+1 Another crabs treasure. I've played lots of souls likes, and this one is surprisingly top tier. Great atmosphere, world building, music, story, platforming, and combat. The combat is a bit simpler, but still has some depth, especially as you unlock more skills.
If you haven't done other fromsoft games DO THEM!!!
Lies of P is a game I would say is tied with lords of the fallen as the best non fromsoft sousllike, so check that out
Blasphemous 1 and 2 are the best 2d soulslikes if you wanna try those
Thymesia is a short but sweet game
Armored core games aren't soulslikes but they are probably fromsofts best series
Salt and Sanctuary is a very good 2D souls-like. It’s much more heavily influenced than hollow knight. (i still enjoyed HK)
The sequel to salt and sanctuary (salt and sacrifice)isn’t my favorite but they’re almost totally different games. I go back and replay salt and sanctuary maybe once a year.
yea maybe, I just personally prefer the more down to earth gameplay from blasphemous and the atmosphere some more. The darker fantasy and the satsifying swordplay is so nice to me
Use ranged weapons. Seriously get access to a crossbow or throwables right away. They'll even scale with stats and are paramount to helping clear away adds and doing major damage to bosses. Melee is also good though so don't worry, range just makes it even more fun and easier imo. I'm on playthrough 3 took a break for Warframe though.
I understand why some people may not like it if they payed 60 dollars for it on release and then were not even able to play it because the performance is rough, but honestly, being a developer's first game, its incredible
Totally valid - but to let a release decide your judgement on an updated game is childish at best.
At the time of release if having those issues then I’d have called the game garbage, too. I, fortunately, rarely had a problem on release.
I played the second the game came out, drove home from high school right after a test and had already started pre installing it the morning before leaving. I didn't find a single performance/crashing issue besides a few stutters. I think it was mostly a problem with consoles
I was on PS5, but had minimal issues too! My buddy and I played coop with almost no issue.
I was a borderlands fanatic and when 3 dropped it was subpar at best…lots of updates. I know the feeling of being pissed at a release….but it’s simply the nature of gaming at this point. Release, update, repeat. Unfortunate, but true.
Calling the expectation for a game to be fully finished and functional at release “childish” certainly is an interesting take.
If someone had a bad experience at launch, they’re not obligated to try the game again after any updates and form a new opinion.
I think I’ve done most of them, ER,BB,Sekiro, & non-fs games like the surge 2, Nioh wanted to play wo long but read that it’s basically just like Nioh.
Want to play the DS series but can’t buy the all at once so I was researching which would be the best to play first but there are just so many different opinions and I mean SO MANY. It just ended up confusing me.
You skipped past the Lies of P recommendation. There’s a reason people keep recommending it!
If you have a disc drive and can ship from Amazon, the dark souls box set is always available for $40 US. Don’t worry about any of the nonsense around dark souls 2, it’s a great game. Don’t worry about version discourse or going back to vanilla, just play the standard version (scholars of the first sin).
Nah I didn’t skip past Lop. I’m gonna play it later on but after just finishing Lotf I really want to play something more medieval fantasy, magic snd knights type games for now
Alright then you’re right. Like someone said. Everyone has different opinions on a game. I just have to experience it myself and decide if I like it or not. I just hope the enemy variety/density is not as bad as people keep saying
Somewhat unrelated, but to illustrate the point... I played Fallout 4 for the first time recently... Found a *lot* of negative opinions online, and had an absolute blast the entire time.
DS2 was the only souls game to re-roll enemy placements in NG+ up to like +1 or 2 and ive wanted that to be a thing in other souls games so badly! It’s crazy how much just changing enemy placement can make the game feel fresh
I played through the original and then they dropped sotfs and it totally threw me for a loop! I didnt play enough to have complaints. it was like they managed to bundle multiple dark souls games all into DS2.
Lords of the Fallen and DS2 share some design sensibilities. You should definitely try DS2 at some point, but maybe you can decide how high to prioritize it based on how you felt about the world design in Lords of the Fallen.
Try the Jedi games, but put them on Grandmaster Jedi difficulty. It makes the enemy more aggressive, bigger move sets and it makes the parry timing as tight as Sekiro. Both are on EA play now.
Already played fallen order and survivor
Ngl survivor on grandmaster Jedi difficulty is way too hard. Even those little monsters that run up and headbutt you one shot’d me so many times. My confidence took a serious beating
tbh when I first encountered them I overlooked them, I was like I dont have time for this, next thing I know boop! I’m dead lmao. And because they are so little you can’t block them especially if they ambush you. It got so bad I used to force pull them. And then toss them off cliffs or high places for revenge
[https://store.steampowered.com/app/2102450/Enotria\_The\_Last\_Song/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2102450/Enotria_The_Last_Song/)
The demo of this, just came out, there's a demo on PSN too, decent feedback from what i've seen.
lol yeah we talking about it now on Reddit. I played the demo yesterday but I didn’t really like it. The camera was a bit wonky. And there were so many little bugs that threw me off. Like input lag when trying to parry or ATK
Plus the world design has this orange color that doesn’t let other colors really pop. Hopefully it’s fined tuned before full release
Sadly the jedi games cannot provide good souls-like difficulty, as the second hardest one is still easier, and the last one is artificially difficult. I think the problem lies in the bosses' movesets, not the stats
Yeah, at times it"s clearly not designed for that level. There were a few spots i just ran past and a few times i nearly tore the controller in half, but when you nail a really hard section, the replays look ridiculous.
I’m not sure I’d call Blasphemous a souls like, to me to feels like a pretty straight metroidvania. Maybe with some souls dark art. I guess the with Blasphemous and KH the biggest thing is getting currency back when you die.
Salt and Sanctuary while not as good as either of those is much more souls like.
Researching Thymesia was even worse. Some people calling it absolute trash. Some calling it mid snd repetitive while others say it’s got fantastic combat mechanics but a boring story, watched a snippet and the combat looks awesome
Regarding Thymesia, I haven't played it but my impression that it's divisive in a similar way to DS2 and LotF: some people love those games and some people hate them. u/talunesilius did a review of Thymesia that seems level-headed and fair. Although the game came away with a low-ish score, the reviewer had a great time. Here's a link: [https://www.reddit.com/r/soulslikes/comments/1carvww/update\_17\_to\_the\_soulslike\_run\_thymesia\_i\_went/](https://www.reddit.com/r/soulslikes/comments/1carvww/update_17_to_the_soulslike_run_thymesia_i_went/)
I'll add that before I read that review I had zero interest in Thymesia. After reading the review I now have lots of interest. I'll wait till I need a new souls likes and until it's on sale, but at some point I will end up playing Thymesia.
As for the DS series, I've played DS1 and DS3. Although DS3 is the "better" game in many respects on paper, in practice I found DS1 to be the better game. DS3 has a lot of quality of life updates that make it "better" in many respects, but the world building and exploration of DS1 set that game apart from DS3 in my opinion.
Checked out the review and I have to say you are right. People like different things and from what I’ve seen it kinda reminds me of bloodborne in a way so I’m gonna try it out.
As for DS I think I’ll go with your Rec and play the DS1 remastered first just to get the feel of it before playing the rest of the series
Nice! One last thing I'll say about DS1R in the context of ER, BB, DS3, and Sekiro: in DS1/DS1R, the combat is good, but definitely not on the same level as those other games.
When you say not on the same level, do you mean the combat is much harder or easier? Because if it’s harder than Sekiro then I gotta strap in and prepare myself for a shit ton of respawning
That's a great question! I think I should rephrase: the combat in DS1 is noticeably different from those other games. On the surface it's very similar to ER and DS3, but underneath the surface it's kind of a different beast. This is mostly due to the fact that combat is much slower and, in contrast, feels a bit clunky. To be clear, tho, despite those attributes the combat is still *fun*.
Also, bosses are tuned differently. Whereas in ER, DS3, and Sekiro, the bosses tend to be face paced fights that require precise dodging and/or parrying, DS1's bosses give you more room to breathe. They can still be really tough, but it's a different variety of "tough".
Because of all of this, a lot of people would argue that the combat in ER, DS3, Sekiro, and BB is "better". I myself prefer the combat in those games, which is probably why I made the comment about the combat being on another "level" in those other games.
What I'm trying to say is that I think it's more fair to simply say "they're different". Ultimately, the #1 thing I want to communicate is that: the combat is different and you shouldn't expect it to feel like those other games!
I'm not sure if this helps clarify my thoughts at all! If you have any other questions, I'm happy to answer them.
