Elden Ring is easily one of the best games to come out in the past decade, and will likely continue to be held in such high regard for years to come. And although you can easily sink hundreds of hours into the game by utilizing new game +, there is still a finite number of things to do, places to see, baddies to fell.

If you are looking for a similar kind of game, one ripe with a vast world to explore and a high degree of challenge, then you are in the right place. Here are the best games you should play if you love Elden Ring.

10 Demon’s Souls Remake

The First Of Its Kind

For any fan of the Soulslike genre, you can do no better than Demon’s Souls, the game that started it all. The flagship title in the now long-running FromSoftware saga, Demon’s Souls was the first of its kind, beckoning in a new age of punishingly brutal combat, eerily beautiful nightmarish worlds, and unforgettably malevolent monstrosities to defeat.

Furthermore, your actions and even your failures can affect the World Tendency of each area, shifting the tone between light and dark.

Although the world itself is much more linear than that of Elden Ring, each area you can explore is vast, full of hard-to-reach areas, brutally challenging enemies, and a slew of secrets to find and items to collect. Furthermore, your actions and even your failures can affect the World Tendency of each area, shifting the tone between light and dark. This not only changes the kinds of loot you can get but also the ferocity of the enemies you face, making each world feel completely different when exploring it in both extremes. And with the 2020 Remake of the 2009 classic, there is no better way to explore the nightmare that birthed a genre.

9 Lords Of The Fallen

A Remake/Reboot To Remember

Although there was an original Lords of the Fallen that was released in 2014, it went mostly unnoticed. That is until 2023 when a new version, which is neither strictly a remake nor a reboot, was released and was mostly well received. Although there are some shortcomings with the game, namely some buggy mechanics, Lords of the Fallen delivers a solid Soulslike experience akin to what you’d expect as a fan of Elden Ring.

What sets it apart from the rest is its use of shifting between the mortal and umbral realms. Doing so completely changes the environment, making each area function effectively as two separate worlds that are intertwined. This same mechanic also affects combat and puzzle solving as well, with some of the more challenging areas requiring full mastery of this system in order to complete. Although there are better games in the genre, Lords of the Fallen is a worthy Soulslike well worth at least one playthrough.

8 The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom

A Beautiful World Where Imagination Thrives

When you think of games like Elden Ring, chances are Zelda doesn’t immediately come to mind. The art style and tones of the worlds themselves couldn’t be further apart. But the core of what makes both games incredible is the same - both have vast worlds packed with unique areas to explore, dungeons to delve into, items to find, and quests to complete.

If you can think it, you can build it, and even use it to defeat your enemies if you so choose. No matter how tough that pesky Lynel is, with enough imagination and perseverance, it doesn’t have a chance against you.

When it comes to combat, while Elden Ring will clearly spend more time punishing you with frequent deaths, Tears of the Kingdom challenges your reflexes and your overall creativity in how you solve problems. There aren’t multiple character builds to try out, but there are a near-infinite amount of ways you can make use of the item/vehicle building mechanics designed around Link’s handy Zonai abilities. If you can think it, you can build it, and even use it to defeat your enemies if you so choose. No matter how tough that pesky Lynel is, with enough imagination and perseverance, it doesn’t have a chance against you. Tears of the Kingdom is an incredibly beautiful world, rich with a plethora of things to discover and quests to complete in the sky, on land, and even in the depths below; an epic adventure well worth your time.

7 Nioh Remastered

An Overlooked Western Samurai Soulslike

Quite possibly the most overlooked Soulslike game on this list, Nioh is an incredible game full of all the elements any fan of Elden Ring would want. Made by the highly acclaimed Team Ninja, Nioh is an incredibly challenging game that demands mastery if you hope to complete it. Like many Soulslikes, you really have to manage your stamina as wildly swinging attacks will swiftly get you killed.

You can expect to die a lot until you really master each enemy’s moveset, which requires a great deal of calm and patience to persevere through. But the reward of this mastery is palpable, leaving you feeling proud of the hard work and diligence it took to achieve.

