Best Soulslike Games On Game Pass

Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls ushered in a new subgenre of RPG/action-adventure gaming in the form of Soulslikes. While still in its infancy, the concept has produced quite a few projects over the last decade, and many tend to be ambitious projects. Since then, Soulslike games have become pretty common, with most months seemingly producing a new entry.

Xbox Game Pass‘ value comes from its variety. The subscription service tries to cover as wide a spectrum as possible, offering something to interest most tastes. Soulslikes are no exception, even if none of FromSoftware’s genre-creating releases are part of the service. Still, some of the best Soulslike games on Xbox Game Pass serve as great alternatives to Dark Souls and Bloodborne.

Updated September 9, 2025, by Mark Sammut: Earlier this month, one of the year’s biggest games debuted; in fact, it might be among the decade’s biggest releases. Silksong is not a conventional Soulslike game by any means, but it shares enough elements with the genre to justify an inclusion.

Silksong

The Ultimate 2D Soulslike Metroidvania Gets Its Highly Anticipated Sequel

Yes, I know not everyone classifies Hollow Knight and its sequel, Silksong, as Soulslikes, but enough people do to warrant mentioning them. More importantly, Silksong is not only the biggest indie release of 2025, but also one of the best games on Game Pass, period.

If you have never played Hollow Knight, I would recommend starting with that game, especially since it is also available on Microsoft’s subscription service. The sequel is, for the most part, harder and seems to at least expect players to be somewhat familiar with the core gameplay loop, despite featuring a playable character who controls quite differently from their predecessor.

As Hornet, you will find yourself in Pharloom, a kingdom that has fallen into dark times. While the story is quite cryptic and, at times, hard to follow, your general goal is to climb up towards the Citadel, a journey that will see you face off against a plethora of challenging enemies (and not just bosses). Silksong packs an incredible punch, fully expecting you to master its complex mechanics and to make use of its Tools system. At first, Hornet feels quite slow and limited, but you gradually unlock a range of moves that make the character feel more well-rounded. However, the campaign maintains its high skill ceiling throughout, as enemies hit hard and frequently.

Hollow Knight is also on Game Pass and, naturally, awesome.

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers

A New Soulslike Lands On Game Pass

While it has faded from the public consciousness surprisingly quickly, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is nevertheless an exciting addition to the Soulslike genre. A Day One Soulslike Game Pass game from a new developer, Wuchang takes place during the Ming Dynasty, a refreshing setting for this type of project. That said, the story seems to be fairly conventional, which is not a bad thing as, ultimately, you and I play Soulslikes for their combat, level design, and atmosphere. Wuchang excels in most of these areas, even if it might not be the best in class in any of them.

The core gameplay loop is relatively traditional, but it is enhanced by a few interesting mechanics, like a Madness meter and a more expansive skill tree system than typical for a Soulslike. The Unreal Engine 5 visuals are generally quite nice, but they can impact performance depending on what system somebody is using.

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is better than it might seem at first, as initially it comes across as a pretty average take on the concept. However, the combat is genuinely fantastic and arguably among the best in the Soulslike genre, especially since it rewards players who are willing to make use of all the mechanics rather than just focusing solely on weapon attacks. Personally, Wuchang did not click with me until the Man-eating Dhutanga boss fight, which takes place roughly 2–3 hours into the campaign. I recommend sticking with it until at least that point.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

A Sci-Fi Soulslike With Fun Exploration & A Decent Story

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate has Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and its sequel, Jedi: Survivor. Developed by Respawn, the games tell an original story in the Star Wars universe, with an in-hiding Jedi Knight named Cal Kestis taking center stage. Regardless of quality, newcomers should try to start with Fallen Order as its story leads directly into Survivor. More importantly, the 2019 release is not only great but also one of the best Soulslike games on Game Pass in its own right.

Still, Jedi: Survivor is (generally) bigger and better in most areas than its predecessor. Cal Kestis’ character is more fleshed out, the featured planets are more visually striking and fun to explore, and the battle system has a few more tricks up its sleeve. Just to be clear, the sequel mostly sticks to the same blueprint as Fallen Order, particularly the enjoyable but floaty combat. Still, Jedi: Survivor added depth via a stance system, which is like a mix of Nioh‘s mechanic and Devil May Cry 5‘s Dante moveset. Essentially, players can decide Cal’s preferred fighting style by equipping two stances simultaneously.

Lies Of P

A Victorian Gothic Epic Reminiscent Of Bloodborne

Lies of P is a fantastic action RPG that takes obvious inspiration from arguably FromSoftware’s best game: Bloodborne. Creatively inspired by Pinocchio, the game follows the iconic puppet as he makes his way through Krat, a city overrun with horrendous monstrosities that range from humanoid guards to massive entities. Offering more fast-paced action than the traditional Soulslike, Lies of P incorporates most of the genre’s basic ingredients, but they are combined in a way that allows the game to stand out positively.

While dodging is an option, the combat prioritizes guarding and deflections, the latter of which must be mastered to make the many challenging bosses more manageable. Even though it was not created by a well-known developer, Lies of P is polished, ambitious, and impressive, and it will likely go down as one of the best Soulslike games of all time.

Another Crab’s Treasure

Lighthearted Underwater Soulslike With An Inspired Armor System

Can there be too much of a good thing? With every month seemingly producing a project that somewhat fits the descriptor, Soulslike games have become ordinary. Be it 3D or 2D variants, there are just so many options out there that new releases rarely feel that special anymore, at least if they are not handled by FromSoftware. Soulslike combat is starting to seem like the default mode for action RPGs, which is both a blessing and a curse. Consequently, a new game has to try extra hard to stand out from the crowd.

