“soulslike” Games

1. Elden Ring

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Elden Ring takes FromSoftware's Soulslike combat into an open world designed by Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin. The Legacy Dungeons preserve the dense, interconnected level design of earlier entries while the Lands Between rewards patient exploration. GPA scores it at 95% for both Difficulty and Action — the highest Action score in the database.

2. Dark Souls III

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Dark Souls III accelerates the series' pacing and sharpens its boss design into its most refined form. The lore runs through item descriptions and environmental detail rather than cutscenes. GPA scores it at 90% for both Difficulty and Lore Focus — two axes that define the experience more precisely than genre alone.

3. Lies of P

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Lies of P retells Pinocchio as a Soulslike set in a Victorian-era city overrun by automatons. The weapon assembly system lets players combine handles and blades from different weapons. GPA scores it close to Elden Ring on Difficulty and Dark World, with the Soulslike tag shared across both.

4. Stellar Blade

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Stellar Blade follows EVE on a mission to reclaim Earth from alien creatures. The parry-focused combat rewards learning attack patterns. GPA scores it high on Action and Graphics — the character design and environmental art are among the strongest visual presentations in the Action category.

5. Bloodborne

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Bloodborne moves through Gothic Victorian streets and cosmic horror architecture with an aggressive combat system that punishes defensive play. The Rally mechanic returns health through attacking immediately after taking damage. GPA scores it at the top for Dark World and near the top for Difficulty — the Action score is higher than Dark Souls entries, reflecting the faster combat tempo.

6. Nioh 2

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Nioh 2 builds its samurai action around the Soul Core system and a Yokai Shift transformation that temporarily unlocks a second move set. The Burst Counter mechanic rewards reading specific enemy attacks. GPA scores it high on Action and Difficulty — the combination that places it in the Soulslike cluster while the transformation system provides a mechanical layer Dark Souls entries lack.

7. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

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Star Wars Jedi: Survivor continues Cal Kestis's journey through a galaxy under Imperial consolidation, adding new lightsaber stances and a Metroidvania planet structure. GPA scores it high on Action and Story Depth — a sequel that deepens the combat options and the political stakes from Fallen Order.

8. Kena: Bridge of Spirits

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Kena: Bridge of Spirits sends a spirit guide through a village haunted by unresolved grief, clearing corruption to free the dead. The Rot companions add a resource management layer to the combat. GPA scores it high on Emotional Story and Graphics — the visual quality from a small studio remains the most discussed aspect of its reception.

9. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

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Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty reframes Three Kingdoms history as dark fantasy and builds its combat around a Spirit Gauge system where aggressive play generates meter for powerful deflections. GPA scores it high on Action and Difficulty, sharing the Soulslike tag with Elden Ring while running lower on Open World.

10. Demon's Souls

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Demon's Souls was FromSoftware's proof of concept for the Soulslike format, and the PS5 remake preserves the original's structure in high fidelity. The World Tendency system changes enemy behavior based on in-game actions. GPA scores it high on Difficulty and Dark World — the combination that defines the series' origin point.

11. Hyper Light Drifter

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Hyper Light Drifter pushes a terminally ill Drifter through a ruined world, conveying the narrative entirely through visuals without dialogue. GPA scores it high on Action and Dark World.

12. Deaths Door

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Death's Door assigns a crow the administrative task of collecting souls in a Soulslike action game. GPA scores it high on Action and Difficulty.

13. Black Myth Wukong

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Black Myth: Wukong sends the Destined One through a retelling of Journey to the West with shapeshifting Soulslike combat. 10 million copies in four days. GPA scores it high on Action and Difficulty.

14. Wuchang Fallen Feathers

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WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers sets its Soulslike in Ming Dynasty China during a feather plague. GPA scores it high on Action and Dark World.

15. The Binding of Isaac Repentance

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The Binding of Isaac: Repentance adds over 130 items, new characters, and two new endings to the already massive Afterbirth+ base, bringing the total item count above 700. Each run assembles a build from random pickups whose interactions produce emergent results no designer planned. GPA scores it at the top for Roguelike and Difficulty — the combination that identifies the deepest item-synergy sandbox in the genre.

16. Monster Train

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Monster Train loads a hell-bound train with monsters, then runs enemy waves up three floors toward the Pyre at the top. Deck-building decisions are inseparable from unit placement decisions across each run. The faction combinations produce more build variety than the roster count suggests. GPA scores it high on Roguelike and Strategy — the deckbuilder most often recommended to players who have finished Slay the Spire.

17. Darkest Dungeon II

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Darkest Dungeon II moves the campaign onto a stagecoach journey toward a mountain, replacing the base management structure with roguelite path selection. The stress and relationship systems between heroes now determine combat effectiveness directly. GPA scores it high on Roguelike and Dark World — the sequel that deepened the original's psychological horror into its most mechanically cohesive form.

