I'm watching a Let's Play of The Surge

It's interesting because it's clearly lifting mechanics from games like Dark Souls, where the fantasy world used to be beautiful before everything went to hell and zombies started killing everyone. But it's not a fantasy world; it's our world a few decades in the future, and the catastrophe that ruined everything was climate change. And instead of a mournful look at a fallen world, it's a bitter satire of corporate greed and shortsightedness. 

I got to thinking, what would it look like if a game took place in our future, but it had a genuinely Dark Souls-like tone and attitude? And suddenly, I understand why Horizon Zero Dawn feels like such a weird game to play. Gameplay-wise, it's a relatively conventional action sandbox game, but the tone is 100% fallen-world, and the criticism of modern corporations isn't satirical; it's dead serious.