Games Like Lies of P for More Dark Souls Adjacent Adventures

Lies of P from Round8 Studio took the soulslike formula, built it around a Pinocchio premise that had no business working, and produced one of the most acclaimed non-FromSoftware soulslikes ever made. The Belle Époque setting is distinctive, the Bloodborne-inspired combat rewards aggressive play, and the weapon combination system (mixing blade and handle for different movesets) added mechanical depth the genre didn't have before.

If you've finished Lies of P and its Overture DLC, here's what delivers similar satisfaction.

The FromSoftware Canon

Bloodborne is the Lies of P inspiration most obvious — the Victorian gothic horror, the faster combat with rally mechanics rewarding aggression, the atmosphere of creeping cosmic dread. Unfortunately PS4/PS5 exclusive, which remains one of the great tragedies of modern gaming preservation. Playing Bloodborne is essential if you have the hardware.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice shifted FromSoftware's formula to deflection-focused combat. The parry timing and posture system changed how soulslikes could work, and Lies of P's perfect guard system owes a clear debt.

Dark Souls III is the FromSoftware soulslike most tonally similar to Lies of P — faster combat than earlier Souls games, gothic atmosphere, more focused level design than the original Dark Souls.

Elden Ring applied the soulslike formula to open world design and created one of the most acclaimed games ever. Massively larger in scope than Lies of P but shares core DNA.

Demon's Souls (the Bluepoint PS5 remake especially) is the genre's ancestor and remains brilliant.

Dark Souls and Dark Souls II complete the FromSoftware core library. If you haven't played them, the Remastered editions are where to start.

The Other AAA Soulslikes

Nioh and Nioh 2 from Team Ninja blend souls combat with hack-and-slash depth. The stance system (high/mid/low) creates mechanical variety, and the Sengoku-era Japan setting is distinctive.

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 system rewards the same kind of careful read-and-react play.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor bring soulslike combat to the Star Wars universe. The lightsaber combat feels appropriate for the franchise.

Code Vein is an anime soulslike with vampires in post-apocalyptic settings. Divisive for tonal shift from FromSoftware's grimness but mechanically solid.

The Surge and The Surge 2 are sci-fi soulslikes with limb-targeting combat where you can sever specific enemy body parts to claim their equipment.

The Indie Soulslikes

The full indie soulslike landscape is deeper than most people realize.

Hollow Knight is the soulslike metroidvania that proved indie developers could match FromSoftware's atmospheric depth. Team Cherry built something that transcends its obvious influences.

Blasphemous and Blasphemous 2 apply soulslike design to Spanish Catholic religious horror. The atmosphere is unlike anything else in the genre.

Nine Sols combines metroidvania exploration with Sekiro-style deflection combat. The Taopunk aesthetic (cyberpunk Taoist mythology) is distinctive, and the parry timing is demanding.

Salt and Sacrifice and Salt and Sanctuary bring soulslike combat to 2D side-scrolling. The mage hunt structure of Sacrifice creates boss-focused gameplay with exploration between fights.

Mortal Shell is a smaller-scale soulslike where you possess different "shells" (characters) with distinct playstyles. Shorter than FromSoftware games but dense with soulslike design philosophy.

Dark Devotion is a 2D soulslike with religious horror themes and harsher permadeath mechanics than most entries.

Ashen combines soulslike combat with dynamic co-op and painterly visual style. More forgiving aesthetically than traditional souls games but the combat demands engagement.

Thymesia is a focused soulslike centered on disease-themed combat. Shorter and more focused than most genre entries.

The Gothic Action Adjacent

Bloodborne (again) because nothing else captures its specific gothic energy.

Vampyr from Dontnod has investigative RPG elements combined with action combat. The Spanish flu-era London setting and moral weight of choosing who to feed on creates a different kind of dark atmosphere.

Bloodrayne: Terminal Cut and its sequel remastered are older vampiric action games with less depth than modern soulslikes but gothic appeal.

Bleak Sword DX is a minimalist 2D soulslike that captures the genre's essence in a portable-friendly format.

The Soulslike-Influenced Action Games

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is Team Ninja's Final Fantasy-themed soulslike. Weird premise, solid combat, deeper than it first appears.

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

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

Another Crab's Treasure is a soulslike where you play as a hermit crab using trash as shells and weapons. Whimsical exterior, genuinely challenging underneath.

The Metroidvania Adjacent Picks

Lies of P's interconnected world design echoes the metroidvania genre more than some soulslikes.

Metroid Dread brings the Metroid franchise back to 2D with soulslike-adjacent boss design.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is more platforming than combat but shares the atmospheric environmental storytelling.

La-Mulana is a brutally difficult puzzle-metroidvania that rewards the same patience and observation as soulslikes.

What Makes Soulslikes Work

Lies of P succeeded because it understood what FromSoftware actually does right — deliberate combat with weight, environmental storytelling through atmosphere, cryptic narratives that reward attention, and worlds designed to be explored rather than completed. The Pinocchio premise was marketing — the execution is what mattered.

The broader soulslike genre keeps growing because the formula scales across settings, art styles, and development budgets. FromSoftware continues iterating themselves (Elden Ring's DLC being essentially a full game), and studios like Round8 prove that other developers can deliver comparable quality when they commit to the design philosophy completely.

Start with Bloodborne if you have PS5/PS4 access (essential). Dark Souls III if you want the classic FromSoftware experience. Hollow Knight for the best indie soulslike-adjacent. Nine Sols for the best recent soulslike indie. All of them reward the same kind of patient, attentive play that Lies of P rewards. That's the genre's core appeal, and it remains thriving.