I want more approachable Soulslikes. These new games show that it’s possible

One of my favorite copypastas on the internet comes from someone complaining about a player using mods to make a FromSoftware game easier. “You cheated not only the game, but yourself,” it reads. “You didn’t grow. You didn’t improve. You took a shortcut and gained nothing. You experienced a hollow victory. Nothing was risked and nothing was gained. It’s sad that you don’t know the difference.”

The infamous post was made in response to a PC Gamer article about mods that made Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice more approachable for the writer. It’s funny to see someone get that angry over another’s personal experience with a game they own, but it also addresses a question that’s loomed over the gaming community ever since Dark Souls took the world by storm: Should FromSoftware’s games and the Soulslikes inspired by them have options to make them more accessible?

Because Soulslikes are all about mastering challenging enemies, there’s an argument to be made that adding any accessibility options or gameplay toggles that make the game less difficult could collapse a delicately designed house of cards. FromSoftware has stuck to its guns on keeping its games tough, but two new Souls-inspired games prove that the Soulslike genre can accommodate all types of players without killing the fun.

• Another Crab’s Treasure is an approachable Soulslike with a comedic twist
• Another Crab’s Treasure is the SpongeBob Soulslike I didn’t know I wanted
• Dark Souls 3 PC servers are back online, other titles still to come

Why I struggle with Soulslikes

There’s no denying that the difficulty of games like Dark Souls and Elden Ring is part of what make them so engaging to players. FromSoftware’s games demand players’ full attention and reward it by giving them a genuine feeling of satisfaction when they vanquish a tough boss. For players like me, though, that can sometimes be too much.

I play a lot of games for work, so I rarely get to sit down and play a game for purely personal enjoyment for