Enemies are consistently challenging, with the harder elite enemies even changing up their combat approach mid-battle to keep you on your toes. Many of them can even kill you with one or two hits, which means you have to always be prepared and on guard to avoid having to start an area over. You can expect to die a lot until you really master each enemy’s moveset, which requires a great deal of calm and patience to persevere through. But the reward of this mastery is palpable, leaving you feeling proud of the hard work and diligence it took to achieve. Although Nioh is an older game, it too received a decent Remaster treatment that makes it look almost as good as new on modern consoles, so now is as good a time as ever to give this sleeper hit a try.

6 God Of War Ragnarok

An Unforgettable Epic Tale Soaked In Blood, Sweat, And Tears

The God of War games have always been about fast-paced combat and larger-than-life boss battles with oodles of gore to enjoy. Like Elden Ring, the world you explore is a beautiful one with a dark undertone where nearly everything you encounter is out to kill you. Although these same elements are present in God of War 2018, Ragnarok really delivers them in their most polished form.

This time around, you’ll get to play as both Kratos and Atreus, both of which have completely different movesets to explore that have their own merits. The combat ranges from you feeling like an unstoppable badass taking out hordes of weak minions to getting your ass handed to you by some brutally difficult spirits of fallen warriors, Wulvers, and the near-unstoppable Norse gods themselves. There are loads of armor, weapon upgrades, items, and collectibles to find as you explore each of the beautifully designed realms. And with some metroidvania-like elements present, the worlds really feel alive and adapt as you progress through them. Furthermore, the recent, free Valhalla DLC that dropped adds a whole new area of the game that functions somewhat like a roguelite, full of new challenges to take on as you further hone your combat prowess. With all of that in mind and one of the best modern gaming stories available, you can do no better than God of War Ragnarok.

5 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Prepare To Die More Than Twice

Another FromSoft masterpiece, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is both one of the most challenging and rewarding Soulslike games out there. Unlike the Dark Souls series, Sekiro focuses almost entirely on making use of the parrying system. In order to avoid being brutally murdered by just about anything that moves in this world, you have to master the timing of each enemy’s moveset to near perfection. Doing so allows you to avoid damage, conserve stamina, and wait for your opening to deliver a fatal blow.

Although some enemies feel nearly impossible to beat, with enough perseverance, fighting them begins to feel almost like a dance. As you identify their attack patterns and master the timing of your parries, you’ll feel an immense satisfaction countering their every move until they ultimately fall at your feet.

Unlike many SoulsLike games, Sekiro does stealth right, giving you ample opportunity to zip around the rooftops with a grappling hook and tactfully eliminate the unsuspecting enemies below. However, when it comes to battling the elite enemies and bosses, you’ll have no choice but to directly face off against them, delivering perfectly timed blows and shaving down multiple health bars in order to win. Although some enemies feel nearly impossible to beat, with enough perseverance, fighting them begins to feel almost like a dance. As you identify their attack patterns and master the timing of your parries, you’ll feel an immense satisfaction countering their every move until they ultimately fall at your feet. If you are up for a challenge and have the patience to become a master swordsman, you should really give Sekiro a shot.

4 Blasphemous

Dark And Twisted In All The Right Places

Despite being the only 2D game on this list, Blasphemous is a game worthy of being compared to Elden Ring. In fact, it is quite like what I’d imagine Elden Ring could be had it been designed as a side-scrolling game to begin with. The world is once again darker than dark, full of all sorts of twisted monsters to defeat and apocalyptic environments to explore. Some of the boss designs are incredibly twisted-looking, rattling you to your core as you hack away at their oddly formed flesh in pursuit of progress.

Although combat is limited to two dimensions, it can be pretty punishing at times, requiring you to make use of expert timing and a well-crafted strategy that utilizes all of the moves at your disposal in order to come out on top. And if you find yourself not fully satisfied after blazing through the original game, there is a newly released sequel to sate your hunger, one that improves upon the combat elements, dark and disturbing world, and the horrifically designed bosses you encounter in just about every way.

