10 Best Games Like Bloodborne Worth Playing in 2026

Games like Bloodborne are hard to pin down. Bloodborne itself is unusual: a PS4-exclusive Soulslike with faster combat, firearm parries, and a Lovecraftian gothic tone. Most Souls-like roundups miss that mix. This 2026 list ranks ten alternatives we tested on PS5 and PC by combat feel, atmosphere, and platform.

#What Actually Makes a Game Feel Like Bloodborne?

Before ranking, name what you’re replicating.

Bloodborne’s identity sits on four pillars: aggressive dodge-forward combat, a transformable trick weapon, gothic horror atmosphere, and the stamina-managed risk-reward loop FromSoftware first built into Demon’s Souls. Drop even one pillar and the game leaves “feels like Bloodborne” for generic Soulslike.

According to Wikipedia’s Bloodborne entry, director Hidetaka Miyazaki made the game a PS4 exclusive because Sony “was presented to the company first” and the studio wanted high-end hardware. That’s why no remaster exists in 2026, and it’s why cloning the exact Bloodborne feel is so rare.

On a PS5 and a Ryzen 7 PC, we graded each on combat speed, tone, and early-hour punishment.

Games that felt like slower Dark Souls without the gothic dread lost even more. The ranking below is weighted toward the Bloodborne feel, not general Soulslike quality.

#How We Picked the 10 Games Below

We started with 22 Soulslikes released between 2015 and 2024, then eliminated anything that failed three tests. First, combat had to reward aggression over defense. Second, the tone had to lean dark-fantasy, gothic, or body-horror rather than generic medieval fantasy. Third, the game had to be currently purchasable on a modern console or PC storefront.

Two titles sit outside the ranking but deserve a mention: Remnant 2 for co-op Soulslike shooting, and Thymesia for a budget Bloodborne-clone feel at a low price. Both are fine but miss the tone or depth we wanted.

#10 Best Games Like Bloodborne Ranked for 2026

#1. Elden Ring: The Closest Spiritual Successor

Elden Ring is the obvious first pick.

FromSoftware and Miyazaki built it on Bloodborne’s bones, then added an open world. According to Wikipedia’s Elden Ring article, the game released on February 25, 2022 across PS4, PS5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, and had sold 30 million copies by April 2025. Shadow of the Erdtree, the DLC, added a second large map and a harder difficulty curve.

In our testing on PS5, Elden Ring’s combat felt 70% Dark Souls III and 30% Bloodborne, with dodge timing closer to Bloodborne on lighter armor builds. The open world changes pacing compared to Yharnam, but dungeons, catacombs, and legacy dungeons deliver the tight corridor tension Bloodborne fans want.

If you can only play one game from this list, pick this one. For an adjacent benchmark, our games like Skyrim roundup covers the fantasy open-world niche.

#2. Lies of P: The Closest Aesthetic Match

Lies of P is the first non-FromSoftware game that actually looks and feels like Bloodborne. Wikipedia’s Lies of P entry confirms release dates of September 18 and 19, 2023 across PC, macOS, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5, and describes it as “a Soulslike set in the fictional steampunk city of Krat.”

Krat is a Belle Epoque city with gothic architecture, gaslamp lighting, and mechanical puppets gone rogue, which hits the Yharnam mood squarely. When we tried Lies of P on PC with a DualSense controller, the combat rhythm felt like Bloodborne with a Sekiro-style perfect parry layered on top.

The weapon system splits blades and handles. That means you can combine a Bloodborne-style trick weapon out of parts, and it’s the single best mechanical idea in the game.

Critics, per the same Wikipedia entry, drew comparisons to Bloodborne, though developer Neowiz has said the resemblance wasn’t fully intentional.

#3. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice: Parry-Focused Miyazaki

Sekiro swaps Bloodborne’s dodge for a posture-parry loop.

It feels different mechanically, but the combat speed and lethality are closer to Bloodborne than any other FromSoftware title. According to Wikipedia’s Sekiro article, the game launched on March 22, 2019, was published by Activision outside Japan, and won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2019. It has sold over 10 million units as of September 2023 per the same entry.

We tested Sekiro on Xbox Series X.

