Been thinking about this since I've been playing Rain World. I feel that Rain World is solidly within the genre. There are definitely video essays out there about it being about existing in an ecosystem or whatever. Pathologic is another obvious one. The original Dark Souls is probably paradigmatic of this category.
What traits define this category? I think:
- Difficult, you struggle to make progress
- Inscrutable narrative motivation
- Hidden depth to the world that can be teased out through intensive study
- Possible to find it fun, but much likelier to just bounce off (and watch the video essay instead!)
Is this a valid category?
That's true, but the slop for disco is more about world building or how a specific character relates to a real ideology. Lees about the game as a whole experience.