Eighty-six percent Positive. On paper, Dark Dominion is winning.

The new Souls-like from ZERO5GAMES landed on Steam May 13 with a grim hook: a World War I soldier, already broken by the deaths of his wife and daughter, gets dragged into a twisted afterlife where he must reclaim their souls or fade away. The premise earned it a spot on Steam’s New Releases chart and sympathetic preview coverage from Game Rant, which praised its “hardcore combat” and a world that warps based on the protagonist’s mental state.

But 42 reviews tell a messier story than the aggregate suggests.

Six of those reviews are negative, and they’re specific. Players flag clunky combat, poor responsiveness, a parry system that doesn’t reward precision, and — remarkably for a Souls-like in 2026 — no controller support. One player with 1.3 hours logged listed the complaints in bullet points before concluding the game “gets kinda boring.”

Then there’s the review that escalated past the game itself. A player with 1.1 hours played wrote that they intended to support Dark Dominion until they realized ZERO5GAMES also developed Don’t Shoot Politics — a target-range game the reviewer describes as featuring “what is clearly supposed to be an image of Donald Tr[ump].” They refunded.

The positive reviews (36 of 42) counter with praise for atmosphere and a combat style that “perfectly captures all the nuances of the time.” One player at 4.2 hours was sold.

Meanwhile, five people are playing the game concurrently as of this writing. Five. The 30% launch discount — bringing it to $17.49 from $24.99 — hasn’t moved the needle much yet.

Dark Dominion has a compelling pitch and a small team punching above its weight. The Game Rant preview called the protagonist “perhaps the weakest Soulslike protagonist to date,” framing it as a strength. But the negative reviews aren’t drive-by noise — they’re detailed, measured gripes from players who clearly wanted to like the thing. An 86% looks good on a storefront banner. The actual feedback underneath tells you to wait for a patch or a sale — or both.

Sources