Soulslikes That Are Easier Than Dark Souls

Soulslike games are notoriously difficult, but they generally do a great job of giving players all the necessary tools to deal with any challenges that might come their way. While arguably no longer the case thanks to releases like Elden Ring, Dark Souls is still the genre’s defining property and could be most people’s first exposure to Soulslikes.

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FromSoftware’s 2011 masterpiece packs a considerable punch in terms of difficulty, to the point that it could put off newcomers who are still taking their first steps into the genre. Consequently, some players might prefer to try out a few easier Soulslike games.

Updated January 20, 2025 by Mark Sammut: After all these years and countless playthroughs, some people can likely defeat Dark Souls with level 1 characters with no armor and a broken sword. However, the game is still very hard and can be overwhelming for newcomers to these types of releases. Fortunately, there are a few easy Soulslike games that are accessible and, most importantly, still fun.

14

Demon’s Souls (2020)

The Boss Fights Are Way Easier Than Dark Souls

Systems

Released

November 12, 2020

Starting with a unique case, 2009’s Demon’s Souls put Soulslikes on the map, setting the stage for the bigger and more successful Dark Souls. FromSoftware’s original game was refreshingly difficult, forcing players to work their way through five worlds that are split into intense and (at times) convoluted stages.

A strong argument could be made that Demon’s Souls has the hardest paths to boss fights in any Souls game, especially since each stage has only one bonfire. Death is punished severely and can result in substantial time being lost. That said, Demon’s Souls‘ boss fights are easy, with most of them having obvious gimmicks that can be exploited. The campaign has two challenging compulsory bosses: Maneater and Flamelurker. Even then, they would be just mid-tier fights in Dark Souls.

In this case, the remake is taking center stage. The original game’s novelty enhanced its difficulty as there was nothing similar in 2009. By 2020, Soulslikes had become so common that most people had years of experiences when they dived into Bluepoint’s Demon’s Souls. Crucially, a lot of its tricks and popular tips were already known, and the remake even includes a ring that reduces the difficulty of one of the hardest areas (Swamp of Sorrow).

13

Asterigos: Curse of the Stars

Less Punishing That Dark Souls, And Even Has Difficult Settings

Systems

Released

October 11, 2022

Developer(s)

Acme Gamestudio

OpenCritic Rating

Fair

More of an action RPG with Soulslike elements than a full entry in the genre, Asterigos: Curse of the Stars shares enough things in common with Dark Souls to warrant a try by anyone craving something similar. Besides having difficulty levels, Asterigos‘ standout difference is its weapon system, which grants Hilda, the protagonist, access to six types at any given moment. Players are encouraged to switch between all weapons as necessary so they can target enemy weaknesses, and they each have unique skill trees.

Although not perfect, Asterigos is a pretty darn good game with solid combat, a fun setting, and enjoyable boss battles. On normal difficulty, the game offers a minor but easily surmountable challenge, especially for people who are intimately familiar with Soulslikes. Certain weapons, like the Staff, are also really overpowered, although that can be said for some of FromSoftware’s projects as well.

12

Another Crab’s Treasure

Simpler Boss Battles & Streamlined Weapon System

Another Crab’s Treasure comes from Aggro Crab, the studio responsible for the 2020 title Going Under. Aggro Crab is a development company that’s known for a couple of things, such as:

1. Their humor
2. Their art style
3. The bright colors their games primarily feature
4. And how fun their games are to play

Another Crab’s Treasure has all of these elements and more. It is not only a Soulslike but also a platformer and an all-around delightful experience. While some of the new mechanics the game introduces to the subgenre, such as a shell mechanic that ties unique moves to (essentially) armor, can take some getting used to, Another Crab’s Treasure is, by and large, a fairly easy Soulslike. Just to be clear, this is by the genre’s standards, as the game is still quite challenging and includes several boss fights (and even casual enemies) that will test even seasoned fans of these types of releases.

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11

Hellpoint

As Horrifying as Bloodborne, But Not Nearly as Horrifyingly Difficult

Hellpoint has a lot of parallels to Bloodborne, one of From Software’s most well-known Soulslike games. Both games have a major theme of eldritch horror, cosmic horror, and the concept of humanity messing with old powers that should not be messed with. That said, Hellpoint has a lot more of its focus on the cosmic horror side of things than Bloodborne does, while the latter leans more on the eldritch side of things. Mechanically, Hellpoint doesn’t really hold a candle to Bloodborne.

The game is good, and the controls are responsive, but they’re nowhere near as polished as Bloodborne’s are, and it can lead a lot of the boss battles in Hellpoint feeling like they’re a bit of a dice roll. Still, Hellpoint is easier than any of FromSoftware’s SoulsBorne releases, especially since the game prioritizes exploration quite a bit. Boss fights can offer a challenge, though.

