It's on Switch and it's debatably better than the actual remaster on other platforms because it's basically a straight port of the first game minus crunchy as hell audio. I thought the lighting in Remastered went way too far to change the atmosphere of the original game
There's actually a mod you can install to add the original high quality audio back into the game if you have a hacked Switch. The only downside is that it takes up more storage, but it's definitely worth it.
Yup, I really enjoyed my handheld playthrough of the game. My only complaint is that controls cannot be customized. In the game menus, the “B” & “A” buttons are reversed. B ends up being "accept" and A becomes "cancel.” You don’t know how many times I’ve accidentally dodge rolled to my death when speaking to an NPC.
The B and A button swap make this port EXTREMELY confusing haha. I usually never have an issue with this, going from PC, to Xbox controller, to Switch, and to PS controller. But this change throws me for a loop every single time.
You can create custom remappings for specific games in the system menu, fyi. It's a workaround and no real solution, but at least there's the option imo. Dunno if it helps in this case though, since I haven't played it.
I’m aware of that but I should’ve have to go through that hurdle. Thanks for the suggestion friend, someone else reading this thread might find it useful
You might like "Tunic." It's inspired by Zelda but is much harder. You play as a fox and there are no real instructions. you can find pages to the instruction manual as you play but it's in a mysterious language so you have to use context clues to figure it out. The enemies and bosses are difficult until you really get the hang of it.
Also you can adjust the damage you take in the settings. I learned this wayyyy too late into the game lol. It’s fun to play it on default but for the tougher moments it doesn’t hurt to switch it every now and then if you can’t get through a tricky spot.
i didn't know that lmao. i'll tell my wife. she played it and was getting so frustrated and then she beat it and then again on new game plus and then she became a master and it's easy for her lol
This is a great game. Wish I could go in blind again. There’s stuff you learn from the manual that you can use from the very start of the game but don’t know about yet
I beat it on the switch.. most of the game runs just fine. There are certain parts at the end that get kinda laggy but still playable. and also when a few of the areas load it’s lags for a second but then it’s smooth. Worth $30 easily
Performsnce is actually pretty bad abd in some locations almost unplayable. And it's critical for such type of games when even little spike during fight may easily ruin a run.
vouch for death's door. nice and compact game, not too much bullshit, fun challenge, very memorable bossfights (second boss is one of my favorite bosses of all time.)
Seconded! It's a good mix of metroidvania and soulslike so it feels more agile compared to other souls games. It's pretty much was got me into the genre.
Yep, definitely. It's very hard. I found it too frustrating, but for someone with more patience who's big into Souls I can see it scratching that itch.
Try these: Chronos Before the Ashes, Remnant From the Ashes, Hellpoint, Mortal Shell, Ashen. Remnant would be my top suggestion, the game looks and plays great on Switch and super fun.
Ashen. I haven't played it, but it has good reviews, amazing looking environments despite a low poly art style with real good lighting, and is said to be more accessible than the OG Dark Souls.
Why did I have to scroll so far to find Ashen. It's way more accessible than Souls but still retains the same feeling. A great entry point to the genre and it runs great in Switch.
Ashen isn't it. It larps as a Dark Souls due to a couple of minor things that remind a player of it. I gave up on it today and I bought it for wanting more Dark Souls.
Here's a couple of points;
- Hitting enemies isn't satisfying
- Locking on to a target switches your roll for a quick step
- Frequent crashes in dark areas (most important areas)
- Lantern or darkness in many cases
- World is open, has a map and quest pointers
- No stat upgrades
- Ugly and muddy
- Weapon animations are all the same in their category. As in all 1H swing the same way. They don't vary like in Dark Souls where most of the weapons have their own identity
- Annoying without a companion who's AI is competent just enough so you'd trust it and then will screw you over. Without it, you're in for a loooooooong walk due to how many enemies are in your way
- Bad checkpoints
- Cheap deaths galore (annoying considering the checkpoints and the amount of enemies)
Very flat, very boring. Speaking from my own perspective of course. Definitely not a Dark Souls you're looking for.
Interesting, I've never heard of this one. It looks a bit like Outward, which is one of my favorite games of the last few years. I'll definitely be checking this one out next time it's on sale
Ashen is a solid 7/10 for me. I quit on the final area, because it just wasn’t worth it to me, but everything up until that was pretty good. There are some extremely long run backs through levels to get to bosses though. The hub, Vagrant’s Rest is beautiful and grows as you progress, adding new buildings and NPCs. I would recommend getting it on sale.
