In honour of His Souliness
Sorry, definition nerds. ‘Soulslike’ is a word now. Disgusting, I know, but this is how genres are made. Along comes a giant likeDark Soulsthat everybody won’t stop bleating about and soon it has copycats. Before you know it, a swarm of games likeDark Soulswith sparse checkpoints and lethal attacks are scuttling around, leaving slime trails and biting your ankles for surprisingly massive damage. Ugh, Soulslikes. But stoop low to appreciate these little monsters, and among them you’ll find some very good games about dying.
The 10 Best games like Dark Souls
I’m not here to define theprerequisites of the genreor discusswhether it should even exist. I just want to pick a few of the wondrous horrors off the ground and put ‘em in a big terrarium with reinforced glass, so you can appreciate them. If it helps, think of them not as ‘Soulslikes’ but as curious offspring you might like if you enjoyed big daddy souls. Read on to discover more.
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We’re obviously leaving out the Dark Souls series itself. After all, you can’t be “like” the thing you are. Also,Bloodborneis still nowhere to be seen on PC, so obviously don’t expect that bad boy to show up. And like most of our lists, the game you like is number 11. Anyway, let’s get on with it:
What else should I be playing:Hyper Light Drifterhas the same top-down dodge-rolling combat, but fills its world of hot pinks and aqua blues with everyday enemies, not just bosses.
Alright, soDeath’s Doormay lack the difficulty of a certain game that rhymes with Bark Mouls, and it may share more in common with Hyrule, than say, Lordran, but hey - it’s a good game. And it’s a good game about being a crow who loves to fight bosses and dig up secrets. All of which are glossed with smooth surfaces that make the little details pop.
Unlike some of the other games on this list, Death’s Door is a light-hearted affair which might comes as a surprise given it’s soulsy look. Don’t let this put you off, though, as Brendy said that this “lightness suits the game much better” in hisDeath’s Door review.
So no,Remnant 2doesn’t offer the typical Souls experience. Yet it offers something for up to three players and makes for a less cluttered alternative, to say, something likeDestiny 2. There’s also a class that’s essentially a dude with a dog (loads of classes and unlockable classes cater for everyone), which lets solo players excel, or assist teams with shots and chomps from the ‘ol canine. Oh and the guns in this game are excellent! You’ve got lovely mixes of old-timey stuff like bolt-action rifles, but also assault rifles made of fingers that let you go invisible. You simply couldn’t ask for more.
What else should I be playing:Give the games at the top of our list a go, like Dead Cells and Hollow Knight and, of course, Sekiro.
You play as Yi, an adorable white cat with a penchant for reducing anything that looks at him funny to meaty chunks in gravy. As you travel around Nine Sols’ Tao-inspired world, you’ll unlock new weapons and abilities, but the core of your arsenal remains your trusty parry. Parrying earns you chi, which you spend by slapping magic combusting talismans on your foes, and the rhythms of chaining a parry into a slap-slide-explode combo are utterly exquisite. So, too, is an aerial parry that doubles as a node-hopping navigation tool, helping the game’s frequently deadly platforming stay tight and responsive.
Elsewhere, Nine Sols’ storytelling brims with imagination, and its environments range from oppressive to gorgeous. You’ll slice your way through cybernetic factories and atop the roofs of pagodas, and you’ll come face-to-face with gargantuan bosses that seem utterly insurmountable until you internalise the golden rule: with very few exceptions, everything can be parried.
What else should I be playing:Any other metroidvania, I suppose.Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Nightcarries the Castlevania torch in its little anime hands. But if you fancy something more soothing, there’sOri And The Blind Forest.
If you thought it was not possible for a souls ‘em up to be more bloodlustily Catholic than the grand cathedrals and demon deacons ofDark Souls 3, you were mistaken. InBlasphemousyou prostrate yourself on the 2D pixel stonework between swinging your thorny sword at baddies in search of penitence (you become penitent by killing all the things, duh).
It’s a grounded metroidvania full to the chalice brim of religious iconography and hard-hitting enemies. You slice holy men in floating chairs, slash self-flagellating whipfellas, and fell sad tree beasts. And all that soulsian lingo we’re used to has a gory Christian twist. Beating a boss is a ‘Humiliation of Penance’. Passive bonuses like better defence are granted through Rosary beads you find along the way, and new fighting moves (a powerful slice, a ranged attack) are unlocked with this game’s version of a death currency, called ‘Tears of Atonement’.