10

The Last Faith

Fun 2D Soulslike Metroidvania That Is Fairly Easy

Systems

Released

November 15, 2023

Developer(s)

Playstack

Publisher(s)

Kumi Souls Games

Starting things off with a relatively recent Soulslike, The Last Faith is a great representation of the genre’s ties to Metroidvanias. Games like Hollow Knight, Salt & Sacrifice, Grime, Blasphemous, and more all fit into this sub-category, and almost all of them are fantastic. The Last Faith unabashedly wears its inspirations on its sleeve, as anyone who even watches a tiny bit of footage can see the heavy Bloodborne, Blasphemous, and Castlevania influences everywhere.

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All that said, as a game, The Last Faith is probably one of the better representations of a 2D Soulslike, transferring most of Dark Souls‘ core mechanics in the process. Players light ‘bonfires’ that can be used as fast travel, drop their currency on death, find and send NPCs back to their hub area to function as merchants, and much more. But, when it comes to difficulty, this is probably the one area where players will wish The Last Faith was even more similar to a Souls game since it’s a bit too easy, at least for anyone who has a decent amount of experience with these types of games.

9

Steelrising

Average Difficulty + Assist Mode

Systems

Released

September 8, 2022

Funnily enough, in recent years, two separate Soulslike games have come out that feature an automaton as the main protagonist. Both Lies of P and Steelrising have a puppet main character (Aegis & Pinocchio) who are fighting to save a crumbling world and are set in a very steampunk-inspired setting.

However, while Lies of P is pretty darn difficult and features an extremely challenging final boss fight, Steelrising‘s challenge level most falls in the middle of the pack for the genre, and that is before taking into account Assist Mode. On a standard playthrough, Steelrising arguably gets easier as the campaign progresses and repetition sets in. The boss fights are regularly spectacularly but should not present too much of a challenge for Soulslike veterans.

Assist Mode is basically easy mode and a welcome option.

8

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

Parry-Based Combat & Companions Are Everywhere

Systems

Sticking with Team Ninja for a while longer, Wo Long Fallen Dynasty is quite similar to Nioh, just slightly easier overall. The Morale, Fortitude, and Guardian Spirit systems Wo Long uses are also incredibly inventive in the way they differentiate the game from others in the same genre and also serve to make the game easier in a way.

So, while learning the combat system and Deflect timing of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is initially difficult, as soon as players learn that they can just farm stages to get max Morale and make the end boss easier, especially if they have a co-op partner, the game becomes a lot more of a ‘cakewalk’ to get through.

7

Little Witch Nobeta

The Combat Can Take Some Getting Used To, But Fairly Easy Overall

Systems

Released

September 29, 2022

Developer(s)

Pupuya Games

Little Witch Nobeta will probably not hit the mark with every Soulslike fan out there, but it is worth a try for anyone craving an indie project that takes the genre in a fresh direction. Putting aside the anime coat-of-paint, the game’s biggest novelty is the focus on ranged magic attacks, which play closer to a third-person shooter than a traditional Soulslike. While far from the first project to add shooting mechanics into the mix, Little Witch Nobeta feels considerably different from Remnant or even the ranged options in FromSoftware’s titles.

Unlike most Soulslikes, Little Witch Nobeta throws in two difficulty settings: Standard and Advanced. There is also New Game+, which does not ramp up the base difficulty but rather boosts enemies. Standard is effectively just an easy mode and will probably not provide a significant challenge for players who are huge fans of Soulslikes, at least once they grow accustomed to the combat. Advanced is considerably more challenging, but still not on the level of something like Dark Souls.

6

Mortal Shell

Learning Curve That Pays Off

Systems

Released

August 18, 2020

Publisher(s)

Playstack

Mortal Shell is one of the closest alternatives in terms of overall atmosphere and vibe to Dark Souls. Regardless, the world that Mortal Shell takes place in is dour, on the edge of ruin, and everything has this sour nihilistic flavor to it.

In terms of gameplay, Mortal Shell separates itself from the Souls games pretty heavily. While the core combat is similar, the Hardening system of Mortal Shell alongside the different “Shells” players can collect and the ‘Glimpses’ techniques they’ll steadily gather over their run do a lot to make the game feel different enough when playing it. That said, once players do get used to the core combat loop of Mortal Shell, it does lose a lot of the initial difficulty and players get a lot more confident in roaming around. It’s a fantastic title for any fan of the Souls games to play, just don’t expect Mortal Shell to leave players as an empty shell of themselves from the pure difficulty of the game as much as Dark Souls does.

