It’s been uttered on gaming forums and tackled by gaming journalists, but Erik Kain of Forbes seems to have a different take on the situation.

While it seems silly to link an editorial, it’s actually a valid question that seems to be, no pun intended, dragging the game down and limiting the attention it should be getting. While other games like Lords of the Fallen have also been accused of copying From Software’s megahit RPG, it seems Capcom is taking more heat than usual from the comparison.

To quote directly from the article:

For one thing, combat doesn’t appear to be as challenging or as satisfying as the Souls games, or as fast-paced and action-packed as Dragon’s Dogma. Even just the movement of the character on screen seems more clunky, with a camera that’s pulled much closer to your avatar. I may be nit-picking here, but the presentation, even if the graphics look nice, leaves much to be desired when it comes to third-person action games.

Then there’s the game’s premise: You’re delving into memories, in randomly-generated levels with randomly-generated monsters. This could be incredibly fun, but it’s nothing even remotely similar to Dark Souls and its interlaced and very carefully structured world. Nor is it anything like Dragon’s Dogma and its sprawling dukedom.

The similarity begins and ends with style, and it’s hardly a style that Dark Souls invented. The Souls games are heavily influenced by Western fantasy and roleplaying games, which are in turn heavily influenced by Medieval history and aesthetics. Deep Down taps into that same vein, but appears to do nothing at all to tap into what makes Dark Souls such a tremendous outing as a video game.

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but in gaming it can often lead to a title’s doom. Unfair comparisons aside, Deep Down looks terrific and should provide PS4 players with their first true triple-A quality western RPG when it’s released later this year.