Big shout out to Another Crab's Treasure. Takes the Soulslike formula and sets it in a cute underwater world, and somewhere along the way, it manages to also become a Soulslike in its narrative tone.
Nothing has captured the feeling I got from Dark Souls 1—the grandeur, the dread, the melancholy, the triumph—quite like Hollow Knight has, honestly! 🐞
Yes all the Fromsoft ones. Played Lies of P, Nioh/Nioh2, hollow knight, blasphemous, Remnant 2, uhh I don’t remember what else but those are the big ones I guess
Honestly none are close to the real souls feeling, closest i’d say is probably Lies of P but you’re better off trying challenge runs on your favorite one
Every time I play it I forget about the death / dark side / upside down / whatever tf it's called, world and am pleasantly surprised by not being completely dead 😂🤦🏻♂️👍🏻
Great suggestions in here, but sad Blasphemous didn't get mentioned earlier. Recommendation gets multiplied if you have any Catholic upbringing - it'll getcha good.
Another Crab's Treasure is spiritually a true souls like. I also recommend Ender Lilies and the new sequel Ender Magnolia for a great 2D experience, as well as the Blasphemous games.
Yup, Code Vein. A lot of people stopped after beating the game, but I'd highly recommend completing the game. Once you get all the DLC stuff and blood codes, you can really customize your character with a lot of stuff.
Will second Remnant and especially Remnant 2. Being structured like Diablo (randomized world dungeons, adventure mode) with Soulslike combat and loot is wildly addictive.
Havent seen anyone point out Another Crab’s Treasure. Mechanically, it’s exactly what you’re looking for. And the vibes may seem totally different but by the time you beat the first boss it’s clear this is 100% souls like world building
I’m searching for that next game to grab me like the souls series. I might give nioh 2 a try as I really don’t care about story etc. lies of P I’ve played through twice. Currently trying nine sols, but I can already tell I probably won’t stick with it due to the difficulty and parrying.
if you like hard games you could try the ninja gaiden series, ive been playing through the sigma trilogy recently and its been quite fun, its different from a souls game ofc but if you like challenges its there
I like hard games where I have other options when I get stuck on a very difficult boss. Elden ring was the first souls game I completed because of this. Even more linear games like bloodborne etc. I never felt completely stuck on one boss. That’s usually when I walk away. Played NG back on Xbox
i think as long as you can grasp the concept of ki pulsing and stance changes, nioh 2 is an amazing game, but for a lot of souls players, they're not very good with those so the game feels very clunky and slow because of it, but i promise you when you get them down its game changing, genuinely
ki pulsing is how you regain ki (stamina) much quicker, whenever you do anything that uses stamina, you get a bar behind your current ki that refills immediately after you stop doing said action, and if you press R1, itll regain whatever amount of ki has been filled up at the time, so timing it
well will let you regain almost all the ki you use, letting you keep attacking quickly and not having to wait nearly as often, you can also do something called "flux" which is where you ki pulse and then switch stances, which gives you even more ki back
I just started it and am on the second main boss. I’m not sure I’ll make it through the entire game as it’s very parry heavy which is not my strong suit. It does force you to learn patterns and is very difficult. I couldn’t get through sekiro, but have finished most other souls games.
Lies of P and Lords of The Fallen are the only 2 I've been able to enjoy myself. They're the only 2 I've found that capture the essence of a Fromsoft game. Lies of P in combat and general feel, and Lords of The Fallen in presentation and exploration.
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https://youtu.be/ejorQVy3m8E?si=IXs38VWfwPdgG8mf
I’m about to play the Crysis VR mod…the Half Life 2 ones were excellent!
Also I'll plug my own ultra challenging platformer Upstream!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3492540/Upstream_Demo/
It’s short and sweet.
It feels close to Dark Souls but at the same time has some of its own unique and interesting mechanics that I really liked
Something about that game just hits all my buttons in a way none of the Soulsborne could after DS1
I dont call it Lies of PEAK for nothing
Have you tried hellpoint? 👀
“Dragons’ Dogma” series (2 is the latest). Kinda like ‘Soulsborn via Capcom’, & infamous for its Boss Battles. 👌
its a good game if you're actually good at the combat, but i think its entirely justifiable to skip it and just play nioh 2, tbh
tldr: good ki pulse = good stamina management
-Sekiro (close enough 😅)
-Lies of P
-Nioh 1 & 2
-Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
-Blasphemous (haven't played the sequel yet myself but hear it's better than the first?)
Nioh 2 is also low-key great. Very different formula but still def Souls and still good stuff.
I didn’t enjoy Nioh 2 so much but mayhaps a second chance