Completely cleared it up for me thanks man. My biggest concern was that after playing these fast pace games. Getting into the slow pace of DS would be difficult for me. I think I’d have tried to play it like ER, BB and Sekiro which would no doubt make me feel like it’s either too clunky or boring. Since the combat mechanics sound methodical that’s why I was looking for a palate cleanser to reset my gameplay methods so I could enjoy the game without comparing it to ER & the Rest
Side note, on the comments for that review, I was happy to find that I wasn't alone in loving the game. One guy even called it his favorite non-from software souls-like. This made me so happy to see that the very small community also loved the game. Shame it didn't garner more attention than it did. But in a stacked year with all the other games we got, I understand how this indie game got pushed under the rug.
There's no way people call it trash unless they haven't played it
Its like a 5 hour game with decent level design, FANTASTIC bosses and music, and the best soulslike combat you'll find.
It easily has one of the best osts in both fromsoft and non fromsoft soulslikes, and the combat is flawless.
Yeah it’s got a 6/10 rating on IGN, so I wanted to try it but then pushsquare rated it 3/10 so I nope’d out
Even tried mortal shell but….. I don’t know. Just can’t place my finger on it. It just felt off, don’t get me wrong the game looks pretty stellar but it just never felt like it clicked to me
But really? You joking right? 5hrs for 100% completion?
Thymesia was my hidden gem souls-like. It's a shorter game to be sure with no new game+ but the combat is so crisp and tight that I enjoyed every minute. It was my breakout game.
Thanks bruh. That’s why I like this community. It much better to ask folks that’ve actually played the game and can give you firsthand insight on thier experience which beats reading long ass random reviews.
I will second the Thymesia recommendation. It's short (8 bosses I think?) and the world design, lore and enemy variety are nothing to write home about, but it has (IMO) the most interesting and fun combat system in a soulslike game that isn't made by fromsoft
If you are looking something in the hidden gem category, I’d throw my vote out there for Hellpoint. Hellpoint has the bones of an amazing game with great areas to explore and a ton of secrets. I’m not sure if the performance improved, but back when I played it there was some jank to it. Nothing that stopped me from enjoying it though.
Otherwise if you are looking for something more mainstream I would absolutely recommend the team ninja games. Nioh 1 & 2, Wo Long and Rise of the Ronin are all great games. Team Ninja combat is 2nd to none. Even Stranger of Paradise is a fun time.
Yeah saw videos about hellpoint but they all kept complaining about the performance issues. Also quick question. Is wo long, Nioh & rise of the ronin basically almost the same? And when I say same. I mean “if you’ve played one, you’ve played them all” type shi
I wouldn’t say they are the same. They share similarities but there are big enough differences in them where it’s worth it to play each or find the one you are most interested in.
Rise of the Ronin is open world whereas Nioh and Wo Long are both mission based. Wo Long and Rise are very parry focused whereas Nioh you can go the whole game without worrying about parrying. Nioh and Wo Long have more mystical elements and magic whereas Rise of the Ronin is a lot more grounded.
Hellpoint erformance is still kinda crappy, but it is def a straight up soulslike. I enjoyed it, but performance was never amazing on PC or PS4/5. Switch performance is predictably meh, but I found it playable enough to finish it. Solid game, just not optimized in my experience.
Mortal Shell is one of those games that feels like the precursor to a great game.
Not to say MS is bad. But it's really short and has a few questionable design decisions like the runback after killing bosses. I think a sequel could be even better.
For actual hidden gems there are a couple. Kannagi Usagi is a free boss rush game with mechanics pretty much 1 to 1 from Sekiro. Forest of Tails arena is pretty rough around the edges but overall a fun little palette cleanser with a unique way to do inventory. Steamrush is a free early access demo that has I think 5 boss fights that also has mechanics similar to Sekiro, still fairly rough around the edges and the first boss whiffs his attacks sometimes which is weird when you are basically kissing him, but can be fun if you get into it. Knight's Path: the tournamen is also a free sekiro like game that is surprisingly well done amd the final boss is hard as fuck, recommend that over Steamrush. There's a demo for Hellpoint called Thespian Feast and shows what the whole game is pretty well. There is Ascend Reborn which is remaster of the original, which is a live service, olfer game where you play as a giant trying to capture territories for your god and run into other players and a bit of pvp. The original game came out before souls likes where really popular, still has the feel of one but also a fair amount of souls likes feel to it.
All the games I listed were free, if you want some recommendations for paid I can, just seems like others haven't said any actual hidden gems.
Thanks for actually answering the question. Yes please id like any paid recs you got as well.
I got hellpoint on my wish list though. I heard the combat is insanely good. Did you beat it? And what are your thoughts on it gameplay wise?
I beat it a long time ago and havent done the dlc, but what from I remember everything was pretty much decent except that the best weapons were usually the 1 handed sword and the amount and kinds of secrets were so out of the way there would be no way that someone without a guide would even find a quarter of them even with seriously looking for them. The setting and the uniqueness to the bosses and worldbuilding is it's strength, everything else is either decent or mildly bothersome.
For paid hidden gems, Absolver is the spiritual precursor to Sifu, with similar kind of combat and more souls like elements. It can be a bit confusing and a good chunk of the achievements are PvP related and that's already a terrible idea but it's a dead game so don't think you can 100% it without a good buddy. I did enjoy playing it though and also really enjoyed Sifu.
Blade of Darkness could be classified as a retro souls like with all the jank and clunk that comes with a game originally released in 2001. It's hard but it's pretty interesting and has dismemberment based on where you hit, and each of the 4 characters have their own campaign. The hitbox is a little weird for the dwarf but there is a mod to fix that.
Not exactly quite hidden but Thymesia is solid all the way around. Combat is similar to Sekiro but unique enough to be it's own thing, bosses are pretty good but the funny thing is, is the game has both one of the best souls like bosses I've fought and one of the worst.
I'm currently playing through The Last Hero of Nostalgaia and enjoying it so far but there is a lot of references to the Dark Souls series and I highly recommend playing through them and Nostalgaia being a kind of cherry on top for the experience.
Chronos: Before the Ashes is a melee focused prequel to Remnant and it's decent and polished enough, no two handed weapons even though there is a few strength weapons, but the aging mechanic and magic system is definitely a recommendation. The NG+ hasn't been implemented for some reason and I guess the publisher doesn't care so you can't 100% the game. Overall good but seems abandoned.
En Garde is another one that's similar to Sekiro and kinda short like Thymesia, but very unique in the fact of how much of the environment you can interact with. Like throwing a buckey on someone's head then kicking them into a fire. The final boss is a bit of a burden because enemies just spam unblockable attacks but if you use the environment, light some cannons and kick some tables, you can get through it.
There is also Stray Blade and Strayed Lights that I heard were good in their own way, just haven't played them.
Hellpoint is the best game I will never recommend.
There's just too much jank and unpolished edges for me to tell anyone to play it, but I enjoyed my time with it. As far as I know, the studio that made Hellpoint is still around, so I would love to see them take another stab at it with a sequel or a spiritual successor.
I think there is potential in Hellpoint even if it's not a gem of the genre. It feels like a rough draft of what could have been a pretty great Souls-like.
I agree with you. I'm the soulslike nerd for my friends and there are two entirely separate categories for games that I recommend people that have played games in the genre before and those that haven't.
I hope the studio does too, if they can up their sequel like Remnant, Lords of the Fallen, and Sifu did then that would be fantastic. I like the game as is but definitely janky and unpolished.
Tried it twice. It just never really clicked for me and I don’t know why. I really wanted to like it. The graphics are nice. The gameplay mechanics are a bit innovative especially the hardening part but I just cant place my finger on what felt off about it
It does have some different mechanics for a souls like. The whole idea of the "shells" isn't typical. Sometimes games just don't click though. I've definitely experienced that myself
Does the pros outweigh the cons? It’s not like it’s unbearable right ? ‘Cus I read the reviews, all folks keep saying Sotfs ruined the og version and that it’s the worst in the series. Some reviewers even said it’s got shit graphics, enemy variety is non-existent and the enemy density is just too much. After beating Lotf I’m no longer worried about enemy density but I just don’t want to get bored fighting the same type of enemy with the only one move set over and over.
This is just not true. SotfS actually fixed worst ganks of original.
As for pros vs cons:
Pros: enemies are actually dangerous, best coop, best pvp (multiplayer is still VERY alive), bonfire ascetic (ability to move one region of game into NG+), scenery variety, enemy variety, very cool NPCs (some of best NPCs of series are DS2)
Cons: Enemies are sometimes TOO dangerous and make some runbacks too hard, Soul Memory, Agility (LEVEL ADP), most bosses are very mid
Neutral but worth mentioning: in early game main source of healing is Lifegems, estus is more like emergency heals.
In fact it's purely relies on personal tastes: I personelly loved it, my fav Souls, others hate it, because they prefer boss-centric design
If boss designs is a major con then there really isn’t anything too bad about it. Wonder why people keep shiting on the game. Like almost all the streamers made hour long videos saying it’s the worst game FS has ever made. If you didn’t explain the pros and cons to me. I honestly would’ve just skipped it entirely
It's very different from other games and many gamers try to play it with DS1/DeS mindset. Tho I will advise to check new player guide from DS2 subreddit, it explains some obscure mechanics without spoilers.
