And after hours and years of challenge and bliss, loyal Dark Souls fans may be ready for the next meaningful gaming experience. The Japanese studio cemented a formula, the “Souls-like” genre, so there’s plenty to choose. Yet, Dark Souls games are outstanding, so the best 13 games like Dark Souls have to live to the highest standards as well.
Selecting Games Like Dark Souls
Dark Souls games have several unique elements. There’s no other studio like FromSoftware, but several games approach the same design choices. Rather than finding copy-cats, our mission is uncovering which other games could Dark Souls fans enjoy. So, our picks offer a blend of the Dark Souls ingredients below while adding its own twists.
Dying is a core mechanic: death is a common theme in Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls. The death and resurrection of your character are part of the lore and the plot.Loss on death: when you die, you may lose your experience and gear. You need to return to your previous souls to claim it back. However, if you die again on your way to your body, you lose everything.Challenge: because of the immeasurable challenge, players die a lot on Souls-likes games. Failing and trying again is the single best way to progress as a player. Moreover, there’re no difficulty settings. Combat: combat mechanics rely on a stamina bar, swords, spears, shields, and similar weapons. Characters have light attacks, heavy attacks, parry, counters, blocks, and dodges. Similarly, they have skills or magical abilities. Lastly, the perspective is third-person.Boss rush: there’s a plethora of optional and non-optional bosses and semi-bosses in Dark Souls. None of them are easy.Resting places: there’re resting places in the world. These allow you to save the game, recharge HP, recharge HP/Mana bottles, and similar. However, resting respawns the enemies in the area. Player progression: completing the game relies more on players improving their skills rather than characters getting better gear, stats, and abilities.Character progression: characters do earn levels and get loot. However, progress is often slow, expensive gear, and skills are scarce.Classes: there’re also classes in Dark Souls games. Each class brings a particular set of abilities and advantages to advance through the game.Lore: but you have to discover the deep lore of these games by yourself. World design: Dark Souls games are semi-open. There’s a central hub, and from the hub, you can go to any area of the map, which are wide but still linear. However, maps have no relevant markers; you have to explore.Questing: there’re main quests and side quests. Again, these don’t use relevant markers, and it’s up to you to figure out what to do.Minimal UI information: last but not least, the UI won’t guide you either. When using the interfaces, you won’t see any information or tutorial guiding you towards items and skills.
These elements come together with a general dark and mature tone and challenging gameplay mechanics.
Nier: Automata
Nier: Automata opens with a “Death & Rebirth cycle” literal monologue. During the prologue section, you go back to the beginning if you die. Yet, playing a couple of minutes in the intro lets you know: you won’t be forgetting Yoko Taro’s story anytime soon.Soon, you’ll learn the various mechanics the game offers. Mostly, it is a third-person open-world action RPG with fast-paced hack&slash combat. There’re also space shooter segments, bullet hell parts, and portions where the action happens via a 2D perspective or an isometric perspective.But all of its mechanics and stories come in very small doses. You have to figure it out for yourself. For example, there’s a massive open-world you discover over time, but little to no markers. There’re also “plug-in chips,” which turn out to be your “skills,” but no one to explain. Similarly, your character can die, and you have to recover your body to regain your experience and chips.But, mostly, we’re recommending Nier: Automata because of its story and music. It’s gorgeous, chilling, haunting, and dark. Often, as androids 2B, 9S, and 2A battle against the machines, you’ll be wondering if you’re truly doing the right thing. What’s more: the game requires multiple playthroughs (with different stories each) to unlock the full plot.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
FromSoftware has a wide catalog of successful games. Studio fans appreciate their loyalty to the formula, as their non-Dark Souls games are still Souls-like entries. Hence, we introduce Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. You’ve probably heard about it, as it made a huge buzz in 2019. Yet, perhaps you haven’t tried it for yourself.We’re looking at a new take of the Souls formula within a Shinobi world. It also made things more complicated by adding the Posture System, the ability Shinobis have to withstand attacks without breaking guard. On top of that, players and enemies can parry, dodge, attack, and use special abilities.Sekiro is a linear action-adventure game with challenging progression. There’re resting places that allow fast travel and upgrade the character. However, dying loses the currency you need to improve. Even worse, Sekiro is almost a boss rush title, as there’re bosses every three areas or so. You play as “Wolf“, a lone samurai blessed and cursed with a revival ability. The Wolf is on a quest to save the Divine Heir, Kuro, from enemies trying to harvest Kuro’s power. The Heir can impose the “Dragon Heritage” upon any warrior, thus making someone essentially immortal.
