New Soulslike Releasing April 18 Might Be Steam's Next Indie Hit

The Soulslike genre seems to only become more popular with each passing year, but looks like a game that could offer a genuinely unique experience even in a deluge of releases. Developed by Moon Studios, the company behind and, leaves the Metroidvania mode of its predecessors behind for an entirely different experience. It definitely doesn't abandon the focus on lush visuals that Moon Studios is known for, but it could end up being one of its defining features.

It's important to note up front that isn't strictly a Soulslike, at least not by any particularly precise definition. Like the sea of roguelites that don't quite cut the roguelike designation per the «Berlin Interpretation,» is borrowing a lot of key ideas from the Soulslike genre but incorporates them in an unusual way. It's also very much an action RPG in the vein, and how successfully it merges these two different design impulses is likely going to be key to how much it ultimately resonates.

One big selling point for Soulslikes tends to be how well they can build an atmosphere, even if the combat ends up being what everyone talks about. Part of From Software's mastery of the genre lies in the studio's ability to curate rich environments that quietly tell interesting stories and the oppressive grimness balanced by glimmers of hope is crucial to giving its identity.

seems ready to come out of the gate running in this regard, and it isn't doing so by simply borrowing the aesthetic of or anything else that's helped to define the genre. It's medieval, classically, and thrusts the world into a time of despair, in this case, precipitated by the death of a king and the spread of a plague known as the Pestilence. How it brings this brutal setting to life is completely different, however, witha painterly style and a vaguely isometric viewpoint rendering environments equal parts gorgeous and deadly.

Everything takes place on an island known as Isola Sacra, where the protagonist washes ashore at the beginning of