The best soulslike games on Xbox and Nintendo Switch
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: Select up to 5 games you have played and enjoyed. 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
- Open world
- Lots to discover
- Fantasy setting
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
- Dark, serious atmosphere
- Fantasy setting
- Strong character progression
A dark action RPG with precise, unforgiving combat and intricately connected levels.
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3 Dark Souls
- Lots to discover
- Dark, serious atmosphere
- Fantasy setting
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
- Dark, serious atmosphere
- Lavish presentation
Sword fighting in feudal Japan, where parrying and posture decide everything.
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5 Lies of P
- Dark, serious atmosphere
- Lavish presentation
- Strong character progression
A Soulslike based on Pinocchio, set in a decaying Belle Époque city with a strong focus on parrying.
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6 Elden Ring Nightreign
- Fantasy setting
- Co-op or multiplayer
- Dark, serious atmosphere
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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7 The First Berserker: Khazan
- Fantasy setting
- Strong character progression
- Dark, serious atmosphere
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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8 Dark Souls II
- Fantasy setting
- Strong character progression
- Dark, serious atmosphere
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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9 Dark Souls: Remastered
- Dark, serious atmosphere
- Fantasy setting
- Lots to discover
The genre-defining Soulslike: a bleak, intricately interconnected world of punishing combat, hidden paths and bosses that demand patience and precise timing. The remaster adds sharper visuals and includes the Artorias of the Abyss expansion.
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10 Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
- Strong character progression
- Dark, serious atmosphere
- Fantasy setting
A fast-paced Soulslike from Team Ninja set in the collapsing Han Dynasty, where deflecting and countering define the combat rhythm. Demon-corrupted warlords and mythical beasts provide tough fights that can also be tackled in co-op.
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11 Valor Mortis
- Dark, serious atmosphere
- Lavish presentation
- Fantasy setting
A first-person soulslike from the Ghostrunner team that casts you as a resurrected soldier of Napoleon's army. You fight horrifying monsters with blades, firearms and supernatural powers, in tense parry-driven combat set in a grim, twisted version of the Napoleonic era.
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12 Wuchang: Fallen Feathers
- Dark, serious atmosphere
- Strong character progression
- Lavish presentation
A demanding soulslike set in a grim take on the late Ming Dynasty, where a mysterious plague twists people into monsters. Flexible weapon builds, precise parrying and a madness mechanic that trades risk for power define its combat.
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13 Mortal Shell II
- Dark, serious atmosphere
- Fantasy setting
- Strong character progression
A grim soulslike where you possess the bodies of fallen warriors and use them in fast, punishing fights against false gods. The sequel offers a more open, ruined world with horror undertones.
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14 Thymesia
- Dark, serious atmosphere
- Fantasy setting
A fast, punishing soulslike where you play plague doctor Corvus, relying on precise parries and dodges and on the disease powers of plundered weapons. Combat rewards aggression over turtling, set in a grim, decaying kingdom.
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15 Lords of the Fallen
- Fantasy setting
- Lots to discover
- Dark, serious atmosphere
A grim Soulslike where a magic lantern lets you shift between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead. Weighty combat, interconnected level design and the Umbral mechanic make exploration tense and demanding.
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16 No Rest for the Wicked
- Distinctive, stylised art style
- Fantasy setting
- Strong character progression
An isometric soulslike action RPG with weighty, deliberate melee combat, stamina management and loot-driven builds, wrapped in a gorgeous painterly dark fantasy style. Town building and co-op round out the grim adventure on the Isle of Sacra.
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17 Mortal Shell
- Dark, serious atmosphere
- Fantasy setting
- Lavish presentation
A compact soulslike where you possess fallen warriors as "shells", each with its own abilities. The Harden mechanic lets you briefly turn to stone to absorb hits, making combat tense and tactical in a bleak, decaying world.
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18 Nine Sols
- Distinctive, stylised art style
- Lavish presentation
- Strong, story-driven narrative
A hand-drawn 2D Metroidvania set in a Taoist-flavored sci-fi world, with combat built almost entirely around precise deflecting and counterattacks. Revenge, mythology and stylish boss fights drive the journey.
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19 Enotria: The Last Song
- Distinctive, stylised art style
- Fantasy setting
- Lavish presentation
A soulslike set in a vivid land inspired by Italian folklore and commedia dell'arte. Swappable masks reshape your playstyle and abilities as you fight through demanding duels and bosses.
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20 Salt and Sanctuary
- Strong character progression
- Dark, serious atmosphere
- Fantasy setting
A 2D Soulslike wrapped in Metroidvania design: stamina-driven combat, punishing bosses and a huge skill tree in a grim, interconnected world. Its hand-drawn look and rewarding exploration set it apart.
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21 The Surge
- Sci-fi setting
- Strong character progression
- Dark, serious atmosphere
A sci-fi Soulslike where you fight through a decaying industrial complex in an exoskeleton. Its hook is targeting and severing specific limbs to loot the exact gear and upgrades you want.
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22 Salt and Sacrifice
- Strong character progression
- Fantasy setting
- Dark, serious atmosphere
A 2D soulslike where you play an Inquisitor hunting powerful mages across several regions and claiming their gear and abilities. Combat is demanding, builds are varied, and you can also play it cooperatively.
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23 Death's Gambit
- Dark, serious atmosphere
- Strong character progression
- Fantasy setting
A punishing 2D Soulslike action RPG in Metroidvania clothing: you serve Death, battle towering bosses in a grim world, and build your character through classes and abilities.
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24 The Surge 2
- Sci-fi setting
- Strong character progression
- Dark, serious atmosphere
A dark sci-fi soulslike set in a ruined city where you target and sever specific enemy limbs to loot armor and parts for your exosuit. Brutal, demanding combat and interconnected level design drive the loop.
What matters with Soulslike games
Soulslikes hook players with a simple loop: you die, you learn the enemy's patterns, and eventually you win through skill rather than luck. Checkpoints are sparse, mistakes are punished, and progress feels earned. Most also hide their story in item descriptions and environmental details, so exploration and lore-hunting become part of the reward.
When choosing, think about pace and combat style. Elden Ring is the most flexible starting point, because its open world lets you leave a tough boss and come back stronger later. Dark Souls: Remastered offers the original interconnected world of Lordran with its clever shortcuts, plus the Artorias DLC. Bloodborne, available on PlayStation, pushes you to stay aggressive instead of hiding behind a shield and leans into gothic and cosmic horror. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice drops most RPG systems in favor of parrying and posture, which makes it feel more like a pure sword-fighting test. Lies of P is a strong pick if you want a newer, story-rich take with a parry focus and a Belle Époque setting.
The list also includes difficult games that are not soulslikes, such as Cuphead, a hand-drawn boss rush with local co-op, and Hotline Miami, built on instant restarts. They scratch a similar itch of trial and error mastery, but in very different genres. Counter-Strike and Devil Daggers are demanding too, though they are competitive or score-chasing shooters rather than soulslikes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best soulslike for beginners?
Elden Ring is often recommended because its open world lets you explore elsewhere and level up when a boss feels too hard. Dark Souls III is another good entry point with a more linear structure.
Should I play Dark Souls or Dark Souls: Remastered?
Dark Souls: Remastered is the easier recommendation, since it keeps the original world of Lordran while adding sharper visuals, smoother framerates and the Artorias DLC.
Which soulslike focuses most on parrying?
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice builds its combat around parrying and breaking enemy posture. Lies of P also puts a strong focus on parrying within a more traditional soulslike structure.
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