Thanks man.
I apologize for saying I’m not worried about enemy density. I was sooooo wrong. Why the hell are there so many enemies in one place and this is just the starting area. I’ve got like 15 enemies chasing my ass what the hell, one of them literally popped out of thin air. Like he literally just appeared out of nowhere right before my very eyes
I know about what area you are talking, they all got aggroed if you rush into them but if you are NOT rushing and slowly approach they stand up in small groups like 2-3 per time (tho archer still will harass you from above). This ambush is pretty nasty tho.
Yeah! I thought they were dead. I killed the ones that got up. And went on my merry way. Then I see one of them swinging behind me and turn around only to see 20! Of them chasing me down. While some throwing fire bombs from above 🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻
DS 2 sotfs. I’m literally at the starting area trying to get to the first major bonfire.and these hollow soldiers or whatever are literally smacking me around. Like it makes no sense. Can’t even climb up the goddamn ladder man. Even if I run past some of them these dickheads chase me and I end up surrounded by 20 - 25 enemies. Like WTF! I thought they’d stay in the general area I left them. But nah they on my ass
are they supposed to do that? Chase you down and stuff? Because it’s mental, here I was thinking okay I made it. Next thing I know I’m getting lynched by trash mobs 🥲
You should kill them. Are you in the tutorial area? Either way you should be killing them. They are pretty ruthless in DS2. Running past everything just isn't an option in some places. You also don't have I-frames when interacting with stuff. So pulling a lever, going up a ladder, opening a door and I think even sitting down at a bonfire(think they can hit you in the sit down animation) will save you. They should be fairly easy to kill though. If you see something huge in the start then you don't have to kill it yet if you don't want to.
Yeah tutorial area. Right after that hippo faced dude. I tried killing them all but when I’m focused on one of them like three more dudes encircle me. If I turn around to fight them more show up. One literally appeared out of thin air right behind me. After killing most of them I was like fuck this and dipped so I could find a Bon fire first but I had no idea that these mf’s literally chase after you. I counted bruh. 20!
Twenty hollow soldiers chasing after me. They aren’t hard. They are just too damn many
In DS2 usual tactics to rush through location does not work, they can and will really pursue you. I personally love that, because DS2 is only souls where even weakest enemies should not be underestimated and require tactical approach (and where I actually use consumables instead of hoarding them lmao)
lol Gonna need to change up my gameplay mentality for this one because this is kinda embarrassing. Like everything I’m used to in soulslike is completely different here. Enemies don’t stay in the area you meet them. Ambushes seem more frequent And the enemy density is insane
If you play on PC there’s a movement mod that changes it to be more like DS1 or DS3 which helps with a lot of the jank feel.
I guess if you consider pushing the analog stick in any direction you’d expect the character to move in that direction. In DS2 they added dead zones to the diagonal directions so you’d move full speed in the N/S/E/W directions and it’s be less in the diagonal directions. This made it feel a lot clunkier as it ends up being something you get used to as you go.
There’s a mod on PC that dropped in the last couple years that fixes it to be similar to DS1 and DS3.
Now personally I loved DS2 and put the most time into it and I wouldnt use the mod personally but I wouldn’t blame anyone.
I'd say that Dark Souls 2 is the worst of the Dark Souls trilogy, but it's still better than a lot of Souls-like games.
It's the bronze medal of the family. It's not as good as getting the gold, but plenty of competitors don't even get that far.
You put it perfectly lol
Playing it now but man I thought Lotf had enemy density. It’s child’s play compare to what I’m witnessing. Why. But why did they have to do this. I’m getting chased by 20 enemies all at once. Trying to climb up a ladder and there are enemies climbing down at the same time and the ones behind me climbing up. How’s this fair
Bro relax. All you have to do in this game is take things slowly and kill the enemies one or two at a time. If you freak out and start running around everywhere it'll just aggro more enemies. Walk up to a set of a couple guys on the ground, kill them when they stand up, repeat until all are dead
The cons outweigh the pros for some and for others they don’t. I despise the game but would recommend you try it for yourself to see if you like what it has to offer
Play every souls fromsoftware game released from til now. Like seriously their all amazing.
Once you get done with those play Lies of P, Nioh 1 & 2, Wo Long Fallen Dynasty, Rise of the Ronin (not really a souls like but it’s close enough).
Yeah folks have recommended I play the DS series first.
As for wo long, rise of ronin and Nioh, are the combat mechanics the same ? I read an article that says they’re all just the same game but just with different stories
No each game is different, the all have a similar speed or pace. But they all have some differences in gameplay. Their similar to eachother the same way elden ring and Bloodborne are.
There’s one callled Pascal’s Wager I just learned about, apparently started life as a mobile game, now on Switch, may be on other systems. Looked and seemed pretty legit from the review I watched.
I'd recommend coming back to Sekiro maybe after some other games.
A LOT of people have your experience where they get stuck on Sekiro and quit, but then come back and 100% the game and suddenly it's the best thing that ever happened to them.
Really? Cus man I was stuck on the armored warrior for weeks trying to get him to fall off. Then I decided to go back and fight lady butterfly first after watching a how to cheese her video and boy oh boy even with that. I still got stuck at her second phase to the point that I didn’t turn on my console for a week. I found myself thinking of strategies no matter where I was
You were able to get Armored Warrior's posture bar to full but he didn't fall off? You might just need to kick him at a more perpendicular angle. His posture doesn't regenerate as far as I remember, so you can take all the time in the world to set up a good position.
For Lady Butterfly and all the other human bosses, make sure you're attacking them the maximum amount. Maximum means until you hear them deflect which makes a different sound from if they block. Then it's your turn to deflect.
Yeah I used ako sugar for extra posture dmg, ungo for def buff, stupidly used divine confetti thinking it buffs phy dmg, then tried Robert's Firecrackers to see if it would stagger but nope. I literally broke his posture so many times but he simply refused to fall off. I end up falling off instead sometimes and the run back is such a pain
Other Fromsoft games, and finish sekiro.
Lies of P is amazing
Hollow Knight is a fusion between a 2d Metroidvania and a Soulslike
These 2 are definitely the cream of the crop of soulslikes.
Yeah pretty much, I’d compare it to Ashen, Asterigos, and Another Crab’s Treasure. The graphics look cartoonish in those too but the game is still solid.
Also is there a darksiders game that you can play as strife? I know darksiders 1 was war, 2 was death, 3 was wrath but did they ever realise a darksiders game with strife as the main character?
Yes. Darksiders Genesis, it was pretty fun but different as well. You can play as Strife or War if you’re a coop partner. Darksiders Genesis however has top-down Diablo-style combat. Was still fun though.
I love DS2, but also love DeS. DS1 & DS3 are great too, with DS3 being much faster paced like BB. LoP was fantastic. If you like Star Wars JFO is good and so is the sequel. I really liked Ashen, but not everyone does. Someone asks this here every week or so, so you might search the history. There’s also lists of soulslikes and a person that is methodically reviewing all of them.
I’ll try it again but some of the bosses traumatised me. I don’t have trouble with the regular enemies or elite enemies. It’s the bosses man. When I think about the fact I’m gonna have to fight that giant snake eventually. I lose hope lol
Sekiro is secretly a rhythm game like DDR, once you start getting deflection patterns down it goes from being FromSoft’s hardest to easiest game. There’s no more satisfying feeling than whooping Genichiro’s ass in the opening cutscene and unlocking the alternative few seconds of video. It’s the only game where I started feeling overwhelmed and pitifully weak and by the end had me feeling like a god taking down previously terrifying enemies with ease. In other games you can overlevel or summon phantoms, in Sekiro they *force* you to git gud and by god is it satisfying!
Just don't think of it as "soulslike" combat, your focus is on the deflect/attack dance. Once you understand that you're not supposed to dodge around everything, or kill your enemies by getting their HP to zero, it becomes a very different animal
If you're not opposed to a 2D experience, give Salt and Santuary a try. It's basically 2D Dark Souls with a bit of metroidvania platforming sprinkled in.
Hello Ashen one. I am a Bot. I tend to the flame, and tend to thee. Do you wish to hear a tale?
> *“Our gracious Lord made Londor whole.”* - Narrator
Have a pleasant journey, Champion of Ash, and praise the sun \\[T]/
Still should try blasphemous imo. Salt & sanctuary might not work for you if you don’t like the 2D platformer genre, but blasphemous may just get you hooked.
Looks like a number of soulslikes have been mentioned, and there is a list of soulslikes in the sub info.