18. Beast of Reincarnation

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Beast of Reincarnation sends Emma the Sealer and her dog Koo across a post-apocalyptic Japan in the year 4026, where a corruption called the Blight has transformed the landscape into a beautiful but hostile wilderness. Emma absorbs abilities from defeated Nushi creatures, building toward a confrontation with the titular Beast. Combat blends real-time parrying in the Sekiro register with turn-based command elements. Game Freak's first non-Pokémon AAA title. GPA scores it high on Emotional Story and Dark World — a companion-bond action RPG that reviewers placed between NieR: Automata and Princess Mononoke.

Nine Sols sets a Taoist science fiction narrative against combat directly inspired by Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice — a deflection system that builds into a Talisman seal execution. Red Candle Games' first action title, following Devotion and Detention. Switch, PS4/5, Xbox, PC. GPA scores it at the top for Action among Metroidvanias — the genre entry where parry timing is the entire combat philosophy.

Salt and Sanctuary built Dark Souls' bonfire-and-estus structure into a 2D Metroidvania, developed by a two-person studio. The attribute-heavy character building and precise shield/dodge combat carry the genre comparison. Switch, PS4, Xbox, PC. GPA scores it high on Action and Difficulty — the Metroidvania most often recommended to players who want Souls-style punishment in a 2D format.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance puts cyborg Raiden's High Frequency Blade through the Blade Mode slow-motion cutting system, developed jointly by Kojima Productions and PlatinumGames. The boss encounters and soundtrack — Rules of Nature, Collective Consciousness — have maintained cultural presence far beyond the game's 2013 release. PS3/360/PC. GPA scores it at the top for Action — the hack-and-slash Soulslike crossover where the speed is the opposite of FromSoftware's design.

22. Code Vein

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Code Vein wraps Dark Souls-style stamina combat in anime aesthetics and a vampire mythology, with an AI companion system that scales difficulty based on whether players use it. Bandai Namco Studios. PS4, Xbox One, PC. GPA scores it high on Action and Dark World — the Soulslike entry point for players drawn to JRPG aesthetics who find FromSoftware's minimalism unwelcoming.

23. Remnant From the Ashes

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Remnant: From the Ashes transplants Dark Souls' bonfire-and-stamina structure into a third-person shooter, with procedurally generated dungeons and boss encounters that differ between playthroughs. Three-player co-op. Gunfire Games, Perfect World Entertainment. Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC. GPA scores it high on Action and Co-op — the Soulslike that most effectively opened the genre to shooter-first players.

24. Lords of the Fallen 2023

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Lords of the Fallen overlays a living world and a dead world that players navigate simultaneously using the Umbral Lamp, revealing pathways and enemies invisible in Axiom. Hexworks built the parallel dimension mechanic in Unreal Engine 5. PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC. GPA scores it high on Action and Dark World — the Soulslike that added a structural design innovation rather than just iterating on the formula.

25. Ashen

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Ashen sets its Soulslike exploration in a sunless world, with anonymous multiplayer that lets strangers appear as travelers rather than invaders. A44 and Annapurna Interactive. Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC. GPA scores it high on Action and Co-op — the Soulslike that replaced the genre's hostile invasion dynamic with an opt-in companion system as its primary multiplayer expression.

26. Dark Souls Remastered

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Dark Souls Remastered brings the 2011 original to PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC with improved frame rate and netcode, including the Artorias of the Abyss DLC. QLOC handled the remaster. FromSoftware's world-building through item descriptions and environmental layout remains the genre benchmark. GPA scores it at the top for Difficulty and Dark World — the Soulslike origin point that established the vocabulary all successors use.

27. Dark Souls II Scholar of the First Sin

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Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin packages all three DLC chapters and rearranges enemy placements and NPC questlines from the original release. The HP degradation mechanic on death distinguishes it from the other FromSoftware entries. PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC. GPA scores it high on Difficulty and Dark World — the Dark Souls entry that most rewards NPC questline investment.

28. Mortal Shell

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Mortal Shell builds its Soulslike around Shell possession — inhabiting the bodies of fallen warriors with distinct combat styles — and a Harden mechanic that turns the player into a statue to absorb one attack. Cold Symmetry's debut. Switch, PS4/5, Xbox, PC. GPA scores it high on Action and Dark World — the indie Soulslike that delivered a distinct mechanical identity without the FromSoftware budget.

29. Hellpoint

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Hellpoint places its Soulslike combat on a Irid Novo station orbiting a black hole, with a clock system that cycles difficulty based on orbital position. Local split-screen co-op distinguishes it from most genre entries. Cradle Games, tinyBuild. Switch, PS4/5, Xbox, PC. GPA scores it high on Action and Dark World — the SF-setting Soulslike that pairs the genre's hostility with space horror atmosphere.

30. The Surge 2

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The Surge 2 expands Deck13's limb-targeting system into Jericho City, letting players sever specific enemy body parts to loot their gear. The combat rewards precision over stat investment. Focus Entertainment. PS4, Xbox One, PC. GPA scores it high on Action and Strategy — the Soulslike where the dismemberment mechanic is inseparable from the loot economy.