You might have to ignore the voice actors who pronounce things like ‘pious’ questionably (it’s definitely not ‘pee-us’, folks). But it handles well and feels good in the old soulfingers. Parrying is nice and generous and you can clasp onto missed ledges automatically. Plus it runs so hard with its theme that you’ve got to admire its blood-soaked vestments. It feels like a bitterly lapsed Roman Catholic and ardent metal fan travelled back in time and made a soulsy game in the era of pixel Castlevania.
What else should I be playing:If you like ruined worlds and skinny heroes but prefer punching to mace-swinging, you could take a punt atAbsolver. If you’re intrigued by the prospect of meeting a gentle soul on a long trek through strange lands, tryJourney.
Ashenis a lighter, softer souls, but it retains just enough of that toughness you probably like. Veterans of Undead Burg will drop in comfortably. This soulchild hugs FromSoft’s skirt so close it’s hard to spot its face among the folds. That might be because it doesn’t have a face. The characters in Ashen have fluffy moustaches and hair, but no eyes or mouth.
Nevertheless, these whimsical villagers will join you as an NPC on your journey across the landscape to protect a light-bringing god from an ancient evil. Occasionally that NPC will start acting weird. That’s because a real player is controlling them now. Surprise!
There’s no summoning ritual or faffing with soapstones, the game just throws people together in pairs without so much as a blink. And it works. When your new pal is a decent, helpful adventurer it feels like meeting a new friend by a stroke of luck. You can help each other up ledges and enter special two-player dungeons. In a lot of ways this is the most gentle sorta-souls on this list. There is a map, there are recognisable RPG quests, and the presence of a constant pal (computer-controlled or otherwise) makes your adventure across dark lands less foreboding. There is also a constantly growing village and some wonderful local wildlife, including a big flying animal that looks like a friendly sky whale. If the Buddha were a mythical creature, he’d be this thing.
What else should I be playing:The originalNiohis still a good time, if a bit of a step back that’s difficult to adjust to. If you wanna perfect the art of curvy swords, you could try quickfire slice ‘em upKatana Zeroor dumbass demon slayerShadow Warrior 2. Or if you fancy something more strategic set in feudal Japan, tryShadow Tactics.
God, I’ve spent hours slicing throughSengokuJapan inNioh 2. If the original Nioh had abs, then this sequel (that’s also a prequel) has absandpecsanda fetching new pair of tabi that deliver decent stat boosts. Like I said in myNioh 2 review, This is a beefier offering, just with more murderous missions to tick off and delicious loot to consume. The level select screen returns, as do the spiky-shouldered demons and corrupted yokai slabbered in blood.
Thankfully, many more ways exist to smush them to a pulp, like clawed fists or a staff that turns you into a walking blender. One of the great joys of Nioh 2 is the combat, which is tough as nails, but incredibly rich once you get used to the rhythm of your chosen weapon. There are dozens of combos to learn, and skill trees to pour points into, all of which make your samurai “well cool”, basically.
The game also showers you in loot which can be broken down into upgrade parts, or popped on for all-important battle bonuses. In many ways, it shares its DNA with Diablo as much as it does Dark Souls, so if you’re prepared to dig into its finicky systems and get your calculator out, this is as rewarding a souls experience as you can get.
What else should I be playing:If you want a robotic Soulslike of similar but less polished ilk, you could giveSteelRisinga go.
Even ifLies Of Pis theclosest thing we’ll get to Bloodborne on PC, it’s far from a Bloodborne pretender. It takes the fairytale of Pinnochio and twists it into a dark tale where you don’t play a little kid made of wood whose nose gets bigger, but a lad with a mechanical arm. And it’s with this mechanical arm that you’re able to pull off immensely satisfying parries, to the point where you can break enemy weapons if you block enough metal. Oh, did I mention you can fling corrosive slime with your arm, too? Or like, fling mines?
What’s brilliant about Lies Of P is its combination of customisation and feel. It’s polished,realpolished, and in the hands it comes very close to the FromSoft experience. But there’s some interesting flair that sets it apart, like letting you disassemble almost every weapon to create your own weird and wacky stabbers and staves. The fiery dagger combined with spear is a delightful way to quickly set enemies on fire from a distance.
And let’s not forget the world of Krat, which may be subject to some repetition (the game loves gloomy malls and streets), but is carefully designed with clever shortcuts. The hub space where you’ll spend the equivalent of Souls and upgrade your character is also neatly integrated into the world, making for exciting twists and turns as you return to it after lengthy expeditions. Seriously, don’t pass this one up folks.