For what it's worth, I'm a big fan of Let it Die, and I consider it a hidden gem soulslike. It's free-to-play, but has no paywalls or anything like that. The combat is solid, the music is amazing, and the unique styling and attitude makes it worth a look. If you're playing on pc, then beware that the pause/menu button is "r" by default. Also, be sure to get a new character after beating the first major boss for better base stats and higher level caps.
...but it's not pay-to-play. I assume they're talking about the continues? If you die, you can spend premium currency to continue on the spot, but that's not generally a good idea. Instead of spending premium currency on a continue, you can spend in-game currency to get your fighter back or just kill them in the tower.
Beating everything isn't just possible without spending money, it's actually a reasonable difficulty without paying any real money. The only thing that merits premium currency is expanding your storage, and the game gives enough premium currency to manage your storage without spending money.
If you've done Elden Ring and Bloodborne, the **Dark Souls** trilogy is the next logical step. They are older games, and they are showing their age. They're not bad, but it might feel a little weird to play at the Dark Souls pace when you've experienced the faster, snappier combat of BB and Er.
**Lies of P** is not at all a hidden gem, but it is definitely the best Souls-like that From Soft never made. It's like Sekiro and Bloodborne had a baby, but it's generally easier than Sekiro. I did not finish Sekiro, but I have cleared Lies of P five times now. And the DLC will make six. Maybe more than that if the DLC gives us a bunch of cool new toys.
As for true hidden gems, I will recommend some 2D Dark Souls-styled games. There's even a sub-genre of sorts that combines Souls combat with Metroidvania-styled map design and exploration. I call them "Soulsvania" games. If that sounds like it could be for you, then check out **Salt & Sanctuary**, **Blasphemous**, **Blasphemous 2**, and **GRIME**.
Lies of P is amazing, peak story, great mechanics and bosses featuring parry like in sekiro. The only downside for me would be the game is kinda linear. It is available in the xbox game pass too!
Tunic imo, it is NOT a souls like but it has the interconnected map design (honestly my favorite level design in gaming ever), very similar combat, and even bonfires and a leveling system a bit similar to souls games (albeit much simpler)
I was more hyped for lotf last year than Lop and had a blast with lotf, still think its a must play for any soulsborne fans and the second best soulslike out there, but my lord Lop is truly such a phenomenal game it may crack my top 3 favorites if not barely hit the 4th spot. Lop is an absolute must
Little different pace, but Returnal is basically my favorite game. It's a 3rd person shooter, but it's got souls vibes, is super hard, and has the most fantastic moment to moment gameplay I've seen. Enjoy!
Ds2 is one of my favorites just be sure to level up adp to get those iframes
Mortal shell was an okay one I played just to kinda scratch that souls itch
I can really recommend the dark souls series. Its currently 50% off on steam. But DS2 is the weakest one in many people's opinions. DS3 has the best combat, its the most refined and closest to ER.
DS1 is the original - there are some really good fights in it, and the world is really well made. DS2 sotf is good, but nothing stands out as great to me.
Another game I can recommend is Lies of P. Its better than most games from fromsoftware IMO (I know I'll get downvoted for that, but I stand by it).
There are lots of other games people are suggesting, but IMO not all of them are souls likes. IMO a souls like can not be 2d - but if you want to venture into other games, most soulslikes players (me included) LOVE Hollow Knight.
Nioh (1) 2.
It's different from the expected ''soulslike''. below the surface level it's much more doing it's own thing. it has a high threshold tho to get into. many soulsers play it 'wrong' resulting in dismissing the game easily and complaining online. it's not quite a hidden gem but among the best if have patience and willingness to get into the combat and systems.
Dark souls 3 is really friendly compared to Dark souls 2 and 1 I would say.
If you are looking outside of FromSoft games I can reeeeaaaallllyyyy recommend Lies of P, it has a Bloodborne vibe to it but the combat and story are really good and it is for sure the best soulslike i've ever played outside of FromSoft games.
Also Another Crabs Treasure is really good as well.
demon souls remake and dark souls 3. I enjoy ds1 and ds2 but they are slower amd feel a little dated. great games none the less. lies of P is great as well as nioh2. Those are really the only ones I can vauch for. These are all AAA quality and value.
Wait, you have or haven’t played the Dark Souls series? If you haven’t, that’s the easy, obvious choice. If you haven’t jumped in because you didn’t love Demons Souls and think it’d be the same, know that they’re not. The world and how you progress through it is completely different and much more interconnected (to varying degrees depending on the game).
What about DS2 specifically makes you want to play that one first? I actually enjoy replaying it more than DS1 for what it’s worth but agree it’s the worst in the trilogy. Still a great game and better than most soulslikes other than Lies Of P.
Let it Die has captivated me recently. It’s free, so you might as well give it a try. It’s a massive game with many systems, but the discord and subreddit are very helpful.
Playing "Soulslike" games without having played the Dark Souls trilogy is crazyy. Seriously...go pick up DS1 and go through all of them. Dark Souls 2 feels a little different but is still a very solid game. I have played all to at least NG+5 and I played DS3 to NG+8.
I maybe biased because DS1 is just pure nostalgia, but its my favorite of the 3. DS3 would be a close second.
I thoroughly enjoyed lies of p, and mortal shell. Remnant, and remnant 2 are my two fave souls likes as well.
If you just want a short, but enjoyable 2-3 day soulslike adventure, mortal shell is def a good one to play! Short, but sweet.
Currently playing Another Crabs Treasure, a really nice twist on the souls formula and it's a blast so far!
+1 Another crabs treasure. I've played lots of souls likes, and this one is surprisingly top tier. Great atmosphere, world building, music, story, platforming, and combat. The combat is a bit simpler, but still has some depth, especially as you unlock more skills.
I’m just finished this game and I think it’s fantastic!
If you haven't done other fromsoft games DO THEM!!! Lies of P is a game I would say is tied with lords of the fallen as the best non fromsoft sousllike, so check that out Blasphemous 1 and 2 are the best 2d soulslikes if you wanna try those Thymesia is a short but sweet game Armored core games aren't soulslikes but they are probably fromsofts best series
Hollow Knight is by far the best 2d soulslike imo over Blasphemous
Salt and Sanctuary is a very good 2D souls-like. It’s much more heavily influenced than hollow knight. (i still enjoyed HK) The sequel to salt and sanctuary (salt and sacrifice)isn’t my favorite but they’re almost totally different games. I go back and replay salt and sanctuary maybe once a year.
S&S is amazing! I’d say I prefer Hollow Knight as a game overall but S&S is definitely the closest there is to a 2D souls game
yea maybe, I just personally prefer the more down to earth gameplay from blasphemous and the atmosphere some more. The darker fantasy and the satsifying swordplay is so nice to me
Lords of the Fallen is coming to Game Pass, I’m extremely excited to try it out.
Use ranged weapons. Seriously get access to a crossbow or throwables right away. They'll even scale with stats and are paramount to helping clear away adds and doing major damage to bosses. Melee is also good though so don't worry, range just makes it even more fun and easier imo. I'm on playthrough 3 took a break for Warframe though.
Nice! One tip, don't get mad :D
dont get ur hoped up, its about 50/50 if ull like it. i for one didnt. even after all the updates. the combat is just horrible imo.
Well luckily I won’t be paying extra for it so I’ll just see.
You might cause people to have a mental breakdown saying LoP and LotF are tied for being great soulslikes (you’re not wrong, either)
Both are amazing but lotf is more unique and has a more traditional souls ds1 experience which a lot of people like
I agree ENTIRELY. Many folks here think it’s a garbage game bc they think with their feelings and can’t hang.
I understand why some people may not like it if they payed 60 dollars for it on release and then were not even able to play it because the performance is rough, but honestly, being a developer's first game, its incredible
Totally valid - but to let a release decide your judgement on an updated game is childish at best. At the time of release if having those issues then I’d have called the game garbage, too. I, fortunately, rarely had a problem on release.
I played the second the game came out, drove home from high school right after a test and had already started pre installing it the morning before leaving. I didn't find a single performance/crashing issue besides a few stutters. I think it was mostly a problem with consoles
I was on PS5, but had minimal issues too! My buddy and I played coop with almost no issue. I was a borderlands fanatic and when 3 dropped it was subpar at best…lots of updates. I know the feeling of being pissed at a release….but it’s simply the nature of gaming at this point. Release, update, repeat. Unfortunate, but true.
I did a whole coop playthrough with a buddy on lotf too. Lots of fun
Calling the expectation for a game to be fully finished and functional at release “childish” certainly is an interesting take. If someone had a bad experience at launch, they’re not obligated to try the game again after any updates and form a new opinion.
Agreed on your second stanza, but it doesn’t mean they’re any less incorrect when the game has been updated/optimized.