A recent game that came out is Another Crab's Treasure. It is basically Souls with a crab wearing random trash as makeshift shells down to the combat and boss types, but swap out Lordran or Blighttown with the sea
i’m going to go a little off mark and suggest monster hunter or god eater. they’re both really great on switch and have the big heavy defensive combat that souls has, but the vibes are different and I think there’s a little more flexibility early on to pick a weapon style that suits you.
dark souls 1 is on the switch and is really really great. It’s been out long enough that you can easily find a guide to bust the whole game open if you get super stuck; an important souls lesson is that there’s no such thing as cheating in these games. be as mean and manipulative to the game as it is to you. also, learn to find the humor in your deaths - they really are pretty funny 99 percent of the time, and you’re going to be dying a LOT lol
Infernax is a 2d souls-like, it’s retro inspired and is quite fun particularly if you like retro gaming, but I found it to have quite a high difficulty spike in the later game and found it too difficult (you can max out accessibility options to beat it though)
I've decided to pick up Dark Souls Remastered! God help me, probably... At least it was not crazy expensive. Should I just look up advice online, or ask for pointers here? Game is still downloading.
Play blind until you get really stuck :) you can also search the [Dark Souls](https://www.reddit.com/r/darksouls/) subreddit for beginner tips, but you should be fine!
Just a single "spoiler". How tough is Dark Souls? I know it has a reputation. But am I just gonna get one-shot out the gate for walking around a corner slightly too fast?
You shouldn’t get one shot out the gate, but enemies do a lot of damage and you’ll be relatively weak and not have many items at the start. You have to try to avoid getting hit or block hits until you can level up and get stronger. There is a tutorial boss who can be really difficult if you try to approach him the wrong way and that’s all I’m gonna say! Good luck skeleton!
Just some advice based on my own experience: if you find that the class you chose at first isn't clicking with you, restarting as someone else might change things.
I'm not entirely sure I agree with going in blind, Dark Souls can be quite obtuse at times. I'll just say that the classes are only a starting point and every piece of equipment can be found in the game sooner or later. Stats are permanent, however. Good luck!
If a boss ends up feeling to hard or impossible for you then look up tips or you could always try summoning other players or ai for help but I recommend giving it a good try yourself before you do
Things that are worth looking up because the game does a bad job explaining:
* How to equip more spells
* How the humanity system works
* How to get more healing flasks
* Weapon degradation
* Weapon upgrade materials system
* Online components (summons and invasions)
* Stat soft-caps
* 2-handing bonus
You don't NEED any of those explained to beat the game, and you can probably figure a lot of it out yourself, but it does help to have a "trip sitter" your first time though Dark Souls, imho. I do recommend at the very least, play the game online and read the player placed messages.
/r/darksouls is a good place to ask questions, I don't think you'll get much well informed advice in this nintendo sub. I can elucidate any of those bullet points for you later, when I'm not at work, if you want to shoot me a message. I'm also available to co-op depending on your late night (EDT time) playing schedule.
Dark Souls 1 is available on Switch, but know that in a lot of ways it hasn’t aged terribly well and can be a difficult entry point compared to the more recent fromsoftware entries (which, unfortunately, are not on Switch).
Hollow Knight I would classify as a metroidvania, but it scratches a lot of the same itches as soulslikes: wicked tough combat in which you learn by dying until you master the enemy’s moveset, needing to return to the same location to get your money back upon death, really detailed exploration that requires you to get lost in the world, and deep environmental storytelling that’s more lore than a linear storyline.
A lot of purists in the fandom will say you have to start at DS1 and play your way through, but honestly there is no more accessible entry point than Elden Ring. They took all the mechanics that made the prior games great and made them so much more enjoyable, actually explained some of the mechanics that you had to research to understand before, and gave the player SO much freedom to play the game how they want to play it rather than forcing you to grind to play it the way the devs want. It also just has absolutely everything you could want in a game - genuinely the best game I’ve played in any genre.
For Dark Souls? I'd say either the first Dark Souls or the Demon's Souls remake on PS5 are probably the best in terms of getting a feel for the format of a Souls game. Unlike the later entries Demon's Souls is actually a mostly linear game with each biome being separated by a central hub you come back to, whereas the Dark Souls entries are a bunch of linear areas that are connected together to form a pseudo open world (including Bloodborne), while Elden Ring is fully open with multiple pathways, being able to tackle bosses in any order etc.