Blasphemous
Blasphemous, a brutal action-platformer, is my personal recommendation. It offers a 2D dark atmosphere where Castlevania and Dark Souls meet. The son between the two, though, is like the unborn baby Baron Phillip Stenger had in The Witcher 3…it’s evil. With a wicked name and atmosphere, Blasphemous delivers bloody visuals and combat. The character learns various abilities but still relies on dodging, parrying, and timing attacks. However, timing is much less forgiving, as you need to be precise down to milliseconds. Similarly, enemy AI is clever, and enemy types are varied and present multiple skills.The game happens in a vast Metroidvania world. It’s a gory scenario full of frustrating deaths and spike pits. There’re save points, but if you die, you have to get back to your body to get the gear back. But because enemies are tough, it’s all a slow, painful process that comes together with music that could chill you down to the bones. Aside from punishing your failures, the game introduces a gripping plot. You play as The Penitent One, the sole survivor of the Silent Sorrow Massacre. You wake up, trapped in a cycle of death and rebirth, and it’s up to you to save the world from a grim fate. Doing so requires you to reach the origins of your own fate in a nightmare world ruled by a twisted religion.
Bloodborne
Bloodborne is another FromSoftware masterful piece. The reason why it’s not at the top is that only PlayStation owners can play it.Either way, the title adds Gothic architecture and obscure storyline, Lovecraftian creatures, and firearms for a unique souls-like game. The result is a haunting and challenging nightmare capable of engrossing players after a few minutes of playtime.Aside from firearms, the game added another novelty. Bloodborne has advanced dodging system players required to master. It’s, of course, challenging, capable of bringing that sense of accomplishment when doing a perfect dodge and counter.Lastly, the setting is Yharnam, a Gothic city infested by a disease. The disease turned its citizens into mindless beasts, and the protagonists must explore the streets to find out the cure. There, you’ll find death & rebirth mechanics, resting places, challenging combat, deep lore, and the subtle storytelling games like Dark Souls offer.
Demon’s Souls Remaster
Dark Souls wouldn’t exist without Demon’s Souls. In fact, From Software created the trilogy as the spiritual successor to Demon’s Souls, albeit these don’t share any tie-ins.Either way, the original “Souls” game is available for the PlayStation 5 as a 4K/120fps remaster. The remaster respects the actual gameplay and story entirely. Even so, it works through top-tier 2021 gaming performance.Because it’s the first souls-like game for the studio, the balance is not perfect. This is part of the experience and why the game is so popular. It allows players to create absurdly imbalanced builds or newcomers to go through a punishing hell-like experience.Overall, it’s a dark fantasy about saving a fictional kingdom from demons, dragons, and monsters. It’s also the kind of block-parry-dodge game ARPG fans are looking for. Yet, the structure is different from Dark Souls, as the world is neither open nor free. Instead, it’s a level-to-level format that makes things easier to understand.
Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight is an indie title that nearly won the 2017 Game of the Year award. Even without the prize, it’s a strong contender for our best games like Dark Souls list.The entry takes the boss battles from Dark Souls. It also has a soul reclamation system, challenging combat, and a complex map. Alongside the dark atmosphere and music, Hollow Knight nails the sense of discovery, accomplishment, and lore you might be craving.The setting is a vast and ruthless 2D kingdom. You advance through the map in a “Metroidvania” fashion, which means you go back and forth once you unlock new abilities and items.You play in a ruined kingdom beneath the decaying town of Dartmouth. Below the surface, you’ll discover an interconnected world of caverns, wastes, and derelict cities. It delivers a classic side-scrolling action, tight 2D controls, and branching paths.
