While it can sometimes seem like the genre marker “soulslike” is overused and sometimes applied when it otherwise shouldn’t be, that’s not the case for the latest Soulslike game on Steam, although it is definitely a more unique case of the genre. Indeed, the Soulslike genre has grown since FromSoftware established the formula, with Soulsvania games taking the combat design ethos to Metroidvania games and games like Another Crab’s Treasure showing that they don’t all need to be dark fantasy to work.
Steam’s latest Soulslike game, developed by Team Spino LLC, previously went viral when it was just a concept, and now it’s finally manifested into a real game. And it seems to be everything fans hoped it would be from that initial concept. Dinoblade, perhaps as its title suggests, is a Soulslike game…focused on dinosaurs.
Dinoblade Finally Releases to Hit Reviews
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Image via Team Spino -
Image via Team Spino -
Image via Team Spino
For the uninitiated, Dinoblade is a Soulslike game that swaps knights, monstrosities, dragons, and the like for prehistoric dinosaurs. Players step into the role of a young Spinosaurus, one with a colossal Great Sword, and must bonk their way through all the enemies before them. After all, any enemy dinosaur can become the next boss fight if players are not prepared or skilled enough. Borrowing from FromSoftware’s design ethos, combat is built around dodging, parrying, stamina management, and learning enemy attack patterns, while exploration rewards players with new weapons, gear, and secrets hidden throughout its interconnected world. Between challenging encounters, players hunt increasingly dangerous dinosaurs, strengthen their build, and slowly uncover the world’s lore, giving it the familiar “learn, die, improve, repeat” loop that Soulslike fans tend to gravitate toward (just with a lot more literal teeth).
Find the odd one out before the timer hits zero.
Stopping this looming extinction has gone over well with early adopters of Dinoblade, as it launched on July 23 and has accumulated over 400 reviews since then. Overall, it sits at a nice 89% Very Positive review rating. Generally speaking, reviews praise its challenging Soulslike gameplay, the dinosaur fights, and the overall combat, while it features plenty of technical issues (just like any indie game on Steam) and uneven elements in need of balancing (just like any new Soulslike game).
Dinoblade’s Launch Discount lets players save 10% on their purchase ($19.99–>$17.99).
For fans of the genre (which includes myself), it definitely makes sense why the Soulslike genre marker has been oversaturated. It’s popular, and developers try to use it to bolster sales, but that’s not what Dinoblade is. It’s genuinely a challenging game that adopts Soulslike design elements to deliver a unique dinosaur experience. That said, it’s not the hardest Soulslike game on the market, so veterans may find it easier to pick up than newcomers, even if newcomers themselves seem capable of trying it out.
Dinosaur games are classics in the industry, as is any solid Soulslike game, and Dinoblade marries those two together. And that’s what makes video games so unique: the wildest ideas are possible. Dinoblade is possible, and it’ll be interesting to see what other unique games come to the genre in the future.