Summary
At one point in time,Dark Soulswas considered the best game ever made in its genre, and there is likely a remnant out there who still thinks as much. However, since then, significant “upgrades” tothe Soulslike formulahave been released, includingElden Ringand its Shadow of the Erdtree DLC,Bloodborne, andSekiro: Shadows Die Twice. By and large, any effort made to go back and enjoyDarkSoulswould require all the nostalgia in the world, as it is painfully dated at this point. Despite that reality, Jyamma Games’Enotria: The Last Songdoubles down on one ofDark Souls' most dated features.
Anyone who has playedDark Soulsknows how janky it can be, andEnotria: The Last Songcan unfortunately be just as janky. Whether it’s the pointless dodging, haphazard camera, or sluggish character movements,Enotriais likeDark Soulsin the worst way possible.
Enotria: The Last Song Openly Embraces Dark Souls' Jank
Dark Souls Was Janky Then, and It’s Still Janky Now
The concept and design ofDark Soulsmight have taken off fairly quickly for what it was in 2011, but the Soulslike genre as a whole has really only risen in popularity due toElden Ring. Much ofElden Ring’s widespread successis due to its increased accessibility, which opened the door for more casual players to give it a try, despite the challenge it still offers. Since then, the Soulslike community has grown immensely, and it continues to grow as more Soulslike games grace the stage. Again, however, it wasn’t always this popular, and the current state ofDark Soulsis a perfect example of why.
WhenDark Soulslaunched in 2011, it was largely challenging because its combat was sluggish and weighty, not likeElden Ring’s smooth movements and animations. Dodge rolling inDark Soulswas limited when locked onto an enemy, as the game would put a cardinal direction lock on rolls. There was also the camera to worry about, which, at times, was a tougher enemy thanDark Souls' bossesthemselves. In short, going back to playDark Soulstoday after so many improvements have been made to the formula is a rough experience, and yetEnotria: The Last Songseems to emulate that experience in many respects.
So Much About Enotria: The Last Song Emulates Dark Souls' Jank
More often than not,Enotria: The Last Songfalls prey to its own jank, much likeDark Soulsdid and still does. Jyamma Games recently revealed animprovement roadmap forEnotria, seemingly aiming to improve some of that jank as best it could. However, the improvements seem to only target the movement of the main character — which, to be fair, is very sluggish and clunky — but not only is that one of the few contributors toEnotria’s jank but the patch won’t be implemented until January.
Enotria’s issuesextend far beyond the movement of the main character and impact things like the camera as well, similar toDark Souls.Enotria’s camera often seems to have a mind of its own, behaving erratically, and this is felt even more when locked onto an enemy. Additionally, locking onto an enemy will essentially cause the enemy to be locked onto the player, so if they attempt to dodge the enemy at any time, the foe will remain magnetized to the player, thereby negating the purpose of the dodge. Finally, some enemies are able to perform maneuvers that they arguably shouldn’t, telegraphing an attack that looks like it will only extend a short distance, and yet launches them across the room.
These are only a few of the problems contributing toEnotria’s jank, but they are the most noticeable. It’s unfortunate that, whileEnotriaattempts to be likeDark Soulsin a lot of ways, it chose to go this route as well. Hopefully, future updates will resolve these issues.
Enotria: The Last Song
WHERE TO PLAY
Enotria: The Last Song is an Action RPG SoulsLike set in a fantasy world based off Italian folklore and culture.It aims to take the genre in a new direction, with a vibrant and sun-lit world based off Italian summer where the gameplay allows you to alter the world & enemies in systemic ways.It is defined as a Souls-Like but unlike other souls-likes we are depicting a world based on Italian summer colours, as we call it, ‘‘Summer-Soul’'.The objective is to bring Italian rich past and culture to the fore in a new way that is appealing to the broader public.What we need to convey from the art direction is the colours, vibrancy and general feeling of visiting Italy.Enotria: The Last Song wants to capture the heart & soul of souls-likes fanbase, with rewarding exploration, diverse player builds, varied enemy designs while giving a unique twist.With Ardore, the player always has access to different strategies, allowing them to influence enemies behaviors, dynamically alter the world around them, solve puzzles & harness the very elements of Enotria.
