Soulslike Games Aren't Just Hard Anymore - These Genre Mashups Are Incredible

It's 2025, and the Soulslike genre has completely outgrown its grim, punishing roots. It's not just about cryptic lore, brutal difficulty, and boss fights that haunt your dreams anymore. Some brilliant developers started asking: what if we took these mechanics and fused them with something totally different? What if we mixed them with Metroidvanias, shooters, or even cute adventure games? And you know what? It worked. Some of the absolute best games I've played recently are these wild hybrids that take FromSoftware's DNA and inject it into entirely new worlds. They're fresh, they're brutal, and they're so much more than just "hard games."

Let me break down the most memorable and genre-bending Soulslike fusions I've experienced. These aren't just copycats; they're games that took the formula and transformed it into something that truly stands on its own.

1. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - The Cinematic Approach

Okay, who saw this coming? A Star Wars game wearing its Soulslike influences on its sleeve! 😲 But there it was: rest points (bonfires, but make them Jedi), stamina-based lightsaber combat, and parrying that feels absolutely essential. Playing as Cal Kestis isn't about flashy, mindless swinging. You have to learn enemy patterns, commit to your attacks, and oh boy, do you pay for your mistakes. It's Jedi training with actual consequences.

What makes it special is the fusion. It takes that deliberate, thoughtful combat and slams it into a classic action-adventure structure. One minute you're carefully dueling a Purge Trooper, analyzing every swing, and the next you're doing Uncharted-style wall runs and solving puzzles in ancient ruins. It's not the most punishing hybrid out there, but it's arguably the most welcoming gateway into this style of gameplay. Perfect for when you want the challenge but also a compelling, cinematic story.

Why it works:

• ✅ Accessible Challenge: Tough but fair, with a great story to pull you through.

• ✅ Genre-Blend Mastery: Souls combat + Metroidvania exploration + cinematic set-pieces.

• ✅ The Fantasy: It feels like being a Jedi Padawan learning the hard way.

2. Blasphemous - Penance in Pixel Form

There's hard, and then there's Blasphemous. This is a 2D Metroidvania that trades in souls for guilt and gore-drenched Catholic iconography. Every single pixel oozes a disturbing, beautiful atmosphere inspired by Spanish folklore. The combat is heavy, deliberate, and parry-focused—every clash feels like a matter of life, death, and sin.

But it's more than just a moody aesthetic. The world is a nonlinear nightmare to explore, with intentionally cruel enemy placements and boss fights that feel like biblical trials. The real magic is in the lore, which isn't handed to you. You piece it together from item descriptions, cryptic NPC dialogues, and grotesque side quests. This isn't a game that wants to be your friend. It wants you to atone.

My Experience: The first time I beat a major boss, I didn't just feel victory; I felt like I'd survived a religious ordeal. The weight is real.

3. Salt and Sanctuary - 2D Dark Souls, No Apologies

Imagine someone took Dark Souls, pressed it flat into a 2D side-scroller, and kept all the nasty surprises. That's Salt and Sanctuary. It's aggressive, visually stark (like a gothic chalk drawing), and beautiful in that deeply unsettling way only soulslikes achieve.

It borrows heavily from Dark Souls—you level up at sanctuaries, you lose your "salt" (souls) on death, and you build your character from a wide array of classes. But it adapts it all perfectly for side-scrolling. The platforming adds a new dimension of danger, the skill tree is massive, and every weapon swing has serious heft. Oh, and it has couch co-op! Playing through this grim world with a friend is a uniquely fun (and chaotic) experience.

4. Code Vein - Anime Drama Meets Undead Struggle

If Dark Souls and a moody anime like Tokyo Ghoul had a baby obsessed with trench coats and amnesia, you'd get Code Vein. 🧛‍♂️ It's an anime-styled Soulslike that is completely unsubtle and I love it for that. Massive swords, slow, powerful attacks, and a incredibly deep class system based on "Blood Codes" that let you respec your build on the fly.

The game-changer here is the companion system. You're never alone. Your AI partner will heal you, revive you, and fight alongside you with their own moveset. This shifts the dynamic from lonely struggle to tragic buddy-cop drama, making tough encounters more manageable but not easy. Combined with its visual-novel-inspired story scenes and over-the-top character fashion, it's a glorious, heartfelt oddball.

