Soulslikes With The Best Atmosphere

There’s a common misconception with Soulslike games that a lot of players and developers seem to be missing. What typically ‘makes’ something a Soulslike game in the first place is usually something like there is a dodge roll, the game is primarily built around skill-based 1v1 combat, collecting some sort of ‘currency’ to use to level up stats, and more. But, not enough people talk about the fact that the Souls games are only so beloved because of their atmosphere.

If the worldbuilding, environmental storytelling, and overall tone of any of From Software’s Soulsborne games fell short, they wouldn’t be nearly as popular. So, let’s take a look at some other Soulslikes that absolutely nail their overall atmosphere rather than just talking about the ones that have similar mechanical systems.

10 Unsighted

Time Really Is Ticking For The NPCs In This Game

First up is a game called Unsighted that came out in late 2021. This game is almost more similar to the handheld Zelda games or something like Hyper Light Drifter than it is Dark Souls, being a Metroivania and all, but it does still check all the boxes that also make it a Soulslike.

Unsighted’s atmosphere is entirely built around this idea of ‘time running out’ as the power source that makes all the automaton characters in this game ‘live’ is quickly running out. This general solemn tone or sense of ‘hopelessness’ is seen in a lot of the game’s music, dark or rainy environments, and even in some of the most important gameplay mechanics.

9 Hollow Knight

One Big Interconnected Bug World

Among all the (likely hundreds) of ‘like Dark Souls‘ list articles, videos, and more out there, Hollow Knight is probably on 98 percent of them. There isn’t a conversation about Soulslikes on any forum where Hollow Knight isn’t mentioned at some point.

However, no one talks about (or talks enough about) the fact that Hollow Knight is actually on a similar level to the Souls games when it comes to environmental storytelling. Whether it’s stuff like figuring out the White Lady’s relationship with Hallownest’s Pale King based on where she’s first found (and the item she gives The Knight) or the story of how the Greenpath became the Queen’s Gardens and so on. There aren’t a lot of games that manage to pull this off as subtly (or as effectively) as Hollow Knight does.

8 Let It Die

Somehow Both The Most Depressing & Off-The-Walls Setting You’ve Ever Seen

The next entry is almost assuredly one that almost nobody expected to be here, but it absolutely deserves a spot. When it comes to grueling difficulty and the act of trying to make as much progress as possible while avoiding absurdly strong enemies, Let It Die is one of the premiere examples compared to Dark Souls.

That said, the overall tone of Let It Die can be hard to place at first, and that’s sort of exactly the point. The developers at Grasshopper Manufacture are known for making ‘off the walls’ worlds in their games (No More Heroes or Shadows of the Damned, for example) and Let It Die is no different. This extremely dystopian yet oddly charming world where the skateboarding depiction of ‘Uncle’ Death itself sends players into the mysterious Tower of Barbs is one that players are constantly desperately striving to understand as they play more and more of the game, and that’s impressive.

7 Mortal Shell

Like Dark Souls, But Even More ‘Metal’

Out of all the games on here, Mortal Shell is probably the one that gets the closest to mimicking Dark Souls’ overall atmosphere. While the environmental storytelling in Mortal Shell isn’t quite as strong, just about every other aspect of the game gives off the same ‘world on the brink of the end’ vibe that all 3 Dark Souls games have.

Sure, it’s a slightly different ‘flavor’ of this atmosphere, and the game is constantly being compared to Dark Souls and not quite matching up when talked about on forums, but managing to get this close to From Software’s brand of worldbuilding is absolutely still worthy of praise.

6 Lords Of The Fallen (2023)

A Game With Atmosphere That Somehow Captures The ‘Vibe’ Of Biblical Extremism

As one of the most recent examples on this list, Lords of the Fallen (2023) has a very unique type of ‘feel’ to it. The game has an identity all its own, no doubt about it, but the best way to actually describe this identity is by saying something like ‘Dark Souls meets Blasphemous‘.

The heavily religious ‘order’ of this world can be seen in every environment the Dark Crusader treks through. And, more than that, there’s never a moment where an NPC ‘breaks character’ from the almost biblical style of speech, and that does a lot to make this atmosphere top-notch.

5 Lies Of P

Pinocchio Meets Eldritch Horror

Sure, this next game has it sort of easy when it comes to worldbuilding since it’s entirely based on one of the most well-known fables of all time. However, while Lies of P is a unique twist on the Pinocchio story, that’s not the part worth mentioning here in regard to its atmosphere.

There is no part of Lies of P’s world where it isn’t immediately clear that the ‘puppet uprising’ happened and that something is deeply wrong with the status quo. Whether it’s the abandoned city streets littered with corpses, the pristine opera hall where the Puppet King resides, or even the landfill where the puppets of this setting used to be discarded in before rising up, it’s all immaculately designed. Lies of P is compared to Bloodborne a lot, and that’s fair, especially since both games have the player character gradually understanding the real ‘truth’ of the world throughout their adventure.

4 Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen

The Game’s Previous Title Screen Song ‘Into Free’ Sums Up The Tone Of This Game

While most of the other examples on here are about games with a very dour, solemn, or downright fatalist sort of setting or worldbuilding, Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen is different.

The keywords that describe this game’s atmosphere at almost every point are ‘blood-pumping battle’. Every new monster introduction has players feeling excited to figure out how to bash their heads in, and most of the places where these creatures are found make total sense in regard to the environment around them. Plus, more than anything else, the concept of the ‘Arisen’ in this setting and dragons as a whole is entirely unique to Dragon’s Dogma.

3 Remnant: From The Ashes & Remnant 2

Not Just Environmental Storytelling For One World, But Multiple

When it comes to the number of secrets found throughout a Soulslike environment, the Remnant games have even From Software beat. Both Remnant: From the Ashes and Remnant 2 are games where the developers have made it clear multiple times how much of a focus they placed on storytelling and/or environmental storytelling, and it shows.

Whether it’s the disgusting bug-made ‘nests’ in Corsus to represent the Iskal invasion, the general emptiness and incomprehensible skyline of N’Erud to represent this doomed world bordering a black hole, or even how almost picturesque Yaesha looked in R: FtA to represent that the Root hadn’t made it there quite yet. These games hide so many secrets in their environments, and while players are looking for these secrets it’s incredibly easy for them to also unintentionally figure out parts of the storytelling in each world as well.

2 Ashen

Finally, A Soulslike With A World That’s Recovering

Let’s be honest, Ashen isn’t one of the most ‘well-known’ Soulslikes out there. It’s not completely unknown, but it doesn’t make nearly as many Dark Souls comparison lists as something like Hollow Knight does.

However, it’s a beloved game, and the aspect of it that should be covered more is how it manages to impart this atmosphere of ‘hope’ or ‘rebirth’ throughout its events. The player character in Ashen is steadily rebuilding the world from a dire state as they progress, and this theme can easily be felt in its environmental design, sound design, and visuals overall.

1 Hellpoint

Cthulhu-esque Occultism In A Sci-Fi Setting

And last up is another well-known Soulslike, Hellpoint. While Hellpoint is talked about as being a good game for people who want games similar to Dark Souls mechanically, it also has one of the most interesting settings as well.

Essentially, Hellpoint takes place in a derelict space station orbiting a black hole in a world where humanity messed with alternate universes, the result of which caused multiple realities to combine in an instant, creating an event called ‘The Merge’. To make a long story short, Hellpoint is ‘Occultism meets Sci-F’i in a way that truly is unique, and almost every part of the Irid Novo station matches this core concept in some way, shape, or form.

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