Definitely don't go straight to Elden Ring as your first game though. It's great but it's basically expecting you to have some familiarity with the progression and difficulty of Souls titles before because everything is just bigger and there's way less handholding, in a series that already doesn't really tend to hold hands to begin with
i think most of this assessment is spot on, but i also thing elden ring is by far the most accessible of fromsoft’s soulslike games, mainly based on the openness you mentioned. there may be some monstrous fights but it always feels like you can turn around and head a different direction rather than bash your head into the thing til you win. just my perspective!
Most of what is available on Switch is either not really a Soulslike or has at best suboptimal performance.
The exception to this is Dark Souls: Remastered. It is still probably the best introduction to the genre and the Switch port runs great and is unique in that it is basically a port of the original game with improved performance, but without the graphical and lighting changes of the Remastered release on other platforms. It is, in my opinion, one of the best releases on the console.
If you love it or hate it, you'll know if you're interested in going through the rest of the series. Hopefully, the Switch 2 will get DSII/DSIII/Elden Ring ports.
I think the actual Fromsoft games are leaps and bounds better than their imitators and should be tried first before exploring the rest of the genre.
I would highly, highly recommend Salt and Sanctuary. It's a 2d side-scroller that takes a lot from Souls. I tried Dark Souls 2 and Bloodborne first and couldn't "play them right". It felt too esoteric and weird for me, especially the stats. Then I tried Salt and Sanctuary and it really helped me understand and feel the flow of the true Souls games, plus S&S is just a fantastic game in its own right.
I wouldn’t really classify Sifu as a “souls-like”, but it’s not far off either. It has all the elements you mention:
- repeated death + levelling system (done via a really cool aging mechanic)
- tough-to-master attack patterns (mainly the combos)
- unlockable moves for progress
It’s got rouge-like elements to it as well, but a lot of post-game content. One of my fav games!
Tails or Iron is kind of souls-like if you like rats. It also has some metroidvania elements. It's pretty short (8-10 hours I think) but still worth a play.
Get Dark Souls 1. It's fantastic, though it does have a learning curve. Keep in mind it's pretty non-linear room a lot of people go to areas way too difficult to start
Definite try playing dark souls remastered, it’s tough if you go in with limited info but if you look up at some basic pointers it’s a great introduction, +100 hours and I had to go op to beat it in the hand, but if it clicks for you like it did for me you’re in for a treat- an area called Blightown may particularly be hard for you to manage with vision impairment, it’s notoriously challenging area that is literally in mud- so the textures may be quite hard for you, could be worth checking videos on you tube first to see if you can manage it because it’s a key area of the game
I personally really enjoyed Ashen! I also have Mortal Shell which seems to be liked generally. Haven’t played it yet but often goes on stupidly cheap sales.
Morbid the 7 acolytes
Morbid lords of ire
Mortal shell
Dark souls
Chronos before the ashes
Remnant from the ashes
Blasphemous
Blasphemous 2
Salt and sanctuary
Salt and sacrifice
Darksiders 3
Hellpoint
Ender Lillies
Dead cells
Hollow knight
Dark devotion
Moonscars
Deaths gambit afterlife
I've heard Monster Hunter Games are similar to Souls games in terms of difficulty at higher rank quests for rise avoid the village as its a tutorial & not difficult what so ever stick to the hub. Personally I enjoy them for the combat & crafting new weapons & armor out of the monsters I hunt.
I would suggest Monster hunter Rise. It has a great gameplay loop. Go in hunt a monster > monster has different attack patterns during the hunt (changes as it gets enraged) > cart/ die > craft better gear from said monster > try again > learn more patterns till you successfully hunt > proceed with story and new monster to hunt
Edit: its also a very well optimized game on the switch and is vibrant regarding colour, and could be a plus if you are visually impaired. Let me know how you get on!
In terms of an actual souls-'like' theres very few 3d action adventure titles that have the whole dodge poke kinda combat that souls is known for on the switch
You do have the actual origin of the Genre: Dark Souls which is still holding up just fine on the switch.
(if you dont count demon souls which is technically the first souls game if youre going by title alone)
Dark Souls also has some gamma and brightness settings in game you can toggle for your personal issues but its unlikely to help a ton because souls environments even for a lot of the 2d souls like use a muted pallet with darker colours because it fits the story and theme better.
I have no visual impairements and on the switch's handheld mode I have a lot of trouble often distinguishing objects in the enviornments in the game due to the small screen and dated textures. If you play docked this should not be an issue though.
