The 10 best Soulslike games in the industry so far: Sekiro, Elden Ring, Lies of P…

It’s been over a decade since FromSoftware challenged players with one of the most imitated playable formulas in recent years. The alliance between the studio and Bandai Namco bore fruit and the legend was born with Demon’s Souls, the original, the one that shaped the mechanics and tropes that led to Dark Souls. Since then, the Japanese developer led by Hidetaka Miyazaki has done nothing but produce great games. The most recent? The spectacular Elden Ring, a title that has won almost every award there was and that has elevated the genre to the top, now featuring an open-world structure.

The soul (heh) of these games is their combat system; the heart, is exploration. The battles are characterized by parrying and their perfect timings, dying over and over is a general rule within the series. One small mistake and the enemy will soon kill us. Many of the games of this type have taken this element without hesitation, although balancing it well is more complex than it may seem. In addition, they have an RPG layer that surrounds everything, from customizing the character itself to improving its characteristics.

The MeriStation editorial team met and discussed what the Top 10 Dark Soulslike games (including, of course, FromSoftware games) are. In other words, the order of the list doesn’t take into account the games’ review scores, instead basing ourselves through our experiences with them.

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10. Lies of P (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S)

Every year new contenders join the fight to stand out in the field of the Soulslike genre. Among the most recent games, one has stood out above many others, Lies of P. Since the media tried it for the first time, many voices were heard in its favor. The truth is that the work of Neowiz and Round8 manages to captivate the player with its dark setting, a twisted version of the tale of Pinocchio that leads us to a world as fascinating as it is dangerous. More similar to Bloodborne than Dark Souls, the combat is quite aggresive. In addition, playable elements are introduced that reward the player’s good performance in combat.

As a novelty, the developers introduce fable arts, a series of special moves linked to each weapon. Each skill consumes bars of a meter necessary to trigger the movement, which is not always offensive in nature. Either way, the game works better when it tries to do original things.

9. Dark Souls 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One)

Hidetaka Miyazaki, director of most of FromSoftware’s main games, gave up the director’s chair to Tomohiro Shinuya and Yui Tanimura on that occasion. Dark Souls 2 followed in the footsteps of its predecessors, with a production that was not too innovative in its structure, which does not mean that some interesting new features were presented with respect to the original and Demon’s Souls. Needless to say, it is still a complex title, difficult to master and with monsters and bosses that demand all of our attention. The protagonist’s items and builds continue to be crucial to success, as does the constant practice of trial and error.

The online component was enhanced with Dark Souls 2. The invasion system allows the player to receive support from other users during battles against final bosses, but at the same time, the arrival of other invaders can cause them to prefer our death with the objective to get hold of juicy rewards. This installment has a system of pacts that form groups of allies or enemies under different premises and challenges. Despite not being the most recognized game in the series, the title deserves to be in this Top 10 without a doubt.

8. Nioh 2 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

Before Hidetaka Miyazaki and FromSoftware created Demon’s Souls, Team Ninja already had experience in third-person action games. The Dark Souls analogy has always been used to refer to the difficulty of a game, but the same thing has always characterized the titles from the Tecmo Koei studio, and if not, tell Ninja Gaiden. And no, he Team Ninja He didn’t invent difficult video games either, but he did make that difficulty feel organic within a combat system that worked like a charm. Following in the wake of its previous productions and Dark Souls, Nioh 2 is one of the most outstanding Soulslike video games on the market.

Like Sekiro: Shadows die Twice, Nioh 2 draws on Japanese history, but mixes it with mythology to provide fantasy sword combat. Spirits can be part of the combat, since both the player and the enemies have the ability to summon them, an important novelty with respect to the first installment. In that world, master Ki can make a difference: in the Dark Realm, enemies cause that power to decrease. With its combat system, customization and setting, the Team Ninja title managed to conquer lovers of the genre. Of course, sometimes the difficulty gets a little out of hand.