Nioh 2
Before Sekiro debuted as a samurai-centric Souls-like game, Nioh had already made it happen. The 2017 precursor adapts Miyazaki’s formula to an original shinobi world.Nioh 2 dives deeper into the Soulsborne gameplay. It features a custom-made character, subtle storytelling, challenging combat mechanics, and amazing boss fights. Moreover, the game features an AI companion and a 3-player co-op multiplayer mode.So, similar to its predecessor, Nioh 2 is an action-adventure RPG. Players craft their avatar, a yokai spirit. Then, they can equip various weapons, learn weapon stances, and earn skills and special abilities. The journey takes players to defeat hostile yokai, some of which drop “Soul Cores.” These Soul Cores open up the mechanics players need to unlock new abilities.Overall, Nioh 2 is brutal. It’s a game about defeating hordes of enemies instead of mostly individual battles like Dark Souls. The protagonist often feels much more powerful than other heroes in the genre. As a result, it feels nothing like it despite having Dark Souls elements and difficulty levels. It’s Nioh.
Jedi: Fallen Order
Jedi: Fallen Order is the best single-player Star Wars game in recent memory. It’s a third-person action-adventure title that takes Tomb Raider, Zelda, and Dark Souls elements.You don’t need to be a Star Wars superfan to follow the setting. You just have to know the basics, like Jedis, Sith, and Order 66. You play as a Padawan Cal Kestis after the fall of the Jedi Order. Unwillingly, your mission is to save young Force Sensitive users from the hatred of the rising Empire. This is a story about self-discovery, redemption, and selfless heroism. It lives within the Star Wars universe and offers a surprising amount of original and non-original characters, places, and plot points. Moreover, the challenge is high, especially on boss fights, but you can tweak the difficulty settingsFor gameplay, Cal can dodge, parry, and attack. He can also learn sword abilities and force powers. All of your abilities work through different buttons and button combinations, though, so combat gets increasingly fast and complex. There’re also resting places to heal that respawn enemies. Aside from combat, there’re plenty of jumping platforming sections, Metroidvania exploration, and large maze-like Jedi temples full of puzzles.
Dead Cells
Dead Cells developers have an infamous plagiarism incident under its belt. However, the entry still deserves praise and recognition.We’re looking at a roguelike meets Metroidvania. The developers call it “Roguevania,” a sinister game genre that takes from Castlevania, action RPGs, Metroid, and roguelike titles.Dead Cells became a smash hit in 2018. The core mechanic offers challenging gameplay, where you spend most of the time learning the skill set. As such, you’ll die a lot, even if the combat feels similñar to Dark Souls, but in 2D. On top of that, you explore an interconnected world with infinite replayability and endless runs.The plot follows a parasite inhabiting a cadaver. This is your protagonist, and he explores a labyrinth full of monsters and secrets. Here, you’re to master lightning-fast combat, discover humorous secrets and charming landscapes.
Mortal Shell
Mortal Shell is perhaps the most recent souls-like game. If you’re looking for an absolutely punishing experience, this is your best bet: even the tutorial is hard to beat.After passing a short but tough tutorial and learning the basics of the combat you expect, you enter a mysterious open world. The game won’t tell you where to go, what to do, or what’s going on. Even worse, the initial paths and corridors to your first quest are full of strong enemies.You play as a zombie-like body, a flimsy warrior who needs to use Mortal Shells to fight—magical armors warriors of old left behind. You find various Shells while exploring the world, and they pack stats and skills with limited potential to improve. In particular, Shells have the “Hardened” ability, an additional guard system that turns the player’s body to stone to resist a hit.Overall, Mortal Shell is a proud member of the Souls-like genre. It’s up to you to discover its secrets, stories, Mortal Shells, and skills. Lastly, if enemies damage your Shell, you exit with your body. You can return to the Shell if you take out the enemies without being hit. Otherwise, you go back to the latest save point.
The Surge 2
2017’s The Surge debuted to little success. It was a “Dark Souls in space,” but most people discarded the studio as a discount FromSoftware alternative.Deck13 came back in 2019 and perfected its gameplay mechanics. The Surge 2 is also Dark Souls in space. Still, unlike the first entry, it offers a seamless combat system and an engaging storyline.You play as a plane crash survivor. Jericho City is in chaos when you wake up. Robots are rampaging, a nano storm is looming in the distance, and a Martial Law enforces government rules. You’re to find out what happened and save the city from its many perils.You have an expanded arsenal of firearms and melee weapons along the journey. You also have armors, skills, implants, drones, and much more. Overall, it’s a journey about survival in a devastated city. Here, fights and bosses are vicious and brutal, as they use a combination of melee abilities and high-tech guns.