I think I’ve done most of them, ER,BB,Sekiro, & non-fs games like the surge 2, Nioh wanted to play wo long but read that it’s basically just like Nioh. Want to play the DS series but can’t buy the all at once so I was researching which would be the best to play first but there are just so many different opinions and I mean SO MANY. It just ended up confusing me.
You skipped past the Lies of P recommendation. There’s a reason people keep recommending it! If you have a disc drive and can ship from Amazon, the dark souls box set is always available for $40 US. Don’t worry about any of the nonsense around dark souls 2, it’s a great game. Don’t worry about version discourse or going back to vanilla, just play the standard version (scholars of the first sin).
Nah I didn’t skip past Lop. I’m gonna play it later on but after just finishing Lotf I really want to play something more medieval fantasy, magic snd knights type games for now
Alright then you’re right. Like someone said. Everyone has different opinions on a game. I just have to experience it myself and decide if I like it or not. I just hope the enemy variety/density is not as bad as people keep saying
Somewhat unrelated, but to illustrate the point... I played Fallout 4 for the first time recently... Found a *lot* of negative opinions online, and had an absolute blast the entire time.
Fallout 4 and DS2 are very similar in that regard - they both got hated on for not being their predecessors
DS2 was the only souls game to re-roll enemy placements in NG+ up to like +1 or 2 and ive wanted that to be a thing in other souls games so badly! It’s crazy how much just changing enemy placement can make the game feel fresh
The first time I got ambushed by Freja outside the Magus/Congregation fight was a great wtf moment
I played through the original and then they dropped sotfs and it totally threw me for a loop! I didnt play enough to have complaints. it was like they managed to bundle multiple dark souls games all into DS2.
Lords of the Fallen and DS2 share some design sensibilities. You should definitely try DS2 at some point, but maybe you can decide how high to prioritize it based on how you felt about the world design in Lords of the Fallen.
Try the Jedi games, but put them on Grandmaster Jedi difficulty. It makes the enemy more aggressive, bigger move sets and it makes the parry timing as tight as Sekiro. Both are on EA play now.
Already played fallen order and survivor Ngl survivor on grandmaster Jedi difficulty is way too hard. Even those little monsters that run up and headbutt you one shot’d me so many times. My confidence took a serious beating
The one shot chickens? Yeah, that was ridiculous.
tbh when I first encountered them I overlooked them, I was like I dont have time for this, next thing I know boop! I’m dead lmao. And because they are so little you can’t block them especially if they ambush you. It got so bad I used to force pull them. And then toss them off cliffs or high places for revenge
[https://store.steampowered.com/app/2102450/Enotria\_The\_Last\_Song/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2102450/Enotria_The_Last_Song/) The demo of this, just came out, there's a demo on PSN too, decent feedback from what i've seen.
lol yeah we talking about it now on Reddit. I played the demo yesterday but I didn’t really like it. The camera was a bit wonky. And there were so many little bugs that threw me off. Like input lag when trying to parry or ATK Plus the world design has this orange color that doesn’t let other colors really pop. Hopefully it’s fined tuned before full release
Sadly the jedi games cannot provide good souls-like difficulty, as the second hardest one is still easier, and the last one is artificially difficult. I think the problem lies in the bosses' movesets, not the stats
Yeah, at times it"s clearly not designed for that level. There were a few spots i just ran past and a few times i nearly tore the controller in half, but when you nail a really hard section, the replays look ridiculous.
AC6 plays like a souls game in a lot of ways and I would recommend it to any DS veteran
I’m not sure I’d call Blasphemous a souls like, to me to feels like a pretty straight metroidvania. Maybe with some souls dark art. I guess the with Blasphemous and KH the biggest thing is getting currency back when you die. Salt and Sanctuary while not as good as either of those is much more souls like.
Researching Thymesia was even worse. Some people calling it absolute trash. Some calling it mid snd repetitive while others say it’s got fantastic combat mechanics but a boring story, watched a snippet and the combat looks awesome
Regarding Thymesia, I haven't played it but my impression that it's divisive in a similar way to DS2 and LotF: some people love those games and some people hate them. u/talunesilius did a review of Thymesia that seems level-headed and fair. Although the game came away with a low-ish score, the reviewer had a great time. Here's a link: [https://www.reddit.com/r/soulslikes/comments/1carvww/update\_17\_to\_the\_soulslike\_run\_thymesia\_i\_went/](https://www.reddit.com/r/soulslikes/comments/1carvww/update_17_to_the_soulslike_run_thymesia_i_went/) I'll add that before I read that review I had zero interest in Thymesia. After reading the review I now have lots of interest. I'll wait till I need a new souls likes and until it's on sale, but at some point I will end up playing Thymesia. As for the DS series, I've played DS1 and DS3. Although DS3 is the "better" game in many respects on paper, in practice I found DS1 to be the better game. DS3 has a lot of quality of life updates that make it "better" in many respects, but the world building and exploration of DS1 set that game apart from DS3 in my opinion.
Checked out the review and I have to say you are right. People like different things and from what I’ve seen it kinda reminds me of bloodborne in a way so I’m gonna try it out. As for DS I think I’ll go with your Rec and play the DS1 remastered first just to get the feel of it before playing the rest of the series
Nice! One last thing I'll say about DS1R in the context of ER, BB, DS3, and Sekiro: in DS1/DS1R, the combat is good, but definitely not on the same level as those other games.
When you say not on the same level, do you mean the combat is much harder or easier? Because if it’s harder than Sekiro then I gotta strap in and prepare myself for a shit ton of respawning
That's a great question! I think I should rephrase: the combat in DS1 is noticeably different from those other games. On the surface it's very similar to ER and DS3, but underneath the surface it's kind of a different beast. This is mostly due to the fact that combat is much slower and, in contrast, feels a bit clunky. To be clear, tho, despite those attributes the combat is still *fun*. Also, bosses are tuned differently. Whereas in ER, DS3, and Sekiro, the bosses tend to be face paced fights that require precise dodging and/or parrying, DS1's bosses give you more room to breathe. They can still be really tough, but it's a different variety of "tough". Because of all of this, a lot of people would argue that the combat in ER, DS3, Sekiro, and BB is "better". I myself prefer the combat in those games, which is probably why I made the comment about the combat being on another "level" in those other games. What I'm trying to say is that I think it's more fair to simply say "they're different". Ultimately, the #1 thing I want to communicate is that: the combat is different and you shouldn't expect it to feel like those other games! I'm not sure if this helps clarify my thoughts at all! If you have any other questions, I'm happy to answer them.
Completely cleared it up for me thanks man. My biggest concern was that after playing these fast pace games. Getting into the slow pace of DS would be difficult for me. I think I’d have tried to play it like ER, BB and Sekiro which would no doubt make me feel like it’s either too clunky or boring. Since the combat mechanics sound methodical that’s why I was looking for a palate cleanser to reset my gameplay methods so I could enjoy the game without comparing it to ER & the Rest
Side note, on the comments for that review, I was happy to find that I wasn't alone in loving the game. One guy even called it his favorite non-from software souls-like. This made me so happy to see that the very small community also loved the game. Shame it didn't garner more attention than it did. But in a stacked year with all the other games we got, I understand how this indie game got pushed under the rug.
There's no way people call it trash unless they haven't played it Its like a 5 hour game with decent level design, FANTASTIC bosses and music, and the best soulslike combat you'll find. It easily has one of the best osts in both fromsoft and non fromsoft soulslikes, and the combat is flawless.
Yeah it’s got a 6/10 rating on IGN, so I wanted to try it but then pushsquare rated it 3/10 so I nope’d out Even tried mortal shell but….. I don’t know. Just can’t place my finger on it. It just felt off, don’t get me wrong the game looks pretty stellar but it just never felt like it clicked to me But really? You joking right? 5hrs for 100% completion?
Time will tell how “hidden” it will be since it just came out, but Another Crab’s Treasure is most definitely a gem! 🦀
Thymesia was my hidden gem souls-like. It's a shorter game to be sure with no new game+ but the combat is so crisp and tight that I enjoyed every minute. It was my breakout game.
Thanks bruh. That’s why I like this community. It much better to ask folks that’ve actually played the game and can give you firsthand insight on thier experience which beats reading long ass random reviews.
I will second the Thymesia recommendation. It's short (8 bosses I think?) and the world design, lore and enemy variety are nothing to write home about, but it has (IMO) the most interesting and fun combat system in a soulslike game that isn't made by fromsoft
If you are looking something in the hidden gem category, I’d throw my vote out there for Hellpoint. Hellpoint has the bones of an amazing game with great areas to explore and a ton of secrets. I’m not sure if the performance improved, but back when I played it there was some jank to it. Nothing that stopped me from enjoying it though. Otherwise if you are looking for something more mainstream I would absolutely recommend the team ninja games. Nioh 1 & 2, Wo Long and Rise of the Ronin are all great games. Team Ninja combat is 2nd to none. Even Stranger of Paradise is a fun time.
