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Start with Dark Souls III if you want the most familiar next step after Starscourge Radahn. It keeps Elden Ring’s stamina-based combat, checkpoint rhythm, build decisions and boss-learning loop, but replaces the huge open world with a tighter, interconnected campaign. Choose Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice for the hardest precision-combat test, Bloodborne for gothic aggression, Lies of P for a polished story-led Soulslike, or The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom if exploration mattered more to you than Souls mechanics.
Quick answer: which game should you play next?
Defeating Radahn is a useful point to pause and identify what you actually enjoyed in Elden Ring. The fight can leave you wanting a stricter timing challenge, a darker atmosphere, another game with deliberate stamina management, or simply a new world that rewards wandering. No single successor preserves every part of Elden Ring, so the best choice depends on the element you want to keep.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
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| 1 |
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Dark Souls 3 The Fire Fades (PS4) | $24.40 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Dark Souls III: The Fire Fades Edition - PlayStation 4 | $21.88 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Dark Souls Trilogy (PS4) | $38.80 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Dark Souls III: The Fire Fades Edition - Xbox One | $24.80 | Buy on Amazon |
| Game | Best for | Combat feel | World structure | Build flexibility | Important caveat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dark Souls III | The closest overall transition | Rolls, stamina, shields, weapons and readable boss patterns | Compact, interconnected areas | Broad, familiar Souls-style choices | Much less open-ended than Elden Ring |
| Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice | Precision and mastery | Deflections, posture pressure and aggressive timing | Structured regions with branching routes | Highly specialized; far fewer conventional builds | Its timing system does not play like Elden Ring |
| Bloodborne | Gothic atmosphere and forward aggression | Firearm parries, quick attacks and rally-style healing | Dense, interconnected gothic spaces | More focused weapon identity | It is a PlayStation 4 title, so platform ownership matters |
| Lies of P | The strongest third-party Soulslike option here | Parry-oriented defense with deliberate weapon timing | Linear, authored chapters | Meaningful choices, but less sprawling than Elden Ring | Less free-form exploration than FromSoftware’s open world |
| The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Discovery and open-world freedom | Action-adventure combat with a different progression model | Large, open-ended world and player-directed routes | Different from Souls buildcrafting | It matches Elden Ring’s exploration more than its combat |
If you want one answer without qualifying it, choose Dark Souls III. If you want to turn Radahn’s difficulty into a focused training exercise, choose Sekiro. If the sense of crossing a mysterious landscape was the main attraction, choose Tears of the Kingdom.
Why beating Radahn is a good time to choose deliberately
Radahn sits at a natural crossroads in an Elden Ring playthrough. You have already experienced a large-scale spectacle fight, learned to manage a demanding arena, and seen how the game allows different approaches to the same obstacle. The next game should either reinforce those habits or intentionally challenge them.
#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.
What you may want to preserve
- Deliberate defense: If you enjoyed watching an enemy, managing stamina and committing to a roll or punish, Dark Souls III is the closest continuation.
- Mastery through timing: If your favorite part was recognizing a move and answering it precisely, Sekiro makes that skill the center of progression.
- Forward momentum: If you preferred attacking rather than waiting behind a shield, Bloodborne offers the most aggressive alternative.
- A guided campaign: If Elden Ring’s enormous scope sometimes felt unfocused, Lies of P delivers a clearer, story-led route.
- Wandering and surprise: If the joy came from finding a new cave, vista or route without being told where to go, Tears of the Kingdom preserves that feeling while changing the combat language.
What will change in every option
Elden Ring combines an open world, fast travel, mounted traversal, flexible builds and a large inventory of weapons, spells and summons. The alternatives divide those features among themselves. A game that is closer in combat may be more linear; a game that is closer in exploration may have entirely different progression. Treat that trade-off as the reason to choose, not as a flaw to discover after buying.
Dark Souls III: the closest focused continuation
Why it is the default recommendation
Dark Souls III is the most familiar transition because it uses the concentrated version of the classic Souls structure. Its campaign links distinct areas through shortcuts and checkpoints rather than spreading encounters across one enormous map. You still read boss animations, spend stamina carefully, select a build direction and learn when an attack is safe. Those shared habits mean your Elden Ring experience transfers immediately without making the new game feel identical.
