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For the closest Elden Ring follow-up on PS5, choose Demon’s Souls. It best matches Elden Ring’s deliberate melee combat, demanding boss learning and dark-fantasy mood. If your favorite part was wandering through a huge world, choose Rise of the Ronin or Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. If you want a new PlayStation Plus RPG rather than another Soulslike, Final Fantasy XVI is the headline choice in the June 2026 Game Catalog, while Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Citizen Sleeper 2 and RuneScape: Dragonwilds cover very different kinds of role-playing.
“Like Elden Ring” can mean several things: difficult combat, route freedom, a mythic atmosphere, or build-based progression. The recommendations below identify the exact overlap and the trade-off, so you can pick a game that matches what you actually miss.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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Clair Obscur Expedition 33 PS5 | $47.00 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Visions of Mana - Amazon Exclusive Edition (PS5) | $27.70 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Lost Soul Aside - PS5 | $33.95 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Mortal Shell II - PlayStation 5 | $49.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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Star Ocean: The Second Story R (PS5) | $25.10 | Buy on Amazon |
The short list: which game should you play?
| Game | Best match for | Biggest difference from Elden Ring | PS Plus status in the 2026 lineups |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demon’s Souls | Pure Soulslike combat, deliberate boss learning and dark fantasy | More structured and less open | Recommended as a PS5 RPG; catalog availability should be checked separately |
| Rise of the Ronin | Open-world melee combat and historical exploration | More mission-driven and less opaque | Added to the July 2026 Game Catalog |
| Final Fantasy XVI | Cinematic action combat and a dramatic fantasy story | Linear, character-led structure instead of free exploration | Added to the June 2026 Game Catalog |
| Kingdom Come: Deliverance | An immersive medieval world, quests and consequential choices | Realistic simulation and story focus replace supernatural boss fights | Added to the June 2026 Game Catalog |
| Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered | Exploration, ranged combat, machine hunting and accessible progression | Science-fiction setting and stealth/ranged emphasis | Included in PlayStation’s open-world Game Catalog guide |
| RuneScape: Dragonwilds | Cooperative crafting, skills and high-fantasy exploration | Survival-building and co-op replace solo Soulslike combat | Added to the September 2026 Game Catalog |
| Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector | Classes, skills, crew building and tabletop-style decisions | Dice-driven narrative play rather than action combat | Added to the July 2026 Game Catalog |
What makes a game “like Elden Ring”?
Elden Ring is a PS5 open-world RPG in which you create the Tarnished, explore the Lands Between and face challenging bosses. Its defining structural difference from earlier Souls games is route freedom: you can roam instead of following one tightly winding path. That combination creates four useful comparison axes.
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This is the narrowest definition of a Soulslike. The game expects you to study an opponent, improve your timing and treat failure as information. Demon’s Souls is the strongest match in this category. Rise of the Ronin also offers melee action, but its presentation is more mission-driven.
#1 Best Overall
- Reactive Turn-based Combat: Craft unique builds for your Expeditioners that fit your playstyle via gear, stats, skills, and &character synergies
- Dodge, parry, and counter in real time, chain combos by mastering attack rhythms, and target enemy weak points using a free aim system
- With only one year left to live, join Gustave, Maelle, & fellow Expeditioners as they embark on a desperate quest to break Paintress’ cycle of death
- Explore an enchanting realm populated by adversaries; Wander through breathtaking landscapes, from Island of Visages to the Forgotten Battlefield
- Experience the debut game from Sandfall Interactive, fully realized in Unreal Engine 5 with stunning graphics and a heartbreaking soundtrack
2. Exploration and route freedom
Some players want the feeling of leaving the obvious road and finding something worthwhile. Rise of the Ronin and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered share the open-world exploration emphasis, although neither uses Elden Ring’s dark-fantasy structure. Kingdom Come: Deliverance offers a medieval world built around quests and immersion rather than supernatural discovery.
3. Dark or mythic atmosphere
Demon’s Souls is the closest tonal fit. Final Fantasy XVI supplies large-scale fantasy drama and a blight-stricken world, but it is a directed story rather than an opaque world that asks you to infer its history.
