The short answer
Not officially, but it borrows from the genre. Nowhere in Game Freak's or Fictions' own marketing is the game called a Soulslike — the official description is an "action RPG with a fusion of real-time and turn-based combat." The "Souls-like" label you see on Steam is a user-applied tag, and in interviews the game's director has framed the design as its own hybrid that shares elements with the genre rather than sitting inside it. Expect Souls-adjacent difficulty and boss structure — not a FromSoftware clone.
The case for "yes, it's a Soulslike"
- Steam users tag it that way. "Souls-like" and "Difficult" sit among the game's most popular user-defined tags — that's the community's first impression from trailers and previews.
- Press comparisons. Coverage since the 2025 reveal has repeatedly reached for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, NieR: Automata and Black Myth: Wukong as reference points.
- The structure fits. Demanding, technical combat; enormous region-ruling Bosses as progression spine; a "beautiful yet brutal" world — that's the Souls rhythm on paper.
The case for "no, it's its own thing"
- The official pitch never says Soulslike. Both stores describe a "one-person, one-dog action RPG" with a fusion of real-time and turn-based combat — the Koo command layer has no equivalent in FromSoftware's formula. Xbox's page calls it "real-time combat and command-based strategy."
- The developers have distanced the game from the label. In pre-release interviews (including IGN's January 2026 conversation with director Kota Furushima), the team has described the game as its own action-RPG hybrid that shares some elements with Soulslikes rather than being one — a distinction fans have debated at length on the game's Steam forums.
- Explicit playstyle flexibility. Official marketing promises ranged, stealthy and aggressive loadouts — stealth as a supported first-class playstyle is distinctly un-Souls.
- Game Freak DNA. Furushima worked on Pokémon battle systems; commanding Koo's techniques mid-fight is closer to a real-time evolution of that lineage than to stamina-bar dueling.
What this means for you
| If you're coming from… | Expect |
|---|---|
| Elden Ring / Dark Souls | Familiar boss-wall rhythm and punish-window discipline, but a second actor (Koo) to manage — read the combat guide before your first wall. |
| Sekiro | Probably the closest reference: technical, deliberate one-on-one combat with its own systems layered on. |
| Pokémon / turn-based RPGs | The command layer will feel familiar, but execution is real-time and demanding — this is not a menu battler. |
| Action RPGs generally | A 40-hour structured campaign (length breakdown) with build variety, not an open sandbox. |
Difficulty options are confirmed
Game Freak has confirmed Story, Normal and Hard difficulty settings. Story Mode gives players a wider parry window and reduces enemy damage, so the game is not built around a single fixed difficulty in the Souls tradition. Normal is the intended baseline; Hard is the high-challenge option.
Sources
- Steam store page — official description; user-defined tags including "Souls-like" and "Difficult" (checked Aug 2, 2026)
- Xbox.com official page — "real-time combat and command-based strategy", "demanding, technical combat"
- Xbox Wire — Game Freak developer overview — Story, Normal and Hard difficulty details
- IGN — interview with director Kota Furushima (January 2026)
- Steam community discussions — ongoing player debate on the label