Ashen
Ashen is a spin of the From Software title with an eclectic and rounded art direction. It’s a breath of fresh air from the dark and mysterious atmosphere games like Dark SOuls have.Ashen is an open-world co-op action RPG. You can play alone, but you’ll occasionally find other players in the open world. You may become allies or ignore them. Additionally, other players may help you craft gear. You can play alongside a friend, but both need to be at the same part of the story.However, it tries to imitate Dark Souls’ stamina-based combat without delivering anything new. Still, the gameplay feels precise, smooth, and elegant. Moreover, enemy AI is clever, and enemy design is as diverse as the open world’s settings.Lastly, you could have some mixed feelings about its world design. While the settings are gorgeous, you may find yourself gathering the same resources and doing the same things in every area. Overall, I feel Ashen failed to reach its potential. If Ashen 2 comes out, I bet it will be much better.
Monster Hunter: World
Monster Hunter: World is the first game in the Japanese series with a worldwide debut. It’s because, after many releases, Monster Hunter had finally become a popular franchise in the west.To be clear, MHW and Dark Souls are quite different games. Still, you’ll find both have a very similar combat playtime. Moreover, World relies on defeating powerful bosses. End-game material is capable of putting even Dark Souls veterans to shame. However, Dark Souls combat relies on perfecting the block-parry-dodge mechanic. A single mistake can lead you to death. Monster Hunter’s action depends on withstanding marathon boss fights, where tiresome and frustration are the enemies. Lastly, the plot is quite simple to follow, so it sadly doesn’t have the deep lore we’re looking for. You’re a member of the Monster Hunter guild. As the name suggests, your job is defeating monsters for money and increasingly better gear. That said, the single way to progress the character is through your equipment.
title: “Top 13 Best Games Like Dark Souls” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-10” author: “Dana King”
And after hours and years of challenge and bliss, loyal Dark Souls fans may be ready for the next meaningful gaming experience. The Japanese studio cemented a formula, the “Souls-like” genre, so there’s plenty to choose. Yet, Dark Souls games are outstanding, so the best 13 games like Dark Souls have to live to the highest standards as well.
Selecting Games Like Dark Souls
Dark Souls games have several unique elements. There’s no other studio like FromSoftware, but several games approach the same design choices. Rather than finding copy-cats, our mission is uncovering which other games could Dark Souls fans enjoy. So, our picks offer a blend of the Dark Souls ingredients below while adding its own twists.
Dying is a core mechanic: death is a common theme in Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls. The death and resurrection of your character are part of the lore and the plot.Loss on death: when you die, you may lose your experience and gear. You need to return to your previous souls to claim it back. However, if you die again on your way to your body, you lose everything.Challenge: because of the immeasurable challenge, players die a lot on Souls-likes games. Failing and trying again is the single best way to progress as a player. Moreover, there’re no difficulty settings. Combat: combat mechanics rely on a stamina bar, swords, spears, shields, and similar weapons. Characters have light attacks, heavy attacks, parry, counters, blocks, and dodges. Similarly, they have skills or magical abilities. Lastly, the perspective is third-person.Boss rush: there’s a plethora of optional and non-optional bosses and semi-bosses in Dark Souls. None of them are easy.Resting places: there’re resting places in the world. These allow you to save the game, recharge HP, recharge HP/Mana bottles, and similar. However, resting respawns the enemies in the area. Player progression: completing the game relies more on players improving their skills rather than characters getting better gear, stats, and abilities.Character progression: characters do earn levels and get loot. However, progress is often slow, expensive gear, and skills are scarce.Classes: there’re also classes in Dark Souls games. Each class brings a particular set of abilities and advantages to advance through the game.Lore: but you have to discover the deep lore of these games by yourself. World design: Dark Souls games are semi-open. There’s a central hub, and from the hub, you can go to any area of the map, which are wide but still linear. However, maps have no relevant markers; you have to explore.Questing: there’re main quests and side quests. Again, these don’t use relevant markers, and it’s up to you to figure out what to do.Minimal UI information: last but not least, the UI won’t guide you either. When using the interfaces, you won’t see any information or tutorial guiding you towards items and skills.
