The story
From Souls + -like, referencing the Demon's Souls and Dark Souls video game series, after the pattern of roguelike (“any of a genre of computer role playing games influenced by Rogue”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
soulslike
Today it means: A subgenre of action role-playing video games influenced by the Dark Souls trilogy, characterized by high difficulty, trial-and-error progression, esoteric enemy movesets, environmental storytelling, and complex lore. Full definition →