{"id":31212,"date":"2024-05-22T11:32:01","date_gmt":"2024-05-22T02:32:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=31212"},"modified":"2024-05-22T13:07:04","modified_gmt":"2024-05-22T04:07:04","slug":"what-does-souls-like-even-mean-anymore-how-the-overuse-and-misuse-of-steam-tags-can-mislead-gamers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/what-does-souls-like-even-mean-anymore-how-the-overuse-and-misuse-of-steam-tags-can-mislead-gamers\/","title":{"rendered":"What does &#8220;Souls-like&#8221; even mean anymore? How the overuse and misuse of Steam tags can mislead gamers\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A recent Reddit post talking about the overuse of Steam tags has been getting a lot of attention lately. Created by user OrranVoriel, the thread starts by mentioning the overuse of the \u201cSouls-like\u201d tag on games that have little to no comparisons with FromSoftware\u2019s popular action role-playing titles.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By definition, a Souls-like is a subgenre of action RPGs characterized by its high difficulty and environmental storytelling. The name gets its origins from Demon\u2019s Souls and the Dark Souls games developed by Japanese game studio FromSoftware \u2013 whose mechanics can be found in many Souls-like games.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-reddit wp-block-embed-reddit\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"reddit-embed-bq\" style=\"height:316px\" ><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/gaming\/comments\/1csru3q\/is_it_just_me_or_has_the_term_soulslike_become\/\">Is it just me or has the term &#39;Souls-Like&#39; become utterly meaningless?<\/a><br> by<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/user\/OrranVoriel\/\">u\/OrranVoriel<\/a> in<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/gaming\/\">gaming<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/embed.reddit.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"UTF-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>OrranVoriel first noticed the trend when redeeming his Steam key for Ghost of Tsushima \u2013 an open-world adventure game with almost no similarities to the Souls games. Upon looking up titles like Monster Hunter: World, 2018\u2019s God of War, and Cuphead, he found that they too bear the \u201cSouls-like\u201d tag on Steam. Lesser-known titles such as the indie game En Garde! and the sleeper game Vampyr were also given the tag.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While these games possess certain elements of FromSoftware\u2019s Souls games, they can hardly be counted as Souls-likes. Cuphead can be brutally difficult, but its 2D side-scrolling nature, cartoony aesthetic, and emphasis on combining platforming and bullet hell combat make it its own thing. Likewise, 2018\u2019s God of War has light and heavy attacks as well as magic and parrying mechanics, but it does not have the Souls games\u2019 stamina meters nor Focus Point system.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It should be noted that Steam\u2019s tag system isn\u2019t foolproof. While the video game distribution service\u2019s administrators can add tags to new and existing titles, the same can be done by Steam\u2019s users as well. While Steam tags must be added by the majority of users before they can be associated with games, they don\u2019t paint an entire picture of the experience. Cyberpunk 2077, while containing nudity, is not solely defined by its \u201cNudity\u201d tag as more raunchy Steam games are.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-reddit wp-block-embed-reddit\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"reddit-embed-bq\" ><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/gaming\/comments\/1csru3q\/comment\/l47ahdj\/\">Comment<\/a><br> by<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/user\/OrranVoriel\/\">u\/OrranVoriel<\/a> from discussion<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/gaming\/comments\/1csru3q\/is_it_just_me_or_has_the_term_soulslike_become\/\"><\/a><br> in<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/gaming\/\">gaming<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/embed.reddit.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"UTF-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-reddit wp-block-embed-reddit\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"reddit-embed-bq\" ><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/gaming\/comments\/1csru3q\/comment\/l46z53s\/\">Comment<\/a><br> by<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/user\/OrranVoriel\/\">u\/OrranVoriel<\/a> from discussion<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/gaming\/comments\/1csru3q\/is_it_just_me_or_has_the_term_soulslike_become\/\"><\/a><br> in<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/gaming\/\">gaming<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/embed.reddit.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"UTF-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Other users have joined in on the discussion, citing words like \u201cRoguelite\u201d, \u201cMetroidvania\u201d and \u201cOpen World\u201d as examples of overused Steam tags. The ability for Steam users to add whatever tags they like to a game can mislead potential buyers. It is for this reason that many Steam users tend to forgo reading Steam tags altogether; opting instead to do research on a game before purchasing it. OrranVoriel\u2019s observations bring to light how unreliable Steam tags can be, which is one of many calls to action for Valve to take a look at revamping how they work.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The liberal use of Steam tags like &#8220;souls-like&#8221; for titles that very loosely fit the description has made the system unreliable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":31218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-31212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-global-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What does &quot;Souls-like&quot; even mean anymore? How the overuse and misuse of Steam tags can mislead gamers\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The liberal use of Steam tags like &quot;souls-like&quot; for titles that very loosely fit the description has made the system unreliable.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/what-does-souls-like-even-mean-anymore-how-the-overuse-and-misuse-of-steam-tags-can-mislead-gamers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What does &quot;Souls-like&quot; even mean anymore? 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