Soulslike games are a sub-genre of action RPGs which is known for darkly fantastical worlds, high levels of difficulty in combat, and plenty of storytelling and deep lore. While the actual Soulsborne games by FromSoftware are usually quite lengthy for gamers to try and beat, there are some similar games in the vein of these which are shorter.
As the Soulslike sub-genre has become more popular over the last decade, more studios are attempting to find their own niche within the style. Often, this means making a game that can be compared to the Soulsborne games without achieving the level of depth or length of gameplay that those games often reach.
7 Salt & Sanctuary
Salt & Sanctuary is a 2-D action RPG which was heavily inspired by worlds like those built in Dark Souls. This game, despite being 2-D, uses a lot of the world-building that FromSoftware developed for their games. There are also Metroidvania aspects that, blended with the Soulsborne style, have made for something unique and beloved for its graphical style and gameplay.
Salt & Sanctuary is a relatively short game when compared to any of the FromSoftware games which inspired it. When just focusing on the main story, most gamers achieve a run in the game in around 16 hours. While this still isn’t exactly a one-sitting type of game, it is much more beatable than the Soulsborne franchise.
6 Lords Of The Fallen
Lords of the Fallen is another game that borrowed heavily from the style of the Soulsborne series. Set in a dark world where the player character is a recently released criminal who is tasked with stopping an invasion of dark forces sent by the formerly tyrannical God Adyr.
This game received mixed ratings from critics and fans, with one of the main complaints being how heavily it needed to rely on what it was borrowing from Soulsborne games. Fortunately, for fans of those games, it is still a fun adventure, which will likely only take around 15 hours to get through. There is also a sequel with the same name being released soon.
5 Remnant: From The Ashes
With a sequel on the way, Remnant: From The Ashes is another successful game that managed to latch onto the success the Soulsborne games were having. Many mechanics were taken from those games, although a third-person shooter element was also added to change combat somewhat from the Soulsborne games, and give a further way to deal with the difficult enemies.
Set in a dark post-apocalyptic Earth, the player is attempting to rid the planet of a dimension-traveling evil called The Root. This adventure, which has been highly praised by fans and critics, should take players around 13 hours when focusing on the main story to polish off.
4 Blasphemous
Blasphemous is an extremely well-known Soulslike game that has also got a sequel on the way. While Blasphemous blends Metroidvania style with that of the Soulslike games, there is no denying the influence on this world that the FromSoftware games have had. Between the art, the world-building and lore, and even the name of the player character “The Penitent One”, everything screams that this is heavily inspired by Dark Souls.
Blasphemous follows The Penitent One as he journeys across a dark world inspired by Roman Catholicism and Spanish religious culture. The difficult combat, even in a 2-D Metroidvania style, has found players taking around 13 hours to complete this adventure. Though there are also now several DLCs available for players looking to squeeze some extra time out of the world of Cvstodia.
3 Mortal Shell
A less well-known take on the Soulslike genre, Mortal Shell is an action RPG which allows players to take on the role of one of several “shells” which all have different styles of play. Despite being quite a lot shorter than many Soulslike games, Mortal Shell manages to have the look and feel that players have come to love from FromSoftware adventures.
Mortal Shell normally only takes players around 10 hours to complete. Players can possess lost warriors and face some brutal foes with incredible designs on their way across a shattered world filled with the kind of lore that Soulsborne players love to explore.
2 Unsighted
Described by some as the best indie game of 2021, Unsighted provided an adventure across the ruined world of Arcadia where players took control of Alma before the life force of her and her friends vanishes. Players have to make intriguing choices in this comparatively short adventure that make the story feel as important and emotionally significant as any FromSoftware game.
Unsighted only takes around 8 hours to complete, and the developers even added an Explorer mode to make things easier for players looking to complete the game and explore it without so much interference. The art style doesn’t give the impression of a Dark Souls world, but fans of those games will surely love this one.
1 Titan Souls
A bizarre game, frankly, which was one of the earliest examples of a Soulslike game, Titan Souls is a 2D, top-down action game where both the player and every boss they face die after being hit once. Of course, anything can hit the player, whereas the boss only has one specific spot they can be hit, making the difficulty much worse.
Even so, there isn’t a lot of exploration or lore behind this game, and most players manage to wrap up this strange stand-out in the Soulslike world in about 3 or 4 hours. Titan Souls may be one of the more bizarre games inspired by the Soulsborne series, but it does have the distinction of being one of the very shortest as well.