Soulslike - Discussion, News, Memes

I'm deep in the trenches of learning Hunt Showdown, so no soulslikes for me right now but a very challenging game nonetheless. Imagine if Hunt had dodge rolls and parries!

I've never played with sword & board because the games I played first never allowed for it. Bloodborne explicitly mocks you with the few existing shields in the game, implying that using them "engenders passivity". Sekiro is also very fast-paced with its massive focus on parries - iT's LiKe A dAnCe. Lies of P and Khazan also focus on parrying and dodging.

Come to think of it, none of the newer soulslikes put such an onus on blocking attacks with a shield like the original souls games do. The only time I tried playing with a shield was in Demon's Souls and even there I usually went for a two-handed uchigatana for bosses. And as the Dark Souls series matured, the third entry made enemies a lot more aggressive and fast compared for the two entries before, so ducking behind a shield wasn't as viable as adapting your playstyle with a similarly more aggressive one.

What's your stance? Which do you prefer? Has any of the two shaped your taste in soulslikes/-lites/whatever?