100 games
The best soulslike games on Xbox
Demanding, precise and brutally fair: games where you learn from every defeat and every victory feels earned.
How to find games that really suit you: Tap “I like it” on up to 5 games. Playalike compares 20 traits such as combat, story and atmosphere and suggests games that hit exactly the same spot, even across genres.
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1 Elden Ring
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
A vast open world, demanding combat and countless secrets, from the creator of the Dark Souls series.
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2 Dark Souls III
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
A dark action RPG with precise, unforgiving combat and intricately connected levels.
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3 Dark Souls
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
A merciless action RPG whose interconnected world of Lordran rewards careful exploration with clever shortcuts, deliberate combat and cryptic, melancholic lore. Every death teaches something, and every victory feels truly earned.
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4 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
Sword fighting in feudal Japan, where parrying and posture decide everything.
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5 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
The definitive competitive tactical shooter: terrorists versus counter-terrorists in tense round-based matches where precise aim, team coordination and smart economy management decide every win.
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6 Cuphead
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
A brutally tough boss-rush shooter animated like a 1930s cartoon, where precise dodging, parrying and shooting decide every fight. A swinging big-band jazz score and local co-op round it out.
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7 Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
A brutal top-down action sequel where one hit kills and every floor demands split-second planning and reflexes. A fractured, non-linear story across multiple characters unfolds in garish neon, driven by a hypnotic synthwave soundtrack.
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8 Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
A blistering hack-and-slash where young Dante juggles swappable fighting styles, weapons and guns, and the game rewards you for fighting with flair. It is famously punishing, with legendary boss duels like the fights against Vergil and a heavy metal soundtrack.
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9 Enter the Gungeon
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
A tough, pun-filled bullet-hell roguelike where you dodge-roll and flip tables through procedural floors with hundreds of wildly creative guns. Every run plays differently, and mastering the dense projectile patterns is deeply rewarding.
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10 Lies of P
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
A Soulslike based on Pinocchio, set in a decaying Belle Époque city with a strong focus on parrying.
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11 Elden Ring Nightreign
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
A co-op roguelike spin-off of Elden Ring where a trio races across a shrinking map over three days, powering up before facing a towering Nightlord boss. Fast, intense runs with distinct hero classes replace the sprawling solo journey.
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12 Ninja Gaiden 4
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
Ninja Gaiden 4 revives the legendary hack-and-slash series with lightning-fast, brutal combat, co-developed by Team Ninja and PlatinumGames. As newcomer Yakumo you carve through a rain-soaked, demon-infested Tokyo where reflexes and combo mastery decide everything.
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13 The First Berserker: Khazan
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
A punishing soulslike set in the Dungeon & Fighter universe, where the betrayed general Khazan seeks revenge through weighty, precise melee combat and brutal boss duels. Its striking cel-shaded look and aggressive parry-and-stamina system set it apart.
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14 Hotline Miami
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
A brutally fast top-down shooter where one hit kills and every floor is mastered through rapid trial, error and instant restarts. Its neon visuals, pulsing synthwave soundtrack and unsettling, surreal story about violence make it unforgettable.
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15 Hollow Knight: Silksong
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
The sequel to Hollow Knight: faster, more acrobatic and even more demanding.
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16 Dark Souls II
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
The second Souls entry sends you as a cursed undead through the decaying kingdom of Drangleic, offering punishing bosses, huge weapon and build variety, and a sprawling, branching world packed with secrets.
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17 Apex Legends
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
A fast free-to-play battle royale hero shooter set in the Titanfall universe, where squads of three legends with unique abilities fight to be the last team standing. Slick movement, tight gunplay and squad synergy define it.
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18 Bayonetta
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
A supremely stylish character action game where the witch Bayonetta battles hordes of angels using Witch Time, precise dodges and absurdly over-the-top finishers. Deep combo mechanics, colossal bosses and plenty of tongue-in-cheek charm.
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19 Valorant
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
A competitive 5v5 tactical shooter that blends unforgiving, precision gunplay with distinct agent abilities. Team coordination and round-by-round strategy matter as much as raw aim.
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20 Quake III Arena
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
Quake III Arena is a pure arena shooter where blistering movement like strafe-jumping, precise aim and controlling item spawns decide every match. There's no campaign, just relentless deathmatches and duels against bots or real players.
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21 Ghostrunner II
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
Ghostrunner II is a blisteringly fast first-person slasher where you wallrun, grapple and slice through a ruined cyberpunk world as a cyber ninja. One hit kills, so precision and reflexes are rewarded; new additions include motorbike sections and bigger boss fights.
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22 For Honor
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
A weighty melee brawler where knights, vikings and samurai clash using a stance-based system that rewards parries, feints and reading your opponent. Tense PvP duels and team battles are the heart of it, with a short campaign on the side.
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23 Sifu
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
Sifu is a punishing kung fu brawler about avenging your murdered family. Precise blocking, dodging and countering drive the combat, and every death ages you, raising the stakes with each attempt.
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24 Volgarr the Viking
- Challenging difficulty
- Timing and reflexes matter (parrying, dodging)
- Action-packed real-time combat
A merciless retro arcade platformer where a Viking fights through brutally tough levels with precise jumps and spear throws. Every hit counts, and only those who learn the patterns will progress.
What matters with Soulslike games
Soulslikes hook you with a simple loop: you die, you learn a boss's patterns or a level's traps, and you come back a little better. Progress comes from your own skill rather than from grinding numbers, which is why a hard-won victory feels so satisfying. All the core picks on this page are available on Xbox, so you can follow the genre from its roots to its newer offshoots on one console.
When choosing, think about how much freedom you want and what kind of combat suits you. Open structures let you leave a tough boss and come back later, while tighter, linear designs push you to master each obstacle in order. Combat styles differ too: some games reward patient dodging and build variety, others are built almost entirely around parrying. The dark fantasy tone is common across the genre, but settings vary more than you might expect.
Elden Ring is the most forgiving entry point because its vast open world lets you explore elsewhere when you're stuck. Dark Souls: Remastered is the best way to play the genre-defining original, with sharper visuals, smoother framerates and the Artorias DLC included. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice drops character builds in favor of sword duels where parrying and posture decide everything. Lies of P offers a fresh setting in a decaying Belle Époque city inspired by Pinocchio, with a strong focus on parrying, and Dark Souls III is the pick if you want precise combat and intricately connected levels.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best soulslike for beginners on Xbox?
Elden Ring is usually the easiest starting point because its open world lets you explore, level up and return to difficult bosses later. Dark Souls III is a good second step, with a more linear structure and precise combat.
Should I play Dark Souls or Dark Souls: Remastered?
Dark Souls: Remastered is the better choice for most players, since it adds sharper visuals, smoother framerates and the Artorias DLC to the original game. The world of Lordran and its deliberate combat are the same in both.
Which soulslikes focus most on parrying?
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is built around parrying and breaking enemy posture in sword fights. Lies of P also puts a strong emphasis on parrying, and Cuphead, while not a soulslike, rewards precise parries in its tough boss fights.
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