Bloodborne or Sekiro.
this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2025
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I'm someone who tried a few Fromsoft games, but only really got into Elden Ring and that was the first (and so far only) game of theirs I finished.
If you want more Fromsoft, there's going to be a lot of overlap with their Souls games, because of how From reuses assets.
Dark Souls 3 will be the most mechanically similar, but depending on what you liked in ER, it might get too similar and just feel the same, or you get frustrated when muscle memory kicks in when you do some Elden Ring move, that doesn't work in DS3.
Dark Souls 1 might be a nice palate cleanser, as another user already stated.
If you play on console, Demons Souls or Bloodborne are also options, the latter probably being the fan favorite (or you can try to emulate it on PC). I think BB combat is supposed to be more aggressive because you can get back health, when you attack enemies after you're hit.
Sekiro is focused on parries, and a lot faster, and more difficult.
If you want to try other developers, Lies of P is a recent one, that's pretty good, more focus on blocking and perfect blocks, along with the BB-esque health-leech after you get hit, so you're supposed to be more aggressive.
If you're a Star Wars fan, the Jedi games, Fallen Order and Survivor aren't bad, but they have some open world bloat, that you can ignore. Also, it's an EA game.
If you like old school Zelda and puzzles, maybe check out Tunic.
If you like Crabs, try Another Crab's Treasure, that was already mentioned here.
If you like 2D Metroid and bugs, check out Hollow Knight.
If you like 2D Metroid and little girls (what?) take a look at Ender Lilies.
If you like FPS and have friends, try Remnant for some coop fun.
If you like fast-paced action games and loot, with some souls stuff, Nioh and The First Berserker Khazan have you covered. If you want more of that along with Final Fantasy, there's Stranger of Paradise.
If you tried Sekiro and liked it, or maybe you thought it was too hard, but it's good in concept (and like loot) you can check out Wo Long. Also helps if you're super into the Three Kingdoms stuff.
If you want Chinese mythology, take a look at Black Myth: Wukong.
If you like anime tiddies, there's Code Vein, a decent game like this, on the easier side.
If you've tried a bunch of these games and just look for more, The Surge games are alright, nothing special I think.
If you want to defeat the woke mind virus and are extremely based, but don't like good games, take a look at the Lords of the Fallen (2023).
Dark Souls 1 is like a nice palate cleanser after Elden Ring; much easier, much quicker to go through, really only like 1-2 really difficult encounters by modern standards.
Dark Souls 2 has kinda become more interesting over time. You can start to see the bones of what would eventually become Elden Ring with mechanics like powerstancing and armor sets with bonuses, but the differences in healing and the mistake of Adaptability turn a lot of people away.
DS3 is honestly just "another one" in retrospect. It introduced what would become weapon arts and simplified magic to use a mana system, both things that would continue through to ER, but I very rarely return to it.
If you can find a way to access it, I'd also highly recommend Bloodborne. It plays the most different to the rest of the franchise, while still retaining a lot of the Soulsian trappings.
I did ER, DS1, DS2, DS3.
Interestingly, my favorite is DS1
I'll probably skip DS2 lmao
I played ER then DS1, DS2 and DS2. I was kind of reluctant to play DS2 also but I'm glad I did because I had a blast.
DS2 so good you played it twice!
Ds2 is worth playing if you like the franchise/genre. It tries some stuff different from the previous game, and some of it works.
It think it's also easier than ds1, and maybe DS3. I almost cleared it without dying, just using a normal build. Because of the weird "lose max health on death" mechanic, if you die a lot it can snowball, but if you stay alive your max health is pretty generous.
DS2 gets a bad rap, but it really is a great game in its own right. Sure it's kinda chunky to play, but you get used to its rough edges pretty quickly. It also (in my opinion, at least) far and away has the best vibes of the series. All of these games are known for being lonely and melancholy, but DS2 really cracks that up to 11. More than the others, this one really feels like you're picking through the ruins of something that used to be great — which is sort of appropriate, I suppose, since many consider the first game to be superior...
It also has the most content of the 3 (if you include all of the DLC that you can easily get bundled), and also the most build variety when it comes to customizing your character.
Anyway, DS2 may still be the weakest Dark Souls and my least favorite in a lot of ways, but it's also the one that I personally can't stop thinking about. At least give it a go and see if it clicks with you, because the few things it does well, it does REALLY well.
I love it, personally. But to each their own!
My second favorite dark souls
Another crab's treasure. It plays like a soulslike but it's designed like a Rare n64 game in all the good ways.
Lies of P!