Soulslike

A soulslike is an action role-playing game built like FromSoftware’s Souls games: deliberate, stamina-limited combat, high difficulty that teaches through repeated death, a story told through the world, and a currency you drop when you die and must go back to recover.

Where the name comes from

No first use of the word has been found. The name comes from Demon’s Souls (2009) and Dark Souls (2011). By August 2017 PC Gamer was already running a piece criticising the label, and in December 2025 Hidetaka Miyazaki said of the word: “I know we’ve been credited” with inventing it.

Where the edges are

Whether the label helps at all is the first argument; PC Gamer said in 2017 that it misleads players. Fans debate whether FromSoftware’s own later games, Bloodborne and Elden Ring, count, or form a “Soulsborne” family of their own. Some developers say difficulty should not be a requirement, players complained when Remnant: From the Ashes turned out to be a shooter, and, as one writer put it, “everyone seems to have their own definition”.

Key soulslike games

Each game links to its article; the last column links to the source that puts it in the genre.

Related genres: Metroidvania.

At a glance

Parent genre

Action role-playing game

Named after

Demon's Souls (2009), Dark Souls (2011)

Also called

Souls-like, Soulsborne (FromSoftware games)

Sources

Checked November 3, 2026.

1. Soulslike — Wikipedia
2. What the hell is a Souls-like? Game devs break down FromSoftware's accidental genre — GamesRadar+
3. The Soul of Soulslike — Game Informer
4. Dark Souls and Elden Ring mastermind Hidetaka Miyazaki "wouldn't necessarily say" that FromSoftware invented the Soulslike genre — GamesRadar+
5. The 'Souls-like' label needs to die — PC Gamer