Recently, Soulsborne fans around the world were surprised to learn that Software’s next big project, Duskbloods (an online multiplayer game with the nearest semi-Bictorian aesthetic to Bloodborne 2), could potentially be locked behind the $449.99 price on the Nintendo Switch 2.
I understand the disappointments, hunters and fading that the undead experienced, but they don’t have to fall prey to Deep By. Since the original Dark Souls was featured on Map in 2011, developers of all shapes and sizes have tried their hand at replicating or reinventing the company’s persuasive, elusive formula. And while many failed, more than a couple succeeded.
You may already be familiar with some big things, such as Nioh, Lies of P, Black Myth: Wukong. However, some of the most effective and inventive games like Souls are made by small indie teams that don’t have the money or talent to rival on scale or range of AAA competitors. Instead, they had to get creativity, and it is through this creativity that they were able to hurt Miyazaki’s team that same itching.
And it leads us to this list. In a specific order, you don’t need the 10 best indie soul pickpockets you can play today, Switch 2.
Oldest son
The Soulsborne Formula has many components that are never limited, including exploration, skill-based combat, inexplicable lore, environmental storytelling, and big, bold boss fights. My eldest daughter, Boss-Rush Gauntlet, specializes in the latter.
Put the player in the shoes of a lonely warrior and pass through the vast bloody fortress, while fighting creatively designed monsters, the eldest son endures several 2D games.
Blasphemy
Speaking of bloody Citadel, we feel at home wandering around the winding spires of Yharnam’s healing church, we end up falling in love with the 2D Metroidvania world where masked crusaders littered behind him, blew away the Roman Catholic attitude.
The healing church is inspired by the late Gothic churches in Northern Europe, but the blasphemy asp evoking the religious art and culture of profanity Italy and the Inquisition era, evokes the land of Custodia. The seductive character and boss designs carried over to 2023’s Blasphemous 2 and its Mea Culpa DLC are the only second from Software in its ability to capture the intrusive quality of Christian iconography from centuries ago.
Tunic
One of the surest ways to create something like an effective soul is to take inspiration from Software’s own inspiration, not from Software. Like Miyazaki himself, the creators of Tunic, a 3D isometric action adventure game, are huge fans of the original Zelda games, especially the way that these games evoke feelings of curiosity and wonder.
The main character of the game – a cartoon-cute, anthropomorphized fox with a straight sword – don’t be fooled. There are no objective markers to move forward. All in-game dialogs are delivered in an indecipherable script. Like the Dark Souls trilogy and Eldenling, it’s clear that something bad has happened in the tunic world. But what?
Iron Tail
Iron Tail and its sequel, Tails of Iron 2: To explain whether “cute” is only partially true. Certainly, both action RPGs have a fascinating picture book aesthetic, with high-pitched knights of mice featuring high-pitched knights of mice, but they are also filled with blood, loud and with stories of death and betrayal. (Come to this, they are narrated by anyone other than Geralt, the Libyan voice actor Doug Cockle).
Both games have arguably more in common with George RR Martin’s fantasy flavours, but in explicit storytelling and dense worlds it still resembles something like Dark Souls and Eldenling.
A fatal shell
Fatal Shell, from the almost endless customization and leveling options of the software, one of the more well-known and most visually arrested soul slicks in recent years, supports mechanics who take over characters (shells) with preset builds, allowing them to approach bosses using a variety of playstyles.
Except for its fantastic enemy design (particularly the final boss gives the greatest things in Bloodborne Lovecraft to run for money), the mortar shell offers challenging and epic battles.
Sinner: Sacrifice for Red
Another surefire way to create something like a persuasive soul is to showcase some interesting gameplay gimmicks that go from Software’s progression curve to your head. Criminal: Sacrifice for Reding does just that by leveling down players rather than up, making each fight more difficult than the final one.
This mechanic works incrediblely with regeneration possibilities. Instead of adding perks to Arsenal, players must decide which abilities they can live before heading into the next boss battle. Order of Fighting Bosses – Each can choose an order modeled after one of the seven deadly sins, so you must be familiar with their strengths and weaknesses to coordinate success.
9 Sols
If the other games on this list are inspired by the complete FromSoftware catalogue, take Nine Sols – a 2D action platformer that elegantly blends cyberpunk elements with East Asian mythology and spirituality – take one game in particular: Sekiro: Shadows Die.
Like Sekiro, nine Sol’s battles are more defensive than attack, emphasizing avoidance, blocking, and acceptance. As a result, combat encounters are not summarised into brute force or clever positioning. Instead, you need to carefully look at each enemy’s movements and take advantage of a satisfying rhythm of action and response.
unsightly
An underrated aspect of the Soulsborne Formula is the relationships you develop with characters in the world. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, where NPCs anticipate the moment when the evil moon destroys everything they ever know, fromsoftware’s game characters are victims of a terrifying fate.
Set in an unsightly, automaton-inhabited world, Metroidvania transforms this concept into a mechanic of both narrative and gameplay. All NPCs, including merchants, are limited in power and will be removed from the game when this supply runs out. As a result, you are not only encouraged to play as quickly as possible, but also add a welcome sense of urgency to the experience.
Another crab treasure
Another crab treasure, one of the latest unlikely soul slicks to create a splash – the 3D action-adventure platformer, playing the SpongeBob-esque crustaceans you explore their discarded home (shell), transforms into an incredibly grumpy quest to control the fate of the ocean itself, and is in yet another creative gaming machine.
Unlike most games in this genre, there is only one main weapon. Instead, it’s your defensive shell that you need to customize. Thanks to environmental pollution, the seabed is littered with wearable human waste, from bottle caps to shot glasses. Each shell has limited unique attacks and durability, which forces you to adopt a variety of playstyles when you run along your underwater journey.
Exanimah
Exanima, sometimes described as a child of love in Dark Souls and overcoming it, is a physics-based survival game. It’s still in development (and over a decade there’s been a very long stretch between updates), but the early access version has as much entertainment value as a fully finished game. There are people who have been enthusiastic about playing for years.
Exanima repeats the channel from software work as long as it is intentionally delicate and highly sensitive control turns all enemy encounters into suspense-like, and therefore riveting trials. Shaking the weapon in the same degree of coordination as the shovel of those who get over it makes you feel comically equipped to deal with the challenges at hand without reminding you of your first outing with a Lordran or drangleic.
These are 10 picks for the best indie soul slicks. But the door to death, the river Root, featherfall, dark devotion, and so on are worth the time. Have you included your favorites? Please let us know if you missed something great in the comments. And for a more challenging encounter, be sure to check out our list of the best Soulslikes (non-indie version!)
Tim Brinkhoff is a freelance writer specializing in art and history. After studying journalism at NYU, he continued to write for Vox, Vulture, Slate, Polygon, GQ, Esquire and more.