4. Builds and progression
Elden Ring lets players shape a character around different equipment and abilities. Demon’s Souls is the best match for a combat-first build chase. Citizen Sleeper 2 also has classes and skills, but its progression serves a tabletop-inspired narrative system, not real-time fighting. RuneScape: Dragonwilds approaches progression through skills, crafting and survival.
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Choose Demon’s Souls when what you want after Elden Ring is the most recognizable Soulslike loop: deliberate combat, demanding encounters, repeated attempts and a dark-fantasy setting. It is the recommendation for someone asking, “What should I play after Elden Ring on PS5?” and meaning “Give me another game where learning the enemy matters more than rushing through.”
Why it matches
- It centers the combat-and-boss-learning experience rather than a broad collection of side activities.
- Its fantasy tone is closer to Elden Ring than the historical, science-fiction or survival alternatives.
- It supports the expectation that progress comes from understanding encounters and refining your approach.
What changes
Demon’s Souls is more structured and less open than Elden Ring. You should not expect the same ability to ride across a huge landscape, abandon a difficult area and discover an entirely different route. That tighter structure is an advantage if Elden Ring’s scale ever felt distracting, but a limitation if free-form exploration was your favorite feature.
Who should skip it
Skip Demon’s Souls if you want a relaxed power fantasy, a strongly guided cinematic story or co-op survival construction. Its appeal depends on accepting demanding combat as the central activity.
Rank #2
- Immerse yourself in the vibrant graphics of this beautiful world, where the powers of nature blend with the elemental aspects of mana to create a rich tapestry of life.
- Journey through enchanting locations with near-seamless transitions in a semi-open field that’s yours to discover.
- Brace yourself for fast-paced, multi-dimensional actions in battle to enrich your fighting experience.
- Use the magic of the Elementals to explore this vast world to your heart's content!
- The Visions of Mana Amazon Exclusive Edition includes a bonus sticker set (inside the case).
Rise of the Ronin: the open-world melee option
Rise of the Ronin is PlayStation’s “combat-focused open-world action RPG” set in 19th-century Japan. It is the best bridge between Elden Ring’s free-roaming scale and a more conventional mission structure.
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- You get an open world and melee combat rather than a corridor-based action game.
- Exploration is grounded in a historical setting, giving the world a different identity from Elden Ring’s mythic Lands Between.
- Its combat focus makes it a better fit for an action-oriented player than a purely narrative RPG.
What changes
Rise of the Ronin is more mission-driven and less opaque. Objectives and story direction are clearer, so the game does not reproduce Elden Ring’s unusual balance of wandering, uncertainty and sudden discovery. The historical setting also replaces monsters and cosmic mythology with a period drama.
PS Plus timing
PlayStation added Rise of the Ronin to the July 2026 Game Catalog. The catalog requires Extra or Premium/Deluxe membership, and the exact lineup can vary by country.
Final Fantasy XVI: the strongest new PS Plus RPG
Final Fantasy XVI is the clearest answer to “Which PS Plus RPG feels closest to Elden Ring?” if you want modern action combat and high-stakes fantasy rather than another strict Soulslike. PlayStation announced it for the June 2026 Game Catalog, available globally on June 16. Sony Interactive Entertainment describes it as the first fully fledged action RPG in the mainline Final Fantasy series.
Why it matches
- Combat is action-focused instead of turn-based.
- The story follows Clive Rosfield through Valisthea and gives him Eikonic powers, providing a powerful fantasy-progression hook.
- The setting has a dark edge: PlayStation describes Valisthea as a once-prosperous world caught in the grip of a blight.
What changes
Final Fantasy XVI is linear and character-led. It does not give you Elden Ring’s freedom to choose a direction, ignore the main route or build a completely self-defined Tarnished. The appeal is cinematic momentum and a focused protagonist, not environmental mystery.
Best reason to choose it
Choose it when you want the spectacle and emotional scale of a major fantasy adventure, but do not require Soulslike difficulty or open-world route planning. It is also the simplest PS Plus starting point in this list because its catalog arrival is explicitly dated and global in PlayStation’s announcement.
Rank #3
- Fight to save your world. Save your sister. Save your soul.
- Fight for everything. Legends are born from trials.
- Epic weaponry, collect a diverse array of melee weapons and define your playstyle with stylish, effective combat.
