5 Tough Games That Aren’t Soulslikes

There’s this ongoing notion that only Soulslikes can be tough. Well, long before Elden Ring came around, plenty of difficult action games were present. The action-adventure genre also has its fair share of tough bosses and brutal mobs to make you rage. However, because of the belief that only Soulslikes can be tough, most tough and engaging action games fly under the populace’s radar.

This list is switching things up by only featuring the toughest action games. Games from different genres, like open-world and shooters. Masterpieces that make you feel like an overpowered menace instead of a weakling like in Soulslikes. That said, you’ll find these games to be tough enough to warrant you throwing your controller into a wall.

1) Returnal

There are no bonfires, checkpoints, or saving mechanics in Returnal. You are dropped into an alien planet and must clear biomes one after the other. Your game is only saved at very specific moments, and they can be three to six hours from each other.

Each biome is a labyrinth of interconnected rooms with enemies, so you don’t know which path is the correct one. And if you happen to die at any moment before beating the third biome, you’ll be forced to restart the entire game. It’s infuriating since that might take you four hours to reach the boss in the first place.

However, upgrades for weapons are permanently saved. Respective biome shortcuts also open up once you beat them, so subsequent runs become easier. Returnal’s roguelike nature makes it brutal. Each second you progress further, you gain more and more play time to lose. You could even argue it’s tougher than any Soulslike game by a long shot. Hopefully, Miyazaki doesn’t take notes.

2) Devil May Cry 5

With a strong narrative, stylish combat, and iconic characters, Devil May Cry 5 is one of the best action games ever made. It delivers in every aspect, but since this list is based on difficulty, only combat is taken into consideration. Devil May Cry 5 features four playable characters, and each of them can use several weapons.

Each weapon has dozens of combos and can be switched between instantly. You can chain combos together by switching weapons, and the offensive possibilities are endless. Throw special moves into the pot, and Devil May Cry 5’s combat becomes an instant hit.

But chaining combos isn’t as easy as it sounds. For starters, there are hundreds of inputs you’ll need to learn. Dodging and defense require precise movements as well. Once you get good at both defense and offense, the gameplay becomes insanely satisfying. The boss battles are cinematic one-on-one duel situations, and the set pieces are huge. In terms of difficulty, Devil May Cry 5 isn’t as tough as Soulslike games. But you can’t just win in it by spamming flashy moves. Attack patterns need to be learned, and timing is crucial, so Devil May Cry 5 is indeed a demanding game.

3) Sifu

Sifu is a melee combat game with a permadeath mechanic. You play as an epic martial artist on a quest for revenge, but the catch is that every time you die, your character ages faster and faster. Once a certain age is reached, your character dies permanently, and the game then forces you to start all over again.

There are five main levels in Sifu, and each has a super hard final boss at the end. The bosses are straight out of a Soulslike game, so you definitely will be restarting playthroughs at least once or twice. As you progress through levels, you’ll unlock passive abilities and learn new combat moves and combos. 

Some upgrades remain permanent, helping you get by faster in successive runs. In Sifu, enemies come at you from all sides and all at once. Each encounter can prove fatal, and a common henchman has as much of a chance of putting your lights out as does a brute. Sifu might not be a Soulslike in name, but the difficulty will make you think otherwise.

4) Ghost of Tsushima

Slaying Samurai in an open-world feudal Japan setting is not as easy as it sounds. The combat in Tsushima is very detailed. Defensive options consist of dodging and parrying, while offence consists of five “stances”. Stances are fighting styles, and for every enemy type, a different style is effective.

If you’re fighting swordsmen, the Stone Stance is effective, while against spearmen, the Wind Stance is your best friend. Each stance has its skill tree, and you can unlock new moves and combos as you level up.

Bosses are brutal and constantly spam attacks, while mobs always fight you in numbers. You are always up against multiple enemies at once, and you’ll need to switch stances constantly on the fly. But whenever you are tired of Samurai dueling, you can resort to sneaking about outposts. Silently eliminating everyone is a great alternative to the fast-paced and demanding combat. Ghost of Tsushima’s combat is detailed with innumerable skills, and once you get the hang of it, you’ll be chopping up enemies in satisfying fashion.

5) Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon

FromSoftware’s Armored Core franchise isn’t Soulslike. However, after making Soulslike games back to back for a decade, the genre’s influences have crept into the latest Armored Core. Armored Core VI has a mission-based design where you go through a gauntlet of enemies and then face a boss at the end. Before and during each mission, you can customize your own Armored Core mecha. You can install rocket launchers, lasers, shields, or whatever type of build you think will help.

Creating builds is crucial. Every mission has specific types of enemies, and some weapons are more effective against them. So you don’t want to bring an assault rifle to a rocket launcher fight. Now, speaking of the Soulslike influences, the bosses are tough. Despite being robots, they are quick and agile and attack nonstop.

You need to learn movesets and also how to maneuver your Armored Core mid-air to dodge. Given how adrenaline-pumping the combat is, you’d think FromSoftware was pulling a fast one on you by labelling Armored Core VI as an action game.