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Start with Dark Souls III if you want the smoothest transition from Elden Ring. It keeps the familiar Souls vocabulary—stamina management, checkpoints, build choices and boss learning—but compresses it into a more focused, interconnected campaign instead of a huge open world.
Choose something else only when you know which part of Elden Ring you want to preserve. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is the best choice for stricter timing and deflections; Bloodborne delivers the strongest gothic aggression; Lies of P is the best polished, story-led alternative outside FromSoftware; and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the closest match for open-ended exploration rather than Souls combat.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
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Dark Souls 3 The Fire Fades (PS4) | $24.40 | Buy on Amazon |
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Dark Souls III: The Fire Fades Edition - PlayStation 4 | $21.88 | Buy on Amazon |
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Dark Souls Trilogy (PS4) | $38.80 | Buy on Amazon |
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Dark Souls III: The Fire Fades Edition - Xbox One | $24.80 | Buy on Amazon |
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How to choose your next game after Radahn
Defeating Starscourge Radahn can leave you wanting very different things. Some players want another game with demanding bosses and stamina-conscious combat. Others want a new world to get lost in, a darker atmosphere, or a campaign with a clearer narrative path. There is no single replacement for Elden Ring because its appeal comes from several systems working together: difficult encounters, flexible character building, dramatic environments and the freedom to decide where to go next.
Use the question that best describes your reaction to the Radahn fight:
#1 Best Overall
- Atmospheric Visuals: Dynamic lighting and particle effects immerse players into a dark fantasy world of ruin.
- Interconnected World: Expertly crafted world encourages players to explore vast and breath-taking landscapes.
- Sword Action: Diversifies combat action allowing players to craft their own unique play style.
- Unique Online System: Evolution of trademark online multiplayer functionality that seamlessly integrates online interactions into single-player story.
- “I want the most familiar overall structure.” Choose Dark Souls III.
- “I want to improve my timing and punish every mistake.” Choose Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
- “I want a faster, more aggressive gothic game.” Choose Bloodborne.
- “I want Souls-style pressure with a focused story and a new setting.” Choose Lies of P.
- “I mainly loved wandering and discovering things without a fixed route.” Choose The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
The comparison below separates combat, world structure, build freedom, atmosphere and narrative focus so you can make the choice based on the part of Elden Ring you actually miss.
Quick comparison
| Game | Best match for | Combat identity | World structure | Main adjustment from Elden Ring |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dark Souls III | The closest focused continuation of the Souls formula | Roll-and-stamina combat with familiar checkpoints, builds and boss learning | Concentrated, interconnected campaign | Less world-scale exploration and less room to wander |
| Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice | Precision and mastery | Deflections and sustained pressure | More directed than Elden Ring | Much less build experimentation |
| Bloodborne | Gothic atmosphere and forward aggression | Firearm parries and rally-style health recovery | Focused, authored areas | Shield-based habits do not transfer; platform ownership matters |
| Lies of P | A polished, story-led third-party Soulslike | Parry-oriented pressure | Clearly authored campaign | Less open-ended discovery than Elden Ring |
| The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Exploration and player-directed discovery | Different combat and progression systems | Open-world wandering with free-form routes | It matches Elden Ring’s exploration better than its Souls mechanics |
Dark Souls III: the safest first choice
Why it feels familiar
Dark Souls III is the strongest recommendation when you want to keep Elden Ring’s underlying language without repeating its enormous scale. It is an official 2016 release in Bandai Namco’s catalog and presents a more concentrated version of the classic Souls structure. You still read enemy animations, manage stamina, decide how much risk to take near a checkpoint and refine a build around the weapons or abilities you prefer.
The biggest difference is spatial rather than mechanical. Elden Ring gives you a vast fantastical landscape and seamlessly connected dungeons; Dark Souls III narrows that idea into a campaign whose areas are more deliberate and interconnected. That tighter layout makes every shortcut, ambush and boss approach easier to remember. If Radahn made you appreciate learning an encounter through repeated attempts, the more focused structure keeps that loop in view instead of surrounding it with hours of optional travel.
