10 Upcoming Soulslikes to Start Preparing For in 2026

2 hours ago 1

Vahrin's Call, Mortal Shell 2, Lords of the Fallen 2

Published Feb 24, 2026, 5:35 PM EST

Adam is a lifelong gamer who enjoys RPGs, action adventure games and a healthy helping of VR to boot. He has written for countless sites in the gaming medium, and you can find him playing the newest souls-like or JRPG.

The Soulslike genre is here to stay, and in 2026, we've got a handful of them that could take the new mantle of best in the genre. The Soulslike have definitely evolved, but we know the trappings by now. Big bosses, checkpoint save system, a barely comprehensible story; it's all always there.

We've got a bunch of sequels coming this year, looking to take the next step in their franchises, and also some first-timers that are looking to make their mark.

10 Most Disappointing Soulslikes, Ranked

FromSoft may never drop the ball, but all those trying to follow their formula have done so with mixed results.

We're going to check out everything worth knowing about in the Soulslike world in 2026.

10 Ballad of Antara

Souls for All

Developers

Release Date

Platforms

Tipsworks Studio

2026

PS5, PC

Ballad of Antara is a free-to-play Soulslike game that promises all the trappings of a Souls game for no price at all. Now, that obviously comes with some kind of microtransaction system, but we have yet to see it, and for that reason, we'll leave that part of it alone for now. The combat looks fantastic, though, with some truly dazzling visuals on screen and a unique pull that has you exploring two distinct worlds as you seek to find those with the power to traverse both of them.

A free-to-play Soulslike is a rarity, and while there is obviously some trepidation that can come with that, the possibilities of it being great are just as high. We've never really seen a Soulslike that looks quite like this. It has an incredibly smooth-looking visual style that we don't see in the genre, and the playstyles we've seen in the gameplay suggest you're going to be wielding powers far beyond what you normally would in a game like this.

9 Mortal Shell 2

Breaking Out

Mortal Shell 2 is a reimagining of sorts for a Soulslike that had several cool ideas, but ultimately felt like "we have Dark Souls at home." It was obtuse, full of environments that looked like they crawled out of the very first Souls game, and combat that felt just as stiff. Mortal Shell 2 is nothing close to that. From what we've seen in the previews, this is going to be a huge swing in everything from graphical fidelity to combat animations.

It looks like there is going to be a serious upping of the ante on the violence and gore front, but also, the weapon-countering animations look absolutely gorgeous here, suggesting a level of fidelity the series has yet to see. It looks like the story will be more at the forefront, as well as a modification of the interesting shell mechanic that had you inhabiting different bodies in the first game. Sometimes all it takes is a competent sequel to pull a series out of the mud and into the spotlight, and I think that's what we've got in store here.

8 Fatekeeper

The Bloody Dance

Fatekeeper is a brutal-looking first-person Soulslike that has some incredible-looking graphics and a combat system that looks heavily skill-based, with dodges, parries, and an awesome use of hit-stop to create maybe the best-looking first-person combat we've seen in a game. The visuals are the thing that stand out to me here. They are absolutely gorgeous, with a dark sense of realism that honestly looks like what I was expected from Avowed when it was first revealed.

But Fatekeeper has plenty of tricks up its sleeve besides the visuals, as the combat isn't just melee-based, because there is magic to go around, too. The gameplay we've seen shows the player using telepathic powers to launch enemies into spikes, and while that alone is awesome, you can be sure there are plenty of other powers to check out as well. This one has that quiet sort of intrigue that a game like Tainted Grail had in 2025, and even in the absurdly crowded year of 2026, it could make quite the mark.

7 The Relic: First Guardian

The Sleeping Giant

The Relic: First Guardian

The Relic: First Guardian is going to be this year's First Berserker: Khazan. I just have a feeling. It has a unique art style and combat that looks spectacular, with an athletic-looking protagonist that moves quite a bit more fluidly than a Soulslike character generally does. Not much is known from this one aside from some incredibly slick-looking combat clips, but in this genre? That's enough.

It has a mysterious feel to it, with great-looking environments and a quieter feeling to it than most Soulslikes, which typically like to go with a louder approach. There are a ton of unknowns here, but I just have a feeling that it's going to be one of those "Where the heck did this one come from?" games that makes a significant mark.

6 Forsaken Realms: Vahrin's Call

A Tribute to the Past

Developer

Release Date

Platforms

Titan Roc

2026

Forsaken Realms: Vahrin's Call looks like Fable had a baby with Dark Souls and was raised by Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Does that have your attention? Because it should. This game looks like a labor of love, coming from a studio where most of the staff have jobs other than game development. This is the little engine that could in terms of Soulslikes in 2026. It has a striking art style, a more ambitious scope than you'd imagine for a first-time studio, and a ton of build variety.

