What are the best soulslike games? An off-shoot of action RPGs, the defining principles of this ever-growing subgenre first emerged in FromSoftware’s Demon’s Souls back in 2009. However, it took the release of its spiritual successor two years later to really light a fire under fans. Dark Souls is a landmark game in many respects, but the soulslike genre is its greatest legacy.
While efforts have been made to diversify soulslike games in recent years, patience in the face of adversity remains the focal point. Characterized by punishing stamina-based combat, risk-reward currency systems, and challenging bosses, victory leads to progression through rich worlds that capture a dark fantasy game aesthetic. Whether you’re a newcomer who’s not sure where to start or an RPG game veteran looking for a new challenge, we’ve got the very best soulslikes on PC you can play right now.
Here are the best soulslike games in 2024:
Elden Ring
It’s impossible to discuss soulslikes without mentioning Elden Ring – so let’s get it out of the way. Like most outlets, PCGamesN rated it the Game of the Year in 2022. If you somehow still haven’t played FromSoftware’s (current) magnum opus, you won’t find a better – if a little extra intimidating because of its sprawling open world – soulslike to get started with.
From the first moments after you finish the tutorial, the Lands Between serve as one of the most intriguing and gorgeous fantasy worlds ever made. From the massive elevator that descends into the subterranean yet star-speckled Siofra River, to the sprawling vista of Liurnia of the Lakes right after Stormwind Castle, it’s easy to sink hours just exploring and taking in all the wonderful sights. Difficult bosses, hard-to-decipher-lore, diverse character builds, and secrets upon secrets encourage playthroughs upon playthroughs. You don’t really need another soulslike after Elden Ring – but if the open world isn’t for you, the rest of the games on this list are much more linear.
And if you thought things couldn’t get any better, our Shadow of the Erdtree review goes into detail about how the expansion continues to set incredibly high standards for the genre as a whole. There have been some complaints that the DLC is needlessly difficult, but all players need to do is prepare themselves with one of the best Elden Ring builds and find the Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes locations immediately. Once you’ve sorted that out, the rest of the game becomes significantly easier.
Dark Souls Trilogy
Good news! All three Dark Souls games are available on PC, and much like Elden Ring, you’re doing yourself a disservice if you haven’t played them. Dark Souls: Remastered features some of the tightest level design in the entire genre and is a great way to experience the game that truly popularized it. While Dark Souls II unfortunately takes a step back with its level design, it makes up for it with some great quality of life improvements, new design ideas, and amazing DLC – if you’re keen to shell out a little more coin for it. Of course, Dark Souls III plays incredibly tight and has the most challenging, well designed bosses, great lore, and even better art design. You can’t go wrong with booting up any of the three and sinking a couple dozen hours into their dark, rich worlds.
If you had to pick one, the remastered version of the original can’t be beat. From Undead Parish to the Kiln of The First Flame, it epitomizes the genre in every respect.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Only one more FromSoftware game – I promise. Where the Dark Souls games created the genre, and Elden Ring broadens it into an open world, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice makes it more of a katana-heavy action game. There aren’t many role-playing elements here, with character creation and leveling a set of attributes. Instead, Sekiro focuses on the use of the titular character’s katana to break enemies’ balance, deflect their attacks, and open them up for a killing blow. With the inclusion of some truly fun tools attached to Sekrio’s prosthetic arm, such as the grappling hook, a metal umbrella-shield, and a literal flame-thrower, and you’ve got a soulslike that plays quite differently than the rest of FromSoftware’s catalog.
What remains the same? Other than Sekiro sometimes being able revive after defeat, you still collect ‘souls’ in the form of skill points that you can spend in certain skill trees and sometimes lose progress toward the next skill point upon death. You’ll also explore a vast world filled with awesome foes in an equal parts mythologically and historically inspired Japan.
Lords of the Fallen
With the FromSoftware games out of the way, the most recent and high-profile soulslike release is Lords of the Fallen. A reimagining of a 2014 game of the same name, Lords of the Fallen borrows a lot from the original Dark Souls, to the point that from movement and visuals alone, you’d think you were once again adventuring through Lordran. In actuality, Lords of the Fallen takes place in Mournstead and adds a few unique twists to the formula. Chief among them is the Umbral mechanic, which, when your fully customizable character dies, you enter an alternate Umbral realm that mirrors the real one, revealing new enemies, secrets, and items to discover.
Because of the Umbral mechanic, Lords of the Fallen takes exploration to another level, and with a handful of updates post-launch, it has become one of the better shameless Dark Souls copycats out there – even if the enemy density is still a little too high.
Lies of P
While Bloodborne isn’t on PC (yet – I pray to the Great Ones every evening for a 4K remaster), Lies of P isn’t a half bad substitute. The ‘P’ in Lies of P stands for – of all things – Pinocchio. Yes, developers Neowitz Games and Round8 Studio went ahead and made a soulslike that stars Geppetto’s puppet. It has a similar Victorian Gothic aesthetic as Bloodborne, and draws more than a few other aesthetic and gameplay choices from the likes of Sekiro and Dark Souls. However, it places a heavier emphasis on animatronic enemies than the fantastical or the nightmarish.