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Who should choose it
- Choose it if you want a recognizable stamina-and-roll rhythm.
- Choose it if you enjoy experimenting with builds but do not need an open world.
- Choose it if the most satisfying part of Elden Ring was learning bosses and then reaching them more efficiently on the next attempt.
- Choose it if you want a direct bridge into the classic Souls format before trying more specialized games.
What may feel smaller
Do not expect the same freedom to abandon a difficult area and roam for a long time before returning. Dark Souls III’s concentration is its advantage, but it is also the adjustment. Exploration still matters, yet the campaign is organized around connected routes rather than a gigantic landscape built for constant detours.
Its focused design also means your decisions are easier to feel. A build choice, a shortcut discovered or a boss pattern learned tends to have immediate value because there are fewer unrelated places competing for attention. That makes it a particularly good post-Radahn choice if you want another tightly paced campaign rather than another open-world checklist.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice: the precision-combat test
Why the combat feels different
Sekiro is the right answer when Radahn left you thinking, “I want to become better at timing.” Its combat is built around precise deflections and sustained pressure. Instead of relying primarily on the broad build experimentation that defines Elden Ring, it asks you to understand an opponent’s rhythm and stay engaged with it.
That makes Sekiro a poor substitute if your favorite Elden Ring activity was redesigning a character, changing equipment or solving a fight through a radically different build. Its appeal is specialization: the game narrows the question from “Which build can solve this?” to “Can I read this attack and answer it correctly?”
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- The Complete Dark Souls III Experience All on One Disc: Includes the award-winning base game, PLUS both complete DLC expansion chapters: Ashes of Ariandel and The Ringed City.
- Intense Combat Action: Challenging, genre-defining gameplay. Diversified combat action allows players to craft their own unique style.
- Team up for some jolly good cooperation or test your ability in PvP battle: All PvP maps unlocked and accessible. Improved online matchmaking functionality.
- Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) Content Description: Blood and gore, violence
Who should choose it
- Choose Sekiro if you want the sharpest timing challenge in this group.
- Choose it if repeated attempts at Radahn felt like useful practice rather than a barrier.
- Choose it if you prefer maintaining pressure over backing away and resetting the encounter.
- Choose it if you are willing to trade Elden Ring’s breadth of builds for a more consistent combat language.
How to approach the transition
Do not judge Sekiro by trying to play it as a faster Elden Ring. The useful mental shift is to treat defense as an active part of offense. The game rewards staying present, responding to attacks and learning the timing that keeps pressure on the opponent. A player who habitually waits for a large opening may find the first hours unfamiliar, while someone who enjoyed studying Radahn’s attack cues may appreciate the stricter feedback.
Sekiro is therefore the best “skill conversion” choice, not the closest overall match. It preserves the satisfaction of mastering a difficult boss while changing the tools, progression expectations and combat priorities around that goal.
Bloodborne: the gothic, aggressive alternative
What makes its rhythm distinct
Bloodborne offers the strongest atmospheric break from Elden Ring while retaining the intensity of a FromSoftware action game. Its combat replaces conventional shield reliance with firearm parries and a rally-style health-recovery loop. The result is a more forward, aggressive rhythm: taking damage does not automatically mean retreating, because the system encourages immediate pressure when an opportunity remains.
That aggressive design makes Bloodborne a natural choice if you enjoyed closing distance on Radahn, reading danger at close range and committing to an attack instead of waiting safely. It is less suitable if your favorite Elden Ring habit was building a defensive character around blocking, spacing or a highly customized toolkit.
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Bloodborne is the gothic option in this list. Its identity comes from oppressive architecture, horror-inflected imagery and a deliberately authored journey rather than a broad fantasy landscape. The areas are designed to reinforce mood and tension, so the sense of place is strong even though the game does not offer Elden Ring’s scale of open exploration.
