„India's Dark Souls” Viral Project 11a clip on Reddit looks incredible, but may not live up to the hype just yet

Today, a clip from a video game has gone viral on Reddit, being described as “India’s souls game.” You may be wondering if this is an actual video game, and the answer is yes. An early alpha trailer for Project 11a was uploaded in April, and while this clip might suggest a great game with great style and impressive visuals, it unfortunately left most players disappointed with the gameplay.

Viral clip looks incredible, but according to some users, it doesn’t match the hype

Based on this clip, Project 11a plays off the massively popular souls-like action games popularized by FromSoftware. The eight-second clip got a huge reaction on the subreddit r/funnyvideos because of the over-the-top Bollywood style, and then was reposted to the FromSoftware-specific subreddit. In the clip, the player dodges an attack, but the moment they dodge, the camera zooms in for a cinematic character moment reminiscent of Bollywood-style movies.

Of course, Reddit users had a field day with clever comments. One user described it as “Aura farming as a way of dodging attacks.” Another user called it “Lies of Punjab,” comparing it to a recently popular action game, Lies of P. Other users said they would absolutely play this, comparing it to a mix of Dark Souls and Yakuza. The posts didn’t clarify whether this was a real game or not, so users had to ask or figure it out for themselves.

Project 11a, also known as Unleash the Avatar, according to a LinkedIn post, is currently in development by Aeos Games, a developer based in India. It is a single-player action RPG set in the fictional land of Vishwapur. According to that same LinkedIn post, several of the developers have experience working in the Hollywood film industry, and one member of the team has worked on games like Hogwarts Legacy and Ghost of Tsushima.

After searching, I could not find where a demo was available, or even that many examples of people who claim to have played the demo. But at least one user on Reddit claims to have played a demo of Project 11a, and says the “combat system is super boring” and that they are “super disappointed.” The top comment on the YouTube trailer also says that “the interactions are laggy… results are very unpolished…” But it’s possible that both of these users are just talking about the available footage, not an actual playable demo.

I can understand the disappointment; it’s easy to want this game to be on par with FromSoftware, and that short clip on Reddit gives high expectations. But so far, the game appears to be in its very early stages. According to the trailer, Aeos Games is aiming for a Fall 2026 release date. For now, we’ll have to wait to see how development progresses over the next year. Making a video game is hard, and making a good, original, universally praised video game is much, much harder, especially for a small team working on their first project.

• FromSoftware
• Reddit
• Dark Souls (franchise)
• soulslike
• Bollywood