Soulslike players have been eating well these last few years. Lords of the Fallen, Wo Long, Lies of P, Nioh, Mortal Shell, and Remnant 2 are just a few off the top of my head. That’s without even accounting for the deluge of games that use soulslike elements and have the Steam tag. My point is that it’s become difficult to be seen in the genre when the sea of soulslikes is constantly raging. So how do you stand above the rest? Well, the upcoming Kristala uses cats.
Set for release incredibly soon, Kristala has been billed by developer Astral Clocktower Studios as ‘Dark Souls but with cats.’ As a pitch for a new soulslike game, that does enough to at least grab my attention, but Kristala also has a few tricks up its sleeve to help it stand out even further.
Cat agility has been transformed into flashy flips and dodges during combat, and there’s even proper platforming and parkour too, something I’ve always felt was missing in the FromSoftware games. Felines always land on their feet, so when you’re up high you can also drop down for aerial assassinations, or sneak around enemies to get the drop on them.
As someone eagerly awaiting FF14 Dawntrail’s female Hrothgar so I can make a new lioness character, the customization on offer in Kristala looks like loads of fun. Clan origin impacts eye color and the magic you use, and there are multiple fur patterns and lengths to choose from. Maybe you want to make your real-life furry friend or just go wild with the extra details. Either way, I can see myself losing hours to the customization.
Outside of the parkour possibilities, combat looks much the same as Dark Souls. The big difference is the magic, however, as you can make use of up to 16 spells at once instead of having just a small handful on offer at any one time.
Kristala shows a lot of promise, and as PCGamesN’s resident soulslike-enjoyer I just want to see more developers take wild swings with the genre, so here’s hoping the cat-like abilities and parkour pay off.
Kristala’s Steam Early Access release date has been pushed back from Tuesday May 28 to Thursday June 6. The full launch is slated for Q4 2025, and you can wishlist Kristala right here.
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