These elements come together with a general dark and mature tone and challenging gameplay mechanics.
Nier: Automata
Nier: Automata opens with a “Death & Rebirth cycle” literal monologue. During the prologue section, you go back to the beginning if you die. Yet, playing a couple of minutes in the intro lets you know: you won’t be forgetting Yoko Taro’s story anytime soon.Soon, you’ll learn the various mechanics the game offers. Mostly, it is a third-person open-world action RPG with fast-paced hack&slash combat. There’re also space shooter segments, bullet hell parts, and portions where the action happens via a 2D perspective or an isometric perspective.But all of its mechanics and stories come in very small doses. You have to figure it out for yourself. For example, there’s a massive open-world you discover over time, but little to no markers. There’re also “plug-in chips,” which turn out to be your “skills,” but no one to explain. Similarly, your character can die, and you have to recover your body to regain your experience and chips.But, mostly, we’re recommending Nier: Automata because of its story and music. It’s gorgeous, chilling, haunting, and dark. Often, as androids 2B, 9S, and 2A battle against the machines, you’ll be wondering if you’re truly doing the right thing. What’s more: the game requires multiple playthroughs (with different stories each) to unlock the full plot.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
FromSoftware has a wide catalog of successful games. Studio fans appreciate their loyalty to the formula, as their non-Dark Souls games are still Souls-like entries. Hence, we introduce Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. You’ve probably heard about it, as it made a huge buzz in 2019. Yet, perhaps you haven’t tried it for yourself.We’re looking at a new take of the Souls formula within a Shinobi world. It also made things more complicated by adding the Posture System, the ability Shinobis have to withstand attacks without breaking guard. On top of that, players and enemies can parry, dodge, attack, and use special abilities.Sekiro is a linear action-adventure game with challenging progression. There’re resting places that allow fast travel and upgrade the character. However, dying loses the currency you need to improve. Even worse, Sekiro is almost a boss rush title, as there’re bosses every three areas or so. You play as “Wolf“, a lone samurai blessed and cursed with a revival ability. The Wolf is on a quest to save the Divine Heir, Kuro, from enemies trying to harvest Kuro’s power. The Heir can impose the “Dragon Heritage” upon any warrior, thus making someone essentially immortal.
Blasphemous
Blasphemous, a brutal action-platformer, is my personal recommendation. It offers a 2D dark atmosphere where Castlevania and Dark Souls meet. The son between the two, though, is like the unborn baby Baron Phillip Stenger had in The Witcher 3…it’s evil. With a wicked name and atmosphere, Blasphemous delivers bloody visuals and combat. The character learns various abilities but still relies on dodging, parrying, and timing attacks. However, timing is much less forgiving, as you need to be precise down to milliseconds. Similarly, enemy AI is clever, and enemy types are varied and present multiple skills.The game happens in a vast Metroidvania world. It’s a gory scenario full of frustrating deaths and spike pits. There’re save points, but if you die, you have to get back to your body to get the gear back. But because enemies are tough, it’s all a slow, painful process that comes together with music that could chill you down to the bones. Aside from punishing your failures, the game introduces a gripping plot. You play as The Penitent One, the sole survivor of the Silent Sorrow Massacre. You wake up, trapped in a cycle of death and rebirth, and it’s up to you to save the world from a grim fate. Doing so requires you to reach the origins of your own fate in a nightmare world ruled by a twisted religion.
Bloodborne
Bloodborne is another FromSoftware masterful piece. The reason why it’s not at the top is that only PlayStation owners can play it.Either way, the title adds Gothic architecture and obscure storyline, Lovecraftian creatures, and firearms for a unique souls-like game. The result is a haunting and challenging nightmare capable of engrossing players after a few minutes of playtime.Aside from firearms, the game added another novelty. Bloodborne has advanced dodging system players required to master. It’s, of course, challenging, capable of bringing that sense of accomplishment when doing a perfect dodge and counter.Lastly, the setting is Yharnam, a Gothic city infested by a disease. The disease turned its citizens into mindless beasts, and the protagonists must explore the streets to find out the cure. There, you’ll find death & rebirth mechanics, resting places, challenging combat, deep lore, and the subtle storytelling games like Dark Souls offer.
