Best Soulslike Games to Play for Months
FromSoftware’s Dark Souls was one of the most important games of the 2010s, as its popularity essentially ushered in a new subgenre of action RPGs. Building on Demon’s Souls‘ brilliance, the spiritual successor delivered intricate world design, intense and challenging combat, iconic boss fights, and build variety, combining everything to create a true masterpiece. Since then, many Soulslike games have popped up, all in the hope of scratching the same itch left by Dark Souls.
A few exceptions aside, most Soulslike games are time investments. They typically last between 20–50 hours, and that is just for a single playthrough. Even though few are open-world, these games tend to reward exploration and class experimentation, with the latter being directly tied to their replayability. If you are looking for a new title that can keep you busy for a long time, these Soulslike games will get you there.
We are going to be strict with the definition of Soulslike, so we are not including Hollow Knight, Silksong, or Dead Cells. However, if you are into 2D Metroidvanias or roguelites, these games can easily keep you entertained for months.
8
Lords Of The Fallen (2023)
A Soulslike Remake That Finds Its Own Identity
Lords of the Fallen was originally released in 2014 to mixed reviews. Many discounted it as yet another bland game chasing the Dark Souls success. Cut to 2023, and Lords of the Fallen has been rebooted, this time finding a much more successful landing. The game went from borrowing heavily from the Dark Souls franchise to forging its own identity that, while still flawed, is fun, unique, and broad in scale.
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It is easy to find a lot to love in Lords of the Fallen, either in the narrative mode, which can be completed solo or co-op, or in the PvP mode, which offers further content for the avid fans. This game is well worth a try and is commendable in the way it brought a franchise back from the dead. Now, LOTF had a pretty rough launch that killed its early reputation, but the developer released a few updates that improved things considerably. It is still not perfect, but it is in a much better place.
7
Lies Of P
What If Pinocchio Was A Dark Souls Game?
Lies of P is a beautiful exploration of the story of Pinocchio through the lens of a challenging Soulslike game. Taking control of P, the player must explore the city of Krat, undergoing a puppet uprising, in a narrative loosely based on the original story of Pinocchio. With characters like Geppetto and Gemini (a reference to Jiminy Cricket) guiding P on his journey, he must fight his way through Krat to uncover the cause of the puppet frenzy and put a stop to it.
With a few distinct endings, Lies of P asks the player to find the line between lies and truth, choosing how their playthrough will progress with a few small differences based on their choices at various points. Whether or not a player is interested in the fairytale narrative, the gameplay of Lies of P is more than enough to keep them coming back over and over. It is some of the most well-tuned Soulslike combat on the market, and with many secrets to uncover in Krat, players will have no problem spending months with this game.
6
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
The Soulslike Genre Blends With Rhythm
A FromSoftware title that has a unique identity that sets it apart from Dark Souls, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a Soulslike experience like no other. Unlike Elden Ring, this game isn’t some expansive open-world spectacle, and yet a player can easily spend months with this game for one very specific reason. It is ridiculously difficult. Even by FromSoftware standards, Sekiro stands far above any of the Dark Souls games in terms of difficulty, simply due to its new standing mechanics and reliance on rhythm and pattern.
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To progress, a player must simply get good, master the lightning-fast combat system and parrying mechanics, or die trying. For that reason, the combat of Sekiro is wonderfully rewarding, offering the player the opportunity to feel like a true living legend as they grow and learn, and eventually take down enemies that were previously impossible.
5
Black Myth: Wukong
Journey To The West Gets A Souls-Like Facelift
Black Myth: Wukong has been making waves across the online gaming community since its release. Inspired by the classical Chinese novel, Journey To The West, the game lets the player take control of an anthropomorphic monkey as he fights his way to six relics to revive Sun Wukong. The game is a fun take on the Soulslike formula, offering a stunning world, incredible boss fights, and deeply satisfying combat.
Similar to many of the other titles on this list, this game is mostly linear; however, it does intersperse this with larger areas that offer the player some freedom. Much of the game’s longevity comes from getting to grips with its difficult combat, as is common practice for Soulslikes, and the ability to replay the story in New Game Plus.
I know not everyone agrees that Black Myth: Wukong is a Soulslike, but I figured the game has enough similarities to warrant a mention.
4
Remnant 2
Dark Souls, Now With Guns!
Dark Souls, but with guns is far from a unique idea; however, Remnant 2 is the most polished game to attempt this. Offering just shy of 100 hours of content, Remnant 2 is easy to get lost in for quite some time. The game offers procedurally generated environments, allowing each playthrough to be unique, as well as multiple classes, tons of weapons, builds, areas to explore, and so much more.
Remnant 2 is the perfect game to simply sink a few hours into here and there. With a narrative that is inoffensive but somewhat lacking, the gameplay keeps drawing players back time and time again. With satisfying gunplay, epic boss fights, and deeply expansive exploration, it’s well worth giving a go.
3
Dark Souls 3
The Most Replayable Dark Souls Game
Pretty much all FromSoftware’s Souls-style games can keep you busy for months on end, and they have all managed to remain relevant for 10+ years. As much as I love Bloodborne and can replay it until the end of time, Dark Souls 3 has far more replayability, on top of delivering a lengthy campaign that should require 30+ hours on a first playthrough.
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Even if you are the type of person who mostly sticks to a single type of build and has no desire to experiment, you can and should jump into NG+ after a complete run, allowing you to continue your march towards turning this hard-as-nails Soulslike into a power fantasy simulator. If nothing else, you can try out weapons that were beyond your reach during your initial run.
2
Nioh 2
Arguably, The Perfect Souls-Like
Team Ninja made both Nioh and Nioh 2, which are, to many, the perfect souls-like. Set during historical Japan, Nioh 2 functions as a prequel and a sequel to the previous game narratively, but is a strict upgrade from a mechanical perspective. The gameplay is crisp and satisfying, feeling similar to Dark Souls, yet arguably more difficult.
Nioh 2 is well worth the almost 150 hours it takes to fully explore the complete edition, which comes with all the DLC. It has so much for gamers of all kinds if they are willing to break through the walls put up by the brutal difficulty. There are many references to traditional Japanese folklore that make for a fascinating world, reminiscent of Dark Souls only in its gameplay style.
1
Elden Ring
Like Dark Souls? Try FromSoftware’s Other Games!
Well, here it is. Elden Ring is probably the most obvious pick for this topic, just for the simple reason that it is the biggest (in literal size). A single playthrough could and should take you a couple of months, provided you take your time and explore the Lands Between fairly thoroughly. The world is wide and layered, with every corner seemingly holding an optional dungeon, loot, lore, or another boss fight. Due to sticking to FromSoftware’s traditional cryptic storytelling, Elden Ring‘s optional content does not feel less important than its compulsory quests and fights, as it often just feels like you are trying to survive.
Now, we have not even gone into Elden Ring‘s ridiculous build variety, which puts to shame most other RPGs, let alone Soulslikes. You are not locked into a single class, and you are free to mix and match as you see fit. As the game is primarily driven by combat, trying different builds impacts nearly the whole experience, making new playthroughs far more rewarding.
Elden Ring: Nightreign also fits.
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