Editor's note: This list was originally published in February 2021 and last updated November 16, 2023. Changes included replacing Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order with Jedi Survivor, adding in three newer releases and bumping Lords of the Fallen, Code Vein and Darksiders 3 off of the list.
The legacy of FromSoftware’s Souls series isn’t just defined by the amazing games that it’s made up of, but also the subgenre that’s been given life thanks to its very existence: The soulslike. We last updated this list back in February of 2021, and since then there have been all sorts of new and exciting additions to the genre that have shaken things up. So with that said, let’s take another look at our picks for the 10 best Soulslikes – specifically, the ones that aren’t developed by From Software themselves.
Now, defining exactly what constitutes a soulslike is a bit tricky because there’s a lot of core elements of Souls games. But for the purpose of this list, here are the key things that a game must have to be a soulslike:
Also, we’re gonna keep this list FromSoftware free. This is a list of the best soulslikes, not the best Souls games – and yes, we’re including Sekiro and Bloodborne under that banner, too. Now that we got all of that out of the way, check out the video/gallery above, or scroll down for the full list!
One of the more weirdly endearing characteristics of a great Soulslike is how the story is slowly unraveled through the world’s enemies and items. 2018’s Ashen from studio A44 and Annapurna Interactive is just the right amount of obtuse to inspire players to inch forth through its treacherous, minimalist world. Ashen is tough, unforgiving, and brilliantly stripped down to the core of what makes a Soulslike tick. Sure, most of its characters barely have faces, and the art direction is deliberately minimalist compared to its lavish Soulsborne big brothers, but all of that just makes Ashen feel so much more haunting, austere, and isolating.
See our review.
Who would have thought that combining the world and plot of the original Final Fantasy with a Soulslike would work so well? Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is an excellent blend of genres and storytelling that makes for a great entry point into the unforgiving world of soulslikes. The game's combat is fun and encourages experimentation and customization thanks to a hefty job system, and the story, while significantly over the top at times, is a fantastic reimagining of the original 1987 Final Fantasy. Combat is about what you would expect from a soulslike — meaning difficult — but it quickly becomes satisfying and fun once you figure out your ideal job rotation. However, the ability to adjust the difficulty is a welcome addition to accessibility.
See our review.
Confusingly, 2023’s Lords of the Fallen is a reboot of a 2014 Soulsike game of the same name, but don’t let that fool you, the two games couldn’t be more different. This new Lords of Fallen sought to carve out its own identity in an increasingly crowded genre with an innovative dual realm mechanic, gorgeous visuals powered by Unreal Engine 5, and a style of combat that's relatively fast paced for the genre and focused especially on having to deal with multiple enemies at a time. Some stability issues at launch and a few risky design decisions that didn’t quite pay off hold it back from climbing higher up on our list, but Lords of the Fallen is an example of a series getting a second chance at life and making the absolute most of it.
See our review.
When it comes to straight up combat, Wo Long is among the best games on this list. Its action is blistering fast, brutal, and as incredibly satisfying as it is difficult. While the Nioh series feels like Team Ninja’s take on mixing the typical soulslike formula with their own background in character action games, Wo Long feels like it’s instead taking much of its cues from Sekiro, from the parry based combat, to the historical fantasy setting that mixes history and folklore.
See our review.
Both The Surge and its sequel, The Surge 2, take the multiplier/countdown mechanics introduced in Lords of the Fallen (2014) but adds a Monster-Hunter-esque crafting system to put a unique sci-fi stamp on the Soulslike genre. Dismembering zombified cyborgs to craft new weapons and armor offers a grisly injection of strategic fun, and some really excellent environmental design and storytelling in the first game provides a great setup to the series' dystopian future. While the story gets a bit unwieldy as it progresses, the 2019 sequel improves the gameplay mechanics and progression loop that made the original such a satisfying action-RPG.
See our Surge review and Surge 2 review.
One of the first truly notable Soulslikes, Salt and Sanctuary is perhaps the one that most unabashedly embraces that identity. This is a game that wears its Souls inspirations proudly on its sleeve, but what makes it so special is that for as much as it sticks to the core fundamentals of a soulslike, it also introduces completely new elements, many of which are only possible in the 2D space. There are platforming sections that play with the rules of gravity; there’s couch co-op play, making it one of the best soulslike to play through with a buddy; and there’s a super in-depth skill tree that allows for a ton of customization in terms of playstyle.All of this on top of super satisfying combat, a great variety of weapons that behave very differently from each other, deep progression mechanics, and much more.
See our review.