Demon’s Souls Remaster
Dark Souls wouldn’t exist without Demon’s Souls. In fact, From Software created the trilogy as the spiritual successor to Demon’s Souls, albeit these don’t share any tie-ins.Either way, the original “Souls” game is available for the PlayStation 5 as a 4K/120fps remaster. The remaster respects the actual gameplay and story entirely. Even so, it works through top-tier 2021 gaming performance.Because it’s the first souls-like game for the studio, the balance is not perfect. This is part of the experience and why the game is so popular. It allows players to create absurdly imbalanced builds or newcomers to go through a punishing hell-like experience.Overall, it’s a dark fantasy about saving a fictional kingdom from demons, dragons, and monsters. It’s also the kind of block-parry-dodge game ARPG fans are looking for. Yet, the structure is different from Dark Souls, as the world is neither open nor free. Instead, it’s a level-to-level format that makes things easier to understand.
Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight is an indie title that nearly won the 2017 Game of the Year award. Even without the prize, it’s a strong contender for our best games like Dark Souls list.The entry takes the boss battles from Dark Souls. It also has a soul reclamation system, challenging combat, and a complex map. Alongside the dark atmosphere and music, Hollow Knight nails the sense of discovery, accomplishment, and lore you might be craving.The setting is a vast and ruthless 2D kingdom. You advance through the map in a “Metroidvania” fashion, which means you go back and forth once you unlock new abilities and items.You play in a ruined kingdom beneath the decaying town of Dartmouth. Below the surface, you’ll discover an interconnected world of caverns, wastes, and derelict cities. It delivers a classic side-scrolling action, tight 2D controls, and branching paths.
Nioh 2
Before Sekiro debuted as a samurai-centric Souls-like game, Nioh had already made it happen. The 2017 precursor adapts Miyazaki’s formula to an original shinobi world.Nioh 2 dives deeper into the Soulsborne gameplay. It features a custom-made character, subtle storytelling, challenging combat mechanics, and amazing boss fights. Moreover, the game features an AI companion and a 3-player co-op multiplayer mode.So, similar to its predecessor, Nioh 2 is an action-adventure RPG. Players craft their avatar, a yokai spirit. Then, they can equip various weapons, learn weapon stances, and earn skills and special abilities. The journey takes players to defeat hostile yokai, some of which drop “Soul Cores.” These Soul Cores open up the mechanics players need to unlock new abilities.Overall, Nioh 2 is brutal. It’s a game about defeating hordes of enemies instead of mostly individual battles like Dark Souls. The protagonist often feels much more powerful than other heroes in the genre. As a result, it feels nothing like it despite having Dark Souls elements and difficulty levels. It’s Nioh.
Jedi: Fallen Order
Jedi: Fallen Order is the best single-player Star Wars game in recent memory. It’s a third-person action-adventure title that takes Tomb Raider, Zelda, and Dark Souls elements.You don’t need to be a Star Wars superfan to follow the setting. You just have to know the basics, like Jedis, Sith, and Order 66. You play as a Padawan Cal Kestis after the fall of the Jedi Order. Unwillingly, your mission is to save young Force Sensitive users from the hatred of the rising Empire. This is a story about self-discovery, redemption, and selfless heroism. It lives within the Star Wars universe and offers a surprising amount of original and non-original characters, places, and plot points. Moreover, the challenge is high, especially on boss fights, but you can tweak the difficulty settingsFor gameplay, Cal can dodge, parry, and attack. He can also learn sword abilities and force powers. All of your abilities work through different buttons and button combinations, though, so combat gets increasingly fast and complex. There’re also resting places to heal that respawn enemies. Aside from combat, there’re plenty of jumping platforming sections, Metroidvania exploration, and large maze-like Jedi temples full of puzzles.
