8 Soulslikes That Reinvented the Genre Without Getting Enough Credit

The Soulslike genre is so new that I feel like it's only just begun to require its own subgenres. In some way, it's understandable considering that JRPGs and RPGs are still essentially the same thing. But I've seen people try to claim Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon are JRPGs, and that's where I draw the line. It's even worse with Soulslikes. Just because a game has timed parries, dodging, and tough boss fights doesn't exactly mean you can slap Dark Souls on its title. You're allowed to have your own opinion, though. Even if it's wrong.

With that said, I feel like the definition of Soulslike is getting a bit too narrow as we try to define it further. It's bound to happen, but I feel like the way plenty of basic cookie-cutter games have been praised to high heaven are leaving Soulslikes that are actually Soulslikes afraid of doing something a little different. Not everything has to be 3D, as long as you translate the way the combat tests survival skills and comes with plenty of risk. Not everything has to aim to be the next Game of Thrones in direction. And, naturally, not everything has to be a dark fantasy.

In this list, I'm going to go over games that break the armor around the Soulslike genre and Dark Souls itself and explain what they did, and why they deserve more credit for doing it. As we finally say once and for all what constitutes as a Soulslike or maybe even a Soulslite as we've seen with Rogue's own genre, these games have already helped define and expand these lines for us.

8 Bloodborne

An Easy Pick, But An Important One

No, give me a chance here! I have a reason for this! Bloodborne has gotten accolades, praise, and a huge following behind it. It's regularly seen as one of the greatest games of all time by dozens of people. Yet, it was released on PS4 over ten years ago, and there's been tons of merchandise, but no rerelease, sequel, or anything like a game after the fact. It appeared, became a unanimous success, and then vanished like a real-life narrative mystery for players to solve. I could say the same about Bloodborne's impact on the Soulslike genre.

Long story short, the players have given Bloodborne its due, but the industry itself hasn't. There are plenty of games out there that have taken cues from Bloodborne but it doesn't nearly get highlighted as much as the next game featuring knights, big swords, and a big open-world. Hopefully, with the magic that is marketing synergy, we'll see something come out of the movie that's been announced. If the movie is good and leads into a new game or a rerelease, Jackcepticeye, my soul is yours. I'm counting on you.

7 DarkMaus

Shift Your Perspective

It's not every day you get a game that does practically the same thing a world-famous game does, but from an entirely different view. DarkMaus is a Soulslike, but it's from a bird's eye view as you play as a mouse, shown through silhouettes. It has its own build mechanics and weapons to go with it, and you even have campfires to rest at. It's the complete package, just from a different camera.

There's some pretty big catches to this little fun jaunt, though, but before I get to that, I want to talk about my favorite feature. In DarkMaus, if you die, you can have ghosts of your last run follow you around and help you out. This feature is insanely cool, and I wish more Soulslikes did something similar.

Now, unfortunately, DarkMaus is a solo dev project that was created for fun above all else. Because of this, there are tons of flaws with DarkMaus' balancing that will annoy the most seasoned Dark Souls player eventually. Even with those flaws, though, DarkMaus puts some pretty decent cheese on the board, and I hope I can catch its scent in another game someday.

6 Nioh

The Silent Fan-Favorite

We've all heard of Elden Ring. Dark Souls obviously needs no introduction, and neither does Bloodborne. I also don't need to explain Hollow Knight to you, and that game alone is a great example of the impact these games have. In terms of popularity, though, not many people have heard of Nioh, from the outside looking in. As more and more games based on history and traditional mythology are coming out, I find myself wishing more games were like Nioh.

There are a lot of games that simply mirror what the Dark Souls games are good at and call it a day. Nioh introduces all the mechanics you're accustomed to but puts a hack-and-slash spin on it that is very worthwhile to master. It also keeps the game action-packed to the very end at a faster pace than most games in the genre, almost serving as the yin to the yang of Ghost of Tsushima's stealth. If you've played Ghost of Tsushima and somehow haven't found a Soulslike that clicks with you, Nioh will have you covered with three games to go through to boot.

5 Ashen

Ashen's Got Game

There's a lot to be said about Ashen. Some people have turned it away because of its lack of variable weapons. Some stay for the way its limited weapons allow you to freely build as you please. I enjoy it because it takes two things, Soulslike gameplay and the voxel art style most indies are known for, and makes both into something uniquely its own. It leads to a game that feels nostalgic in the same way incense is: ethereal in nature and potent in practice.