- Stunning worlds to explore. Prepare to adventure far and wide across dangerous dimensions, majestic lands and strange new worlds.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance: medieval immersion without fantasy bosses
Kingdom Come: Deliverance joined the June 2026 Game Catalog. It is a story-driven open-world RPG set in medieval Bohemia, making it a good choice for players who remember Elden Ring’s landscapes and sense of place more than its monsters.
Why it matches
- The open world supports exploration away from a single narrow path.
- Quests and choices carry more weight than in a purely linear action game.
- The medieval setting can satisfy the desire for grounded swords, settlements and travel.
What changes
This is a realistic simulation and story-focused RPG, not a supernatural boss gauntlet. Its tension comes from navigating a consequential medieval world rather than decoding an ancient mythology or overcoming gigantic fantasy creatures. If your priority is boss practice, Demon’s Souls is a better match.
PS5 version details
The PS5 version adds 4K resolution, an improved frame rate and high-resolution textures. Those are presentation upgrades; they do not turn the game into an Elden Ring-style combat system.
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Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered: exploration with a more accessible learning curve
Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered belongs on an Elden Ring alternatives list for its exploration, progression and discovery, not because it is a Soulslike. PlayStation includes it in its open-world Game Catalog guide.
Why it matches
- The open world rewards moving through a large landscape and finding activities beyond the critical path.
- Machine hunting gives exploration a practical purpose: the environment and its threats are connected.
- Progression is more accessible, making it a useful choice when you want adventure without Elden Ring’s constant pressure.
What changes
Horizon uses a science-fiction setting and emphasizes ranged combat and stealth. Those priorities replace Elden Ring’s close-range pressure and dark-fantasy atmosphere. The result is a smoother alternative for players who want discovery but would rather manage distance and tactics than repeatedly learn a punishing boss.
RuneScape: Dragonwilds: the cooperative fantasy alternative
RuneScape: Dragonwilds joined the September 2026 Game Catalog. It combines cooperative survival, crafting, quests, skill progression and high-fantasy exploration.
Rank #4
- THEIR FLESH IS YOUR WEAPON: The corpses of exceptional warriors are scattered throughout Mortal Shell 2’s destroyed world. Once discovered, each warrior can be possessed, awakening their innate strengths and mastered abilities. Evolve your own style of combat by harnessing the unique abilities of each warrior and unlock their secrets through the discovery of lost memories.
- CLEANSE A RAVAGED WORLD: Mortal Shell 2’s compact open world connects over winding footpaths guarded by desperate and fanatical adversaries. Players who wander are rewarded with new warriors to possess, additional story elements, powerful and strange weaponry, upgrades, curiosities and more. Step through derelict temples of ancient deities, across forbidden forests and icy graves, into citadels carved out of bone. Scattered between these lost landmarks are more than 60 dungeons, each providing a challenging test of the talents and weaponry you have collected on your journey.
- DETHRONE FALSE GODS: You control the Harbinger, a being that must reclaim the Undermether’s stolen eggs that are now ruthlessly guarded by grotesque, dangerous creatures. Mortal Shell 2’s combat system is agile and expressive. Stamina gauges are removed, and execution options have been enhanced, delivering a kinetic and chaotic dark power fantasy. Precision meets intensity in high-stakes combat.
Why it matches
- Skill progression and high-fantasy exploration provide a long-term character-and-world loop.
- Quests give structure while exploration and crafting let you set your own priorities.
- Cooperative play changes the experience from a solitary challenge into a shared adventure.
What changes
The core loop is survival and building, not Soulslike combat. Gathering materials, crafting and cooperating with other players matter more than studying a single boss. Choose it when your ideal post-Elden Ring game includes friends, construction and ongoing progression.
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Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is worth separating from the action recommendations. It joined the July 28 Game Catalog and uses classes, skills, crew building and tabletop-inspired dice decisions.
Why it belongs in the RPG conversation
It offers meaningful character development, party management and choices that shape your route through the story. Those systems can appeal to someone who values Elden Ring’s build planning and consequences more than its swordplay.
