2025's Greatest Soulslikes, Ranked

There have been quite a few incredible games released so far in 2025, and the soulslike genre in particular has had an exciting year. Recently, Elden Ring Nightreign provided a compelling multiplayer twist on the FromSoft formula, and Wuchang: Fallen Feathers brought back the beloved Dark Souls 1 feel. Fans of the genre have plenty to keep themselves busy, following the previous year's slate of soulslikes ranging from Black Myth: Wukong to Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.

This year, the debate over what makes a great soulslike (or what qualifies as a soulslike at all) has grown even more complicated. Soulslikes such as The First Berserker: Khazan are designed around boss-rush-style gameplay, while Elden Ring Nightreign completely challenges players' notions of what defines an essential FromSoftware Souls experience.

8 Echoes Of Yi: Samsara - A "Janky" & Underrated Sekiro-Like

This One Slipped Under The Radar, But Shouldn't Be Written Off Entirely

Echoes of Yi: Samsara was developed by a small team at Runmeng and launched in April 2025. It probably flew under most players' radars, as it wasn't a major AAA release and never built up any significant hype. It's not a perfect soulslike experience, and it can feel like an underwhelming Sekiro knock-off in terms of gameplay and soulslike mechanics.

Echoes of Yi will definitely scratch a certain Sekiro itch for diehard soulslike fans.

However, being a Sekiro copycat doesn't necessarily mean it isn't fun, and Echoes of Yi will definitely scratch a certain Sekiro itch for diehard soulslike fans. Echoes of Yi: Samsara was described by Reddit user Tryhard_lose_harder as "a janky but overlooked Sekiro-like game," and I have to admit that's the perfect description.

Casual soulslike players are likely not going to love this game, as many Steam reviews point to it being riddled with glitches and bugs, with a lackluster story to boot. All the same, I'd say it's a must-play for grind-obsessed Sekiro fans looking for soulslikes with a similar feel.

7 Mandragora: Whispers Of The Witch Tree - An Essential Metroidvania Soulslike

Recent Mandragora Updates Polished It Up & Made It Shine Even More

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a metroidvania-style soulslike with quite a few positive reviews on both Metacritic and Steam, at least since its most recent update in May that resolved a majority of its performance issues. Mandragora is described as "a story-driven 2.5D action RPG" set in the fantasy world of Faelduum, "a grim and vivid world full of unforgettable NPCs, unique enemies, and complex moral dilemmas."

Mandragora has received high praise since it was patched and updated, and it's easily one of the best Metroidvania-style soulslikes to come out this year. While it isn't your classic soulslike experience, various points in the journey will definitely pose a soulslike challenge.

Mandragora has a dynamic yet easy-to-understand character class and progression system that allows for a range of playstyles and approaches to gameplay. You can play as a spellcaster, a classic sword-and-shield-wielding knight, and more. While Metroidvania-style games might not be everyone's cup of tea, this is certainly a worthwhile game to try out if you're a fan of the soulslike genre.

6 Lords Of The Fallen 2.0: The Comeback Kid

From A Lackluster 2023 Release To One Of The Best Games Of 2025

While the Lords of the Fallen reboot launched in 2023, I'm including Lords of the Fallen 2.0 on this list due to how much the 2025 2.0 update reinvented the game. To bring everyone up to speed, Lords of the Fallen is a soulslike action RPG that launched in 2023 with countless performance issues that resulted in an avalanche of negative reviews.

Players also had plenty to say about various problematic gameplay mechanics that made the experience frustrating and not very fun overall. As a result, developers at CI Games SE went back to the drawing board in an attempt to fine-tune the experience from top to bottom and make it more enjoyable for players.

Lords of the Fallen 2.0 is an entirely new and improved game from the original 2023 version, and is well worth checking out.

Hence, the Lords of the Fallen 2.0 update was released in April this year and included a refined multiplayer experience in its Full Shared Progression Co-op feature, a Free Friend’s Pass that lets friends who don't own the game play alongside you for free, among 50-some-odd other updates that vastly improved the overall experience. Needless to say, Lords of the Fallen 2.0 is an entirely new and improved game from the original 2023 version, and it's well worth checking out.

5 AI Limit: A Highly Challenging Anime Soulslike

AI Limit Suffered From An Unfortunate Release Date Conflict

If you're a soulslike fan looking for a real challenge, AI Limit should be next on your playlist. AI Limit was released at the same time as another huge 2025 soulslike on this list, The First Berserker: Khazan, and as such, a vast portion of its would-be audience either put it on the back burner or chose to skip it entirely. However, if you still haven't had the chance to play AI Limit, you're missing out on an epic soulslike experience.

Developer SenseGames did an incredible job with this anime-style soulslike action RPG, and while AI Limit doesn't do anything truly innovative in terms of gameplay or soulslike mechanics, it incorporates classic soulslike elements very well. The boss designs are extremely well done overall, with a few noticeable difficulty spikes that some players will both love and loathe.

Overall, AI Limit is a great soulslike adventure from a small indie developer that deserves credit where it's due. In terms of 2025 soulslikes, there are certainly better options out there, but that doesn't mean you should write AI Limit off. If it's sitting on your wishlist and you've been waiting to pull the trigger, I'd highly recommend giving AI Limit a go.