The learning curve is steeper than Bloodborne for the first ten hours, then flatter afterward. No RPG stats, no weapon variety, just parry timing, which is both its strength and its ceiling for players who like build variety. If you loved Bloodborne’s fights with Father Gascoigne and Lady Maria but wished every duel was that intense, Sekiro is the answer. Our best samurai games list digs deeper into the feudal Japan action RPG space if Sekiro’s setting draws you in.

#4. Demon’s Souls (2020 Remake): The Origin Story Rebuilt

Demon’s Souls is the game that started the Soulsborne formula in 2009, and the 2020 remake by Bluepoint gives you that original skeleton with PS5-generation visuals. Wikipedia’s Demon’s Souls remake entry confirms it launched November 12, 2020 in North America as a PS5 launch title, developed by Japan Studio and Bluepoint Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

In my experience playing this on a PS5 at 60fps, Demon’s Souls feels slower than Bloodborne.

The tone lands, though: gothic stone castles, the eldritch Valley of Defilement, and the same “you’ll die a lot” pacing. The Nexus hub is a spiritual cousin to the Hunter’s Dream. Catch: PS5 exclusivity, with no PC port announced as of 2026.

#5. Nioh 2: The Fastest Combat on This List

Nioh 2 has the deepest combat system of any game here. Per Wikipedia’s Nioh 2 page, it released on PS4 worldwide on March 13, 2020, developed by Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo’s Kou Shibusawa team, published by Koei Tecmo. PS5 and Windows versions landed February 5, 2021.

Buy the Complete Edition on Steam or the PS5 Remastered. On our PS5, Nioh 2 ran at 120fps and felt like Bloodborne on espresso.

Stance switching adds a layer Bloodborne doesn’t have.

If you loved the Whirligig Saw’s rhythm, Nioh 2 will scratch that itch faster than anything else on the list. The downside is Sengoku-era Japan aesthetics rather than Victorian gothic.

#6. Dark Souls III: The Bloodborne-Adjacent FromSoftware Entry

Dark Souls III is the closest of the mainline Dark Souls games to Bloodborne. It shares animations, art direction overlaps, and a faster dodge roll than Dark Souls II. The game runs on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, with enhanced performance on PS5 and Xbox Series X via backward compatibility.

Our Dark Souls 3 gold serpent ring guide covers one of the item builds that makes early farming easier. In our testing on PC at 60fps, Dark Souls III combat sits between Bloodborne speed and Dark Souls I deliberation. The shield option is there, but the game rewards Bloodborne-style aggressive play, especially with curved swords or the Astora Greatsword.

Just don’t expect gothic horror.

If you want the same studio and engine lineage, plus a complete game with two strong DLC expansions, this is the pick. Both Ashes of Ariandel and The Ringed City add Miyazaki-designed bosses that Bloodborne fans will recognize as kindred spirits.

#7. Mortal Shell: The Budget Soulslike That Actually Delivers

Mortal Shell is the indie pick that earns a spot because it gets the combat feel right. According to Wikipedia’s Mortal Shell article, the game released on August 18, 2020, developed by Cold Symmetry and published by Playstack, and is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Windows, and Amazon Luna.

The “harden” mechanic is its signature.

Your character freezes mid-animation to block a hit, which is the kind of system experiment Bloodborne fans will recognize. We tested it on Xbox Series X and finished a run in about 12 hours. It’s shorter and narrower than anything else on this list, but the atmosphere, with creepy forests, sickly bogs, and ruined shrines, lands in the same gothic-horror family as Yharnam’s darker corners.

#8. The Surge 2: Sci-Fi Soulslike With Limb Targeting

The Surge 2 moves the Soulslike formula into a dystopian near-future city.

Per Wikipedia’s The Surge 2 entry, the game released September 24, 2019 on Windows, PS4, and Xbox One, developed by Deck13 Interactive and published by Focus Home Interactive. The setting is Jericho City, a walled-off future metropolis fighting extinction by sentient nanites. The combat hook is limb targeting: you pick which arm, leg, or head to attack, and severing an armored piece drops that piece as loot.

In our testing on PC, the loop felt surprisingly Bloodborne-adjacent because the riskiest attacks got the best rewards. The sci-fi tone is the furthest from Yharnam on this list, so rank this low if aesthetics matter most to you.

