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There is no definitive ranking of every Soulslike by difficulty: lists cover different games, and the experience changes with a player’s genre experience, build, and use of assists. This guide ranks a clearly defined selection from easiest to hardest for a first playthrough, while explaining the factors that can shift a game up or down for you.
How this ranking defines “Soulslike” and difficulty
“Every” is not a settled, exhaustive list here. The rankings being compared use different boundaries: Gamepressure excludes 2D games, WatchMojo and VGKAMI focus on FromSoftware titles, and Switchblade Gaming selects 15 games across studios. Those are different editorial scopes, not competing measurements of one agreed canon. This guide takes a cross-studio view, includes 2D and adjacent games where they appear in the selected coverage, and treats placements as reasoned judgments rather than fact.
For a consistent comparison, assume a first playthrough, no co-op, and no DLC. Optional exploration and in-game assists are part of the picture because they are meaningful ways players approach these games. The criteria are learning curve, boss execution, route and encounter pressure, and flexibility to prepare or alter the challenge. They are a practical framework, not a standardized test.
Paul Musiolik of Gamepressure captures the personal element: “A universal rule states that the most difficult game of this type is the one that is our first contact with the genre.” That is an editorial observation, not a law, but it explains why players can disagree honestly about which game is hardest.
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Selected Soulslike games, from more approachable to more demanding
The order below is a guide to relative friction for a newcomer, not a claim of universal consensus. Individual sections describe what is likely to make each game feel easier or harder.
1. Elden Ring
Among the FromSoftware games discussed by WatchMojo, Elden Ring can be more approachable because its open world lets players leave a difficult fight, explore, gather gear, and return stronger. Builds and summons also give players ways to change how an encounter plays out. That flexibility can reduce the pressure of being stuck on one boss, though it does not make every challenge easy.
Shadow of the Erdtree is an expansion and falls outside this base-game ranking; WatchMojo says it raises the challenge. A player who treats the expansion as part of the test may place Elden Ring much higher.
2. Demon’s Souls
VGKAMI highlights World Tendency and bosses built around specific gimmicks as parts of Demon’s Souls’ challenge. How those systems land depends on edition and approach, so a placement should not silently conflate versions. This ranking does not assign a single difficulty score to the original and remake as if their experiences were identical.
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3. Dark Souls
Dark Souls can test players more through navigation and difficult late-game areas than through uniformly complex boss fights. VGKAMI describes its bosses as comparatively straightforward alongside its emphasis on routes and later areas. Players who find getting lost or managing hostile environments more stressful than learning boss patterns may rank it higher.
4. Dark Souls III
Dark Souls III leans more heavily on demanding boss encounters, while its comparatively linear level design makes route-finding less central than in Dark Souls, according to VGKAMI. Players comfortable navigating levels but less practiced at reading and responding to boss patterns may find it a sharper test.
5. Remnant II
Remnant II appears in Switchblade Gaming’s selected cross-studio ranking, alongside games from several different traditions. Its presence is a reminder that “Soulslike” can include games that differ substantially in combat and structure. Switchblade Gaming assigns editorial 1–10 difficulty scores to its selection; those ratings are that publication’s rubric, not a standardized statistic.
6. Lies of P
Lies of P is another cross-studio selection in Switchblade Gaming’s ranking. Its position in a mixed list should be read as that outlet’s judgment, not as a settled placement against FromSoftware games. Players weighing difficulty should consider whether a game’s particular combat timing and encounter demands suit their habits, rather than treating genre labels as proof that two games will feel alike.
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7. Nioh 2
Nioh 2 also appears in Switchblade Gaming’s selected 15. Its inclusion broadens the comparison beyond FromSoftware’s catalog, but the available rankings do not establish a universal order for it against the games above. It is best understood here as one of the cross-studio alternatives readers may want to compare, not as a precisely measured rung.
8. Another Crab’s Treasure
Another Crab’s Treasure is included in Switchblade Gaming’s cross-studio selection. A genre-wide order is especially sensitive to what a reader counts as a Soulslike and which forms of difficulty matter to them. Its appearance in the list is useful for showing the breadth of the label, but does not establish a consensus difficulty placement.
9. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Sekiro has the strongest case in the inspected FromSoftware comparisons for a demanding learning curve and a high skill ceiling. WatchMojo emphasizes its steep learning curve and limited build flexibility; VGKAMI says its distinct combat can become easier once understood, while placing its ceiling highest in its series comparison. That distinction matters: a difficult first encounter with the combat system is not the same as a game that stays equally difficult after mastery.
Because the game gives less room to reshape the challenge through builds than Elden Ring, a player who does not adapt to its combat style may find it the hardest title here. A player who learns that style may instead consider the initial barrier the main obstacle.
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Why players rank the same game differently
Learning curve and combat fit
A first Soulslike asks players to learn unfamiliar rules as well as the game’s own encounters. Sekiro illustrates how a distinctive combat style can create a steep entry barrier; a newcomer’s first game can feel harder than a later title even if the later game has tougher individual fights.
Boss execution versus route pressure
Some players measure difficulty by the timing and pattern recognition a boss demands. Others are more affected by navigation, enemy placement, environmental hazards, or the effort of reaching an encounter. The contrast between Dark Souls’ navigation and late-game areas and Dark Souls III’s demanding bosses shows why a single ranking can obscure the kind of challenge involved.
Flexibility and assists
Exploration, character builds, summons, and preparation can change the practical difficulty of a game. In Elden Ring, those options let players seek an alternate route or approach a fight with more resources. A ranking based on a solo, lightly explored run will not match one that counts extensive exploration and summons as normal play.
Base game, DLC, and edition
Difficulty claims need a scope. Shadow of the Erdtree raises the challenge in WatchMojo’s assessment, but it is not the same comparison as Elden Ring’s base game. Demon’s Souls should likewise be identified by edition when comparing experiences; VGKAMI’s discussion of World Tendency and gimmick-oriented bosses does not erase version differences.
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Which Soulslike should you play first?
If you want room to explore and adjust your approach, Elden Ring is the most flexible starting point among the FromSoftware games discussed here. If you want to test whether you enjoy learning a more distinctive combat system with less build flexibility, Sekiro offers a much steeper initial learning curve. Dark Souls and Dark Souls III emphasize different pressures: the former’s navigation and areas, the latter’s boss encounters.
For a cross-studio starting point, the selected lists establish that games such as Remnant II, Lies of P, Nioh 2, and Another Crab’s Treasure belong in the broader conversation, but they do not provide a common, controlled basis for declaring one a reliably easier first choice than another.
What this ranking can—and cannot—settle
The available rankings are editorial comparisons, not controlled player studies, and do not establish a complete, current catalogue of every Soulslike. Gamepressure’s list, the FromSoftware-focused lists, and Switchblade Gaming’s selected 2026 mix differ in scope and ordering. The useful conclusion is not a definitive hardest-game statistic, but a way to choose based on what challenges you: learning combat, executing boss fights, navigating levels, or managing limited flexibility.
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