The selling point here is that there are no classes to pick from. You can make your character whatever you want to be, whether that be a mage that's good at archery or a sword-wielding spell slinger. It looks like a throwback game in many ways, which feels like something out of the Xbox 360 era, but that's a good thing. This game resembles a throwback to the origins of the Soulslike genre. Mystical worlds, challenging combat, and overall, a type of RPG that we really are missing these days.

5 The Duskbloods

Don't Sleep on the King

The Duskbloods comes from FromSoftware, the creator of the Souls genre, but this game is looking to be something quite different than your Bloodbornes and Sekiro. This seems like it's veering a bit closer to Elden Ring: Nightreign with its apparent focus on co-op gameplay, but aside from that, we don't know a ton else. Visually, it looks like it's going to push the Nintendo Switch 2 to its very limits, though its exclusivity there means it's leaving a lot of fans fresh out of luck when it comes to playing it.

Regardless of that, we're expecting a unique, Bloodborne-looking type of game that should have FromSoftware's best use of co-op yet. Expect a strange and unique story, incredibly obscure side quests, and of course, massive boss battles that test your skill and your patience. We should hear more about this one shortly, but either way, it's one of the most anticipated games of the year.

4 Beast of Reincarnation

The Beautiful Soul

Beast of Reincarnation looks mighty intriguing, starring a girl and her dog as they're shunned for their affliction and are forced to venture outside into the wild to find a cure. It's a setup you don't see in Soulslikes very often. The journey looks to be a more contemplative one, and likely a tragic one as well. So far, we've seen outstanding visuals, some Sekiro-style combat, and cool-looking weapons, too.

Game Freak Beast Of Reincarnation Gameplay

Game Freak's Beast of Reincarnation Launches Summer 2026

A one-person, one-dog action RPG. Beast of Reincarnation shows off stunning gameplay with turn-based elements at today's Xbox Developer Direct.

I'm looking for Beast of Reincarnation to be a lot of storytelling and a lot of combat. I think they're going to go a different route than most Soulslikes in this regard. It looks like it has an interesting tale to tell, especially with your dog companion. Generally, a game with a companion like that has a strong emotional through line, and that's what I think we'll be getting when this drops this year.

3 Valor Mortis

A Confluence of Genres

Valor Mortis is taking a stab at the first-person Soulslike. For a genre filled with dodging, dodge rolling, and constant armor customization, it's quite the move as it removes a lot of what you'd assume are genre staples. Still, from what we've seen of the gameplay, this could still be an incredible experience. It seems like they've gotten over the pitfall of melee combat sucking in first-person games and put into it the same kind of intensity that other Soulslikes have.

The game is also stunning, with some unique-looking enemies that don't look like anything we've really seen in the Soulslike genre. The big challenge here will be how engaging the combat can be when so many of the first-person animations could look or feel similar. It's ambitious for sure, but hopefully it can deliver on what it's setting out to do.

2 Lords of the Fallen 2

The Heir to the Souls Throne

I know the 2023's Lords of the Fallen is a bit polarizing, but to me, it was easily the best successor to Dark Souls that I've ever seen, from the atmosphere to the story, the bosses, the weapons, and the feeling of the areas. For all intents and purposes, it felt like Dark Souls 4 and was the most underrated gem of 2023. Lords of the Fallen 2 looks to build on that vibe, with combat that looks to be far bloodier, with some crazy execution moves as well as more weapons and a bigger environment to explore.

The idea of the Umbral Realm is getting restructured here too, with it seeming a lot more dangerous this time around, caked in red vs the mysterious purple from the first game. It's a series that deserves legs of its own, and the developers are 100 percent committed to fan feedback too, with multiple patches to the first game, transforming it over time. They'll likely take all that feedback and inject it into the sequel in a way that makes sense to give us the best possible product when it releases.

The co-op should be back as well, and that's a great thing, as the co-op in Lords of the Fallen is some of the best in any Soulslike that I've played.

1 Phantom Blade Zero

The Art of War

Phantom Blade Zero - Year of the Snake Gameplay Trailer 2025 0-39 screenshot_cropped_processed_by_imagy

Phantom Blade Zero has a ton of potential, mixing the fast-paced action of something like Ninja Gaiden with the tried and true trappings of the Soulslike genre. It looks gorgeous, has an already iconic-looking main character, and in terms of the combat, we just have never seen a level of speed and precision within a Soulslike game of this type. It looks like Sekiro plus a ton more weapons, where the parry mechanic changes its animation for every single enemy, and counterattacks are unique too, with some turning an enemy's weapon upon themselves.

There is little about the story so far, but the brief gameplay we've seen has some of the most mouth-watering combat this genre has seen since Lies of P. It looks like, at its worst, it's going to be a tremendously fun game to play, and if the story and characters manage to be compelling too? We may be looking at the new king of the castle.