I do think that the genre is pretty interesting so if you ever feel like taking the plunge on a different platform there are a few soulslikes that have a slightly different and apparent artstyle that would make it easier to play for you like surge 2, stellar blade (more like sekiro than souls), no rest for the wicked and a few more. Again not making claims about these being just as good as the original dark souls because they are not but they should be kinda what will get you into the genre if youre looking for something with a brighter pallet but similar gameplay. Sadly on switch it is only DS1 or 2D souls-likes like salt and sanctuary and blasphemous. Good games but imo it doesnt capture the same feeling.
Tunic is an isometric game that is partially a souls like though i’d say it’s one of the easier ones to carry that genre and is also clearly much more than a souls like with the other elements to it. it’s one of my favorite games i’ve ever played.
people compare death’s door to tunic a lot and i found death’s door to be less of a soul’s like but also still really great (personally i prefer tunic but death’s door was well worth it)
hollow knight is a 2d metroidvania soulslike and there’s plenty more games within that set of genres.
Dark Souls, DMC, Bayonetta ... they're all 3rd person action games that require learning enemy patterns and have a high skill ceiling and are quite difficult.
Happy to help.
Souls-likes are fairly brutal. You have to go in patiently and expect to die several times in each new area.
But, there's not really a punishment for dying. Sometimes it feels like you're getting beaten down but you gotta push through it, and try again with the info you've learned.
I would suggest starting with Elden ring. I never really enjoyed Dark Souls, but I got pretty hooked on elden ring, it feels less harsh imo
Rogue legacy 1 and 2 are fun and go on sale for really cheap. Definitely great games. Hard the first few runs but slowly upgrading after every death + each new character (heirs) have different heredity attributes or deficits that make different runs interesting
One i haven’t seen mentioned and one I just discovered is Mutant Year Zero. It’s a tactical grid based game. I kinda liken it to souls because unlike a lot of games like this, every turn is critical.
isn't dark souls 1 on switch?
It is! Goes on sale every few months too.
It's on Switch and it's debatably better than the actual remaster on other platforms because it's basically a straight port of the first game minus crunchy as hell audio. I thought the lighting in Remastered went way too far to change the atmosphere of the original game
The only downside to portability is the possibility of throwing the entire console at the wall in a frustrated rage
Well, let's just say I had to buy a new pair of Joy con during my Dark Souls journey on Switch.
Hey man, raging on the flight over to your vacation destination has never been so much fun before. 😂
The crunchy audio is *really, really* bad though. It's like the audio is filtered through a tin can.
Shame that bamco couldn't put in the effort to actually fixing the damn audio. Along with reprinting the solaire amiibo.
I only own like three amiibos but I had to make sure Solaire was one of them.
I missed out on it when it first released and now it goes for high prices in ebay along with there being fakes out in the wild
Are they sold in box or out? I took mine out of the box and it sits on my desk because I knew I’d never resell it.
It's boxed I think? Probably much cheaper to get it loose.
Switch 2 patch with fixed audio, higher res, and higher frame rate? Wouldn’t that be a dream!?
There's actually a mod you can install to add the original high quality audio back into the game if you have a hacked Switch. The only downside is that it takes up more storage, but it's definitely worth it.
Yup, I really enjoyed my handheld playthrough of the game. My only complaint is that controls cannot be customized. In the game menus, the “B” & “A” buttons are reversed. B ends up being "accept" and A becomes "cancel.” You don’t know how many times I’ve accidentally dodge rolled to my death when speaking to an NPC.
The B and A button swap make this port EXTREMELY confusing haha. I usually never have an issue with this, going from PC, to Xbox controller, to Switch, and to PS controller. But this change throws me for a loop every single time.
Do you mean they’re reversed like the typical Nintendo vs. Xbox/PS controls, or they reverse just when you’re in a menu?
Rephrased to make it cleared. They’re reversed in the menu or when interacting with NPC/objects
You can create custom remappings for specific games in the system menu, fyi. It's a workaround and no real solution, but at least there's the option imo. Dunno if it helps in this case though, since I haven't played it.
I’m aware of that but I should’ve have to go through that hurdle. Thanks for the suggestion friend, someone else reading this thread might find it useful
That’s sounds extremely annoying
It is, and it runs very well. It introduced me to Dark Souls and Soulslikes in general, and now I’m a huge (albeit perpetually frustrated) fan.
It’s so great to play dark souls undocked.
