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The Best Soulslikes to Play After Elden Ring

Five soulslikes we played and reviewed, for the moment the Elden Ring credits roll and nothing else feels the same.

Aymen Sakouhi/Published August 3, 2026/4 min read

You finished Elden Ring, you are staring at the credits, and nothing else quite feels the same. The good news is that FromSoftware's formula has inspired a deep field, and a few of the very best sit right alongside it. Here are the soulslikes we have played and reviewed that are most worth your time next, ranked by our scores. Two are metroidvanias rather than pure soulslikes, but they scratch precisely the same itch of mastery earned through repetition, so they earn their place.

Dark Souls III (9.0)

The purest continuation of the formula, and FromSoftware's most consistent game. It refines nearly everything the studio had learned into one confident statement that almost never fumbles. If you want more of the exact craft Elden Ring is built on, start here.

Hollow Knight (9.3)

Not a pure soulslike but a 2D metroidvania, and it delivers the same sense of place and hard-won mastery. A generous game in a severe costume, and one of the best-value titles in the medium. The highest-scored game on this list for a reason.

Hollow Knight: Silksong (9.0)

If you want a stiffer test, Team Cherry's sequel is faster and harder and trusts you to rise to it. It does not ease you in, which is precisely the point for anyone chasing the Elden Ring difficulty high.

Nioh 3 (8.5)

A faster, loot-driven soulslike with more aggressive, mobile combat than the Souls line. For players who want the challenge with a deeper build and gear layer on top of it.

Elden Ring Nightreign (8.3)

If what you are missing is the world of Elden Ring itself, this is its co-op, roguelike-flavored spinoff: shorter, wilder runs in the same place. Not as deep as the parent game, but the quickest route back to it.

How we picked

Every game here is one we played and reviewed ourselves, and the scores are our own, not an aggregate. We ranked them honestly and flagged the two metroidvanias plainly, because they deliver the same pleasure rather than to pad the list.