Soulsborne

English

Alternative forms

• SoulsBorne, soulsborne

Etymology

Blend of souls +‎ bloodborne, after the Dark Souls trilogy and Bloodborne.

Proper noun

Cosplayers dressed as the Dark Souls player character and Solaire, a major NPC.

Soulsborne

1. (fandom slang, video games) A loose series of dark fantasy action role-playing video games developed by FromSoftware, generally held as including Demon's Souls (2009), the Dark Souls trilogy (2011-2016), Bloodborne (2015), and Elden Ring (2022).
   • 2019, “Introduction”, in Matthew Wilhelm Kapell, editor, Narrative Design and Authorship in Bloodborne: An Analysis of the Horror Videogame‎^[1], page 4:

     As the director of each of the Soulsborne games, Miyazaki is a strong influence on all aspects of the final product, including visual design, gameplay, and narrative content.

   • 2020, James Palmer, "Why did UK games sales drop in 2019?", The Boar (University of Warwick), 13 February 2022, page 32:

     Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was created by FromSoftware, the developers behind the Soulsborne titles.

   • 2021 July 29, M. Deitz, “Fighting against your death in 'Death's Door'”, in The Michigan Daily, University of Michigan, page 9:

     Sure, “Death's Door” does little to hide its love for both the Zelda and Soulsborne franchises, cramming in dense lore to creepy dungeons filled with puzzles and enemies galore, but it manages to take the best part of these series and form something wholly unique.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Soulsborne.

Noun

Soulsborne (countable and uncountable, plural Soulsbornes)

1. (fandom slang, video games, uncountable) A video game subgenre influenced by this series, characterized by high difficulty, trial-and-error progression, esoteric enemy movesets, environmental storytelling, and complex lore.

   Synonym: Soulslike

   • 2020 October, “Have Your Say: Demon's Soul”, in PlayStation Official Magazine, page 27:

     Because FromSoftware's Demon's Souls is the granddaddy of the soulsborne genre, and one of the PlayStation 3's overlooked classics.

   • 2022, Gabrielle Cabello Torres, "From The International: Video Games From Different Cultures", Mace & Crown (Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA), Spring 2022, page 36:

     “Blasphemous” is a masterfully crafted game that would entice hardcore fans of Soulsborne and Metroidvania games.

   • 2022 December 29, Cameron Rasmusson, “Elden Ring recaptures magic of video game discovery”, in Reader, page 17:

     The Soulsborne formula has been imitated countless times but mastered by few apart from FromSoftware, the original pioneers.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Soulsborne.
2. (fandom slang, video games, countable) An individual game of this genre.
   • 2018, "Team Ninja's Nioh 2 is back for more", PlayStation Official Magazine (UK), August 2018, page 11 (image caption):

     Do you have room for another Soulsborne in your life?

   • 2020, Cameron Kunzelman, "How we deal with dark souls: The aesthetic category as a method", in Hybrid Play: Crossing Boundaries in Game Design, Players Identities and Play Spaces (eds. Adriana de Souza e Silva & Ragan Glover-Rijkse), unnumbered page:

     Diagrammatics allows us to properly think about how something like a “soulsborne” can be created: It is a set of mechanics, modes of storytelling, and player expectations that branch out and proliferate from the original object.

   • 2020 December, “Godfall”, in PlayStation Official Magazine, UK, page 56:

     Lee confirms it offers the challenge of a soulsborne but with a greater level of flexibility in how you approach that challenge.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Soulsborne.

Further reading

• Soulslike on Wikipedia.Wikipedia