3 Dark Souls 3

The Pinnacle Of The Series

Each of the Dark Souls games offers a unique experience as the worlds you explore largely feel completely separate from each other, each nightmarishly beautiful and charming in their own ways. And while some will argue that Dark Souls Remastered, the original in the trilogy is the best to experience, the sheer grandeur and more modernly designed mechanics of Dark Souls 3 make it stand out above the others in the series.

Like Elden Ring and most other FromSoft games, you can build your character however you see fit in order to take on the punishing enemies you face. Bosses are formidable, but ones that you will feel capable of squashing with enough practice. But the biggest selling point here is the world itself, as there are new locations to discover behind hidden walls, inside giant paintings, and beyond the bowels of hard-fought, fallen foes. From the Painted World Of Ariandel to the ramparts of Lothric Castle, it is hard to find a location in this world that isn’t breathtaking, both figuratively with the gorgeous level design and literally as there are no shortage of monstrosities waiting to beat the life out of you. There is a distinct magic that lives and breathes in the Dark Souls series, one that is most vibrant and beautifully realized in Dark Souls 3.

2 Lies Of P

A Fine-Tuned Soulslike That Hone Your Skills To Their Max

Quite possibly the most FromSoft feeling game on the list that isn’t actually made by FromSoft, Lies of P is the pinnacle of the Souslike genre’s mechanics, polished up to near perfection. Made by the developers at NEOWIZ and Round 8 Studio, Lies of P loosely follows the classic tale of Pinocchio's journey. You play as the sentient puppet, Carlo, as you run around the overrun city of Kraut in search of answers to the puppet frenzy and the petrification disease that has seemingly destroyed humanity.

...if you are persistent enough to carve your way through the end of the game, you’ll likely walk away with skills that will make other Soulslikes feel easy in comparison.

As you’d expect, there is no shortage of challenging enemies and bosses to face. You’ll use a series of highly customizable weapons and unique puppet arm variations to take down your enemies. But like Sekiro, it is the demanding parrying system that sets this game’s combat apart from others. There are some incredibly punishing bosses in Lies of P that require you to study and master their movements, perfectly timing parry after parry to break their guard and ultimately take them down. The challenge is high, but the reward for mastering your timing in each encounter is even higher. And if you are persistent enough to carve your way through the end of the game, you’ll likely walk away with skills that will make other Soulslikes feel easy in comparison.

1 Bloodborne

Masterfully Crafted Fast-Paced Gothic Horror

No Soulslike list is complete without mentioning Bloodborne. Although it is a standalone title in the FromSoft repertoire of excellent games, outside of Elden Ring itself, Bloodborne is quite possibly the best of the bunch. Set in a gothic world, Bloodborne really lands the horror elements much more directly than any of the other FromSoft games. And while many of the familiar gameplay elements you see in Dark Souls and Elden Ring are present, the combat itself feels completely different.

Instead of the slower-paced block and dodge standard that you may be used to in Dark Souls, Bloodborne requires you to essentially never stop moving, trading the comfort of a shield for quicker movements and a secondary weapon system. With the option to have a variety of guns in your left hand and your main weapon in your right, you’ll make use of intricate attack styles to stun and overwhelm your enemies, just as they’ll try to do to you. The change of pace is refreshing and, at the same time, difficult to get used to at first if you’ve only known the traditional Dark Souls combat.

The world itself is hauntingly beautiful and likely the most nightmarish out of all FromSoft games. Each area is packed with different paths to traverse and secrets to uncover, tempting you to explore every nook and cranny. The characters you encounter each give you a little more context of the world and the overarching story. And when you have finally hacked your way through the entirety of the base game, the procedurally generated Chalice Dungeon will keep you entertained for a dozen more hours or so. Bloodborne is a masterpiece, a cult classic every fan of Elden Ring should have in their collection.