Best Soulslikes To Challenge Yourself With

"Although one could argue that Demon's Souls was first, it was its multiplatform sequel that really introduced players to the genre's pillars that have persisted in the near two decades since. While this is sometimes reduced to just difficulty in some cases, what makes a Soulslike is far more than that, pulling in aspects of exploration, narrative structure, character progressions, and more to create a wholly distinct experience that can cater to a variety of different players depending on what parts are more heavily emphasized."

"In Dark Souls you lose souls, which are used to level up and improve your stats to take on stronger enemies. This exists still in From Software's Elden Ring in a near identical format, showcasing how core it is to this experience. It's similarly used in games like Hollow Knight: Silksong to create tension during fights, as a few wrong moves can force you to leave precious rosary beads behind and wait for you to retrieve them during your next life."

"This goes hand in hand with enemies respawning every time you rest, making you consider how much more you can push on without healing and balancing that with allowing enemies to return once you do. Igniting a lantern in Bloodborne or resting at a meditation point in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor are examples of how Soulslikes games have incorporated the campfire resting spots introduced in Dark Souls, with the mechanics around them near identical."

Soulslike games trace core mechanics to Dark Souls, emphasizing more than challenge alone. Core principles include an element of loss on death, such as losing currency used for leveling, and enemies that respawn when players rest at checkpoints. Resting mechanics heal characters and often replenish consumables while returning adversaries, creating risk-reward decisions about when to push forward. The genre combines exploration, fragmented narrative delivery, and deliberate character progression to produce tension and varied experiences. Examples include Elden Ring's near-identical soul system, Hollow Knight: Silksong's lost-resources mechanic, Bloodborne's lanterns, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's meditation points.

Read at GameSpot