Fall Of Light: Darkest Edition Brings Dark Souls-Inspired RPG Action To Switch Next Week

if it ends up on a cart

Hmmm, I got Titan Quest doing the rounds for my dungeon crawling hunger... but this one might just be too sweet to pass up.

@8-Bit_Superman "Souls-like" is certainly up there with "Rogue-Like" and "Metroidvania" for the most overused video game genre comparison.

I'm with you. I wouldn't classify Hollow Knight as souls-like, but due to Hollow Knight's focus on boss fights, I can see why some would make the comparison. I also think Dark Souls has more in common with Metroidvania titles than others like to admit, with the unlockable paths, back tracking, etc... I think soulslike is still ambiguous because it's relatively new - Roguelike and Metroidvania only "make sense" because the terms have been around forever and everyone knows what they mean. Personally, I still think they're all pretty ridiculous sounding and extremely overused. It seems most people just think Soulslike = difficult. I much prefer to use the term "procedurally generated" for Roguelikes, I just haven't found a term to replace Metroidvania yet.

I'm a sucker for any souls-like game so having another one on the Switch is always great for me. I'll definitely give this a shot. Looking at Steam review it looks like the game is fairly short at 10-15hrs to finish the story which seems good for a game like this.

@Shiryu Keep an eye for Victor Vran. Really solid entry in the genre. I held out on TQ, once I found it hit this month. Just a more modern take, with more qol improvements.

This looks pretty good, what do people on Steam think?

To be honest I'm seeing more Ico than Souls in this one, looks interesting though.

@PhilKenSebben That one is on my Amazon pre-ordered list since announcement.

The trailer video was so visually dark, I don't see how you would be able play this on the go with any type of sun. Maybe maxed brightness but really dark art styles turn me off to playing.

@roadrunner343 Well, far as I can tell, the term "souls-like" hasn't been used here by anyone, before you mentioned it.

I do believe that a game being inspired by another game, is something completely different than a game that is like another game.

From watching that teaser trailer, I'd say it's just the setting, that's kinda inspired by Dark Souls, but not even all that much, so perhaps someone should have come up with a better article title...

@ThanosReXXX Really? I don't know how many times I've heard it. I won't say it was all here, because I listen to a couple podcasts as well, but it's definitely a term I've heard a lot of over the past couple years, and I didn't invent it =). Perhaps because there are no Dark Souls games on Nintendo platforms, our community is just lagging slightly behind in labeling everything "Souls-like" but it's coming =P

I have no issues with this article, or valid comparisons to Souls games, Metroidvania, Roguelike, etc... Just poking fun at the overuse of, and often inaccurate, use of the terms.

@hatch @roadrunner343 @8-Bit_Superman My definition for souls-like has nothing to do with difficulty. "Prepare to die" was a marketing campaign. Difficulty in games is achieved in very different ways, and most of them are not souls-like in their methods. Here's what defines a souls-like experience for me:

1. Fair Play: The game is consistent - enemy placements are never random and they never change. The game is fair - when I die it was entirely my fault, not the result of an RNG. The predictability and repetition (read: dying) are what allow a player to learn and develop the skill needed to overcome challenges. This fairness is best expressed in the top-notch level design within the games.

2. Skill-Based Play: It's technically possible to beat any souls game with an un-upgraded character if you have enough skill and patience. When you die, you lose everything, BUT YOU CAN GET IT BACK. If you die twice, and lose everything for real, that's on you. If you could make it to the place that killed you the first time, you should have been able to make it back to recover your souls. If you can continuously regain what you lost by reaching your last dead point, death actually acts as both instructor and built-in reward; every time killed is like going double or nothing to get those souls back, and the only way to succeed is with skill. The die-lose-learn-recover gameplay loop is the series' signature.

3. Deep World Building Lore: The storytelling behind the scenes and world building are well fleshed out. The lowliest items have their own stories. None of this is on the surface, but it can be discovered and read about in the game. This adds to the world's consistency.

Interestingly, a lot of what makes souls great (top notch level design, behind the scenes lore, fair and skill-based play) are also hallmarks of "metroidvania," except in a 3D game instead of a 2D one. In that way you could argue that souls-like as a term, probably just refers to the 3D version of the metroidvania formula.

But yeah, tl;dr: both terms are way overused.

@roadrunner343 Yeah, it wasn't really my intent to be overly critical either, it was just an observation based upon not seeing or hearing that term in the article or in the video.

But personally, I actually AM tired of all these labels, such as rogue-like, Metroidvania, and now apparently Souls-like.

In some cases, it is over-generalizing, in others it is downright insulting to the original games that the term is derived from (because there's a truck load of completely crap "Metroidvania" titles, and to me, that's a blemish upon Metroid and Castlevania), and like I already mentioned, this game here seems to share nothing with Dark Souls, other than having a knight as a main character, and it having a dark, and "dungeony" setting.

If anything, it's probably more of a Diablo type of game, or whatever game invented that genre first...