7. Hollow Knight (Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC)

Just because a game is influenced by other products does not mean that these titles are clones without identity. Every artistic work is based on previous pieces, although sometimes not even its author is aware of it. Therefore, the debate about whether X copies Y is usually sterile in most cases. William Pellen, co-director of Hollow Knight, explained in an interview with MCV that truly They had not been inspired by Dark Souls. According to the creative, he had not played much of the FromSoftware saga at the time they were building their adventure.” It was later, when everyone said that “it was like Dark Souls,” that he got to work on the saga. Still, we have decided to include it in the list because it has shared elements.

Unlike Dark Souls, Hollow Knight is a metroidvania in two dimensions. Perhaps the comparison with FromSoftware’s work comes from its high difficulty. It works in side scrolling and contains both action and platform elements. The player travels to Perópolis, a city where the ruins of a kingdom from the past await. Beneath the rubble lie riches and secrets that many are willing to risk their own necks for. Exploration and combat make Hollow Knight one of the most attractive indie games on the market.

6. Demon’s Souls (PS5)

Before Hidetaka Miyazaki was elevated as one of the most talented creatives in the industry, the origins of Dark Souls were written in Demon’s Souls, a title for PlayStation 3 that it was not easy to get out of Japan on time around the world. At MeriStation we imported it to publish the analysis at a time when it was not at all clear that it would leave Japanese borders. It was marketed in February 2009 in Japanese territory, by Sony Japan; In October, Atlus distributed it in North America. And yet, European players had to wait until summer 2010 to enjoy it. Now, thanks to the remake that Bluepoint Games has published exclusively for PlayStation 5, the title has returned with a good facelift.

The Boletaria Kingdom It is a territory where an unfathomable darkness dwells. The fog hides terrible demons that devour the souls of mortals. In this context, the germ of Dark Souls is already here, since FromSoftware proposes a third-person action game in which we can count on other players to fight in cooperative games. The goal is to collect souls to increase our character’s power to the maximum. We are going to need it, because to this day, it remains one of the most difficult contemporary products. A skeleton can kill you with one hit!

5. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

Activision and From Software signed a collaboration agreement to develop an unpublished saga, a game that would combine some of the classic values ​​of the developer’s games, although it would completely modify the setting. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was announced in 2018 as the new work directed by the tireless Hidetaka Miyazaki. He lone wolf He is a sword-wielding samurai who fights evil creatures. Combat with the katana is, of course, essential. As in every From Software game, precision and timing are crucial: one mistake means death. Despite its great difficulty, the player learns from his mistakes and has the possibility of using those lessons to finally defeat the enemies.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice presents us with a character who fights in the civil war, in the Sengoku period. Miyazaki and his team start from these historical elements (1,500 AD) to offer a third-person action and adventure game with RPG elements. The Japanese setting of beautiful settings does not leave aside monstrous creatures, since despite its vague historical component, the game introduces fantastic creatures. Sekiro was awarded game of the year at The Game Awards 2019, a more than deserved award.

4. Dark Souls (PS3, Xbox 360, PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch)

To say that it all started with Dark Soul would be a fallacy, because without Demon’s Souls it is possible that this title would never have been the way it is. The truth is that this production is continuous with respect to the previous game, although that does not detract from it any merit. Unlike its predecessor, Bandai Namco, publisher of the saga, opted for a almost simultaneous launch in all territories. This was one of the reasons for the triumph, which no longer came incognito, but with the success of Demon’s Souls as a cult video game. The gameplay expanded the premise with an impressive level design, a combat system complex enough to provide the player with the tools to chain one combat after another with high tension and a difficulty and level of challenge that demanded all of your attention. at all times.

He world of lordran It is an unforgiving and unforgiving place. Each of the enemies you encounter along the way can kill you in the blink of an eye. For this reason, the formula of this third-person Action RPG invites you to use trial and error to learn the patterns of enemies, their weaknesses and their attacks to avoid. As a spiritual successor to Demon’s Souls, it also does not leave aside the possibility of being enjoyed cooperatively. What’s more, in some especially difficult matchups you may need it.