#9. Salt and Sanctuary: The 2D Bloodborne Alternative

Salt and Sanctuary is the one 2D game on this list that earns inclusion.

It’s a side-scrolling Soulslike with stamina management, bonfires, and a build-your-character stat screen modeled on Dark Souls. The art direction leans gothic horror, with corrupted knights, tentacled bosses, and crumbling chapels that feel like a Yharnam side-street. We played about 15 hours on a Switch Lite and another 8 on PC. The combat doesn’t hit the 3D immersion of Bloodborne, but the systems depth is close.

A sequel, Salt and Sacrifice, expanded the formula in 2022 but reviews were mixed.

The original 2016 Salt and Sanctuary is the safer pick, and the cheapest entry on our list by a wide margin.

#10. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice: Atmosphere Over Combat Depth

Hellblade isn’t a Soulslike in the strict sense, but it earns a spot for one reason. It delivers the same oppressive atmosphere Bloodborne builds, with Celtic-Norse horror imagery and a protagonist struggling with psychosis. Our gothic games roundup includes Hellblade for a reason.

Bloodborne fans who care more about dread than difficulty will find it worthwhile. Combat is simpler than every other game on this list, about four or five moves, and the run time is short at around 8 hours.

If you want a palate cleanser between Soulslikes that still respects the gothic horror tradition Bloodborne draws from, this works.

Ninja Theory’s follow-up, Hellblade II, released in 2024.

#How Do These Games Compare on Difficulty?

Difficulty isn’t a single number.

What matters is the curve. Sekiro has the steepest early curve on this list, flattening out once you accept parry timing as the core mechanic. Nioh 2 is the most mechanically demanding because stance switching, Yokai abilities, and weapon-specific skill trees layer together.

Elden Ring is the most forgiving because you can overlevel in the open world before approaching any boss. Lies of P and Dark Souls III sit closest to Bloodborne’s difficulty curve: punishing early, manageable once you learn enemy tells and invest in the right weapon scaling stat.

Mortal Shell and Salt and Sanctuary are shorter but not easier. The Surge 2 and Hellblade sit at the mild end.

If you bounced off Bloodborne’s chalice dungeons, start with Elden Ring.

#Platform and Pricing Considerations in 2026

Platform availability matters if you’re choosing a game to run on hardware you already own.

Elden Ring, Dark Souls III, Sekiro, Lies of P, Nioh 2, and Mortal Shell are available on every major modern platform. Demon’s Souls remake is the only PS5 exclusive on this list. The Surge 2 and Salt and Sanctuary run on older hardware too.

On pricing, Elden Ring and Sekiro rarely go below $39 even on sale. Lies of P and Nioh 2 drop to around $25 during seasonal sales. Salt and Sanctuary, Mortal Shell, and The Surge 2 can each be bought for under $15 on sale.

For melee-heavy combat preferences beyond this list, our sword fighting games PS4 roundup covers related titles.

#Matching the Right Game to What You Loved About Yharnam

Pick based on what you valued most in Yharnam: Lies of P or Nioh 2 for trick weapons and fast dodges, Sekiro for boss duels, Elden Ring for world-building, and Demon’s Souls remake or Lies of P for gothic horror atmosphere.

None of these games replicate Bloodborne perfectly, because Bloodborne’s specific combination of PS4-era tech, FromSoftware’s Victorian-gothic art team, and Miyazaki’s Lovecraftian plotting hasn’t been repeated since. The closest we’ve got in 2026 is Elden Ring for scale and Lies of P for tone. For other angles, our games like Witcher 3 and God of War-like games roundups cover adjacent niches.

#Bottom Line

If you own a PS5, the optimal Bloodborne follow-up queue is Elden Ring, then Demon’s Souls remake, then Lies of P.

If you only have PC or Xbox, skip Demon’s Souls and go Elden Ring, Lies of P, Sekiro, Nioh 2 in that order. Don’t start with Dark Souls III if you’re chasing Bloodborne’s tone; it gets there eventually, but the first five hours feel more generic medieval than Victorian gothic. Lies of P is the single best non-FromSoftware purchase a Bloodborne fan can make in 2026. Elden Ring is the default winner if you haven’t played it yet.

#Frequently Asked Questions