That tighter design can be an advantage after Radahn. If you want your next game to make every street, shortcut and hostile encounter feel part of one sustained atmosphere, Bloodborne gives you a clearer artistic direction than a large, mixed-biome open world.
Platform consideration
Bloodborne is a PlayStation 4 title, so ownership of that platform is a practical requirement. Check current platform and edition availability before buying; availability, editions and regional listings can change.
Rank #3
- DARK SOULS REMASTERED - Then, there was fire. Re-experience the genre-defining game that started it all. Return to Lordran in the beautifully remastered game in high definition, 60 fps with single-player or online multiplayer with dedicated servers. Includes the Artorias of the Abyss DLC.
- DARK SOULS II: SCHOLAR OF THE FIRST SIN - Prepare to Die again. The second installment of the series includes the base Dark Souls II plus all three DLCs: Crown of the Sunken King, Crown of the Old Iron King, and Crown of the Ivory King.
- DARK SOULS III: THE FIRE FADES - Now only embers remain… Dark Souls III is the final journey in the series where players can fight through intense combat solo or team up for in co-op or PvP multiplayer. Includes the award-winning game and both DLC chapters: Ashes of Ariandel and The Ringed City.
- ALL ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACKS - Visit the EP!C corner to download the music of the Dark Souls saga composed by Motoi Sakaraba and Yuka Kitamura. 110 tracks and more than 6 hours to listen and take back any Dark Souls fan to the intense boss fights and the best moments of their deadly journeys.
Lies of P: the best non-FromSoftware bridge
Why it works as a follow-up
Lies of P is the leading third-party choice when you want Souls pressure without returning immediately to another FromSoftware game. The researched guides describe it as polished and story-led, with parry-oriented combat and a distinctive Belle Époque-inspired setting. That combination gives it a clear identity instead of presenting itself as a generic imitation.
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Who should choose it
- Choose it if you want a complete, directed adventure after spending a long time in Elden Ring’s open-ended world.
- Choose it if parry-focused combat sounds appealing but Sekiro’s extreme specialization seems too restrictive.
- Choose it if atmosphere and narrative presentation matter as much as the boss challenge.
- Choose it if you want a non-FromSoftware game that still understands the appeal of learning patterns under pressure.
Trade-offs to expect
Lies of P is not a one-for-one replacement for Elden Ring’s exploration. Its Belle Époque-inspired world is distinctive, but the experience is more curated. You will have fewer moments where simply turning down an unmarked path produces an entirely different adventure, and your character-building decisions operate inside a more controlled campaign.
That limitation may be exactly what you want after Radahn. A directed structure makes it easier to maintain narrative momentum and to understand how each area contributes to the overall journey. Pick it when you want Soulslike fundamentals with stronger authorial guidance, not when you are looking for another giant sandbox.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom: choose exploration over combat similarity
What it preserves from Elden Ring
Tears of the Kingdom is the most useful recommendation for readers whose favorite Elden Ring feature was discovery. GameSpot compares the games through open-world wandering, free-form routes and player-directed exploration. Both invite you to make your own route, follow curiosity and treat the landscape as a source of problems and surprises rather than a corridor between mandatory fights.
If you spent as much time investigating distant landmarks and improvising your route as you did fighting bosses, this is the closest match in spirit. It gives you another world in which exploration itself is the main activity, and it supports the feeling that your next objective can emerge from what you notice rather than from a fixed sequence.
Where the comparison ends
Tears of the Kingdom has different combat and progression systems. It should not be chosen as a substitute for Elden Ring’s stamina management, boss-learning loop or Souls-style build decisions. The appeal is freedom of movement and player-directed discovery, not mechanical continuity.
Rank #4
- The Complete Dark Souls III Experience All on One Disc: Includes the award-winning base game, PLUS both complete DLC expansion chapters: Ashes of Ariandel and The Ringed City.
- Intense Combat Action: Challenging, genre-defining gameplay. Diversified combat action allows players to craft their own unique style.
