by Vlad Mazanko
Released in February 2022, Elden Ring is still remembered as the true king of the soulslike genre, bringing the best traits of FromSoftware's signature action games to a vast open world, and outshining everything else available through sheer scope and variety in zones, locations, dungeons, enemies, bosses, spells, and weapons. While the game's combat is definitely one such highlight, offering various classes through character stats and gear, resulting in fans still finding new overpowered combinations, the breadth of its combat system could be both overwhelming and lacking the depth that some other, more condensed and action-focused games may offer.
As many recent games blur the line between classic soulslike combat and traditional action, leaving fans in constant debates about each genre's prime criteria, several soulslikes deliver much faster and more aggressive combat than that of Miyazaki's masterpiece. By focusing on fewer weapon types and tools, making enemies faster and combat more dynamic overall, emphasizing parrying, and bringing entire combo systems with unlockable moves through character progression, these new games offer different combat flows to suit any player's liking. Below are some great examples of soulslikes that have faster, more aggressive, and intense combat than Elden Ring.
The First Berserker: Khazan
Feel the Wrath
Half soulslike, half pure action game like Stellar Blade or Nier: Automata, The First Berserker: Khazan is all about fast-paced, visceral combat with plenty of unique moves, a few but greatly fleshed-out weapon types to choose from, and an array of special powerful abilities that players unlock as the game progresses. In fact, Khazan offers so little else besides a brilliant combat system and dozens of nail-bitingly hard bosses to face that it's almost like a fighting gauntlet.
The combat is as demanding as it's spectacular, steadily surfacing in discussions of the best combat system in the genre to date, and rightfully so. By mastering spear, greatsword, or dual weapons like axe and sword, along with their signature moves and precise parries, The First Berserker: Khazan players become nearly unstoppable, shredding anything in their path. Fortunately, the game's bosses are more than up for the challenge, resulting in awe-inspiring clashes where the dance of blades never stops.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
A Dance of Parries
When looking at FromSoftware's own offerings in the soulslike genre, few games stand out with much more flexible, aggressive, and fast-paced combat for those who find Elden Ring a bit too slow. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is undoubtedly at the very top, often cited as the best action game combat system ever, full stop. Entirely built on timing and parries, players have to master this unforgiving combat to even have a chance to progress beyond the intro bosses, as there's no place for hesitation or mistakes in Sekiro.
Entirely fueled by a single katana weapon, with a very limited array of extra tools like just a handful of special attacks or hand prostheses (each consuming resources so players can't spam them constantly for the easy win), Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice offers few shortcomings. Instead, it keeps players constantly aggressive, unyieldingly dealing with everything the enemies throw at them until an opportunity to end the fight with a single hit emerges. Alongside Sekiro, Bloodborne is also worth mentioning among FromSoftware's own games, with faster and more aggressive combat, standing somewhere between the two.
Nioh 2
Too Many of Everything
Team Ninja, masters of the action genre, take on the soulslike formula in the Nioh series is drastically different from FromSoftware's titles like Elden Ring, but just as respected by fans. Combining fast-paced, fluid, aggressive moves with dozens of weapon types, magical spells, power-up attacks, and literally everything one can think of, Nioh 2's combat can feel overwhelming for new players and definitely requires time to understand and get used to.
Numerous layers and mechanics have been woven together to produce Nioh 2's exciting and spectacular combat, where timing, parries, resource management, character stats, and equipment quality all contribute equally to success. Additionally, among Team Ninja's games, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty deserves a mention for its no less intricate but notably different from Nioh 2's combat system, combined with active companions to feel even more distinct.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
May the Patience Be With You
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor represents an alluring fusion of classic action-adventure with soulslike-inspired combat. While its fighting mechanics are more approachable overall than many other titles in the genre, largely revolving around a single lightsaber without too much extra fluff, there's still an apparent need to learn enemy and boss attack patterns, timings, parries, and when to attack or retreat.
As one might expect, though, Jedi: Survivor's combat is more fast-paced and aggressive than Elden Ring's, built on spectacular Jedi moves from the movies, counterattacks, acrobatic evasions, and cinematic finishers, complete with a sprinkle of Force powers to feel distinct. “Easy to learn, hard to master” is a perfect description for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and while the game is arguably less challenging than FromSoftware's or Team Ninja's games, certain enemies and bosses will definitely give players a hard time.
Black Myth: Wukong
This Monkey Got Hands
To this day, fans continue to debate whether Black Myth: Wukong belongs among soulslikes at all, with its clear inspirations taken from some of the best action-adventure titles available. Without going too deep into categorization, let's just say there are clear influences from action games and soulslikes alike, with the entire game built around epic boss encounters that offer little to no breathing room.
Black Myth: Wukong's fast-paced combat feels incredibly dynamic, thanks to the Destined One's innate abilities, letting players evade almost anything in the blink of an eye, while delivering an unstoppable barrage of weapon attacks. Several staff stances with unique techniques, unlockable combo moves, an array of OP magical abilities, and even countless transformation spells all contribute to diverse and ever-evolving combat that stays engaging throughout, while dozens of unique enemy types and creatively designed bosses keep players on their toes. Even after mastering Wukong's combat, several bosses are so notoriously hard that not everyone managed to defeat them.
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This article originally appeared on GameRant and is republished here with permission.