While many games on this list are notable for how well they nail the classic Soulslike formula, Remnant 2 is awesome for how much it bucks the system and does its own thing while still keeping all the best Soulslike bits. This sequel from Gunfire Games is lovingly referred to as “Dark Souls with guns” and borrows a lot from looter shooters to create a very unique blend of Soulslike and FPS that’s wholly unprecedented. Not only that, it’s also an excellent co-op game, best played with friends, where each player manages their own builds and works together to get through the extremely challenging boss fights and zones swarming with enemies that become unbelievably challenging on higher difficulties. Throw in the fact that it makes use of procedurally generated areas, boss fights, and storylines, so you and your friends are unlikely to experience the same game twice, and you’ve got yourself something truly special.
See our review.
Perhaps no game on this list has gotten the look and feel of a FromSoftware game down to a science like Lies of P has. One look at the game is enough to immediately understand that this is a Soulslike from developers that know the genre inside and out. But don’t let that take away from the fact that Lies of P also stands completely on its own. Its world is uniquely haunting and creepy thanks to excellent enemy designs that turn puppets into horrifying monstrosities. Its combat, while certainly inspired by Bloodborne, also has a completely different flavor to it thanks to several mechanical changes to how dodge rolls and perfect parries work. And let’s not forget the incredible boss fights that are challenging in all of the right ways. It just came out this year, but Lies of P is still nonetheless one of the best non-From Software Soulslikes we’ve ever played.
See our review.
After the fantastic release of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, it was only a matter of time until we got a follow-up. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor takes everything Fallen Order did and improves upon everything that was (and wasn’t) great in its first outing. Though it suffered from some performance issues, its story, gameplay, and exploration have all been force-pushed up a notch.
The ability to use multiple stances that can be swapped when you want helps give it a small taste of the weapon variety we get in more traditional Souls games. Combat also feels great, making full use of the dodge and parry mechanics, while the core campaign has a couple difficulty spikes that will test your Jedi combat expertise. But true combat mastery is tested in the optional fights in force echoes that will put you against multiple Oggdos or Rancors, giving Souls fans what they crave in the difficulty department.
Exploration has also been made more enjoyable thanks to a better fast travel system, mounts, and shortcuts added to the map that help make traipsing the numerous planets for loot and lore more convenient and less punishing after death. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is an excellent option for those wanting to dip their toes into the world of souls-like games without dealing with the deeper elements in traditional soul games like convoluted stats all while still getting to the core gameplay loop of challenging combat, rewarding loot, and regular respawning when things don’t happen to go your way.
See our review.
Before we going into our #1, we have to call out an honorable mention that didn’t make this list not because we missed it or we didn’t like it, but because calling it a soulslike just didn’t sit well with us.
While undeniably inspired by Dark Souls in many ways, Hollow Knight doesn’t really play like other games on this list in practice. It shares a similar storytelling style of letting you piece together the history of its world and your role within it through more subtle dialogue and rich lore, as well as that familiar death mechanic of having to reach the place you died to retrieve your money – but its combat, progression, and movement systems are extremely different from the Souls setup. Most notably, the lack of a stamina meter, and while there are other games on this list that also lack a stamina meter, there’s also a significantly more forgiving healing system that doesn’t rely on reaching enemy-resetting checkpoints to refill. Fights themselves are also far more reminiscent of platformers like Castlevania or even Mega Man than the patient, timing-focused encounters of a Souls game. So while Hollow Knight is an incredible platformer that certainly owes its Dark Souls inspiration a lot, its gameplay doesn’t actually use FromSoft’s signature style to the same extent as others on this list.
But hey, if you disagree, feel free to pretend Hollow Knight’s right here on the list and bump everything else down. We won’t judge. Moving on...
The best Soulslikes find a way to use what the Souls series did as a starting point and then find a way to leap off from there and do their own thing. None do this better than the Nioh series. It still has all of the essential qualities of a soulslike, but Team Ninja manages to tweak each of those qualities in ways that make the Nioh games feel familiar, but also completely distinct.
Take combat, for example, it’s still got that careful and deliberate pace thanks to a stamina bar that governs your every action, but on top of that is a ki pulse mechanic that allows you to regain that stamina with well timed button presses after each attack, which facilitates a much faster pace to the action. Add on top of that the unbelievably deep gear system, the huge skill trees for each weapon and type of magic, along with a lengthy campaign and tons of post game content, and it’s easy to see why the Nioh series is placed on such a high pedestal among Soulslikes.
See our review.
And that’s our list! What do you think? Agree, disagree? Still think Hollow Knight should’ve made it? Let us know in the comments.
Continue reading...
