author: Paul Musiolik
Souls-like Games Rated Easiest to Hardest
The Dark Souls series is famous for its hellishly high difficulty, which requires, above all, patience. Games inspired by Dark Souls are trying to emulate that, with various results. Here's our list rating souls-like games from easiest to hardest.
8. Demon's Souls
- Release date: February 5, 2009
- Platform: PS3
- Developer: FromSoftware
- Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
For many years I considered Demon's Souls to be the most difficult game in the genre. But I eventually reconsidered. Though the game indeed used to be hellishly hard when it launched as PS3 exclusive (recently remade on PS5), there's overall too many exploits to consider the title a real killer.
The difficulty level is also lowered by the severely OP magic power, though I only found this out after completing platinum in the game with a regular knight. If anyone wonders how the remake compares to the original, I'd say it's easier – and that's notwithstanding the elimination of a few exploits (we have to fight Maneaters the regular way).
7. Elden Ring
- Release date: February 25, 2022
- Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, XBox One, Xbox Series X|S
- Developer: From Software
- Publisher: Bandai Namco
In the world of soulslikes, we divide eras into games released before Elden Ring and games released after it. The highly anticipated premiere from From Software had to deal not only with huge expectations from fans but also from casual players who were interested in the genre for the first time. After the release of this game, nothing was the same. The vast world has been filled in a sensible way, without losing the core of the Dark Souls series.
It's hard to name one thing that could give a bad impression of Elden Ring. This is a title that captivates players for 50, 100, or even 200 hours and somehow manages to prevent boredom. From Software has actually managed to increase the gameplay pace, added a mount to travel across the land, and expanded the option of summoning other players. When I prepared this list for the first time, I was wondering what Elden Ring would bring. Well, the game forever changed the perception of the genre.
