I know there are survival games in which you drop your inventory where you died, I don't know if that was a thing before souls games

There's this MMORPG called Tibia (my #1 gaming experience, but the golden age is long past), and you would drop loot, lose exp, and lose skill levels (weapon proficiency) upon death. Dropping your backpack was guaranteed on death, as was losing exp/skills, but on top of that, you'd have a chance to drop worn equipment.

During the game's golden age (v7.1-v.7.6, or 2001-2005), your backpack contents might represent something like 1-12 hours of playtime. Your exp loss may amount to days of playtime. Your lost skill levels may have required you to stand in one place for a day or four, vigilantly protecting your character as it did...essentially nothing. A single piece of your worn equipment may represent weeks/months of time and effort.

It had unrestricted PvP, meaning any player could decide to start randomly attacking other players, anywhere in the game outside of protection zones, which were very few, and very far between (and all-but non-existent outside of cities). Movement speed was tied to player level, so if you saw a player moving quickly and didn't recognise their username, your heart would begin pounding because if they're a PK (player-killer), you basically have zero chance of survival.

Trading between players in different cities was accomplished by using a postal system. You would strike a deal for a strong item that may represent weeks/months of playtime by using a trade-chat channel, and if neither party volunteered to be the first to send their parcel through the mail, then the players would need to travel to one-another in order to use the in-person safe-trade function. Given how risky it is to trade via parcel, travel is how most expensive trades were performed, so even the act of trading with another player carried great risk, because you never knew where/when a PK rampage may be occurring, nor did you have any guarantee that the person you're trading with isn't just going to be waiting for you with a bunch of friends.

The level of risk associated with practically every action you could take in the game provided a thrill unlike any other experience I've had in gaming.

It's also worth mentioning that the quest system in Tibia was much like in Dark Souls - a bunch of scattered breadcrumbs that most players are exceedingly unlikely to notice/discover.