterns that change as they lose health make Medievil perhaps the very first Souls Like in history; we hope to see it again soon in this “gen”, as a remastered was announced a few years ago but of which we have lost track.
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Last but not least, I emphasize what was a masterpiece of the videogame world, the first chapter of a saga that with ups and downs has been able to survive in several generations of consoles. Soul reaver In short, the title is the story of Raziel, a vampire who was banished by Kain and who swore revenge against his lord. The game features a fully explorable map not very unlike that of Dark Souls, projecting the player into a devastated world, centuries after the great hegemony of its lord. The consumption of enemies' souls that determines the growth of the character is the first thing that can jump to the eyes but also the position of the camera, the different attack patterns peculiar to each enemy, the possibility of betting against a specific opponent despite having many around, in short, the similarities with the Souls are evident and it cannot be excluded that this is precisely one of the games that inspired the Souls, including the story of the title that is narrated in scraps of information scattered here and there on the map.
The modern videogame panorama is as vast as it is narrow, perhaps it is time to look at the past with other eyes, also going to rediscover where we started to appreciate more where we came from. It is difficult for a boy of today to bother to go and retrieve an ancient console such as the old PlayStation or the PlayStation 2, but it is true that with very few euros it is possible to find these consoles and put them back in operation abandoning the mere concept of Ultra HD graphics, in favor of a gameplay able to amaze even today.
