Enotria's Approach to Builds Might Set a New Bar for…

Summary

Enotria: The Last Song offers unique character build mechanics to stand out in the crowded Soulslike genre.
Players can switch between three customizable builds instantly, drawing attention from genre fans.
Enotria's approach to builds merges Soulslike and Metroidvania elements, setting a new standard.

This year's deluge of Soulslike and Soulslike-adjacent games continues with September's Enotria: The Last Song. Similar to Game Science's Black Myth Wukong, Enotria is the debut AAA title from Italian studio Jyamma Games and utilizes the developer's country as a setting to give Enotria: The Last Song a distinct atmosphere that taps into the developers' culture. Of course, the Soulslike genre is becoming an increasingly crowded space, prompting developers to implement unique mechanics in their games in hopes of helping them stand out among the pack. One of Enotria's best aces up its sleeve is the game's approach to character builds, both in terms of variety and flexibility.

Enotria's defining feature as a Soulslike, and one which is sure to draw the attention of genre fans, is the ability to instantly swap between three customizable builds without needing to respec. The different masks that the titular main character can equip can be customized and hot-swapped on the fly, allowing players to have specific loadouts at the ready for dealing with mobs, ranged enemies, or bosses. It's a great way to encourage players to experiment with different gear and loadouts to find what works best for their playstyle, and it also happens to take a page out of the Metroidvania playbook in a way that other games should follow.

Enotria's Approach to Builds is an Evolution of Both Soulslike and Metroidvania Elements

The inner circle of the Venn diagram containing Metroidvanias and Soulslikes continues to get bigger by the day, which makes sense given how well both genre's mechanics complement each other. While it's nowhere near the same level of "Soulsvanias" like Death's Gambit or Salt and Sanctuary in terms of its build crafting, the recently released Frontier Hunter: Erza's Wheel of Fortune implements the ability to swap between three different characters, each with their own loadout. Erza already bears a striking resemblance to the well-received Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, but its implementation of an oft-requested feature that still has yet to find its way into Bloodstained (loadout-swapping) immediately sets it apart from its inspiration.

The ability to hot-swap between builds in Enotria thanks to the masks that the player can equip is also somewhat similar to another unconventional Soulslike, Mortal Shell. Rather than restrict players to one specific build, Mortal Shell allows players to switch between equippable "Shells," though this freedom comes at the cost of customization and specific gear optimization. Comparatively, Enotria seems to find a comfortable middle ground between the two, offering players the opportunity to customize the loadouts attached to each mask while also preventing them from needing to stick to one specific build short of a total respec.

How Future FromSoftware Games Could Follow Enotria's Lead

FromSoftware continues to be undisputed in terms of its design and craftsmanship of games within the "Souls" genre. Fitting, considering the studio's own Dark Souls is where the subset of difficult, combat-focused action RPGs gets its name. That said, there's nothing preventing the studio from iterating on the ideas of other talented developers who are attempting to move the Soulslike needle forward, and that's where Enotria's multiple-build system comes in. FromSoftware has already made changing builds easier than ever before in Elden Ring thanks to the abundance of Larval Tears, and the studio's next game could take things even further.

An Elden Ring follow-up or brand-new IP utilizing Soulsborne mechanics that allows for multiple builds in a single playthrough would be a great way for FromSoftware to continue inching toward greater accessibility. Further, to prevent players from completely breaking the game's balance, the existence of multiple builds in a single playthrough could have a trade-off in the form of no respec options. Whatever the case, having multiple builds available at a moment's notice depending on the situation would practically be a dream come true for a Soulslike, and Enotria's realization of that dream makes it worth fans' attention.

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