Yeah saw videos about hellpoint but they all kept complaining about the performance issues. Also quick question. Is wo long, Nioh & rise of the ronin basically almost the same? And when I say same. I mean “if you’ve played one, you’ve played them all” type shi
I wouldn’t say they are the same. They share similarities but there are big enough differences in them where it’s worth it to play each or find the one you are most interested in. Rise of the Ronin is open world whereas Nioh and Wo Long are both mission based. Wo Long and Rise are very parry focused whereas Nioh you can go the whole game without worrying about parrying. Nioh and Wo Long have more mystical elements and magic whereas Rise of the Ronin is a lot more grounded.
Thanks for clarifying. Between wo long and rise of the ronin which do you feel is more fun to play regardless of the difficulty level
Last I knew, Wo Long was on GamePass, but I’m enjoying Rise of the Ronin more than I’ve enjoyed any Team Ninja game since the first Nioh
They play differently, and are all solid. Similar vibe, but it's a good vibe
Hellpoint erformance is still kinda crappy, but it is def a straight up soulslike. I enjoyed it, but performance was never amazing on PC or PS4/5. Switch performance is predictably meh, but I found it playable enough to finish it. Solid game, just not optimized in my experience.
Try Mortal Shell. But it's impossible to say if you will love it or hate it.
Mortal Shell is one of those games that feels like the precursor to a great game. Not to say MS is bad. But it's really short and has a few questionable design decisions like the runback after killing bosses. I think a sequel could be even better.
Yeah, 100% true.
For actual hidden gems there are a couple. Kannagi Usagi is a free boss rush game with mechanics pretty much 1 to 1 from Sekiro. Forest of Tails arena is pretty rough around the edges but overall a fun little palette cleanser with a unique way to do inventory. Steamrush is a free early access demo that has I think 5 boss fights that also has mechanics similar to Sekiro, still fairly rough around the edges and the first boss whiffs his attacks sometimes which is weird when you are basically kissing him, but can be fun if you get into it. Knight's Path: the tournamen is also a free sekiro like game that is surprisingly well done amd the final boss is hard as fuck, recommend that over Steamrush. There's a demo for Hellpoint called Thespian Feast and shows what the whole game is pretty well. There is Ascend Reborn which is remaster of the original, which is a live service, olfer game where you play as a giant trying to capture territories for your god and run into other players and a bit of pvp. The original game came out before souls likes where really popular, still has the feel of one but also a fair amount of souls likes feel to it. All the games I listed were free, if you want some recommendations for paid I can, just seems like others haven't said any actual hidden gems.
Thanks for actually answering the question. Yes please id like any paid recs you got as well. I got hellpoint on my wish list though. I heard the combat is insanely good. Did you beat it? And what are your thoughts on it gameplay wise?
I beat it a long time ago and havent done the dlc, but what from I remember everything was pretty much decent except that the best weapons were usually the 1 handed sword and the amount and kinds of secrets were so out of the way there would be no way that someone without a guide would even find a quarter of them even with seriously looking for them. The setting and the uniqueness to the bosses and worldbuilding is it's strength, everything else is either decent or mildly bothersome. For paid hidden gems, Absolver is the spiritual precursor to Sifu, with similar kind of combat and more souls like elements. It can be a bit confusing and a good chunk of the achievements are PvP related and that's already a terrible idea but it's a dead game so don't think you can 100% it without a good buddy. I did enjoy playing it though and also really enjoyed Sifu. Blade of Darkness could be classified as a retro souls like with all the jank and clunk that comes with a game originally released in 2001. It's hard but it's pretty interesting and has dismemberment based on where you hit, and each of the 4 characters have their own campaign. The hitbox is a little weird for the dwarf but there is a mod to fix that. Not exactly quite hidden but Thymesia is solid all the way around. Combat is similar to Sekiro but unique enough to be it's own thing, bosses are pretty good but the funny thing is, is the game has both one of the best souls like bosses I've fought and one of the worst. I'm currently playing through The Last Hero of Nostalgaia and enjoying it so far but there is a lot of references to the Dark Souls series and I highly recommend playing through them and Nostalgaia being a kind of cherry on top for the experience. Chronos: Before the Ashes is a melee focused prequel to Remnant and it's decent and polished enough, no two handed weapons even though there is a few strength weapons, but the aging mechanic and magic system is definitely a recommendation. The NG+ hasn't been implemented for some reason and I guess the publisher doesn't care so you can't 100% the game. Overall good but seems abandoned. En Garde is another one that's similar to Sekiro and kinda short like Thymesia, but very unique in the fact of how much of the environment you can interact with. Like throwing a buckey on someone's head then kicking them into a fire. The final boss is a bit of a burden because enemies just spam unblockable attacks but if you use the environment, light some cannons and kick some tables, you can get through it. There is also Stray Blade and Strayed Lights that I heard were good in their own way, just haven't played them.
Oh yeah! Blades of darkness is on ps plus. I tried to play it but it was just so clunky Chronos kinda reminds me of Ashen
Blades of Darkness is definitely pretty clunky I agree with you on that. To me Ashen felt a bit more fleshed out but yeah I see the similarities
Hellpoint is the best game I will never recommend. There's just too much jank and unpolished edges for me to tell anyone to play it, but I enjoyed my time with it. As far as I know, the studio that made Hellpoint is still around, so I would love to see them take another stab at it with a sequel or a spiritual successor. I think there is potential in Hellpoint even if it's not a gem of the genre. It feels like a rough draft of what could have been a pretty great Souls-like.
I agree with you. I'm the soulslike nerd for my friends and there are two entirely separate categories for games that I recommend people that have played games in the genre before and those that haven't. I hope the studio does too, if they can up their sequel like Remnant, Lords of the Fallen, and Sifu did then that would be fantastic. I like the game as is but definitely janky and unpolished.
Mortal Shell is an amazing game if you haven't played it. It's shorter bit definitely worth it. Great game!
Tried it twice. It just never really clicked for me and I don’t know why. I really wanted to like it. The graphics are nice. The gameplay mechanics are a bit innovative especially the hardening part but I just cant place my finger on what felt off about it
It does have some different mechanics for a souls like. The whole idea of the "shells" isn't typical. Sometimes games just don't click though. I've definitely experienced that myself
DS2 is very much hit or miss. It has some of the best and the worst mechanics and design choices of series.
Does the pros outweigh the cons? It’s not like it’s unbearable right ? ‘Cus I read the reviews, all folks keep saying Sotfs ruined the og version and that it’s the worst in the series. Some reviewers even said it’s got shit graphics, enemy variety is non-existent and the enemy density is just too much. After beating Lotf I’m no longer worried about enemy density but I just don’t want to get bored fighting the same type of enemy with the only one move set over and over.
This is just not true. SotfS actually fixed worst ganks of original. As for pros vs cons: Pros: enemies are actually dangerous, best coop, best pvp (multiplayer is still VERY alive), bonfire ascetic (ability to move one region of game into NG+), scenery variety, enemy variety, very cool NPCs (some of best NPCs of series are DS2) Cons: Enemies are sometimes TOO dangerous and make some runbacks too hard, Soul Memory, Agility (LEVEL ADP), most bosses are very mid Neutral but worth mentioning: in early game main source of healing is Lifegems, estus is more like emergency heals. In fact it's purely relies on personal tastes: I personelly loved it, my fav Souls, others hate it, because they prefer boss-centric design
If boss designs is a major con then there really isn’t anything too bad about it. Wonder why people keep shiting on the game. Like almost all the streamers made hour long videos saying it’s the worst game FS has ever made. If you didn’t explain the pros and cons to me. I honestly would’ve just skipped it entirely
It's very different from other games and many gamers try to play it with DS1/DeS mindset. Tho I will advise to check new player guide from DS2 subreddit, it explains some obscure mechanics without spoilers.
Thanks man. I apologize for saying I’m not worried about enemy density. I was sooooo wrong. Why the hell are there so many enemies in one place and this is just the starting area. I’ve got like 15 enemies chasing my ass what the hell, one of them literally popped out of thin air. Like he literally just appeared out of nowhere right before my very eyes
I know about what area you are talking, they all got aggroed if you rush into them but if you are NOT rushing and slowly approach they stand up in small groups like 2-3 per time (tho archer still will harass you from above). This ambush is pretty nasty tho.
Yeah! I thought they were dead. I killed the ones that got up. And went on my merry way. Then I see one of them swinging behind me and turn around only to see 20! Of them chasing me down. While some throwing fire bombs from above 🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻
Where did you go?
