Hell is Us Gives off Serious Soulslike Meets Death Stranding Vibes

gamerant.com:

The trailer announcement for Hell is Us has gotten a lot of attention, appearing to be the next AAA title in the soulslike subgenre. However, some have noted that it looks very similar to the world of Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding, hinting at a more in-depth attempt to change up the soulslike formula.

Developer Rogue Factor and publisher Nacon seem to have taken some inspiration from Death Stranding's already immersive atmosphere when designing Hell is Us. Recurring themes, eerie visuals, and similar enemy concepts are just a few things hinting at the stylistic genre shift in the teaser trailer for Hell is Us, which is a strong creative foundation for a brand new soulslike theme.

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Hell is Us seems to be employing «less is more» when presenting story and gameplay concepts, much like the cryptic dialogue and imagery in the Death Stranding trailers. As an example, the theme of revenge is told over visuals of mass graves, with 50% of bodies being white husks appearing before a hooded protagonist with a robotic backpack companion. Otherworldly beings evoke similar designs to the BT enemies seen throughout Death Stranding, particularly the white variations that frequently attempt to grab the protagonist, Sam, during conflict.

While Death Stranding isn't a game for everyone, the creative vision helmed by director Hideo Kojima pushed gaming boundaries by attempting to do things differently. The traditional open-world formula was rewritten by making the terrain a conceptual obstacle in itself, along with the updated gameplay tools added to the Director's Cut release. Hell is Us also looks to take a sizable departure from the usual tropes borrowed of the Souls games, being