4 Lies Of P: Overture - A DLC Better Than Most Full Soulslike Releases

Overture Is The Best Soulslike DLC Of The Year Without Question

Lies of P: Overture is the 2025 DLC expansion to the original Lies of P, which saw massive success with its 2023 release. Lies of P is one of the best non-FromSoft soulslikes out there, and the DLC is an unmissable experience that frankly stands out even among full releases in 2025. If you haven't had a chance to play this essential soulslike yet, it will actually be included as a PlayStation Plus free monthly game in August.

Lies of P is set in the fictional city of Krat, where puppet robots have gone rogue and started killing humans as a result. You play the role of P and will set out on a mission to get to the bottom of what happened to these other puppets under the guidance of Gepetto. Lies of P: Overture picks up before all of this is set in motion.

The Lies of P: Overture DLC acts as a prequel to the original game, and it gives players completely new areas, bosses, and more to scratch that unique Lies of P itch. The DLC will provide about 15-20 hours of soulslike challenge, which is the perfect addition to the base game.

3 The First Berserker: Khazan - Incredible Bosses In An Iconic Universe

Some Of The Best Boss Designs In The Genre

The First Berserker: Khazan is one of the year's best and most popular soulslike releases, and it's an absolute essential for players who enjoy boss-rush-style gameplay. Khazan is highly lauded for its dynamic boss fights and intricate weapon and combo system, but this became a barrier to entry for many players. The game ended up being a bit harder than most players were willing to put up with, and its creators took notice of fan feedback.

Eventually, developers at Neople released an extensive update in June that overhauled its difficulty settings and provided a more comprehensive tutorial covering its various weapon combo systems. If you're one of the players who bailed on Khazan initially because of its incredibly difficult gameplay, you may want to pick it back up and try out the new settings for a more enjoyable and slightly more laid-back experience.

The June Khazan update also introduced a gear and weapon preset setting that allows players to save loadouts, while also increasing maximum storage capacity and other quality of life fixes.

Despite these barriers to entry (which die-hard soulslike fans probably didn't see as a problem at all), The First Berserker: Khazan is an incredible game that pushes soulslike combat mechanics to the limit. It's a must-play for any fans of the genre that prefer an extreme challenge, but after the June update, it is also widely accessible to more casual players as well.

2 Wuchang: Fallen Feathers - A Dark Souls 1-Inspired Masterpiece

While It Had A Rough Launch, Wuchang Is Undeniably A Top-Tier Soulslike

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is a brand-new soulslike RPG from Leenzee and 505 Games that is directly inspired by the design philosophy of Dark Souls 1. This is about as close to a classic FromSoftware experience as you'll get from a non-FromSoft studio, with gameplay that could be pulled straight out of Dark Souls or Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Wuchang faced a difficult launch due to widespread performance issues that were quickly patched.

The above issues aside, very few critics have negative things to say about Wuchang's overall mechanics and quintessential soulslike gameplay. While sticking true to the genre's roots, it incorporates innovative and unique elements, such as the Madness and Inner Demon mechanics, which allow players to "throttle" the difficulty to a certain extent.

Wuchang has also been widely praised for its excellent level design and progression system, which allows players to utilize and experiment with multiple playstyles throughout their journey with no penalty for re-speccing. Wuchang's boss designs present players with a formidable challenge, particularly early bosses like Commander Honglan, who might make even the most experienced soulslike veteran break a sweat.

If you're basing your decision to play Wuchang on the negative Steam or Metacritic reviews it received in its first few days due to performance snafus, you'll be doing yourself a disservice by writing this game off entirely. Whatever you've heard or read about Wuchang, this is a soulslike that you absolutely need to try for yourself to appreciate its mix of classic soulslike elements and original new ideas.

1 Elden Ring Nightreign - A Groundbreaking FromSoft Co-Op Experience

With Doubles Officially In Play, There's No Question Nightreign Is 2025's Top Soulslike (So Far)

Elden Ring Nightreign is FromSoftware's revolutionary new soulslike action game that features cooperative multiplayer gameplay set in a procedurally generated map that will vary across each playthrough. Nightreign takes the core mechanics of Elden Ring and reimagines them in a completely new experience. While many FromSoft classicists will argue Nightreign doesn't hold up to the original, very few soulslike fans can deny that it's incredibly fun.

Nightreign has a solo mode that became much more viable after an early patch, but it's largely designed for a cooperative multiplayer experience, which now includes duos and trios (as opposed to just three-player at launch). Nightreign has sold over 5 million copies since launch, and soulslike fans are clearly sold on this new adaptation of the classic FromSoft formula.

All told, 2025 has been packed full of incredible soulslike releases, with some that flew completely under the radar and others that have completely revolutionized the genre. In particular, The First Berserker: Khazan, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, and Elden Ring Nightreign stand out as must-play games of the year that should absolutely be on your soulslike wishlist if you haven't played them already.

Sources: Tryhard_lose_harder/Reddit, Steam