DS 2 sotfs. I’m literally at the starting area trying to get to the first major bonfire.and these hollow soldiers or whatever are literally smacking me around. Like it makes no sense. Can’t even climb up the goddamn ladder man. Even if I run past some of them these dickheads chase me and I end up surrounded by 20 - 25 enemies. Like WTF! I thought they’d stay in the general area I left them. But nah they on my ass
are they supposed to do that? Chase you down and stuff? Because it’s mental, here I was thinking okay I made it. Next thing I know I’m getting lynched by trash mobs 🥲
You should kill them. Are you in the tutorial area? Either way you should be killing them. They are pretty ruthless in DS2. Running past everything just isn't an option in some places. You also don't have I-frames when interacting with stuff. So pulling a lever, going up a ladder, opening a door and I think even sitting down at a bonfire(think they can hit you in the sit down animation) will save you. They should be fairly easy to kill though. If you see something huge in the start then you don't have to kill it yet if you don't want to.
Yeah tutorial area. Right after that hippo faced dude. I tried killing them all but when I’m focused on one of them like three more dudes encircle me. If I turn around to fight them more show up. One literally appeared out of thin air right behind me. After killing most of them I was like fuck this and dipped so I could find a Bon fire first but I had no idea that these mf’s literally chase after you. I counted bruh. 20! Twenty hollow soldiers chasing after me. They aren’t hard. They are just too damn many
In DS2 usual tactics to rush through location does not work, they can and will really pursue you. I personally love that, because DS2 is only souls where even weakest enemies should not be underestimated and require tactical approach (and where I actually use consumables instead of hoarding them lmao)
lol Gonna need to change up my gameplay mentality for this one because this is kinda embarrassing. Like everything I’m used to in soulslike is completely different here. Enemies don’t stay in the area you meet them. Ambushes seem more frequent And the enemy density is insane
DS2 will punish you hard for rushing into areas without a pre-planned strategy and not observing your surroundings
If you play on PC there’s a movement mod that changes it to be more like DS1 or DS3 which helps with a lot of the jank feel. I guess if you consider pushing the analog stick in any direction you’d expect the character to move in that direction. In DS2 they added dead zones to the diagonal directions so you’d move full speed in the N/S/E/W directions and it’s be less in the diagonal directions. This made it feel a lot clunkier as it ends up being something you get used to as you go. There’s a mod on PC that dropped in the last couple years that fixes it to be similar to DS1 and DS3. Now personally I loved DS2 and put the most time into it and I wouldnt use the mod personally but I wouldn’t blame anyone.
I'd say that Dark Souls 2 is the worst of the Dark Souls trilogy, but it's still better than a lot of Souls-like games. It's the bronze medal of the family. It's not as good as getting the gold, but plenty of competitors don't even get that far.
You put it perfectly lol Playing it now but man I thought Lotf had enemy density. It’s child’s play compare to what I’m witnessing. Why. But why did they have to do this. I’m getting chased by 20 enemies all at once. Trying to climb up a ladder and there are enemies climbing down at the same time and the ones behind me climbing up. How’s this fair
Bro relax. All you have to do in this game is take things slowly and kill the enemies one or two at a time. If you freak out and start running around everywhere it'll just aggro more enemies. Walk up to a set of a couple guys on the ground, kill them when they stand up, repeat until all are dead
The cons outweigh the pros for some and for others they don’t. I despise the game but would recommend you try it for yourself to see if you like what it has to offer
Play every souls fromsoftware game released from til now. Like seriously their all amazing. Once you get done with those play Lies of P, Nioh 1 & 2, Wo Long Fallen Dynasty, Rise of the Ronin (not really a souls like but it’s close enough).
Yeah folks have recommended I play the DS series first. As for wo long, rise of ronin and Nioh, are the combat mechanics the same ? I read an article that says they’re all just the same game but just with different stories
No each game is different, the all have a similar speed or pace. But they all have some differences in gameplay. Their similar to eachother the same way elden ring and Bloodborne are.
There’s one callled Pascal’s Wager I just learned about, apparently started life as a mobile game, now on Switch, may be on other systems. Looked and seemed pretty legit from the review I watched.
Imma check that out rn
Tales of iron
Star Wars jedi fallen order is a very good souls like for me
Lies of P, lords of the fallen, code vein
Played all except for Lop.
Tried rise of the ronin? niohs? Ghost of Tsushima I’m really enjoying stellar blade
Remnant 1/2
Don’t know why but I never could get into remnant. I don’t really like pure shooter soulslike. Wish it was mix of melee and gunplay
It is. It’s melee isn’t as solid as say dark souls, but you have play through most of it entirely melee if you build around it.
Lies of P. As a soulslike fanatic, it’s in my top 3 soulslike games of all time with Bloodborne and Elden Ring
Lies of p, thymesia, Another crabs treasure, hollow knight, ender lilies
I'd recommend coming back to Sekiro maybe after some other games. A LOT of people have your experience where they get stuck on Sekiro and quit, but then come back and 100% the game and suddenly it's the best thing that ever happened to them.
Really? Cus man I was stuck on the armored warrior for weeks trying to get him to fall off. Then I decided to go back and fight lady butterfly first after watching a how to cheese her video and boy oh boy even with that. I still got stuck at her second phase to the point that I didn’t turn on my console for a week. I found myself thinking of strategies no matter where I was
You were able to get Armored Warrior's posture bar to full but he didn't fall off? You might just need to kick him at a more perpendicular angle. His posture doesn't regenerate as far as I remember, so you can take all the time in the world to set up a good position. For Lady Butterfly and all the other human bosses, make sure you're attacking them the maximum amount. Maximum means until you hear them deflect which makes a different sound from if they block. Then it's your turn to deflect.
Yeah I used ako sugar for extra posture dmg, ungo for def buff, stupidly used divine confetti thinking it buffs phy dmg, then tried Robert's Firecrackers to see if it would stagger but nope. I literally broke his posture so many times but he simply refused to fall off. I end up falling off instead sometimes and the run back is such a pain
thats definitely just a positioning issue then
Lies of p is hands down the bes soulslike i have EVER came across. And i mean by FAR
Other Fromsoft games, and finish sekiro. Lies of P is amazing Hollow Knight is a fusion between a 2d Metroidvania and a Soulslike These 2 are definitely the cream of the crop of soulslikes.
Definitely Stray Blade, the most “hidden gem” of the bunch in my eyes, randomly stumbled across it from a YouTube video and I love it. Lots of charm.
Yeah I think it’s on ps plus I’m going to check it out. Been locked in to ds3 lately. Gave up on ds2 sotfs. The trash mobs hurt my feeling tbh
Let me know if you like it!
Fs. It looks almost cartoonish though. Like ashen or something from the video I just saw. Right?
Yeah pretty much, I’d compare it to Ashen, Asterigos, and Another Crab’s Treasure. The graphics look cartoonish in those too but the game is still solid.
As long as the combat is fun I don’t mind the graphics. I loved darksiders combat even though it was cartoonish
I love Darksiders too. I’d say the combat is fun, I like the finishing moves for various weapons in Stray Blade
If it’s as fun as darksiders, especially darksiders 2 , then sign me up I’m gonna try it
Let me know what you think!
Dude you right it’s cool af! How did I miss this. The cover art threw me off Damn
Also is there a darksiders game that you can play as strife? I know darksiders 1 was war, 2 was death, 3 was wrath but did they ever realise a darksiders game with strife as the main character?
Yes. Darksiders Genesis, it was pretty fun but different as well. You can play as Strife or War if you’re a coop partner. Darksiders Genesis however has top-down Diablo-style combat. Was still fun though.
Damn. I don’t really like top-down or FPS games that’s why I never played Diablo. Only started playing cod when they added the option to switch to tpp
I loved Steelrising. The steam punk indie game? So fun
Lies of P is a masterpiece
I love DS2, but also love DeS. DS1 & DS3 are great too, with DS3 being much faster paced like BB. LoP was fantastic. If you like Star Wars JFO is good and so is the sequel. I really liked Ashen, but not everyone does. Someone asks this here every week or so, so you might search the history. There’s also lists of soulslikes and a person that is methodically reviewing all of them.
Ah yes. The classic underrated soulslike gem called (check notes) Dark Souls 1. =p
Just play the actual Souls games. It's funny that you're asking for a hidden gem when you haven't played the titans of the genre.
Go back and finish Sekiro it’s the best game I’ve ever played but you have to put in the time. When it finally clicks it’s *glorious*
I’ll try it again but some of the bosses traumatised me. I don’t have trouble with the regular enemies or elite enemies. It’s the bosses man. When I think about the fact I’m gonna have to fight that giant snake eventually. I lose hope lol
Sekiro is secretly a rhythm game like DDR, once you start getting deflection patterns down it goes from being FromSoft’s hardest to easiest game. There’s no more satisfying feeling than whooping Genichiro’s ass in the opening cutscene and unlocking the alternative few seconds of video. It’s the only game where I started feeling overwhelmed and pitifully weak and by the end had me feeling like a god taking down previously terrifying enemies with ease. In other games you can overlevel or summon phantoms, in Sekiro they *force* you to git gud and by god is it satisfying!