5. Tunic - Deceptively Cute, Brutally Cryptic

⚠️ DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THE FOX. ⚠️

At first glance, Tunic is an adorable Zelda-like with a cute fox in a green tunic. But behind that charming facade is one of the most cunning and punishing hybrids I've ever played. It has a stamina bar, brutal enemies, checkpoints that reset the world, and it replaces tutorials with an in-game manual written in a fictional language you have to decipher.

This game is a puzzle box wrapped in an action-RPG. Combat is simple but will punish carelessness. Exploration is everything, but nothing is explicitly marked. That manual isn't just a collectible—it's literally the key to understanding core mechanics and unlocking hidden parts of the world. It's a brilliant, loving tribute to the mystery of old-school gaming, built on a rock-solid soulslike foundation. Figuring things out feels like a real achievement.

6. Nioh 2 - Precision Combat Meets Historical Fantasy

Team Ninja didn't borrow Souls mechanics for Nioh 2; they performed a surgical graft with their own legendary action-game DNA. The result is arguably the most mechanically deep and combat-rich game on this list. It's fast, it's complex (with three combat stances per weapon), and it uses a "Ki" pulse system instead of traditional stamina. Plus, the loot system feels more like Diablo!

Yet, at its core, it's a soulslike. Levels are treacherous gauntlets full of traps, hidden paths, and monstrous yokai bosses that will wreck you. The setting—a demon-infused version of Japan's Sengoku period—is incredible. And unlike most soulslikes, you get to create and customize your own silent protagonist, which changes the vibe from bleak despair to focused, personalized vengeance.

For players who want: Deep, technical combat systems and endless build-crafting.

7. Remnant II - Soulslike... With Guns?!

"Souls with guns" was the pitch for the first Remnant, but Remnant 2 perfected it. 🤯 Imagine your dodge rolls and stamina management, but instead of a sword, you're wielding a shotgun, a rifle, or a weird alien pistol. The twist? The worlds are procedurally generated. Bosses, maps, enemy placements—they remix with every new adventure or co-op session.

The genius is how well it works. The guns feel powerful and weighty, melee is still a viable (and risky) option, and the dual-class system allows for insane build variety. Pair that with some of the most bizarre and creative world designs in gaming (a realm ruled by sentient beetles? A world that's a cosmic opera? Yes!), and you get a shooter that plays like a roguelite wearing soulslike armor. Perfect for co-op mayhem.

8. Hollow Knight - A Masterclass in Atmosphere & Isolation

Last but certainly not least, the masterpiece. Hollow Knight might not have been marketed as a Soulslike, but the community crowned it one for a reason. Everything feels deliberate: the precise parry timing, the "Soul" meter you charge by attacking, the benches that serve as both save points and quiet moments of respite in a dying world.

It's also one of the greatest Metroidvanias ever made. The world of Hallownest unfolds slowly, with new movement abilities unlocking deeper, more dangerous secrets. Death has weight (you lose your currency and have to reclaim your "shade"), exploration is rewarded but never guided, and the profound, melancholy lore is hidden in the environment and item descriptions. Somehow, this game about a silent bug knight delivers the loneliness, challenge, and immense triumph of Dark Souls better than most 3D games. An absolute must-play.

Final Thoughts

Playing these games has completely changed my perspective. The Soulslike genre isn't a box anymore; it's a toolkit. Developers are using its core principles—meaningful combat, weighty consequences, environmental storytelling, and earned progression—to enhance all sorts of experiences. Whether you want a cinematic Star Wars adventure, a co-op shooter looter, or a beautiful, haunting puzzle in a fox's world, there's a Soulslike fusion out there for you. The era of pure, unadulterated punishment is over. Welcome to the era of brilliant, brutal hybrids. 🎮✨

TL;DR: The best "Soulslikes" in 2025 aren't just hard games copying Dark Souls. They're incredible fusions with Metroidvanias, shooters, RPGs, and puzzle games that use the formula to create something entirely new and unforgettable.