The legacy of FromSoftware’s Souls series isn’t just defined by the amazing games that it’s made up of, but also the subgenre that’s been given life thanks to its very existence: The soulslike. We last updated this list back in February of 2021, and since then there have been all sorts of new and exciting additions to the genre that have shaken things up. So with that said, let’s take another look at our picks for the 10 best Soulslikes – specifically, the ones that aren’t developed by From Software themselves.
Now, defining exactly what constitutes a soulslike is a bit tricky because there’s a lot of core elements of Souls games. But for the purpose of this list, here are the key things that a game must have to be a soulslike:
- Punishing consequences for death
- Souls, or a similar currency gained by defeating enemies that is integral to character progression and can be lost upon death.
- Methodical combat, typically tied to a stamina meter
- Checkpoints that reset the world.
Also, we’re gonna keep this list FromSoftware free. This is a list of the best soulslikes, not the best Souls games – and yes, we’re including Sekiro and Bloodborne under that banner, too. Now that we got all of that out of the way, check out the video/gallery above, or scroll down for the full list!
10. Ashen
One of the more weirdly endearing characteristics of a great Soulslike is how the story is slowly unraveled through the world’s enemies and items. 2018’s Ashen from studio A44 and Annapurna Interactive is just the right amount of obtuse to inspire players to inch forth through its treacherous, minimalist world. Ashen is tough, unforgiving, and brilliantly stripped down to the core of what makes a Soulslike tick. Sure, most of its characters barely have faces, and the art direction is deliberately minimalist compared to its lavish Soulsborne big brothers, but all of that just makes Ashen feel so much more haunting, austere, and isolating.
See our review.
9. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
Who would have thought that combining the world and plot of the original Final Fantasy with a Soulslike would work so well? Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is an excellent blend of genres and storytelling that makes for a great entry point into the unforgiving world of soulslikes. The game's combat is fun and encourages experimentation and customization thanks to a hefty job system, and the story, while significantly over the top at times, is a fantastic reimagining of the original 1987 Final Fantasy. Combat is about what you would expect from a soulslike — meaning difficult — but it quickly becomes satisfying and fun once you figure out your ideal job rotation. However, the ability to adjust the difficulty is a welcome addition to accessibility.
See our review.
8. Lords of the Fallen (2023)
Confusingly, 2023’s Lords of the Fallen is a reboot of a 2014 Soulsike game of the same name, but don’t let that fool you, the two games couldn’t be more different. This new Lords of Fallen sought to carve out its own identity in an increasingly crowded genre with an innovative dual realm mechanic, gorgeous visuals powered by Unreal Engine 5, and a style of combat that's relatively fast paced for the genre and focused especially on having to deal with multiple enemies at a time. Some stability issues at launch and a few risky design decisions that didn’t quite pay off hold it back from climbing higher up on our list, but Lords of the Fallen is an example of a series getting a second chance at life and making the absolute most of it.
See our review.
7. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
When it comes to straight up combat, Wo Long is among the best games on this list. Its action is blistering fast, brutal, and as incredibly satisfying as it is difficult. While the Nioh series feels like Team Ninja’s take on mixing the typical soulslike formula with their own background in character action games, Wo Long feels like it’s instead taking much of its cues from Sekiro, from the parry based combat, to the historical fantasy setting that mixes history and folklore.
See our review.
6. The Surge (series)
Both The Surge and its sequel, The Surge 2, take the multiplier/countdown mechanics introduced in Lords of the Fallen (2014) but adds a Monster-Hunter-esque crafting system to put a unique sci-fi stamp on the Soulslike genre. Dismembering zombified cyborgs to craft new weapons and armor offers a grisly injection of strategic fun, and some really excellent environmental design and storytelling in the first game provides a great setup to the series' dystopian future. While the story gets a bit unwieldy as it progresses, the 2019 sequel improves the gameplay mechanics and progression loop that made the original such a satisfying action-RPG.
See our Surge review and Surge 2 review.
5. Salt and Sanctuary
One of the first truly notable Soulslikes, Salt and Sanctuary is perhaps the one that most unabashedly embraces that identity. This is a game that wears its Souls inspirations proudly on its sleeve, but what makes it so special is that for as much as it sticks to the core fundamentals of a soulslike, it also introduces completely new elements, many of which are only possible in the 2D space. There are platforming sections that play with the rules of gravity; there’s couch co-op play, making it one of the best soulslike to play through with a buddy; and there’s a super in-depth skill tree that allows for a ton of customization in terms of playstyle.All of this on top of super satisfying combat, a great variety of weapons that behave very differently from each other, deep progression mechanics, and much more.
See our review.
