Are Souls-likes considered more approachable than fighting games, by the mainstream public?
It's likely my digital marketing brain thinking but, I grew up with VSAV and old Guilty Gear and, I noticed years ago that there were these games inspired by Demon Souls that are hard but people LOVE them and they've broken mainstream.
When I ask people why they play them, I hear, "When I figure out why I lost, I'm growing as a player instead of just my character" and "The journey feels so rewarding and I can trust the mechanics so I keep playing" or "There's no one to blame but myself for loses, and I accept that and keep pushing forward until I figure out my mistakes."
GOD that gets me hyped to hear! So, when I recommend fighting games the same people give me, "Those games are CRAZY! N'all... I'm good." That confuses me.
I noticed after DBFZ, ArcSys 180'd to streamlined fighters that have wallbreak-neutral resets, restricted movement, restricted routes and lower skill ceilings than the "Wild West" philosophy they used to design their games around to distinguish their games before. The visual fidelity and scores of their games are better than EVER but gameplay-wise, while I'm SOOOO happy the pivot brought in new players to this amazing genre, it also made me ask, "Why do Souls-likes do well without feeling the need to 'meet the player where they are'?"
I feel like the human mind thrives in creativity like no other lifeform on this Earth (we crave challenge and the chance to express ourselves in it to show how far we've come), but lately only Souls-likes have given me that feeling in mainstream conversation. I also feel like Souls-likes studios feel no pressure to "limit" their game to bring in a bigger player base (or 4X games for that matter): they thrive from a niche, qualified audience and that organically provides social proof and free word-of-mouth because it feels unique to players experiencing it for the first time.
So... why do new fighting games seem to not embrace that? Avatar is the exception, but it's also developed by FL FGC vets who filed an LLC and got a Paramount license, so I feel like I can't count it in this discussion: it was made by players who saw a massive void in the market and capitalized with the mechanics most new fighters won't implement, while the team clearly wasn't used to corporate deadlines and bureaucracy... like you'd expect from a small team LLC.
Still, my query stands.
Is there some validity in my question? Has anyone else noticed this or thought on it?