9 Best Dark Souls Games That AREN'T Dark Souls - Commenter's Edition

5. Salt And Sanctuary

Alright, we’ve given you shooty Dark Souls, gothic Pinocchio Dark Souls, Greek Mythology Dark Souls, and vampire Dark Souls. Time for 2D Dark Souls.

Enter 2016 action RPG Salt and Sanctuary, made by Ska Studios. While I’m kind of disappointed there’s no Ska elements because we really are missing a ‘Ska Souls’ on this list, enough of my tangent. In short, Salt and Sanctuary is as brutal, stylish, and wonderfully horrifying, as it is visually compelling. The gripping and tense combat is backed by an awesome soundtrack that will have your heart pounding with every new David and Goliath encounter.

There is an extensive stat and skill upgrade system, and an impressive amount of polish for a game made by just two people. That said there is a location called Village of Smiles whose name is deeply misleading so factor that in.

The story is surprisingly extensive, the world is littered with secrets, you can play in co-op, and there are loads of playstyle options, items, and weapons, not to mention various classes and origin choices. To call Salt and Sanctuary just a basic Soulslike is really doing it a disservice as anyone who has played it would tell you. Thankfully, despite being criminally underrated, the game got a sequel that came out in 2022 which manages to hit the nail on the head just as well.