Best Soulslike Games

Why it's here: My top pick here, and it wins on ambition alone: a staff wielding retelling of Journey to the West that funnels you toward one elaborate boss after another rather than one seamless world. The story is beautiful in the way it treats those fights as the actual narrative beats, not padding between them. Players consistently flag the invisible walls and linear corridors as the real letdown, since the setting promises more wandering than the level design allows. Come for the boss fights, not the exploration, and it's absolutely worth it.

Why it's here: The deepest combat system on this list, full stop. Between stance switching, yokai forms, and the sheer number of builds it supports, this is the one I'd hand to someone who wants to master a system for a hundred hours rather than finish a story. Players consistently praise the depth and replay value, though the steep difficulty curve and some repetitive level assets are the honest trade off. Online co-op for three softens the climb if you'd rather not go it alone.

Why it's here: The closest any of these games gets to FromSoftware's own craft, and the Pinocchio reinterpretation is the reason the campaign has a good story instead of just competent lore dumps. The amazing atmosphere and graphics carry a dark fairytale setting that never leans on the source material as a gimmick. The recurring complaint in player reviews is that a handful of bosses don't stick in memory the way the world does. Still, if you finished Bloodborne and want the nearest thing, start here.

Why it's here: The best production values on this list, and it shows in worlds that are actually worth getting lost in between fights. Cal Kestis's story keeps expanding in ways that reward the time you already put into Fallen Order, and the new stances make the lightsaber combat feel less like a retread. The recurring complaint in player reviews is performance, with stutters and unresponsive controls turning up often enough to matter. Play it patched and current gen if you can, and the scale is absolutely worth it.

Why it's here: The best co-op pick here, built from the ground up for three people to tackle procedurally shuffled worlds and bosses together. What keeps me coming back is the build variety, since two runs rarely play the same once you start mixing archetypes and mods. Players are polarized on the story itself, with the recurring complaint being a thin main plot next to genuinely strong world design. Bring friends and treat the campaign as the excuse, not the point.

Why it's here: Where Team Ninja's whole soulslike lineage began, and the Ki pulse timing it introduced still shapes how the studio's combat feels today. Sengoku era Japan gives the atmosphere a historical weight the fantasy entries on this list don't have, and the loot system rewards obsessing over builds the way an action RPG should. Players consistently flag the story as an afterthought and the level layouts as confusing in the back half. Come for the combat system, since that's what earns it a place here.

Why it's here: My pick for newcomers to this whole style of game, since Cal's arc is a genuinely compelling entry point before the harder fights start piling up. The exploration structure borrows the kind of backtracking that makes finding a shortcut feel like a real discovery rather than busywork. The honest caveat is pacing, since players consistently note the middle stretch drags on repeated planets. Still, the story earns its ending, and that's the whole reason to start your soulslike education here.

Why it's here: The best parry system on this list, full stop, since Wo Long rebuilds its whole combat rhythm around deflecting rather than dodging. Set during the fall of the Han dynasty, the campaign leans on Romance of the Three Kingdoms lore that gives the atmosphere real texture even when the plot itself doesn't land. Players consistently praise the memorable boss fights and consistently complain the enemy roster repeats itself too often between them. If timing based combat is the draw for you, this earns the detour.

Why it's here: The most build variety here by a wide margin, since the job system lets you reshape the entire combat kit mid campaign rather than committing once at the start. It plays its Final Fantasy references for genuine humor instead of reverence, which makes it the odd one out tonally on this list in a good way. Players consistently flag the story as convoluted and the loot as overwhelming rather than rewarding. Chase builds here, not narrative, and it's worth it on that basis alone.

Why it's here: The best dual world twist in the genre, letting you flip into a decaying mirror realm mid fight to dodge an attack or find a shortcut the main world hides. It's also the most accessible entry point on this list, which players consistently confirm even as some call it too forgiving once you've cleared a few of the others here. The recurring complaint is bugs and underdeveloped questlines rather than the core combat. Start here if the rest of this list sounds punishing.

Why it's here: The best anime style pick here, and the companion system is the reason it's the most approachable soulslike on this list. An AI partner who can revive you and share the aggro turns the genre's usual isolation into something closer to a buddy story, and the character creator is deep enough that players spend hours before the campaign even starts. The recurring complaint in reviews is inconsistent hitboxes and one infamous confusing stretch through the Cathedral. Bring a companion and it's a gentler way in.

Why it's here: The best short campaign on this list, and Mortal Shell earns that by trusting a single hardening mechanic to carry the whole run instead of padding it out. The atmosphere is genuinely bleak in a way that sticks, closer to Bloodborne's dread than Dark Souls's grandeur. Players are split down the middle, and the recurring complaint is that limited healing makes fights feel unresponsive rather than deliberately hard. Go in for an evening, not a season, and know exactly what you signed up for.

Why it's here: The best boss hunting loop here, since the whole campaign is structured around tracking down roaming mages rather than one linear gauntlet. Co-op for two makes those hunts genuinely fun, turning what's a punishing solo grind into a shared project with a real payoff. Players consistently note the mage chasing gets repetitive by the back half, and the navigation tools don't do enough to help. Play it with a partner, since that's where the design actually clicks.

Why it's here: The best 2D pick on this list, and the hand drawn art alone makes the case, a whole rat kingdom rendered like a storybook that's about to be destroyed. The narrated storytelling gives the campaign a fairytale weight most side scrollers don't bother earning, and the boss fights hit well above the game's modest scope. The honest caveat is dodging, since players consistently call the timing window inconsistent next to the harder 3D entries here. A few focused evenings, and it's absolutely worth it.

Why it's here: The most unique setting on this list by a wide margin, an alternate 1789 Paris where automatons rise up mid revolution instead of peasants. The atmosphere carries real ambition even when the mechanics under it don't fully back it up, and the boss designs lean into that steampunk premise more than any other pick here. The recurring complaint in player reviews is clunky movement and a camera that fights you during the bigger fights. Rough edges and all, the setting alone makes it worth a look.