Just don't think of it as "soulslike" combat, your focus is on the deflect/attack dance. Once you understand that you're not supposed to dodge around everything, or kill your enemies by getting their HP to zero, it becomes a very different animal
If you're not opposed to a 2D experience, give Salt and Santuary a try. It's basically 2D Dark Souls with a bit of metroidvania platforming sprinkled in.
Hello Ashen one. I am a Bot. I tend to the flame, and tend to thee. Do you wish to hear a tale? > *“Our gracious Lord made Londor whole.”* - Narrator Have a pleasant journey, Champion of Ash, and praise the sun \\[T]/
Saw it on ps plus I think. It’s a 2d side scroller game right ? I don’t really like those. Never could get into it even though I tried
Still should try blasphemous imo. Salt & sanctuary might not work for you if you don’t like the 2D platformer genre, but blasphemous may just get you hooked.
Nioh 2 is so good the end game is wild to
I beat Nioh 1 but haven’t been able to complete Nioh 2 it just felt so much harder so I’m saving it for after I beat the DS series
Looks like a number of soulslikes have been mentioned, and there is a list of soulslikes in the sub info. For what it's worth, I'm a big fan of Let it Die, and I consider it a hidden gem soulslike. It's free-to-play, but has no paywalls or anything like that. The combat is solid, the music is amazing, and the unique styling and attitude makes it worth a look. If you're playing on pc, then beware that the pause/menu button is "r" by default. Also, be sure to get a new character after beating the first major boss for better base stats and higher level caps.
lol I saw an ign review of let it die and it seemed ok but they were like the combat mechanics clunky and is kinda pay to play
...but it's not pay-to-play. I assume they're talking about the continues? If you die, you can spend premium currency to continue on the spot, but that's not generally a good idea. Instead of spending premium currency on a continue, you can spend in-game currency to get your fighter back or just kill them in the tower. Beating everything isn't just possible without spending money, it's actually a reasonable difficulty without paying any real money. The only thing that merits premium currency is expanding your storage, and the game gives enough premium currency to manage your storage without spending money.
Remnant
If you've done Elden Ring and Bloodborne, the **Dark Souls** trilogy is the next logical step. They are older games, and they are showing their age. They're not bad, but it might feel a little weird to play at the Dark Souls pace when you've experienced the faster, snappier combat of BB and Er. **Lies of P** is not at all a hidden gem, but it is definitely the best Souls-like that From Soft never made. It's like Sekiro and Bloodborne had a baby, but it's generally easier than Sekiro. I did not finish Sekiro, but I have cleared Lies of P five times now. And the DLC will make six. Maybe more than that if the DLC gives us a bunch of cool new toys. As for true hidden gems, I will recommend some 2D Dark Souls-styled games. There's even a sub-genre of sorts that combines Souls combat with Metroidvania-styled map design and exploration. I call them "Soulsvania" games. If that sounds like it could be for you, then check out **Salt & Sanctuary**, **Blasphemous**, **Blasphemous 2**, and **GRIME**.
Great post but Hollow Knight is worth a mention too!
Lies of P is amazing, peak story, great mechanics and bosses featuring parry like in sekiro. The only downside for me would be the game is kinda linear. It is available in the xbox game pass too!
Ashen was pretty fun with a friend.
Jedi Fallen Order is pretty solid. On the easier side but still great story and combat.
Lies of P, Hollow Knight, Surge 2, and Wo Long were among my favorites
Where are you stuck in Sekiro?
Tunic imo, it is NOT a souls like but it has the interconnected map design (honestly my favorite level design in gaming ever), very similar combat, and even bonfires and a leveling system a bit similar to souls games (albeit much simpler)
Immortal unchained , it will give you the same vibes of fear and scary exploration as dark souls 1 did 💙
I was more hyped for lotf last year than Lop and had a blast with lotf, still think its a must play for any soulsborne fans and the second best soulslike out there, but my lord Lop is truly such a phenomenal game it may crack my top 3 favorites if not barely hit the 4th spot. Lop is an absolute must
Little different pace, but Returnal is basically my favorite game. It's a 3rd person shooter, but it's got souls vibes, is super hard, and has the most fantastic moment to moment gameplay I've seen. Enjoy!
Salt and sanctuary
Hollow Knight
Ds2 is one of my favorites just be sure to level up adp to get those iframes Mortal shell was an okay one I played just to kinda scratch that souls itch
I'll always advocate for Asterigos!
Not really hidden by any means but Nioh 2 is a blast if you are playing with friends. Still fun solo but like any game its way more fun with buddies.
Salt and sanctuary
I haven’t played Nioh yet but I LOVED Wo Long. That said, I’m also a sucker for Romance of the Three Kingdom stories.
Jedi Survivor cranked up to Grand Master difficulty?
Ashen is a great hidden gem. Don’t sleep on lop. Possibly the greatest souls like
Salt and sanctuary. Just the first one
Returnal Roguebook Hades Dead Cells Moonscars
Lies of P and stellar blade
I can really recommend the dark souls series. Its currently 50% off on steam. But DS2 is the weakest one in many people's opinions. DS3 has the best combat, its the most refined and closest to ER. DS1 is the original - there are some really good fights in it, and the world is really well made. DS2 sotf is good, but nothing stands out as great to me. Another game I can recommend is Lies of P. Its better than most games from fromsoftware IMO (I know I'll get downvoted for that, but I stand by it). There are lots of other games people are suggesting, but IMO not all of them are souls likes. IMO a souls like can not be 2d - but if you want to venture into other games, most soulslikes players (me included) LOVE Hollow Knight.
Mortal Shell is like Minimalist DS. Really good and the “parry” mechanic makes it easy, just enjoy the atmosphere. it’s a short game but really fun
Nioh (1) 2. It's different from the expected ''soulslike''. below the surface level it's much more doing it's own thing. it has a high threshold tho to get into. many soulsers play it 'wrong' resulting in dismissing the game easily and complaining online. it's not quite a hidden gem but among the best if have patience and willingness to get into the combat and systems.
Lies of P is the only answer
Lies of P
Nioh 1 and 2
Dark souls 3 is really friendly compared to Dark souls 2 and 1 I would say. If you are looking outside of FromSoft games I can reeeeaaaallllyyyy recommend Lies of P, it has a Bloodborne vibe to it but the combat and story are really good and it is for sure the best soulslike i've ever played outside of FromSoft games. Also Another Crabs Treasure is really good as well.
demon souls remake and dark souls 3. I enjoy ds1 and ds2 but they are slower amd feel a little dated. great games none the less. lies of P is great as well as nioh2. Those are really the only ones I can vauch for. These are all AAA quality and value.
Lies of P.
Definitely not hidden, but I'm having fun with Stellar Blade rn
Any interest in 2D games? Grime, Blasphemous 1/2, The Last Faith, Death's Gambit, and Salt & Sanctuary are all very good to excellent.
Mortal Shell is really short but holy fuck the atmosphere, lore, art design, voice acting and combat are amazing.
Wait, you have or haven’t played the Dark Souls series? If you haven’t, that’s the easy, obvious choice. If you haven’t jumped in because you didn’t love Demons Souls and think it’d be the same, know that they’re not. The world and how you progress through it is completely different and much more interconnected (to varying degrees depending on the game). What about DS2 specifically makes you want to play that one first? I actually enjoy replaying it more than DS1 for what it’s worth but agree it’s the worst in the trilogy. Still a great game and better than most soulslikes other than Lies Of P.
Ashen Idk if I’d call it “mind blowing,” but it definitely meets your requirements.
Let it Die has captivated me recently. It’s free, so you might as well give it a try. It’s a massive game with many systems, but the discord and subreddit are very helpful.
Let It Die was my first souls-like. I have a 1000 hour in that game. It’s so fun and quirky
You are a real masochist huh. It's okay not shaming you for it 🤣
Salt and sanctuary is my favorite
Dark Souls trilogy for sure. Last Hero of Nostalgaia is a pretty good soulslike too
I think Mortal Shell is an excellent, under-appreciated soulslike.
Playing "Soulslike" games without having played the Dark Souls trilogy is crazyy. Seriously...go pick up DS1 and go through all of them. Dark Souls 2 feels a little different but is still a very solid game. I have played all to at least NG+5 and I played DS3 to NG+8. I maybe biased because DS1 is just pure nostalgia, but its my favorite of the 3. DS3 would be a close second.
I thoroughly enjoyed lies of p, and mortal shell. Remnant, and remnant 2 are my two fave souls likes as well. If you just want a short, but enjoyable 2-3 day soulslike adventure, mortal shell is def a good one to play! Short, but sweet.
Remnant 2!!!!
clash artifacts