FromSoftware, for more than ten years now, has made school in the videogame world by revisiting the classic styles of action adventure, inserting a dark component in terms of difficulty, level design and lore, going to create a real genre that we know today as Soulslike. From 2009 onwards, with the release of Demon's Souls, the software house has continually been inspired by itself to try to outdo itself game after game; but, as always happens when you are inspired, you also end up inspiring and so, in a short time, they started to numerous projects that shared the vision and soul of Hidetaka Miyazaki's titles.
With the upcoming release of Elden Ring, then, we want to offer you a top 10 of the best Soulslike, or those games which, due to one or more characteristics, can be associated with the experience proposed by From Software. Some of them recall it for the intricate plot, others for the mechanics of recovering experience points lost after death, still others, although in different forms, for an open level structure but which then always brings us back to the starting point. . Everyone, surely, they share a very high level of difficulty, more or less punitive, which has become the hallmark of the genre.
Hold on to your souls, then, and get ready to discover the 10 best titles to play in the soulslike genre as you await the arrival of Elden Ring. Ready to die?
Lords of the fallen
10
Lords of the fallen, released way back in 2014, is certainly one of the first titles that was inspired by the Soulslike formula, and tried to emulate it. And, why not, since the terms of comparison are born just when someone arrives who tries to emulate the progenitor, we can consider him like the title that gave birth to the term Soulslike. The adventure of Deck13 Interactive combined a dark fantasy atmosphere with punitive gameplay mechanics, adding a good dose of research into the Loot necessary for one's survival. The gameplay mechanics, however, were still immature, and the game was penalized by an underlying heaviness of your character and the combat system. He then reinterpreted bonfires with a concept of his own, making them checkpoints where you can choose whether to store experience or keep it to earn more through an active multiplier.
Ashen
9
Among the distinctive elements of soulslike, Ashen has decided to focus on lack of knowledge of the game world on the part of the player. The title of the team A44, in fact, it throws us into action by informing us only on the strictly necessary to take the first steps. Compared to its older brothers, the title counts on one really minimal art direction, which net of a first glance that could make many turn up their noses for a particular and “lean” style, could be its strong point for others. Ashen takes us to a difficult and lonely world, albeit more so than other Soulslike ones points strongly on cooperation with other players; so as to find death all together.
Blasphemous
8
Blasphemous is a great example of a mix of genres, which arises when Soulslike meets the Metroidvania. We will be able to insert several titles within this sub-genre but Blasphemous, more than the others, manages to embody a dark soul that brings it closer to the From Software titles. Developed by The Game Kitchen and released in 2019, is a 2D adventure that will put us in the shoes of a knight in search of his penance within a universe inspired by the Christian folklore. With each death, a Fragment of the Guilt will appear in the place of our defeat, and the protagonist will suffer some penalties to his own statistics until he is able to regain possession of the precious fragment.
Code Vein
7
Code Vein presents us with a further incarnation of the Soulslike, this time from the stylistic side. The title of Bandai Namco, in fact, it declines the experience in a form that could be that of a any animewhile still maintaining a brutal and dark heart. The title then points to experimentation of the different classes and weapons inserted by the developers, which also in this case give us the opportunity to experience the entire campaign in the company of another real player, or an AI, who will support us in PvE, but also in PvP experience.
Remnant: From The Ashes
6
The peculiarity of Remnant: From the Ashes it is certainly the one you will notice as soon as you take the pad in your hand. No sidearms here, but guns and rifles. The adventure developed by the boys of Gunfire Games, in fact, it has a soul from third person shooter which nevertheless inserts the classic elements of Soulslike into a post-apocalyptic and urban world, made up of labyrinthine levels and sci-fi horror creatures. The level of difficulty is obviously high, with good replayability due to some areas that are generated in a procedural way.
Mortal shell
5
Mortal shell is the striking example of how an indie title can try to approach a triple A production. The resources are what they are, but net of the inferiority of the general production, thegaming experience can be rewarding and fun. The title of Cold Symetry perfectly replicates the spirit of Soulslike, with a dark fantasy atmosphere recognizable from the early stages of the game. Heir or copy of the From Software titles? The solution is to immediately free yourself from doubt by giving your own distinctive feature: the protagonist will be able check out the remains of some great warriors, the Mortal Shells, in fact, making their weapons and skills their own. The most soulslike game of the entire Top, even with a soul of its own.
The Surge
4
The Surge and its sequel are perfectly linked to the game mechanics introduced by Lords of The Fallen for the management of experience points, adding crafting elements to a sci-fi soul. If you are wondering what Dark Souls might look like in a science fiction universe, the answer is The Surge. A dark lore, inserted in a futuristic setting populated by cyborg-zombies, will be the backdrop to a tough and punishing adventure, improved even more by the second chapter of 2019.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
3
The Soulslike have even reached a galaxy far, far away. Jedi: Fallen Order, at first superficial glance, it could hardly remember a Soulslike, precisely because it is inserted within the universe of Star Wars but, pad in hand, the dark soul ends up emerging also in the title of EA. Challenging battles, inspired level design, gameplay mechanics based on the collected "souls", perhaps undermined by an exaggeration in the checkpoints between the various game sections. A difficult experience but which, unlike the Soluslike, it can be softened by the possibility of choosing the level of difficulty to face it.
Salt and Sanctuary
2
If Mortal Shell was the spiritual embodiment of the Dark Souls, Salt and Sanctuary instead it is from the point of view of everything else, only in 2D sauce. The inspiration for From's titles is breathed in every frame, although the adventure of the guys from SKA Studios try to carve out a small slice of personal identity. The perspective in two dimensions, in fact, makes possible only for him markedly platform elementswhile one truly extensive skill tree gives Salt and Sanctuary a depth of gameplay in terms of different approaches to adventure.
Nioh
1
Until now, one of the most relevant criteria in writing this top has been the Soul of the title. A game may not be excellent and perfect in itself, but it may come much closer to the Soulslike genre than others, which allows it to have a high place in this ranking. However, in the case of Nioh, is an element to be considered up to a certain point. The Team Ninja, with Nioh and Nioh 2 has managed to taking all the pivotal elements of Soulslike, took them to a fantasy medieval Japan and gave them a completely different and personal soul, seasoning everything with a truly excellent technical quality. The Ki rhythm, the different combat stances, the help of the spirits, bring to the scene a frenetic and very difficult experience, but also deeply satisfying.