Dead Cells
Dead Cells developers have an infamous plagiarism incident under its belt. However, the entry still deserves praise and recognition.We’re looking at a roguelike meets Metroidvania. The developers call it “Roguevania,” a sinister game genre that takes from Castlevania, action RPGs, Metroid, and roguelike titles.Dead Cells became a smash hit in 2018. The core mechanic offers challenging gameplay, where you spend most of the time learning the skill set. As such, you’ll die a lot, even if the combat feels similñar to Dark Souls, but in 2D. On top of that, you explore an interconnected world with infinite replayability and endless runs.The plot follows a parasite inhabiting a cadaver. This is your protagonist, and he explores a labyrinth full of monsters and secrets. Here, you’re to master lightning-fast combat, discover humorous secrets and charming landscapes.
Mortal Shell
Mortal Shell is perhaps the most recent souls-like game. If you’re looking for an absolutely punishing experience, this is your best bet: even the tutorial is hard to beat.After passing a short but tough tutorial and learning the basics of the combat you expect, you enter a mysterious open world. The game won’t tell you where to go, what to do, or what’s going on. Even worse, the initial paths and corridors to your first quest are full of strong enemies.You play as a zombie-like body, a flimsy warrior who needs to use Mortal Shells to fight—magical armors warriors of old left behind. You find various Shells while exploring the world, and they pack stats and skills with limited potential to improve. In particular, Shells have the “Hardened” ability, an additional guard system that turns the player’s body to stone to resist a hit.Overall, Mortal Shell is a proud member of the Souls-like genre. It’s up to you to discover its secrets, stories, Mortal Shells, and skills. Lastly, if enemies damage your Shell, you exit with your body. You can return to the Shell if you take out the enemies without being hit. Otherwise, you go back to the latest save point.
The Surge 2
2017’s The Surge debuted to little success. It was a “Dark Souls in space,” but most people discarded the studio as a discount FromSoftware alternative.Deck13 came back in 2019 and perfected its gameplay mechanics. The Surge 2 is also Dark Souls in space. Still, unlike the first entry, it offers a seamless combat system and an engaging storyline.You play as a plane crash survivor. Jericho City is in chaos when you wake up. Robots are rampaging, a nano storm is looming in the distance, and a Martial Law enforces government rules. You’re to find out what happened and save the city from its many perils.You have an expanded arsenal of firearms and melee weapons along the journey. You also have armors, skills, implants, drones, and much more. Overall, it’s a journey about survival in a devastated city. Here, fights and bosses are vicious and brutal, as they use a combination of melee abilities and high-tech guns.
Ashen
Ashen is a spin of the From Software title with an eclectic and rounded art direction. It’s a breath of fresh air from the dark and mysterious atmosphere games like Dark SOuls have.Ashen is an open-world co-op action RPG. You can play alone, but you’ll occasionally find other players in the open world. You may become allies or ignore them. Additionally, other players may help you craft gear. You can play alongside a friend, but both need to be at the same part of the story.However, it tries to imitate Dark Souls’ stamina-based combat without delivering anything new. Still, the gameplay feels precise, smooth, and elegant. Moreover, enemy AI is clever, and enemy design is as diverse as the open world’s settings.Lastly, you could have some mixed feelings about its world design. While the settings are gorgeous, you may find yourself gathering the same resources and doing the same things in every area. Overall, I feel Ashen failed to reach its potential. If Ashen 2 comes out, I bet it will be much better.
Monster Hunter: World
Monster Hunter: World is the first game in the Japanese series with a worldwide debut. It’s because, after many releases, Monster Hunter had finally become a popular franchise in the west.To be clear, MHW and Dark Souls are quite different games. Still, you’ll find both have a very similar combat playtime. Moreover, World relies on defeating powerful bosses. End-game material is capable of putting even Dark Souls veterans to shame. However, Dark Souls combat relies on perfecting the block-parry-dodge mechanic. A single mistake can lead you to death. Monster Hunter’s action depends on withstanding marathon boss fights, where tiresome and frustration are the enemies. Lastly, the plot is quite simple to follow, so it sadly doesn’t have the deep lore we’re looking for. You’re a member of the Monster Hunter guild. As the name suggests, your job is defeating monsters for money and increasingly better gear. That said, the single way to progress the character is through your equipment.
