Soulslike games from easy to hard?

[Jonny Friggin Panic]

I'll be honest: I'm not generally into hard games. They're bad for my anxiety. I also don't play competitive games for a similar reason. For a rough estimation of my skills: I've beaten Hollow Knight, but I can only take HK if I can face-tank him a bit til he gets seppuku-y, and I can't handle the post-game content like Nightmare King Grimm. (It's worth noting that I adore Hollow Knight regardless.)

But it bothers me that so many games come out that look aesthetically amazing but lack the accessibility to allow someone like me to enjoy them. I'd gladly trade clout for the chance to just experience this content on a less-demanding scale. I really couldn't care less about clout; clout is for children.
That being said, I would like to try a few of these games carrying the "soulslike" tag, but I'm really not interested in cutting-edge top-end fights. I like to explore, grind, level/skill up, craft, etc, but I'm not the kind to obsess over super-secret post-game megabosses and the like. I just want to get into and enjoy a game for a bit. I'm an overprepper, if that matters, meaning I don't mind a bunch of grinding to grind out some of the difficulty of something. it's not like I have a life or anything! :D

So my question is: can anyone provide a rough general list of popular soulslike games (both 3d like Elden Ring and 2d like Blasphemous) from "arguably easiest" to "most definitely the hardest"?

[sumolagann]

elden ring you can power through, sekiro/blasphemous I don't think you can, souls series you can over level and try to go with certain gear/builds that would help you pass, but it's more repetitive than elden ring if you want to power up because the design is more linear. momodora is a nice metroidvania with a souls feel, has easy mode.

I'd say definitely try elden ring because you can explore a lot and power up a lot. That being said, souls games are basically learning enemy attack patterns, so if you're struggling and can't power through something just try to learn each move one by one and general patterns, elden rings can be tricky in comparison though.

Nioh is difficult, but you can keep powering up and getting loot, so that might be fun in the end, it does have some combat depth but it's not too crazy, you can just try to keep to simplistic ways of combat. It's mission based

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

I didn't even find the Dark Souls series hard. So I am not sure what to list here. What does "Soulslike" mean if I never found the series remotely hard?

It is like me laughing throughout the game Dead by Daylight, or just recently The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

[J4MESOX4D]

Best game to start off with is Dark Souls Remastered - that will give you a taster on how things function in games like these and the overall learning curve. I wouldn't focus on which is the easiest of the bunch - they are all challenging and rewarding in their own ways and it's really down to the player on how they adapt and use their ability and in-game skills.

[Kargor]

I was recently looking at STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order because of a rather good sale discount, and noticed the souls-like tag.

People told me it has a difficulty-setting and isn't that hard (but, you know how the fanboys are -- they usually speedrun in ultra-super-hard difficulty while blindfolded and with hands tied on their backs, or at least that's what they all tell you). Still, I decided to remove it from my shopping list because even if individual fights might be playable, the game still has other souls-like problems like the broken save system. Also, it's just a Star Wars game.

Still, within the souls-like crowd, I'm led to assume that it should be one of the easier ones.

On the other hand, maybe I should do some research like that on "souls-like" games that look more interesting. For that SW game in particular, I just hadn't noticed the tag initially.

[Lithurge]

Publicado originalmente por Kargor:

I was recently looking at STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order because of a rather good sale discount, and noticed the souls-like tag.



Still, within the souls-like crowd, I'm led to assume that it should be one of the easier ones.

For that SW game in particular, I just hadn't noticed the tag initially.

That's true, I'm not a fan of souls like games but I finished that one it does have the dode/attack learning requirement that seems to be a major component of souls like games, it's just nowhere near as important at lower difficulty settings.

Another one that has difficulty levels is Steel Rising, you could argue they go too far the other way as the lowest setting means you can't die.

[Zefar]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1517970/Aeterna_Noctis/

This game is real hard. Harder than Hollow Knight in several ways.
The hard mode is the games standard difficulty mode it launched with and an Easier mode was added. That is still harder than Hollow Knight.

[Kargor]

Publicado originalmente por Lithurge:

Another one that has difficulty levels is Steel Rising, you could argue they go too far the other way as the lowest setting means you can't die.

Which also seems like a perfect example why it's difficult to judge these things.

That game was an immediate "no thanks" for me:

• Store page outright says "Up against the king's mechanical soldiers, deadly accuracy will be needed. String together dodges, parries, jumps and devastating attacks to fight your way through Paris. Every fight will test your nerve and requires excellent discipline, while the huge relentless machine bosses demand patience and skill."
  
• Has tags "souls-like" and "difficult"

Whether or not any of this is actually true, who knows. But, where else can a "first impression" come from?

[Lithurge]

Publicado originalmente por Kargor:

Which also seems like a perfect example why it's difficult to judge these things.

Whether or not any of this is actually true, who knows. But, where else can a "first impression" come from?

I agree, if I see a game described as souls like I immediately lose interest, the only reason I picked this one up is because somebody I trust talked about the optional difficulty levels. Although as I understand it they were added in a later patch after players asked for it. Same with the Star Wars game.

[Diabetico69]

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