- Team up for some jolly good cooperation or test your ability in PvP battle: All PvP maps unlocked and accessible. Improved online matchmaking functionality.
That distinction matters when setting expectations. A player seeking another Radahn-like duel may be disappointed if they expect the same pressure or timing vocabulary. A player who feels that Elden Ring’s open world was the real star may find Tears of the Kingdom refreshing precisely because it offers a different way to inhabit an enormous game world.
Decision guide by the part of Elden Ring you miss
If you miss the boss-learning loop
Start with Dark Souls III for the closest overall continuation. Move to Sekiro if you want that learning process made stricter and more timing-dependent. Choose Lies of P if you want a similar pressure loop in a more clearly authored story.
If you miss build experimentation
Dark Souls III is the first option to investigate because it retains build choices within a tighter campaign. Sekiro is the least suitable choice in this category: its precision combat is the point, and it offers the least Elden Ring-like build freedom among the recommendations.
If you miss the open world
Choose Tears of the Kingdom. It matches free-form routes and player-directed discovery more closely than the other candidates. Do not select it expecting the same combat or progression systems.
If you miss the mood
Choose Bloodborne for gothic intensity or Lies of P for a Belle Époque-inspired setting with a stronger story-led presentation. Dark Souls III remains darker and more concentrated, but Bloodborne is the clearest choice when atmosphere and aggression are your priorities.
If you want the hardest adjustment
Choose Sekiro. Its deflection-and-pressure model demands a more specialized response than the other games here. That is why it can be the most rewarding follow-up for a player who wants to turn the Radahn victory into a stricter test of reflexes and pattern recognition.
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How to make the transition without carrying the wrong habits
- Identify what you are preserving. Decide whether your priority is combat, exploration, atmosphere, build choice or story direction. The correct game changes depending on that answer.
- Accept the new game’s central defense. Dark Souls III emphasizes familiar stamina-and-roll decisions; Sekiro asks for deflections and pressure; Bloodborne expects firearm parries and aggressive recovery; Lies of P emphasizes parry-oriented combat; Tears of the Kingdom uses a different combat model altogether.
- Reset your expectations about world scale. Dark Souls III, Bloodborne and Lies of P are more focused than Elden Ring. Sekiro is also more directed. Tears of the Kingdom is the exploration-first exception.
- Check platform and edition details immediately before purchase. Availability, editions, regional listings and prices are volatile. Bloodborne’s PlayStation 4 requirement is specifically relevant; verify the current listing for every other game as well.
- Give the opening hours time to teach their vocabulary. A game can feel unlike Elden Ring because its combat is asking a different question, not because it is less demanding or less deep. Sekiro especially should be approached on its own terms rather than played as a faster roll-based game.
Common mistakes when choosing a Soulslike follow-up
- Choosing by difficulty alone. A difficult game is not automatically a good Elden Ring successor. Sekiro is demanding for precision, while Dark Souls III is the closer structural match.
- Expecting every recommendation to provide open exploration. The focused campaigns are intentionally more directed. Tears of the Kingdom is the exploration substitute, but its combat systems are different.
- Ignoring platform ownership. Bloodborne’s PlayStation 4 availability can determine whether it is a practical option at all.
- Assuming “Soulslike” means identical combat. Firearm parries, deflections and parry-oriented systems create different timing expectations from Elden Ring’s broader toolkit.
- Buying before checking the current edition. Platform availability, editions, regional stock and pricing can change, so confirm those details at the point of purchase.
Final recommendation
For most Elden Ring players coming directly from Starscourge Radahn, play Dark Souls III first. It preserves the most recognizable combination of stamina management, checkpoints, build decisions and boss learning while replacing the enormous open world with a concentrated, interconnected campaign.
Choose Sekiro when you want a demanding precision exercise, Bloodborne when you want gothic aggression and firearm parries, Lies of P when you want a polished story-led Soulslike outside FromSoftware, and Tears of the Kingdom when exploration mattered more to you than Elden Ring’s combat language.
Quick Recap
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