I feel like it deserves more credit than it gets for the sake that it's a masterclass in what makes Soulslikes so rewarding. Through its survival narrative, it hones in on the risk factor that a lot of Soulslikes take to heart with their combat. It's an easy thing to get lost in, with how many Soulslikes these days focus more on being a power fantasy. A lot of games could take notes on how Ashen does it when they've lost the plot.

4 Code Vein

Get Your Anime Fix Here!

On the other side of the coin to Ashen, dark fantasies are still the bread-and-butter of the Soulslike genre. As an example of a game that takes that trend and gives it some flashy color and flair despite that, Code Vein is right here. With a sequel, too! I feel like it deserves to be made as an example of being the very rare anime action RPG instead of a JRPG. It certainly plays like an RPG, but it still manages to keep the over-the-top style plenty of anime games are known for, and all of it manages to feel right at home.

Being able to finish off your enemies dramatically, even if the timing is a bit wonky for an action RPG, feels incredible. I feel like that alone is a good example of what more Soulslike games could accomplish if they allowed themselves to be more dramatic. Or at least more dramatic in a different way than normal. The Blood Codes also encouraged far more experimentation than most Soulslike games do, instead focusing on more straightforward builds. Code Vein deserves to be talked about more for these stand-out differences.

3 Lords of the Fallen (2023)

If At First You Don't Succeed...

Lords of the Fallen sadly proves that the gaming world is not a place that rewards comeback stories as much as you'd think it would with the volatile nature of the industry itself. Considering the original game from 2014 was terrible, and this one gets dragged down because of performance issues above all else, I'm surprised I don't hear people singing this game's praises more.

I found the new Lords of the Fallen incredibly cinematic with very good visuals. I'd argue and say that it's better than Elden Ring in terms of general visual direction, but Elden Ring just manages to surpass it with better execution. After the original felt like it was trapped in the expectations of a Soulslike, it says a lot that the 2023 one wears it all like a badge of honor, and I hope the sequel showcases that even more than the new Lords of the Fallen does. Maybe then Hexworks will get the flowers it's sought after.

2 Another Crab's Treasure

Reject Modernity, Return to Sea

Where I feel like Lords of the Fallen shows where the genre is going in future traditional installments, I also feel like Another Crab's Treasure is a great example of what more Soulslikes need. Color. Changing expected mechanics to tie-in with new settings and themes. A story that goes beyond the player character. Humor. The ability to one-shot bosses that frustrate you with a gun. If you're new here, no. That last one isn't a joke. It's literally an option, and I love it.

Another Crab's Treasure is a great Soulslike that hits all the expected things it needs to, like dodge-rolling, offering builds that tie into Kril's shells, and having collectible upgrade materials you can find after you die. It does all of this while having the same writing you'd expect from a Paper Mario game with a bit of a tongue-in-cheek mature slant to it and a pro-environmentalist storyline. To me, it's the perfect thesis statement that you don't always need some dark story about a ruined world to make Soulslike gameplay special.

Sometimes, you just need to be a little crab. Or a gun. The gun's so simple, so effective, and so funny.

1 Salt and Sanctuary

We Have Hollow Knight At Home

I'm pretty sure there's someone out there who is eternally mad that Hollow Knight is far more popular than Salt and Sanctuary. Honestly? With how Hollow Knight is wrongly called a Soulslike at times — we have to draw the line between inspired and actually part of the genre somewhere — I'm inclined to agree with them.

No, I'm not arguing that Salt and Sanctuary isn't a Metroidvania or anything like that. It does, however, have important features that Hollow Knight doesn't, like a stamina bar and a proper roll. It was legitimately called "2D Dark Souls" by fans for a while, and now Hollow Knight has eclipsed Salt and Sanctuary's notoriety when it was first. In all fairness to Hollow Knight, though, it probably helps that Hollow Knight: Silksong not only stuck the landing as a sequel, but cemented itself as one of the best sequels of all time. To someone who's Salt and Sanctuary's ride-or-die that I mentioned before, I'm sorry that Salt and Sacrifice wasn't at all as well-received.