Souls Week: Below disturbs the Soulslike formula
This piece contains spoilers for the ending of Below.
Why do we play Soulslike games, those brutally difficult games based on From Software’s now-iconic formula? Is it the frustration of falling off of a tricky platform in Blighttown? Is it the satisfaction of perfectly strafing and executing a successful backstab? Is it the frantic rush to reunite with your latest corpse in an effort not to waste the last half hour of your life? Or is it that feeling of accomplishment? That feeling of dying and dying and dying, again and again and again. The feeling of being one hit away from the words, “YOU DIED”, barely dodging a bosses’ attack and finally ending it with one last swing. Exhale.