@NoxAeturnus I agree with your last statement of arguing that souls-like at least somewhat refers to a 3D version of the Metroidvania formula, but I've run into resistance elsewhere by stating I felt like Dark Souls 3 specifically felt like a 3D Metroidvania.

In addition to your points, which I agree with (With a minor caveat, that there are a lot of "cheap" deaths in DS on your first run through) I would also mention the combat feel. Souls-like combat is slow, heavy, and methodical. Reading and dodging enemy attacks is critical to success. This is the probably the largest factor for me personally.

EDIT: @ThanosReXXX No worries, I didn't think you were overly critical =) If you noticed in one of my posts, I made a similar suggestion to you - I'm all for ditching the labels, and I stay away from Rogue-like & souls-like, I just haven't found an elegant way to describe a Metroidvania without using that term yet. I'll figure something out someday =P

@roadrunner343 I agree that the combat is methodical, but doesn't have to be slow, and it doesn't have to be heavy. Unless by heavy you don't mean the physical weight of the strikes, but rather that every strike has a lot of weight (importance). Bloodborne is not a slow game, but there's no arguing that it's souls. That's the main idea I was trying to get at when I said skill-based, you just summed it up in a single word. Methodical. Good WC.

@hatch Haha, nice. Also, love the Goldblum pic. Off-topic, but a friend of mine was at Boston Comic-Con this past weekend and said that the room was filled with thirsty Sattlers for him. Jeff called one on stage and gave her the water drops.

@NoxAeturnus I've not played Bloodborne, but based on videos I've seen, I thought the combat still looked quite slow compared to a typical action RPG. Perhaps it doesn't HAVE to be slow/heavy, but it seems like that's fairly common. It may be those aren't the best descriptors, but it is a bit of an intangible quality that makes a game Souls like. One of those things that's hard (For me) to explain, but I know it when I feel it. I'll stick with methodical from now on.

@roadrunner343 Compared to a typical action RPG it might be a step slower, but its fast enough that going back to Demons/Dark Souls was hard for me after. Even DSIII's increased speed wasn't really close to Bloodborne. Depends a little on what weapon and playstyle you use too. Occasionally it's a little like trying to land a Falcon Punch.

I hear you about that intangible quality, and knowing it when you feel it. It's a similar feeling that I get from a good fencing bout (real-life). The feeling of physical chess. Souls is one of the few games where I can look at an enemy, watch their animations, and then tear them apart based on their weaknesses. Generally speaking, early game enemies telegraph their strike by hauling back over their head then coming down hard, while late game enemies strike quick from a neutral position with hardly a tell. It takes pattern recognition, distance control, and tempo to win. Not a lot of games elicit that feeling.

Looks cool, and I love isometric ARPG’s. Seeing the daughter along for the ride has me hoping in’s not Dark Souls and one large escort mission combined though.

@Shiryu

How are you liking Titan Quest? I tried getting it from GameFly but it never shipped despite having an open spot and having it in my queue for a couple months.

I need to try it before I buy it.

@GraveLordXD Perhaps I'm reading too much into the "Actually", but it seems you are correcting me or disagreeing, but that's exactly what I said. However, there are others that have very strongly disagreed with me when I've suggested it. It's also not something that can be factually proven one way or another, when we're tossing around arbitrary terms like "Metroidvania" whose definition can differ from person to person. I'm with ThanosReXXX... let's ditch all these dumb terms =P

EDIT: @Kang81 I know it wasn't directed at me, but if you like Diablo II (Or any other isometric aRPG, really) you'll like Titan Quest.

@Kang81 My only complaint is not having someone else around to play it in split-screen.

@Shiryu

Cool, thanks!

Are you playing docked or undocked? I pretty much use my Switch only in handheld mode. I’ve read the game has readability issues due to small text in handheld mode.

I’ve owned the game on PC for years but could never get it to run on Windows Vista, haven’t tried again on Win 10. I played about 10-15 minutes of it on PS4, but I wanted to hold out for Switch. I love Diablo style games and want more on Switch. Hopefully the upcoming Victor Vran game is also good.

@Kang81 Both. Since back in the day I skipped it because it was nothing more than a solid Diablo ][ clone, it's brand new stuff for me and a perfect fit for the Switch.

For a second, just looking at the picture for the article made me think "OH! A Dark Souls update!!!!!"

... and now I'm sad.

@8-Bit_Superman All of those are 2D aren't they? My argument was that souls could be said to be the 3D equivalent of Metroidvania, so none of those could rightly be compared to it. Personally I don't think that Souls-Like and Metroidvania can or should really be compared except in broad strokes, but yeah, I agree that people way over compare games to Metroid, Castlevania, and Souls. If nothing else, they have that in common.

@8-Bit_Superman Incorrectly. Yes, I agree with you. In this case, with Fall of Light, they used souls-inspired, which I think is accurate. The visual tone of the game seems a match for souls. It definitely took some inspiration, but it's not souls-like. Neither are those other ones. Anyone who described them as such was stretching that term to the breaking point.

It's got about a 70% on metacritic.