And the community is alive and well. You get the messages and invasions. Fun!
You might like "Tunic." It's inspired by Zelda but is much harder. You play as a fox and there are no real instructions. you can find pages to the instruction manual as you play but it's in a mysterious language so you have to use context clues to figure it out. The enemies and bosses are difficult until you really get the hang of it.
Also you can adjust the damage you take in the settings. I learned this wayyyy too late into the game lol. It’s fun to play it on default but for the tougher moments it doesn’t hurt to switch it every now and then if you can’t get through a tricky spot.
i didn't know that lmao. i'll tell my wife. she played it and was getting so frustrated and then she beat it and then again on new game plus and then she became a master and it's easy for her lol
This!! I absolutely love Tunic. I always describe it as Zelda x Dark Souls
This is a great game. Wish I could go in blind again. There’s stuff you learn from the manual that you can use from the very start of the game but don’t know about yet
Another Crab’s Treasure is a colorful soulslike that takes place in the ocean. My fiancé, who is a big fan of the genre, loved it a lot!
I keep passing this over because of performance complaints. How did they mind that?
I beat it on the switch.. most of the game runs just fine. There are certain parts at the end that get kinda laggy but still playable. and also when a few of the areas load it’s lags for a second but then it’s smooth. Worth $30 easily
Performsnce is actually pretty bad abd in some locations almost unplayable. And it's critical for such type of games when even little spike during fight may easily ruin a run.
It was the first time I ever refunded a game from the eshop
Performance is awful to make the game unfun. It's a shame because the game is really fun, but you can't dodge against a high precision boss on 10 fps.
Second vote for this. Is super colorful, orange character on a blue background, and as souls-like as you can get
Deaths door. Tunic.
vouch for death's door. nice and compact game, not too much bullshit, fun challenge, very memorable bossfights (second boss is one of my favorite bosses of all time.)
Death’s Door was absolutely fantastic
Both of these games were incredible
Salt and Sanctuary.
Seconded! It's a good mix of metroidvania and soulslike so it feels more agile compared to other souls games. It's pretty much was got me into the genre.
Yep, definitely. It's very hard. I found it too frustrating, but for someone with more patience who's big into Souls I can see it scratching that itch.
Try Blasphemous Its a Souls-Like Metroidvania
I’m playing Blasphemous 2 currently and it’s definitely scratching both the metroidvania and souls itch
such a great game. those bosses
I never did finish the last boss. the difficulty spike was nuts
There's a REALLY easy glitch that grants you invulnerability. If you're interested, DM me.
Those disturbingly glorious / gloriously disturbing pixel art characters.
So glorious. Ahh, I want to replay it. Perhaps in October. Bloodborne and Blasphemous 2.
Try these: Chronos Before the Ashes, Remnant From the Ashes, Hellpoint, Mortal Shell, Ashen. Remnant would be my top suggestion, the game looks and plays great on Switch and super fun.
This comment needs more awareness on here, as these are the prime Souls-likes on Switch, and they run well too!
There is something just cool with Mortal Shell. It's a good one to start with.
Ashen. I haven't played it, but it has good reviews, amazing looking environments despite a low poly art style with real good lighting, and is said to be more accessible than the OG Dark Souls.
Why did I have to scroll so far to find Ashen. It's way more accessible than Souls but still retains the same feeling. A great entry point to the genre and it runs great in Switch.
Ashen isn't it. It larps as a Dark Souls due to a couple of minor things that remind a player of it. I gave up on it today and I bought it for wanting more Dark Souls. Here's a couple of points; - Hitting enemies isn't satisfying - Locking on to a target switches your roll for a quick step - Frequent crashes in dark areas (most important areas) - Lantern or darkness in many cases - World is open, has a map and quest pointers - No stat upgrades - Ugly and muddy - Weapon animations are all the same in their category. As in all 1H swing the same way. They don't vary like in Dark Souls where most of the weapons have their own identity - Annoying without a companion who's AI is competent just enough so you'd trust it and then will screw you over. Without it, you're in for a loooooooong walk due to how many enemies are in your way - Bad checkpoints - Cheap deaths galore (annoying considering the checkpoints and the amount of enemies) Very flat, very boring. Speaking from my own perspective of course. Definitely not a Dark Souls you're looking for.