4. Remnant 2
While many games on this list are notable for how well they nail the classic Soulslike formula, Remnant 2 is awesome for how much it bucks the system and does its own thing while still keeping all the best Soulslike bits. This sequel from Gunfire Games is lovingly referred to as “Dark Souls with guns” and borrows a lot from looter shooters to create a very unique blend of Soulslike and FPS that’s wholly unprecedented. Not only that, it’s also an excellent co-op game, best played with friends, where each player manages their own builds and works together to get through the extremely challenging boss fights and zones swarming with enemies that become unbelievably challenging on higher difficulties. Throw in the fact that it makes use of procedurally generated areas, boss fights, and storylines, so you and your friends are unlikely to experience the same game twice, and you’ve got yourself something truly special.
See our review.
3. Lies of P
Perhaps no game on this list has gotten the look and feel of a FromSoftware game down to a science like Lies of P has. One look at the game is enough to immediately understand that this is a Soulslike from developers that know the genre inside and out. But don’t let that take away from the fact that Lies of P also stands completely on its own. Its world is uniquely haunting and creepy thanks to excellent enemy designs that turn puppets into horrifying monstrosities. Its combat, while certainly inspired by Bloodborne, also has a completely different flavor to it thanks to several mechanical changes to how dodge rolls and perfect parries work. And let’s not forget the incredible boss fights that are challenging in all of the right ways. It just came out this year, but Lies of P is still nonetheless one of the best non-From Software Soulslikes we’ve ever played.
See our review.
2. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
After the fantastic release of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, it was only a matter of time until we got a follow-up. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor takes everything Fallen Order did and improves upon everything that was (and wasn’t) great in its first outing. Though it suffered from some performance issues, its story, gameplay, and exploration have all been force-pushed up a notch.
The ability to use multiple stances that can be swapped when you want helps give it a small taste of the weapon variety we get in more traditional Souls games. Combat also feels great, making full use of the dodge and parry mechanics, while the core campaign has a couple difficulty spikes that will test your Jedi combat expertise. But true combat mastery is tested in the optional fights in force echoes that will put you against multiple Oggdos or Rancors, giving Souls fans what they crave in the difficulty department.
Exploration has also been made more enjoyable thanks to a better fast travel system, mounts, and shortcuts added to the map that help make traipsing the numerous planets for loot and lore more convenient and less punishing after death. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is an excellent option for those wanting to dip their toes into the world of souls-like games without dealing with the deeper elements in traditional soul games like convoluted stats all while still getting to the core gameplay loop of challenging combat, rewarding loot, and regular respawning when things don’t happen to go your way.
See our review.
Before we going into our #1, we have to call out an honorable mention that didn’t make this list not because we missed it or we didn’t like it, but because calling it a soulslike just didn’t sit well with us.
Honorable Mention: Hollow Knight
While undeniably inspired by Dark Souls in many ways, Hollow Knight doesn’t really play like other games on this list in practice. It shares a similar storytelling style of letting you piece together the history of its world and your role within it through more subtle dialogue and rich lore, as well as that familiar death mechanic of having to reach the place you died to retrieve your money – but its combat, progression, and movement systems are extremely different from the Souls setup. Most notably, the lack of a stamina meter, and while there are other games on this list that also lack a stamina meter, there’s also a significantly more forgiving healing system that doesn’t rely on reaching enemy-resetting checkpoints to refill. Fights themselves are also far more reminiscent of platformers like Castlevania or even Mega Man than the patient, timing-focused encounters of a Souls game. So while Hollow Knight is an incredible platformer that certainly owes its Dark Souls inspiration a lot, its gameplay doesn’t actually use FromSoft’s signature style to the same extent as others on this list.
But hey, if you disagree, feel free to pretend Hollow Knight’s right here on the list and bump everything else down. We won’t judge. Moving on...
1. Nioh (series)
The best Soulslikes find a way to use what the Souls series did as a starting point and then find a way to leap off from there and do their own thing. None do this better than the Nioh series. It still has all of the essential qualities of a soulslike, but Team Ninja manages to tweak each of those qualities in ways that make the Nioh games feel familiar, but also completely distinct.
Take combat, for example, it’s still got that careful and deliberate pace thanks to a stamina bar that governs your every action, but on top of that is a ki pulse mechanic that allows you to regain that stamina with well timed button presses after each attack, which facilitates a much faster pace to the action. Add on top of that the unbelievably deep gear system, the huge skill trees for each weapon and type of magic, along with a lengthy campaign and tons of post game content, and it’s easy to see why the Nioh series is placed on such a high pedestal among Soulslikes.
See our review.
And that’s our list! What do you think? Agree, disagree? Still think Hollow Knight should’ve made it? Let us know in the comments.
Continue reading...
