Over the past few years, the soulslike genre has grown from a small space in its infancy to a global phenomenon that now spans countless games in just about any setting imaginable. Players have come to adore the more challenging combat styles, darker aesthetics, and brutal enemies that often become the main selling point for the game. But at the same time, it can be nice to enjoy an action-heavy experience, without it feeling too much like a soulslike, instead having distinctive gameplay elements that still feel engaging and satisfying to play with.
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While many games have followed in the footsteps of Dark Souls in terms of gameplay and design, there are still plenty of RPGs out there that feel just as enjoyable, if not more so in some cases. These games incorporate the stamina-based combat, use calculated attacks that the player has to respect, and heavily punish mistakes from players not willing to be patient, making the fights feel heavily skill-oriented in a very different way than a soulslike. The focus is less on casting spells and sniping from afar, and more on brutal close-quarters combat that can feel borderline unfair, due to the immense difficulty and demands of the player.
Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen
Fighting Against Creatures Of All Sizes
Details:
- Tactical timing in combat
- Large foes that can feel like soulslike bosses
Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen's combat is heavily reliant on careful decision-making, as stamina can drain pretty quickly from reckless attacks, forcing players to think about their moves in a whole new light. Larger enemies require even more deliberate tactics, often encouraging players to climb them in order to target weak points or retreat when resources run low to avoid their devastating blows.
The connection to Dark Souls is most apparent in the lethality of the enemies. Common foes can often be the most brutal, overwhelming players in a matter of seconds, making players feel constantly under threat, no matter how strong they are. The sense of danger never really leaves the player, and they will always be tested mechanically and mentally when taking on a new foe, regardless of whether it's a towering boss or a lowly soldier.
Ghost of Tsushima
Intense Swordsfights From Start To Finish
Details:
- Satisfying melee combat
- High-stakes duals that require patience and concentration
Ghost of Tsushima takes a very strategic approach to its combat design, emphasizing timing and spacing in basically every fight. Different enemy types each demand a different stance, and failing to switch or react to their attacks can often result in death before the player has time to recover.
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The attacks also feel incredibly deliberate, as even early on, players can't get away with just swinging randomly, instead having to choose their windows and master the inner workings of the combat system. It's all about focus, and while it shares similarities with many soulslike games, it manages to set itself apart by focusing less on constant action and more on calculated moments of opportunity.
Greedfall
Weighty Battles With A Huge Amount Of Brutality
Details:
- Challenging fights with unique mechanics
- A combination of combat styles, both ranged and melee
GreedFall is an RPG that takes a much slower approach to its combat philosophy, encouraging strategy over aggression for the majority of the game. Positioning plays a big role in how successful the player can be, as if they decide to rush in and get trapped in the midst of several enemies, there is virtually no way out.
Also, the enemy placements are designed in a similar way to Dark Souls, where players need to pull out individual targets and slowly make their way through areas without running head-on into the fight. And, without any easy breaks in the encounters, players need to bide their time, carefully choosing when to heal and when to go in for the final kill.
Rise Of The Ronin
Borderline Open-world Sekiro At Times
Details:
- Posture system for varied fight styles
- Timing-based attacks in every encounter
Rise of the Ronin blends fast-paced action with a heavy focus on resource control, as players need to manage their Ki to control how offensive and defensive they can be in a fight. The encounters eb and flow as the player trades blows, but they can never get too restless, with a single overextension often being all it takes to send them to the grave.
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Skill really does trump everything, and if players are prepared to do so, they can quickly learn to master the parries and counters, quickly becoming a powerful force that can still be cut down if mistakes are made. This level of consequence creates a tense gameplay loop very reminiscent of Dark Souls, and oftentimes, the only way forward is through skill and concentration as opposed to sheer luck.
Monster Hunter Wilds
Taking On Monsters Both Big And Small
Details:
- Combat rhythm that rewards patience
- Effectively a series of coordinated boss battles
Monster Hunter Wilds is practically a boss-fight simulator that many have compared to the soulslike genre, but it still feels far from being another copycat. Each hunt is a methodical encounter that begins before players even set their eyes on the creature, as there are many outside factors that players need to consider in order to be fully prepared for the upcoming battle.
Success during a hunt is largely dictated by how well the player understands the attacks of the monsters, but rather than just dodging and waiting for their turn, they have to actively think about much longer sequences that come after those initial swings. The learning curve is where the biggest similarities lie, where, in Dark Souls, players can make certain bosses trivial after many attempts and enough knowledge, and the same rings true here, with experienced hunters having no problem taking on the toughest of foes after countless failures and tries.
Severance: Blade of Darkness
A Precursor To The Soulslike Genre
Details:
- Precise stamina-based combat
- Enemy moves become incredibly important to learn
Severance: Blade of Darkness feels like a proto-Souls experience, having so many of the genre's elements long before the name was even popularized. The combat is slow, weighty, and brutally punishing, with stamina dictating every action, and directional attacks add a whole other element, forcing players to think about where they are safe and where they need to be to make their next move.
Many of the encounters can feel incredibly challenging, even far into the game, requiring a good amount of restraint and observation from the player before they can actually take them on. Long before Dark Souls ushered in a revolution, Blade of Darkness was already experimenting in a big way, showing how combat can be challenging in significantly more engaging ways than just high health pools and heavy-hitting enemies.
King's Field
FromSoftware's Early DNA
Details:
- An early example of the soulslike genre
- Challenging and brutal level design
FromSoftware is where the soulslike name was born, but they began their journey into difficulty many years prior to the release of Dark Souls. King's Field is perhaps one of the earliest examples of what would later become a soulslike, having all the same design ideas like calculated attacks and challenging enemies, minus the more modern graphics and feel. The exploration is perhaps where the similarities are the most glaring, as players find themselves with very little guidance, instead needing to navigate the seemingly endless dungeons through sheer willpower alone, whilst being given very few chances to feel any comfort or safety from the action.
Because of how old the original game is, the combat does feel quite dated by modern soulslike standards, but the DNA is very obvious to see. The progression is also pretty brutal, as with very few checkpoints, a lot of the actual progress comes from learning enemy attacks and the layout of the rooms, as opposed to receiving powerful new upgrades or abilities. It really is a game that demands so much of the player, partly in mechanical skill, but also in mental endurance. There's no prize for aggression or carelessness, and instead, players will find themselves rewarded for methodically searching the hallways and learning how to approach certain enemies, something which would later become commonplace in virtually every soulslike in the modern day.
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