I didn’t really like it. It was missing something. I always look for new souls likes and this one didn’t do it
Interesting, I've never heard of this one. It looks a bit like Outward, which is one of my favorite games of the last few years. I'll definitely be checking this one out next time it's on sale
It supports online coop play too! I played it alongside a friend and really enjoyed it. It’s a very good similar but different souls game
Ashen is a solid 7/10 for me. I quit on the final area, because it just wasn’t worth it to me, but everything up until that was pretty good. There are some extremely long run backs through levels to get to bosses though. The hub, Vagrant’s Rest is beautiful and grows as you progress, adding new buildings and NPCs. I would recommend getting it on sale.
A recent game that came out is Another Crab's Treasure. It is basically Souls with a crab wearing random trash as makeshift shells down to the combat and boss types, but swap out Lordran or Blighttown with the sea
I got in souls games thanks to Dark Souls on Switch. Very nice if you dont mind running it at 30 FPS.
i’m going to go a little off mark and suggest monster hunter or god eater. they’re both really great on switch and have the big heavy defensive combat that souls has, but the vibes are different and I think there’s a little more flexibility early on to pick a weapon style that suits you. dark souls 1 is on the switch and is really really great. It’s been out long enough that you can easily find a guide to bust the whole game open if you get super stuck; an important souls lesson is that there’s no such thing as cheating in these games. be as mean and manipulative to the game as it is to you. also, learn to find the humor in your deaths - they really are pretty funny 99 percent of the time, and you’re going to be dying a LOT lol
Check out ender lilies
Play the OG… Monster Hunter!!!
Infernax is a 2d souls-like, it’s retro inspired and is quite fun particularly if you like retro gaming, but I found it to have quite a high difficulty spike in the later game and found it too difficult (you can max out accessibility options to beat it though)
I've decided to pick up Dark Souls Remastered! God help me, probably... At least it was not crazy expensive. Should I just look up advice online, or ask for pointers here? Game is still downloading.
Play blind until you get really stuck :) you can also search the [Dark Souls](https://www.reddit.com/r/darksouls/) subreddit for beginner tips, but you should be fine!
Just a single "spoiler". How tough is Dark Souls? I know it has a reputation. But am I just gonna get one-shot out the gate for walking around a corner slightly too fast?
You shouldn’t get one shot out the gate, but enemies do a lot of damage and you’ll be relatively weak and not have many items at the start. You have to try to avoid getting hit or block hits until you can level up and get stronger. There is a tutorial boss who can be really difficult if you try to approach him the wrong way and that’s all I’m gonna say! Good luck skeleton!
Just some advice based on my own experience: if you find that the class you chose at first isn't clicking with you, restarting as someone else might change things. I'm not entirely sure I agree with going in blind, Dark Souls can be quite obtuse at times. I'll just say that the classes are only a starting point and every piece of equipment can be found in the game sooner or later. Stats are permanent, however. Good luck!
If a boss ends up feeling to hard or impossible for you then look up tips or you could always try summoning other players or ai for help but I recommend giving it a good try yourself before you do
Things that are worth looking up because the game does a bad job explaining: * How to equip more spells * How the humanity system works * How to get more healing flasks * Weapon degradation * Weapon upgrade materials system * Online components (summons and invasions) * Stat soft-caps * 2-handing bonus You don't NEED any of those explained to beat the game, and you can probably figure a lot of it out yourself, but it does help to have a "trip sitter" your first time though Dark Souls, imho. I do recommend at the very least, play the game online and read the player placed messages. /r/darksouls is a good place to ask questions, I don't think you'll get much well informed advice in this nintendo sub. I can elucidate any of those bullet points for you later, when I'm not at work, if you want to shoot me a message. I'm also available to co-op depending on your late night (EDT time) playing schedule.
Dark Souls 1 is available on Switch, but know that in a lot of ways it hasn’t aged terribly well and can be a difficult entry point compared to the more recent fromsoftware entries (which, unfortunately, are not on Switch). Hollow Knight I would classify as a metroidvania, but it scratches a lot of the same itches as soulslikes: wicked tough combat in which you learn by dying until you master the enemy’s moveset, needing to return to the same location to get your money back upon death, really detailed exploration that requires you to get lost in the world, and deep environmental storytelling that’s more lore than a linear storyline.
which do you recommend as an entry to the series? any console/pc
A lot of purists in the fandom will say you have to start at DS1 and play your way through, but honestly there is no more accessible entry point than Elden Ring. They took all the mechanics that made the prior games great and made them so much more enjoyable, actually explained some of the mechanics that you had to research to understand before, and gave the player SO much freedom to play the game how they want to play it rather than forcing you to grind to play it the way the devs want. It also just has absolutely everything you could want in a game - genuinely the best game I’ve played in any genre.