5

Blasphemous & Blasphemous 2

The Type of Game A Catholic Crusader Would Dream Up

• 	Blasphemous	Blasphemous 2
  Platform(s)	Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox One	Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Switch, PS5, PC
  Released	2019-09-10	2023-08-24
  Developer(s)	The Game Kitchen	The Game Kitchen
  Publisher(s)	Team17	Team17
  OpenCritic Page	https://opencritic.com/game/8241/blasphemous	https://opencritic.com/game/15371/blasphemous-2

The Dark Souls series inspired a lot of hard-as-nails projects that attempted to replicate the success of the Soulslike moniker. While not all amazing releases, some gems take the concept of an overly difficult players-against-the-world mentality and craft unique adventures from it. Blasphemous is one of the best examples of a 2D Soulslike done right, while also mechanically differentiating itself quite a lot from the Souls series.

It’s a beautifully crafted, visually stunning title that has a beautifully poignant storyline, incredible bosses, and some seriously challenging gameplay. That said, it doesn’t feel as difficult as the original Souls releases at times, making it more accessible to players of all backgrounds. While the sequel, Blasphemous 2, is arguably more challenging overall, it is not quite among the genre’s hardest offerings either.

4

Lords Of The Fallen (2023)

Forgiving, Especially On A First Playthrough

Systems

Released

October 13, 2023

Developer(s)

HEXWORKS

2014’s Lords of the Fallen was among the first attempts to replicate FromSoftware’s formula, and to say it was divisive would be generous. While this title is considerably easier (and shorter) than Dark Souls, there are just too many better Soulslikes out there to justify a recommendation (for example, the same developer’s The Surge games are far better).

Kind of a sequel but mostly just a standalone experience, 2023’s Lords Of The Fallen is more traditionally divisive, in the sense that people seem to either love or hate it. Ultimately, the game has a few frustrating mechanics that can grate on someone’s nerves, and the opening few hours are quite challenging by the genre’s standards. However, LOTR gets considerably easier as the campaign progresses, at least during the first playthrough. While that can be said for most Soulslikes, this title is a particularly egregious example.

3

Ashen

A Soulslike World Where People Actually Still Have Hope

Elden Ring might have perfected the transition, but it was not the first Soulslike to try and go full open-world. A44 gave it a good go in 2018, and while relatively rough compared to more modern or big-budget Soulslikes, Ashen has a certain charm to it. Part of that might be due to the simple art style, which substitutes realism for a cartoonish timelessness. The campaign also has a fun town-building element.

Ashen is overall quite easy since it emphasizes AI partners more than most entries in the genre. While they are not present 100% of the time, they often make compulsory appearances during key areas or boss fights.

2

Code Vein

Anime Souls That Adds a Lot of Unique Mechanics

Systems

Released

September 27, 2019

Code Vein puts players in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic setting that players are free to explore thanks to the offering of an impressively designed open world. While fairly divisive, the game’s Soulslike mechanics, well-crafted levels, and interesting story make it worth considering at the very least.

The further players get into Code Vein, the more the initially confusing systems become more understandable. Additionally, with every subsequent playthrough (which are surprisingly long, by the way) players get to mess around more with different Blood Code builds and configurations, which usually ends up with them liking the game a lot more than they originally expected.

1

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order & Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

They Somehow Managed To Successfully Make the Star Wars Setting Fit into a Soulslike Gameplay Loop

• 	Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order	Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
  Platform(s)	Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PS5, PS4, PC, Stadia, Xbox One	PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PC
  Released	2019-11-15	2023-04-28
  Developer(s)	Respawn Entertainment	Respawn Entertainment
  Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts	Electronic Arts
  OpenCritic Page	https://opencritic.com/game/7407/star-wars-jedi-fallen-order	https://opencritic.com/game/14199/star-wars-jedi-survivor

In many ways, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s implementation of Soulslike mechanics was a testament to how far the genre had come. One of gaming’s biggest publishers, Electronic Arts, entrusted the gameplay style to one of their major Star Wars releases.

Fallen Order gave fans a much-wanted modern single-player Star Wars game that lets them play as a Jedi. Along with the Soulslike mechanics, the game also introduced aspects of 3D Metroidvania. The latter themes are well implemented, but they disappointed some players who would have rather explored more planets than backtrack to previous areas.

Thankfully, the sequel game Star Wars Jedi: Survivor improved upon a lot of these complaints and was a true successor, in that it was basically better than the original in every way. However, neither game is as difficult as Dark Souls, despite all the polish, interesting boss fights, and unique mechanics.

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