What else should I be playing:Again,Shadow Tacticsis a good bet, if you like the setting. But if it’s stealthy rooftop navigating and fiery assassinations you’re after, you might like fantasy orc-dating simMiddle-earth: Shadow Of WarWo: Long Fallen Dynastyisn’t a bad shout either, as you might enjoy it’s parry-heavy focus and more forgiving nature.
Hang on! That’s cheating! Oh, I see. It doesn’t have ‘Souls’ in the title.Sekirois a souls game only insofar as it is made by FromSoftware. And even though it includes basically everything that makes those masochistic adventures worthwhile, it still gets a place on this list for being significantly different.
For example, the multiplayer bits of the soulsies are nowhere to be seen in this trip to a warring Edo Japan. You can’t summon pals or get invaded by nasty men with giant hammers. On top of that, the classic RPG levelling screens are replaced by a cleaner skill tree, which unlocks special abilities for a bony prosthetic ninja arm (eg. a giant steel umbrella, a gun that shoots money). Hell, you don’t even get to equip a new sword, you only use the blade you’re given at the start.
But what a blade. The fighting in Sekiro is eerily satisfying. Full of parries and leaps and backstabs and twirls, the duels against spear-wielding generals and kimono-wearing samurai masters are far more refined than any simple mace fest inDrangleicand far more brutal. Enemies demand so much discipline, timing and restraint, they may as well be screaming ‘not my tempo’ at you between slashes. And there are some bosses that will make you go absolutely ape.
What else should I be playing:Any other roguelite. The RPS treehouse has plenty ofBinding Of Isaacdevotees if grim-funny psychoanalytical mum-killing is your bag. Cave-sploring dasherSpelunkyis always a good shout.SteamWorld Dig 2is no roguelike but it’s a solid metroidvania if you want something brighter with a touch of story.
Genre is stupid, we’ve established that. When 2D slashfestDead Cellswas first fired down the game tubes at us it was described as a ‘roguevania’ which is almost as disgusting as ‘Soulslike’. But here we are, in a list article about Soulslikes, admitting that this fiery little monster of a game is somehow all the genres. It’s fantasy, it’s action, it’s soulsy, it’s a metroidvania, it’s a roguelikelike. Honestly, some games are just greedy.
Greedy for FUN, that is. Dead Cells is a quick sprint through a bright, blood-spattered land full of kamikaze bats and giant lamprey slugs that poop exploding eggs when they die. But instead of intricately designed walkways, this goes for randomly generated warpaths, creating new levels with every death, full of different weapons to find and skills to equip. One run sees you whipping everything in the back of the head and throwing daggers at distant pirates, until you die from an errant cannonball. The next sees you slapping away rapier strikes with a shield and throwing down flamethrower turrets to watch your back. It’s a speedy slicer of constant change. In Souls games, you often get fixated on one character build that works. But in this dungeonworld you’ve got to dodge-roll with the punches, and carefully choose among the tools you’re given to make something work. Oh look, a ‘cursed" sword. I wonder what it does.
What else should I be playing:Ori And The Blind Forestis a brighter bounce-around andGuacamelee 2is another metroidvania with more than a handful of colours. Or go forCelesteif you want platforming magic and challenge, but with easy options.
Hollow Knightis big. Bigger than that giant spider on your neck. You play a buggy cartographer, mapping the netherlands beneath a gloomy village of fellow insects (and you’renot the only one). You scuttle downward, nail in hand, slicing at baddies until you hit the first real boss. An absolute scumbag with a mace bigger than your head, and a lethal bum slam to go with it. Finally, you crack open his carapace with the meagre movements currently at your disposal - a jump button and a slash. But this is only the tip of the termite mound. Here’sa map of the first area. And here’s a map ofthe full game. It isn’t long before you realise, this is aplatformerbout terra incognita, about filling blank space with knowledge.
So yes, Hollow Knight conforms to all the dogma of His Souliness. But then it stuffs all that into the twitchy jaws of a Castlevania-styleaction platformer, where you unlock new powers to reveal new areas. A glowbug companion who can light your way through a blackout cavern, a ground-slam that breaks through loose stones. And while that secret-hiding stonework might be shaky, everything else is rock soild. You’ve got your precision platforming controls, your floaty jump that lets you about-face in mid-air, your clingy wall-hopping. It’s all here, resulting in some positively Meat Boy moments as you bound through caves full of spikes and shifting walls.