3. Dark Souls 3 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

There are no two without three. Dark Souls 3 marked the return of Hidetaka Miyazaki as director, but also the end of a trilogy that has so far had no more sequels. Bandai Namco decided to launch the three video games on new platforms and with a remastered version. Be that as it may, this FromSoftware title has convinced the MeriStation editorial team and has become the best in the series for the editors of this house. Reasons are not lacking, since it is a very careful product, which without going out of line, improved everything that could be improved and received a score of 10 in our analysis.

At this point, the playable architecture of Dark Souls 3 is not surprising, since it is still an evolution of the fundamentals that were put on the table since Demon’s Souls. And despite this, FromSoftware was able to offer spectacular level design, provided with labyrinthine scenarios full of secrets, with an improved and dynamic combat system, not to mention the charismatic final bosses. As we said in our analysis, FromSoftware successfully mixes the best of Souls and Bloodborne, and delivers everything expected of it. It is one of the most brilliant games of the generation.

2. Bloodborne (PS4)

When a new console is launched, it is important to have a good catalog of exclusives that will nourish the system for years to come. PlayStation 4 did not start its journey with Bloodborne, but it was one of the first great platform exclusives. FromSoftware and Sony Computer Entertainment (now Sony Interactive Entertainment) teamed up to offer a Souls title with its own identity. The usual Dark Souls elements can be found in this product. That is, it is a third-person action game with elements of role-playing progression, loot and extraordinarily precise combat. Difficulty is another point that is not forgotten.

The action takes place in Yharnam, a city of impressive Gothic architecture where blood is something very precious. And the city is known worldwide for the medical advances that use this sap for healing. Therefore, it is not strange that thousands of people risk traveling to its borders in order to remedy their illnesses. Our character will do the same with one goal in mind: get hold of the Pale Blood. However, when you arrive at the city, you will discover that its inhabitants have become creatures of horrid nature. There is no choice but to fight...and survive.

Bloodborne has been crowned the second best Souls in the top. In some way, the FromSoftware production published by Sony has the merit of having managed to bring a type of experience that seemed limited to a part of the community and expand the number of players who enjoy a video game with the traditional features of the Dark Souls saga, but with a new coat of paint.

1. Elden Ring (Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PS4, PS5, PC)

FromSoftware’s masterpiece was chosen by the MeriStation editorial team as the Game of the Year 2022. Our colleague Franchuzas already said it in his text, the studio has proven to have great capacity when it comes to move in open world—terrain avoided by its predecessors despite offering plentiful exploration, alternative routes, and well-kept secrets. Even so, it has managed to preserve the strengths of a formula that has never been so versatile as it is now. Souls, bonfires and invocations. Platforming, stealth and counterattacks. Knights in armor and space monsters. Elden Ring has it all, and then it has something more.

To build this universe, Hidetaka Miyazaki had the participation of George R.R. Martin, the author of ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ (‘Game of Thrones’). The aesthetic influences are clear, although the game, at its heart, has the same foundations as other Souls games. What makes the difference is its open world, rich in details and surprises. It is not the kind of game that takes you by the hand from one place to another, but rather its creators prefer to invite the player to explore. As MeriStation said in its review, “Elden Ring is a monstrosity of a game, in the best possible sense. It is a work that does not collapse in the face of impossible expectations and amazes us with new horizons and discoveries for dozens and dozens of hours.” Quite a milestone. It is pure and simple exploration, learning, trial and error, fighting spectacular bosses, searching, epic and action. An epic that is now expanded thanks to Shadow of Eardtree, an expansion that has received a great opnion on Meristation USA.

The expansion also deserves to be here, since From Software has gone even further and has created a title that can almost pass for a complete game: Hours and hours of fun, challenge and fascinating exploration.

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