Why it is not a Soulslike substitute
There is no real-time boss-learning loop to replace Elden Ring’s combat. Treat Citizen Sleeper 2 as a narrative and systems-driven RPG, not as an easier or harder version of a Soulslike.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Which Elden Ring alternative is easier?
There is no single difficulty scale across these games because they ask for different skills. For the most forgiving shift away from Soulslike pressure, start with Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered or Final Fantasy XVI. Both emphasize accessible progression and directed goals rather than making repeated boss failure the main learning tool.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance may feel demanding for different reasons: its realistic simulation and consequential choices require attention, but that challenge is not the same as Elden Ring’s combat timing. RuneScape: Dragonwilds is easier to approach with other players because cooperation is part of its design. Demon’s Souls is the least suitable choice if your priority is avoiding difficult combat.
Best Value
- Internet connection and download required to access additional languages and bug fixes
- From dangerous dungeons to bustling towns, the world of STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY R is depicted in a stunning 2.5D style that combines beautiful 3D graphics with nostalgic 2D pixel characters
- Start your journey with either Claude or Rena; Depending on your choice, the perspectives and the allies you can recruit will change
- Customize party progression with a large selection of skills, including Cooking, Art, Metalcraft, and many more; Build up to Specialty levels and master the enhanced Item Creation system to craft ultimate equipment with different effects
- Japanese and English voiceover
Do you need PS Plus Extra or Premium?
PlayStation states that Game Catalog access requires an Extra or Premium/Deluxe membership. The catalog lineup differs by region, so a game listed in a United States or global announcement may not appear in your country’s store. Check the PlayStation Store for your country before subscribing specifically for one title.
Catalog dates covered here
| Game | Announcement or catalog date | Membership note |
|---|---|---|
| Final Fantasy XVI | June 16, 2026; announced as globally available | Extra or Premium/Deluxe required for Game Catalog access |
| Kingdom Come: Deliverance | June 23, 2026 | Regional availability can differ |
| Rise of the Ronin | July 2026 | Regional availability can differ |
| Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector | July 28, 2026 | Regional availability can differ |
| RuneScape: Dragonwilds | September 2026 | Regional availability can differ |
A practical decision guide
- Start with your favorite Elden Ring moment. If it was a boss victory, choose Demon’s Souls. If it was finding an unexpected location, choose Rise of the Ronin or Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered.
- Decide whether you want fantasy or realism. Final Fantasy XVI and RuneScape: Dragonwilds keep a fantasy identity; Kingdom Come: Deliverance stays in medieval history; Horizon moves into science fiction.
- Choose your preferred structure. Final Fantasy XVI is the most directed. Demon’s Souls is structured around combat areas. Rise of the Ronin and Kingdom Come: Deliverance provide open-world travel. RuneScape: Dragonwilds supports a cooperative survival loop.
- Choose solo or cooperative play. Elden Ring’s defining experience is largely solo exploration and combat. RuneScape: Dragonwilds is the clearest co-op alternative, while the other recommendations are primarily designed around an individual protagonist or party decisions.
- Verify your catalog access. Confirm the title, region and membership tier in the local PlayStation Store before assuming a June, July or September addition is still available.
Suggested play orders
If you want the closest Soulslike sequence
Play Demon’s Souls first, then Rise of the Ronin. The first preserves the demanding, dark-fantasy combat identity; the second keeps melee action and open-world travel while making objectives easier to follow.
If you want new PS Plus fantasy content
Start with Final Fantasy XVI, then try RuneScape: Dragonwilds if you want exploration and progression with other players. This order moves from a focused cinematic adventure to a flexible cooperative survival game.
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If you want exploration without punishing bosses
Choose Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, followed by Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Horizon supplies accessible discovery and ranged encounters; Kingdom Come adds a more immersive, choice-driven medieval world.
Bottom line
Demon’s Souls is the best direct Elden Ring substitute on PS5. Rise of the Ronin is the better choice for open-world melee exploration, and Final Fantasy XVI is the standout new PS Plus RPG for cinematic fantasy action. Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, RuneScape: Dragonwilds and Citizen Sleeper 2 are not interchangeable Soulslikes; each matches a different part of Elden Ring’s appeal. Check your local PlayStation Store because Game Catalog availability varies by region and requires Extra or Premium/Deluxe.
Quick Recap
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