Tyrant’s Realm

Demaking Tyrant’s Realm.

Dark Souls but sci-fi. Dark Souls but

2D. Dark Souls but rubbish. I do enjoy a good Dark Souls clone, and here’s another in Tyrant’s Realm, which is Dark Souls, but made for the PS1. Not literally, obviously, but this retro-styled action game is surprisingly convincing, boasting the jagged polygonal look, the slightly awkward combat system, and even the level design of a 32-bit game. The only thing letting it down is the framerate, which is disappointingly rock-solid, as smooth as velvet. Real PS1 games ran at 14fps, and we loved every chunky second.

Similar to Souls, you’ll biff baddies in third-person as you explore a medieval prison, stopping occasionally to chug a potion. Where other Souls-likes try to move the genre forwards, or at least sideways, by adding new features or swapping out the setting, TR’s backwards step feels oddly refreshing. By adopting not just the look but the philosophy of a PS1 game, it’s a leaner, less cluttered experience, and perhaps a good place to start if the stingy nature of the other Souls-likes has scared you off.

Similar to, but different enough to Dark Souls to make it interesting.