10 Best Dark Souls Games That AREN'T Dark Souls
Underrated action RPGs the Soulsborne fandom needs to play.
FromSoftware’s masterpiece action-RPG, Dark Souls, melded several elements together perfectly. An emphasis on crunching tactical combat, an intricate game world that generously rewarded players who explored Lordran to its fullest, and a deep and rich lore told through environmental storytelling, rather than a traditional RPG exposition dump.
A huge hit both critically and commercially, it’s proven to be hugely influential over the last decade. Many games have borrowed elements from the Souls formula, while others appear to have recreated FromSoftware’s innovative mechanics wholesale, inventing a new sub-genre: The Soulslike.
These homages to Dark Souls appeared quickly, hoping to cater to a rapidly growing fanbase by offering similarly challenging games with matching depth. Anyone who’d gotten hooked on Dark Souls needed something to provide that dopamine hit between FromSoftware games.
Other games in FromSoftware’s catalogue (Demon's Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro) won’t appear on the list. Instead, we’ll look at what other developers have created by iterating on From’s formula.
Some wear this influence proudly on their sleeve, like a Dark Souls cover band playing their version of the hits. Other games may be less obviously influenced, but they are all excellent.
10. The Surge 2
Developer, Deck13 Interactive, seemed to have carved out a niche for themselves in creating Soulslike games since releasing Lords of the Fallen in 2014. That game had a gritty fantasy setting and was clearly beholden to Dark Souls, but Deck 13’s The Surge and its sequel have pivoted to a sci-fi setting, ditching greatswords and magic for body augmentation and nanomachines.
The Surge 2 has quick and brutal combat which feels closer to Bloodborne than Dark Souls. A key mechanic unique to The Surge is the ability to target specific body parts, and once enough damage has been inflicted these limbs can be severed with a visceral finishing move; this is predominantly how you’ll acquire new gear.
A common criticism of The Surge was its uninspired setting and level design and it’s clear the developer has focused on improving these areas in the sequel - and they’ve largely succeeded.
While both Surge games indulge in some rote sci-fi nonsense in terms of their plot, they are both mechanically complex and enjoyable.