Immortal Legacy Blends Souls-like Combat with First-Person Perspective: Director Explains

One More Level brought its first Soulslike to the Summer Game Fest—and it's a first-person game. Immortal Legacy swaps the genre's usual isometric distance for face-to-face combat. Game director Radosław Radosznik spoke to ComicBook about the development challenges behind the hybrid approach.

Combining FPS and Soulslike sounds like a genre trainwreck waiting to happen. The biggest problem with first-person melee is spatial awareness—your blade swings inches from the enemy's face, yet no hit registers. Frustration follows instantly.

The studio drew on Ghostrunner experience, leaning on camera work during swings and assist mechanics to give melee a sense of weight. Let the camera do the work instead of expecting hitboxes to sell every blow.

Playtests told a different story: FPS veterans picked up blocking and parrying far quicker than expected—precision timing and input rhythm already live in their muscle memory. Soulslike players switching to first-person hit a wall when lock-on disappears and they have to move laterally on foot. Skills honed over dozens of hours become hindrances.

The dual control demands multiplied design complexity. As Radosznik put it: "Shooting matters, parrying matters, but neither is the sole core. We found a balance where both types of players can perform at their best."

How much of Ghostrunner's DNA actually carries over is harder to pin down. Soulslike melee and parkour shooting operate on fundamentally different logic, though the core goal aligns—fluid feel, clear feedback.

BioShock demonstrated first-person melee could work in a shooter; Immortal Legacy needs to prove it in a game where melee is the point. Concept means nothing without execution—frame rate, hit detection, and input latency are the real metrics.

Playtest data tells part of the story. Live player response will decide the rest. Genre mashups live or die on feel—and audiences drawn to experimental hybrids tend to be the sharpest critics.