Games Like Dark Souls That Will Make You Suffer Productively

Dark Souls created a genre almost by accident. FromSoftware built a game about a dying world, painful combat, and interconnected exploration, and players responded so strongly that "souls-like" became an entire category of games. The formula — deliberate combat requiring careful reads, deliberate pace, interconnected worlds, punishing death mechanics that teach through failure, cryptic storytelling — now describes a library of dozens of games from studios worldwide.

If you've beaten Dark Souls, its sequels, and Elden Ring, and need more of that specific suffering, here's what delivers.

The FromSoftware Canon

Dark Souls II (Scholar of the First Sin) is the middle child of the trilogy and the most divisive among fans. Hidetaka Miyazaki didn't direct it, which shows in design decisions — but it's still excellent and has the most build variety of any Souls game.

Dark Souls III is the most polished traditional Souls game. The combat is faster than DS1 while maintaining deliberate weight, the bosses are series highlights (Gael, Friede, Midir), and the world connectivity echoes the original while offering its own identity.

Bloodborne took the souls formula to Lovecraftian gothic horror. The faster combat with rally mechanics rewarding aggression, the Victorian horror aesthetic, and the cosmic horror revelations make it many fans' favorite FromSoftware game. PS4/PS5 exclusive.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice shifted FromSoftware's formula to deflection-focused combat. The Sengoku-era Japanese setting and more focused narrative make it distinct.

Elden Ring applied the souls formula to an open world and created one of the most acclaimed games ever. The Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is essentially a full sequel.

Demon's Souls Remake brought the genre's ancestor to PS5 with stunning presentation. The original prototype that would become Dark Souls.

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon took FromSoftware's design philosophy into mecha action. Not traditionally a soulslike but shares DNA.

The AAA Soulslikes

Lies of P from Round8 Studio is the Pinocchio-themed soulslike that proved non-FromSoftware studios could deliver genre-quality experiences. Belle Époque setting, weapon combination system, Bloodborne-inspired combat.

Nioh and Nioh 2 from Team Ninja blend souls combat with hack-and-slash. The stance system and Sengoku-era Japan setting give them distinct identities.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty from Team Ninja uses parry-focused combat in a Three Kingdoms China setting. Faster than Nioh, more aggressive.

Stellar Blade is action-RPG with souls-influenced combat. More linear than true soulslikes but the combat rewards careful read-and-react play.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor bring soulslike combat to the Star Wars universe.

Code Vein is an anime soulslike with vampires in post-apocalyptic settings.

The Surge and The Surge 2 are sci-fi soulslikes with limb-targeting combat.

Lords of the Fallen (2023) is a parallel-dimension soulslike with a realm-shifting mechanic that adds a spatial puzzle layer to traditional exploration.

Thymesia is a focused smaller-scale soulslike centered on disease-themed combat.

Mortal Shell is a soulslike where you possess different "shells" with distinct playstyles. Shorter but dense.

Another Crab's Treasure is a whimsical soulslike where you play as a hermit crab using trash as shells and weapons. Genuinely challenging underneath the charming exterior.

The Indie Soulslikes

Our full best soulslike games guide covers the broader landscape, but indie highlights include:

Hollow Knight is the soulslike metroidvania that proved indie developers could match FromSoftware's depth. Team Cherry built a world with genuine interconnected design.

Blasphemous and Blasphemous 2 apply soulslike design to Spanish Catholic religious horror.

Nine Sols combines metroidvania exploration with Sekiro-style deflection combat.

Salt and Sacrifice and Salt and Sanctuary bring soulslike combat to 2D side-scrolling.

Dark Devotion is a 2D soulslike with religious horror themes and harsh permadeath.

Ashen combines soulslike combat with dynamic co-op and painterly visuals.

Ender Lilies captures Hollow Knight's melancholy through a child priestess protagonist.

The Soulslike-Adjacent Games

Remnant: From the Ashes and Remnant II are soulslike third-person shooters with procedurally generated levels.

The Thaumaturge combines soulslike combat with detective mechanics in 1905 Warsaw.

Morbid: The Seven Acolytes is isometric pixel art soulslike with Lovecraftian horror.

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is Team Ninja's Final Fantasy-themed soulslike.

The Broader Influence

Soulslike design has influenced games that aren't strictly in the genre. Roguelites like Hades borrow soulslike combat weight. Metroidvanias increasingly blend the genres. Even action roguelites like Dead Cells have boss designs that echo FromSoftware's approach.

The shared DNA across these genres is the willingness to challenge players without apology, respect for mastery, and the belief that difficulty creates meaning.

The Different Kinds of Difficulty

Not all souls-adjacent games use difficulty the same way:

Execution-focused: Sekiro demands perfect parry timing. Your skill at pressing buttons in rhythm is what's being tested.

Build-focused: Dark Souls III and Elden Ring let you solve hard encounters through build optimization. A smart build can trivialize a fight that frustrated you at low level.

Puzzle-focused: Many FromSoftware bosses are puzzle encounters — once you understand the attack patterns, winning becomes mechanical. Finding the solution is the challenge.

Endurance-focused: Long trek to bosses, resource scarcity mid-run, the mental pressure of not wanting to lose progress. Some people find this more difficult than the combat itself.

Different games emphasize different types. Understand which type frustrates you and avoid games that emphasize it.

Why Soulslikes Endure

FromSoftware's innovation wasn't making hard games — plenty of games are hard. What FromSoftware figured out was how to make difficulty feel meaningful. Every death teaches something. Every boss is solvable with enough attention. The world rewards curiosity and patience.

That design philosophy produced games people feel genuine ownership over. Beating Malenia in Elden Ring or Ludwig in Bloodborne isn't a checkbox — it's a personal achievement that people remember for years. Few other genres produce that investment.

The soulslike genre will keep growing because the formula scales across settings, art styles, and development budgets. The best indie games of 2026 will almost certainly include new soulslikes. And FromSoftware continues iterating.

Start with Dark Souls Remastered or Elden Ring for FromSoftware. Lies of P or Nioh 2 for modern AAA soulslikes. Hollow Knight or Nine Sols for indie excellence. All of them ask patience and attention and reward it in full.