Diving into the Soulslike Debate with Another Crab’s Treasure

FromSoftware unwittingly kickstarted an entire subgenre when they unleashed the grim dark fantasy of Demon’s Souls, which later garnered a massive following with the equally grueling Dark Souls. However, the creative force behind the action-RPG Another Crab’s Treasure, Aggro Crab’s Caelan Pollock, thinks the term “Soulslike” has left many developers stuck in a creative rut, endlessly replicating what was already achieved in the original Dark Souls.

In a chat with Game Informer, Pollock said, “I think calling games ‘Soulslikes’ has kept a lot of devs stuck in a loop of recreating Dark Souls. In my opinion, the best Dark Souls game has been made already, and it’s called Dark Souls.” This comment revives the ongoing conversation about what even constitutes a Soulslike. Is it the stamina-based combat, the punishing enemies, the necessity for pattern recognition in boss encounters, or perhaps the retrieval of lost gear? The lines remain blurry, with most agreeing that a Soulslike is essentially any game that draws comparisons to Dark Souls.

Pollock continued, noting, “It’s a deeply imperfect game, and that’s why people like it and why it’s resonated so deeply with players and throughout the industry. When you try to mimic every aspect of that experience, you’re really not ending up with something worth paying attention to.” The team’s choice to dive into the Soulslike genre with Another Crab’s Treasure stems from their strong belief that there’s room for evolution in this space. You play as a crustacean hero, navigating a contaminated kingdom while using bits of plastic refuse as armor, which is a clever nod to our ongoing climate crisis. “We made a gamble on the community being ready for that,” Pollock added.

For those curious about adventures in the Spirit realm, here are the best 10 games that embrace the challenge like Dark Souls.