Best Soulslikes To Challenge Yourself With

Like so many other contemporary genres before it, Soulslike draws its attributes from the game that kicked off its popularity: Dark Souls. Although one could argue that Demon’s Souls was first, it was its multiplatform sequel that really introduced players to the genre’s pillars that have persisted in the near two decades since. While this is sometimes reduced to just difficulty in some cases, what makes a Soulslike is far more than that, pulling in aspects of exploration, narrative structure, character progressions, and more to create a wholly distinct experience that can cater to a variety of different players depending on what parts are more heavily emphasized.

To create a list of the best Soulslike, there needs to be an agreement of what a Soulslike is. Without a firm or official specification, this can be different depending on who you talk to. For the purpose of this list, we’re defining Soulslike games as ones that adhere to some of the genre’s core principles. Firstly, there should be an element of loss when dying. In Dark Souls you lose souls, which are used to level up and improve your stats to take on stronger enemies. This exists still in From Software’s Elden Ring in a near identical format, showcasing how core it is to this experience. It’s similarly used in games like Hollow Knight: Silksong to create tension during fights, as a few wrong moves can force you to leave precious rosary beads behind and wait for you to retrieve them during your next life.

This goes hand in hand with enemies respawning every time you rest, making you consider how much more you can push on without healing and balancing that with allowing enemies to return once you do. Igniting a lantern in Bloodborne or resting at a meditation point in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor are examples of how Soulslikes games have incorporated the campfire resting spots introduced in Dark Souls, with the mechanics around them near identical. You are healed, your healing items are replenished (with some exceptions) and most regular enemies are revived. Finding new spots to rest of a Soulslike’s approach to checkpoints which encourage exploration but also support the gruelling challenge that this genre is known for, as progress between them is usually lost on death.

And third, climatic boss fights. This sometimes goes hand in hand with the idea that Soulslikes need to be brutally hard, but the truth is that many games within this genre feature boss fights that challenge one (or many) aspects of the game’s combat loop as well as a player’s ability to recognize patterns and exercise patience. There’s a reason why Soulslike players of Soulslikes often talk about the game’s tempo or rhythm to them, which, if ignored, will make it difficult for you to progress through.