Well, regardless of quality, Another Crab’s Treasure certainly stands out. Despite plenty of familiar pieces, Aggro Crab combines everything to create an experience that has no real parallels in the Soulslike genre. An underwater adventure, the game brings to life a visually vibrant and colorful world filled with cute architecture stemming from natural phenomena and literal trash. The story follows a naive crab, Kril, who is fleeced of their shell, forcing them to go on a dangerous journey to reclaim what is theirs. Rather than a blank slate, Kril overflows with personality and changes quite a bit throughout the story.

Another Crab’s Treasure is a platformer and a pretty good one at that. When players are not fighting off all sorts of crustaceans, they will be pulling off impressive jumps, most of which are tight but not extremely challenging. The core combat is pretty simple, with Kril having a main weapon, a dodge, a block, and an unlockable parry. Players also unlock different skills depending on the shell they wear, which makes trying new ones worthwhile (and they break pretty quickly).

Lords Of The Fallen

Ambitious & Gorgeous Soulslike

Similar to its 2014 spiritual predecessor, Lords of the Fallen is arguably among the most polarizing Soulslike games, even though it has more than a few positives. By using Unreal Engine 5, Hexworks created one of the genre’s most visually striking projects that 100% looks like an AAA release, even if it was not published by a particularly major company. If nothing else, the game’s production value is impressive.

The core combat is fairly typical for a Soulslike, but Lords of the Fallen has a couple of fresh ideas, including the existence of two realms that players are encouraged to swap between frequently. This concept also plays into the game’s take on death, offering a bit of a twist on the standard formula. For the most part, the level design is quite good and ambitious, and it is designed in a way that belies a sense of scale while sticking to a fairly linear structure. LOTF‘s boss fights are epic in scale but somewhat of a mixed bag in practice, with most being relatively simplistic.

Lords of the Fallen is one of those games that seems to have no middle ground; players either love or hate it. Thanks to its Game Pass arrival, people on the fence can try it without any risk.

Dead Cells

A Masterfully Done Roguelike Soulslike

Dead Cells is Roguevania in design but its steep difficulty at times and its punishing bosses are enough to have Souls fans coming back for more. Players will take control of a mysterious being that’s seemingly immortal, reappearing from a slush of who-knows-what each time it’s slain in battle.

The 2D sidescrolling adventure features beautiful visuals, visceral yet challenging combat, and a massive “blueprint system” in which players can unlock weapons, outfits, and accessories to infuse into future runs. With multiple branching paths and a deep playstyle customization system, Dead Cells is a must-play Indie hit.

Tunic

Zelda & Dark Souls All Rolled Into One

Tunic is a lot of things, and describing it solely as Soulslike would be a disservice to the game’s creativity and ambition. Along with taking obvious inspiration from Zelda, particularly with its puzzles, this indie darling’s combat system undeniably favors games like Dark Souls. The game contains most of the core fundamentals that are synonymous with these types of releases: dodge roll, shield guarding, and telegraphed enemy moves. There are even items that work to replenish health similar to Estus Flasks.

However, Tunic is more than just a top-down take on the Souls formula. It is a charming puzzle-platformer that would not have looked out of place on Nintendo’s resume. It offers a challenging adventure with complex bosses that often require more than just quick reflexes. It manages to be accessible and mainstream while hiding depth that will surprise even the most veteran of players. Tunic is not just one of the best Soulslike on Xbox Game Pass, but it is simply one of the best games on the subscription service.

Ashen

An Ambitious Indie Soulslike That Went Open-World

Ashen was very impressive in 2018. While it holds up relatively well, Soulslikes have become so common that a smaller-scale attempt to replicate FromSoftware’s formula is no longer that incredible in isolation.

A44’s project has a few things that set it apart from the crowd, even after all these years. As previously mentioned, Ashen is set in an open-world, granting players relative freedom to go where they want almost immediately. There are skill walls and areas that cannot be immediately explored, but the map is quite accessible. That might not sound that exciting in a post-Elden Ring world, but Ashen was among the first Soulslikes to go down this route and, more importantly, do it well.

The novel ideas do not end there either. Ashen moves away from traditional leveling, instead tying things like HP and Stamina to quests and collectibles. This means that players will grow stronger consistently and in a way that ensures they are powerful enough to take on the late-game content. Beyond that, AI companions are a big part of Ashen, making it one of the easier Soulslikes. Weapons are also tied to progression, and they can be upgraded. The game even has players building a hub area as they attract new NPCs.

Nine Sols

A 2D Metroidvania That Takes Inspiration From Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

After spending a few months as a PC exclusive, Nine Sols finally debuted on consoles in November 2024, garnering widespread acclaim in the process. Nowadays, 2D Metroidvanias with Soulslike combat are so common that the concept has begun to tire; however, individually, most of these releases are fantastic.

Nine Sols compares favorably to nearly any of its contemporaries, and Red Candle’s game stands out from the crowd by emphasizing fast-paced parries akin to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Honestly, out of all of FromSoftware’s masterpieces, Sekiro should be used as a learning tool a lot more, especially since it arguably has the developer’s best combat.

A sci-fi epic drenched in Asian mythology, Nine Sols is a feast for the eyes that tells a respectable story set in the fascinating New Kunlun. As Yi, players go on a quest to eradicate the nine Sols, all of which not only pack a punch but are also unique. Opting to fine-tune a handful of mechanics, the intense combat is straightforward but demanding, requiring mastery as the campaign’s difficulty spikes during its second half. While not as challenging as Sekiro or something like Hollow Knight, Nine Sols should still test most genre veterans.