The fact that the OpenBSD logo has to include its name spelled out really tells you everything you need to know, doesn’t it.

It’s almost as if the Souls series was a deliberate throwback inspired by classic games and used mechanics copied from them.

It seems to me that the most distinctive feature is the save mechanic that essentially splits the game into levels where you can only save your progress when you reach a campfire.

By this definition, Demon’s Souls is not a soulslike.