Where Lies of P truly shines is within its narrative. No one asked for a Bloodborne-esque Pinocchio story, but Lies of P delivers a tale well worth seeing through, complete with multiple endings. For a genre known for obtuse lore rather than an actual plot, Lies of P stands out as one of the better soulslikes in recent years.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
If you’ve played Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and can’t get enough of the Japan-inspired setting, Wo Long’s Han Dynasty China will definitely scratch a similar itch. Developed by Team Ninja, known for, among other things, the soulslike series Nioh and Ninja Gaiden, few games match Wo Long in terms of tight, face-paced combat. Wo Long also ditches the connected world typical of the genre in favor of separate story-heavy missions that can be replayed for better loot, making it a great choice for those that like to grind swords with higher numbers attached to them. It has a great feeling of progression – returning to earlier levels to clear out difficult enemies or find a hidden item shows just how powerful your avatar has become.
That said, it follows a lot of other staples of the genre: failure is key to progression, and Genuine Qi serves as its version of ‘soul’ currency. Team Ninja has also put out a handful of great expansions that make it a great choice for those who like their games lengthy.
Hollow Knight
While we’re all still eternally waiting for the sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, those who haven’t played the original should definitely jump on one of the greatest indie games ever made. Equal parts atmospheric and challenging, you assume the role of the Knight as he descends into the Kingdom of Hallownest that lies beneath the village of Dirtmouth. A 2D game rather than 3D, Hollow Knight pulls more mechanics from Metroidvanias than it does soulslikes: to progress through the dense world map, you have to explore thoroughly to find new abilities that allow you to reach new areas.
However, it adopts the main feature of a soulslike: challenging combat and souls to accrue from defeating enemies in order to level up and purchase items that are lost upon defeat. Hollow Knight also follows in FromSoftware’s footsteps with obscure, intriguing lore you have to piece together yourself and a cast of reticent NPCs to meet, making it a soulslike in more than spirit.
Blasphemous 2
Like Hollow Knight, Blasphemous 2 (and its prequel) trades the typical soulslike perspective of a third-person action RPG for a 2D platforming adventure, this time of the gorgeously animated pixel variety. It does, however, keep the nightmarish fantasy atmosphere of the original FromSoftware games, though with a little bit more grotesque religious iconography. While the first Blasphemous focused primarily on combat, the sequel puts much more emphasis on puzzles this time around, facilitated by new weapons, making for a much less repetitive adventure.
Perhaps the least soulslike game on this list, it still borrows plenty of mechanics from the genre, including a limited-use healing item that refills at the cost of all enemies respawning, challenging bosses that gatekeep the adventure, and sparse storytelling that takes a little bit of player effort to work out.
Thymesia
Modern soulslikes often test the boundaries of this emergent subgenre with new mechanics and aesthetics that push its definition to the limit. A few even make an appearance on this list, offering cold comfort to soulslike fans looking for a classic experience. Thymesia goes right back to basics with a dark fantasy aesthetic pulled straight out of FromSoftware’s best, with a Victorian Gothic aesthetic that gives Bloodborne a run for its money.
We arrive in the Kingdom of Hermes in the wake of a calamitous alchemical plague that has reduced its subjects to monsters. The cure to this chaos lies hidden in the lost memories of shapeshifting protagonist Corvus, who can harness the plague for his own ends. Thymesia is a short, sweet, but no less brutal soulslike that demands careful execution of complex attack combos, well-timed parries, and a strong constitution to beat its procession of intimidating bosses.
Ashen
Ashen is likely the least well-known and most underrated soulslike on this list. It’s also one of the most unique with its muted cel-shaded graphics. Borrowing gameplay heavily from Dark Souls, it adopts the passive multiplayer wherein other players will show up in your world as an NPC to cooperate with if you play online. It’s a pretty cool mechanic that makes Ashen’s pseudo-open world more manageable and fun to explore. And much like other soulslikes, that world is filled with a dark (quite literally as Ashen’s world had no sun for a while) lore to unravel as you play.
Otherwise, everything you’d expect from a typical soulslike is here: third-person action RPG combat, light RPG mechanics to improve your character, and better weapons and gear to find as you delve into more dangerous areas, defeating bosses along the way.
Remnant 2
Want a little bit more shooting in your soulslike? While plenty of them feature bows and other ranged weaponry, Remnant 2 is a full on third-person shooter heavily inspired by soulslikes. Furthermore, it’s a massive improvement upon the original Remnant in just about every way – smoother combat and better bosses, deeper build development, and several distinct worlds to explore. The hallmark of Remnant 2 is its procedurally generated levels which allow for an incredible amount of replayability.
It might not have the same staggering difficulty as other soulslikes – and whether you see that as a positive or negative is up to you – but Remnant 2 is definitely a unique and worthy entry into the genre.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
While Star Wars Jedi Survivor could be considered a “soulslite” rather than a full-blown soulslike, there’s no denying Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi series takes its combat cues from FromSoft’s gruelling ARPGs. In his 8/10 Star Wars Jedi Survivor review, our very own Will Nelson remarks that the latest installment in the series “aspires to be bigger in almost every way” but its choice-driven scope can “undermine the flow and variety of combat.” However, Jedi Survivor is an inarguable win for fans of Cal Kestis and a galaxy far, far away.
And there you have it – the best soulslike games you can play on your PC in 2023. As proven by recent releases like Remnant 2, Lies of P, and Lords of the Fallen, the genre isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Expect both FromSoftware and other developers to continue iterating upon the base mechanics in typical third-person action RPGs and other genres besides.
When you do pick up a new soulslike, be sure to check out our guides, such as the best builds in Lords of the Fallen or Elden Ring. And if you want more information about the above games, read our reviews – like our Remnant 2 review, which discusses our adoration of the Lovecraftian world-building.