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Early 00s Action games that would be called "Souls-likes" now

No RPG elements? It probably goes here!
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Early 00s Action games that would be called "Souls-likes" now

Post by rusty_shackleford »

This is an unnamed subgenre that briefly existed in the very late 90s/early 00s, then stopped existing. Today it would be called 'souls-like' because anything vaguely similar to dorksouls combat gets called that.


What these all tend to have:
  • 3D
  • Action-focused combat, often experimental
  • Lite RPG elements
  • Tight level-based design, no open world
  • Often have sim-lite mechanics surprisingly, like being able to burn down wooden things, destroy environmental objects, etc.,
  • Fantasy aesthetic

Enclave has some of the best controls in any game I've played, impressively so.








I have a strange fondness for these for some reason :pipe-hat:
Have you played any of these? Did you have a favorite? Do you know of any more that fit into this unnamed subgenre?
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Post by Tweed »

Most if not all of these don't have ******** dodge-rolling mechanics, so they aren't soulsslops.
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Post by gerey »

rusty_shackleford wrote: October 13th, 2025, 10:03
Have you played any of these?
Enclave, Severance and Rune.

Hunted: The Demon's Forge and Drakan are the first two that come to mind. Oh, and Hexen 2.

Would Ultima 9 count?
Last edited by gerey on October 13th, 2025, 10:17, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

The guys who made Enclave went on to make Knights of the Temple: Infernal Crusade, which I haven't played but does look quite similar to Enclave


I'd need to play it to decide, as controls/mechanics play a large part of this
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

3 hour long interview with Enclave developers, too long for me to watch
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Post by MrTwinkls »

Remember playing it and liking the atmosphere.
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Post by wndrbr »

Knights of the Temple was a massive disappointment. I went in expecting it to be like Enclave, but it was just a lame DMC/God of War type of game.
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

Found another
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Post by maidenhaver »

Yes, I love Rune.
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

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Post by xXD4rk_s3pher0th22Xx »

Tweed wrote: October 13th, 2025, 10:16
Most if not all of these don't have ******** dodge-rolling mechanics, so they aren't soulsslops.
skill issue
AKA: mad cuz u can't roll
AKA: bad