Deciphering the Essence of Souls: Exploring the Characteristics of Souls-like Games

We all need to agree
right now on what the difference between a soul’s like,
a soul’s light, and a regular action game are,
because nobody knows.
I made a video explaining all of the ways Wukong isn’t a soul’s like
and a lot of people are like well
that’s because it’s a soul’s light.
So explain to me right now what the hell you’re talking about.
What makes a souls like game?
Define it in the comments right now,
because I’m certain most people are
just judging by the camera angle at this point.
For me, here’s what would define a souls like game.
Mechanic where you gather XP and lose it upon death,
with the opportunity of recollecting it,
but if you die a second time you lose it permanently.
Souls like control scheme that uses R1 and R2 to attack
with an emphasis on parrying.
And honestly, that should be it.
A stamina bar doesn’t constitute a souls like difficulty.
Doesn’t constitute a. Souls like games have been hard before Dark Souls
games have had lock on mechanics before Dark Souls
games have had bosses before Dark Souls.
From now on
I’m gonna start calling souls games shadow of the Colossus Lights,
because apparently
all you need are bosses to be considered a souls like game.
And shadow of the Colossus was doing it way before Dark Souls.