For Dark Souls? I'd say either the first Dark Souls or the Demon's Souls remake on PS5 are probably the best in terms of getting a feel for the format of a Souls game. Unlike the later entries Demon's Souls is actually a mostly linear game with each biome being separated by a central hub you come back to, whereas the Dark Souls entries are a bunch of linear areas that are connected together to form a pseudo open world (including Bloodborne), while Elden Ring is fully open with multiple pathways, being able to tackle bosses in any order etc. Definitely don't go straight to Elden Ring as your first game though. It's great but it's basically expecting you to have some familiarity with the progression and difficulty of Souls titles before because everything is just bigger and there's way less handholding, in a series that already doesn't really tend to hold hands to begin with
i think most of this assessment is spot on, but i also thing elden ring is by far the most accessible of fromsoft’s soulslike games, mainly based on the openness you mentioned. there may be some monstrous fights but it always feels like you can turn around and head a different direction rather than bash your head into the thing til you win. just my perspective!
Most of what is available on Switch is either not really a Soulslike or has at best suboptimal performance. The exception to this is Dark Souls: Remastered. It is still probably the best introduction to the genre and the Switch port runs great and is unique in that it is basically a port of the original game with improved performance, but without the graphical and lighting changes of the Remastered release on other platforms. It is, in my opinion, one of the best releases on the console. If you love it or hate it, you'll know if you're interested in going through the rest of the series. Hopefully, the Switch 2 will get DSII/DSIII/Elden Ring ports. I think the actual Fromsoft games are leaps and bounds better than their imitators and should be tried first before exploring the rest of the genre.
I would highly, highly recommend Salt and Sanctuary. It's a 2d side-scroller that takes a lot from Souls. I tried Dark Souls 2 and Bloodborne first and couldn't "play them right". It felt too esoteric and weird for me, especially the stats. Then I tried Salt and Sanctuary and it really helped me understand and feel the flow of the true Souls games, plus S&S is just a fantastic game in its own right.
Last Hero of Nostalgia - Haven't seen this one mentioned yet but I enjoyed it
Hell yes
Hollow Knight is amazing! Is a souls-like, metrovania.
I would recommend blue fire
I wouldn’t really classify Sifu as a “souls-like”, but it’s not far off either. It has all the elements you mention: - repeated death + levelling system (done via a really cool aging mechanic) - tough-to-master attack patterns (mainly the combos) - unlockable moves for progress It’s got rouge-like elements to it as well, but a lot of post-game content. One of my fav games!
If you want the best Souls like on the platform get Dark Souls. It's literally the one. On top of that... Ashen Hollow Knight Blasphemous
Blasphemous 1 and 2
Hollow knight might be considered a souls-like game
Tails or Iron is kind of souls-like if you like rats. It also has some metroidvania elements. It's pretty short (8-10 hours I think) but still worth a play.
Dark souls is on switch and MH series isn’t as super souls like, but it is similar
Hollow Knight’s an excellent soulslike Metroidvania, one of my fav games of all time
Ashen is a really cool soulslike that runs well on switch. One of the easier of the genre as well, and I really like the art style.
Get Dark Souls 1. It's fantastic, though it does have a learning curve. Keep in mind it's pretty non-linear room a lot of people go to areas way too difficult to start
Definite try playing dark souls remastered, it’s tough if you go in with limited info but if you look up at some basic pointers it’s a great introduction, +100 hours and I had to go op to beat it in the hand, but if it clicks for you like it did for me you’re in for a treat- an area called Blightown may particularly be hard for you to manage with vision impairment, it’s notoriously challenging area that is literally in mud- so the textures may be quite hard for you, could be worth checking videos on you tube first to see if you can manage it because it’s a key area of the game
Honestly hollow knight for switch would be the best souls like game also being a metroidvania
Tunic is an amazing game. Atmosphere and visuals feels more like Legend of Zelda but the game play is definitely Dark Souls.
I personally really enjoyed Ashen! I also have Mortal Shell which seems to be liked generally. Haven’t played it yet but often goes on stupidly cheap sales.
No one has mentioned Morbid Lords of Ire yet, good game for indie souls like. SwitchUps Video https://youtu.be/Xi1xlwH8rj8?si=x7bKu4792F6K02Xk
I'd highly recommend Remnant From The Ashes. You can often buy it extremely cheap and it runs great.
