Where to go next: closer Soulslikes, big open worlds and hard action games.
Elden Ring is a hard act to follow because it combined two things that rarely go together: FromSoftware's combat and a genuinely open world. What you play next depends on which half you actually loved.
This list splits by exactly that — the combat, the exploration, or the sense of a hostile world that never explains itself.
2019 · PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
Deflection-based duelling with no build variety — pure skill. Harder than Elden Ring, and it clicks all at once.
2015 · PS4, PS5
Aggressive, faster combat with a rally system that rewards attacking after taking damage. Still the best-atmosphere FromSoftware game.
2023 · PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
The most polished non-FromSoftware Soulslike, with weapon assembly and precise parrying. Belle Époque Pinocchio, played straight.
2020 · PC, PS5
Stance-switching combat with far more depth than a Souls game, plus loot. Mission-based rather than open.
2016 · PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
The tightest linear FromSoftware game, and the natural next step if the open world was the part you skipped.
2017 · Switch, Wii U
The other open world built on curiosity rather than icons. Far gentler, equally good at rewarding a detour.
2023 · Switch
The same Hyrule with building tools and a sky and underground layer. Enormous, and the most creative sandbox on this list.
2015 · PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch
If you wanted the world to talk back more, this is it — side quests with real writing and consequences.
2024 · PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
A dangerous, poorly-explained world where travel is the challenge. The closest thing to Elden Ring's sense of distance.
2024 · PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
If you have not played the expansion, start here — it is the size of a full game and considerably harder.
2017 · PC, PS4, Xbox, Switch
A 2D world with the same refusal to explain itself and the same rewarding exploration. Enormous and cheap.
2019 · PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch
Progress is entirely knowledge-based, which is Elden Ring's lore hunting turned into the whole game.
2021 · PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch
An isometric action game with Souls pacing at a much lower difficulty. About twelve hours.
2023 · PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch
Grim religious imagery and cryptic questlines in a 2D Metroidvania. The closest thing to FromSoftware's tone in 2D.
2023 · PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
FromSoftware, but mechs and mission-based. The boss design language will feel immediately familiar.
Sekiro if you want the combat pushed further, Breath of the Wild if you want the open-world curiosity without the punishment, and Lies of P if you simply want another Soulslike.
Tears of the Kingdom and The Witcher 3 with expansions are comparable in scale. Dragon's Dogma 2 is smaller but has the same sense of dangerous distance.
Lies of P is the most polished, Nioh 2 has the deepest combat, and Hollow Knight is the best 2D interpretation.
Sekiro for a new skill to learn, Bloodborne for atmosphere (PS only), Dark Souls III for a tighter linear structure, and Armored Core VI for something completely different.
Death's Door, Tunic and Hollow Knight all borrow the structure and atmosphere with a much lower difficulty floor.