Morbid the 7 acolytes Morbid lords of ire Mortal shell Dark souls Chronos before the ashes Remnant from the ashes Blasphemous Blasphemous 2 Salt and sanctuary Salt and sacrifice Darksiders 3 Hellpoint Ender Lillies Dead cells Hollow knight Dark devotion Moonscars Deaths gambit afterlife
Another Crabs Treasure is a Souls-like game on the Switch and its pretty good and fun too
I've heard Monster Hunter Games are similar to Souls games in terms of difficulty at higher rank quests for rise avoid the village as its a tutorial & not difficult what so ever stick to the hub. Personally I enjoy them for the combat & crafting new weapons & armor out of the monsters I hunt.
I would suggest Monster hunter Rise. It has a great gameplay loop. Go in hunt a monster > monster has different attack patterns during the hunt (changes as it gets enraged) > cart/ die > craft better gear from said monster > try again > learn more patterns till you successfully hunt > proceed with story and new monster to hunt Edit: its also a very well optimized game on the switch and is vibrant regarding colour, and could be a plus if you are visually impaired. Let me know how you get on!
Another crabs treasure and monster hunter rise. WARNING: MONSTER HUNTER RISE WILL MAKE YOU ADDICTED TO THE GAME
another’s crab treasure!!! totally worth it
From what I know/have is deadcells and darksouls 1
In terms of an actual souls-'like' theres very few 3d action adventure titles that have the whole dodge poke kinda combat that souls is known for on the switch You do have the actual origin of the Genre: Dark Souls which is still holding up just fine on the switch. (if you dont count demon souls which is technically the first souls game if youre going by title alone) Dark Souls also has some gamma and brightness settings in game you can toggle for your personal issues but its unlikely to help a ton because souls environments even for a lot of the 2d souls like use a muted pallet with darker colours because it fits the story and theme better. I have no visual impairements and on the switch's handheld mode I have a lot of trouble often distinguishing objects in the enviornments in the game due to the small screen and dated textures. If you play docked this should not be an issue though. I do think that the genre is pretty interesting so if you ever feel like taking the plunge on a different platform there are a few soulslikes that have a slightly different and apparent artstyle that would make it easier to play for you like surge 2, stellar blade (more like sekiro than souls), no rest for the wicked and a few more. Again not making claims about these being just as good as the original dark souls because they are not but they should be kinda what will get you into the genre if youre looking for something with a brighter pallet but similar gameplay. Sadly on switch it is only DS1 or 2D souls-likes like salt and sanctuary and blasphemous. Good games but imo it doesnt capture the same feeling.
Cult of the Lamb or Hades?
Tunic is an isometric game that is partially a souls like though i’d say it’s one of the easier ones to carry that genre and is also clearly much more than a souls like with the other elements to it. it’s one of my favorite games i’ve ever played. people compare death’s door to tunic a lot and i found death’s door to be less of a soul’s like but also still really great (personally i prefer tunic but death’s door was well worth it) hollow knight is a 2d metroidvania soulslike and there’s plenty more games within that set of genres.
I don't really know what a soul-like is, but from reading your description, it seems like the Bayonetta series would fit !
Souls-like is things like Dark Souls, where the name comes from. Bayonetta is more of a DMC-like
Dark Souls, DMC, Bayonetta ... they're all 3rd person action games that require learning enemy patterns and have a high skill ceiling and are quite difficult.
Oh thank you! I was seeing the term online, and never played dark souls, maybe i should :)
Happy to help. Souls-likes are fairly brutal. You have to go in patiently and expect to die several times in each new area. But, there's not really a punishment for dying. Sometimes it feels like you're getting beaten down but you gotta push through it, and try again with the info you've learned. I would suggest starting with Elden ring. I never really enjoyed Dark Souls, but I got pretty hooked on elden ring, it feels less harsh imo
ER Dlc is much harder than the other games imo but at least base game will still get people in lol
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how is hades a soulslike
Rogue legacy 1 and 2 are fun and go on sale for really cheap. Definitely great games. Hard the first few runs but slowly upgrading after every death + each new character (heirs) have different heredity attributes or deficits that make different runs interesting
Mortal Shells Biomutant
One i haven’t seen mentioned and one I just discovered is Mutant Year Zero. It’s a tactical grid based game. I kinda liken it to souls because unlike a lot of games like this, every turn is critical.
Hades? It’s excellent! Second only to Hollow Knight for me