The publisher catalog lists Dark Souls III as an official 2016 release. Its age is visible in the presentation and in the narrower range of movement compared with Elden Ring, but that narrower scope is exactly what makes it a useful follow-up: each area, shortcut and boss occupies more of your attention.
How the combat differs
Expect fewer ways to bypass an encounter. Elden Ring often lets you leave, explore, change equipment or return with a new tool. Dark Souls III is more likely to ask you to understand the room and the boss in front of you. Shield use, rolling, spacing and stamina remain central, while the pace is generally more grounded than Elden Ring’s most mobile fights.
Your first character can therefore be built around a familiar idea—strength, dexterity, intelligence, faith or a hybrid—without needing to reproduce an Elden Ring loadout exactly. The important adjustment is psychological: a failed attempt usually gives you information about timing and positioning, not a reason to search the entire world for a replacement strategy.
What you gain and what you give up
- Gain: A tightly edited sequence of areas, strong shortcut design and a direct line from one boss lesson to the next.
- Gain: The most recognizable continuation of Souls stamina, checkpoint and build vocabulary.
- Give up: Elden Ring’s vast optional map, horse travel and ability to route around almost any obstacle.
- Give up: Some of the extreme build and weapon variety introduced by Elden Ring.
Choose this game when you want “Elden Ring, but concentrated.” It is the safest recommendation for a player who wants another FromSoftware campaign without changing the basic rules.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice: the precision-combat challenge
Why Radahn players may love it
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is the strongest choice if Radahn made you want to improve your reactions rather than collect a stronger build. Its combat is built around precise deflections, sustained pressure and posture management. Instead of waiting for a large opening after every attack, you often stay close, answer strikes on the beat and keep the opponent from recovering.
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That makes it the most demanding precision test in this group. The game rewards learning a smaller set of responses until they become reliable. A successful deflection is not merely damage prevention; it is part of how you create the opening that ends a fight.
Rank #2
- 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
Why it is not a conventional Elden Ring substitute
Sekiro offers the least Elden Ring-like build freedom here. You do not approach problems by swapping between dozens of weapon classes, respecing into a new attribute spread or relying on a different spell school. The protagonist has a defined combat identity, and progression is designed around mastering that identity.
If your favorite Elden Ring memories involve experimenting with unusual equipment, this specialization may feel restrictive. If your favorite memories involve finally recognizing a boss’s rhythm, the restriction becomes the point. The game asks you to improve your execution instead of searching for a more favorable character setup.
How to make the transition
- Stop treating the dodge roll as your universal answer. Learn to meet attacks with a deflection whenever the game presents a readable strike.
- Stay engaged after a successful defense. Passive play gives opponents time to recover posture.
- Practice one enemy’s timing until the response is consistent rather than repeatedly changing equipment.
- Expect setbacks while your muscle memory changes. Early difficulty is a sign that the rules are different, not that your Elden Ring experience was wasted.
Pick Sekiro when you want a demanding, skill-forward campaign and are comfortable giving up Elden Ring’s broad build experimentation.
Bloodborne: gothic atmosphere and aggressive recovery
The combat identity
Bloodborne replaces conventional shield reliance with firearm parries and a rally-style health recovery loop. Taking damage does not always mean retreating; a well-timed counterattack can recover part of the lost health. That system creates a forward rhythm in which positioning, quick attacks and confidence matter more than holding a defensive line.
For an Elden Ring player, the adjustment is immediate. You are encouraged to read an enemy at close range, interrupt its attack with a firearm and keep pressure on the target. The result feels more aggressive than a typical shield-and-roll approach, even though both games reward patience and pattern recognition.
The world and atmosphere
The setting is a concentrated gothic journey rather than an open pastoral fantasy. Streets, buildings and hostile spaces connect into dense routes with a strong sense of place. The atmosphere is one of Bloodborne’s main reasons to play it after Elden Ring: it offers a coherent visual and tonal identity instead of a broad tour through many regions.
Platform limitation
Bloodborne is a PlayStation 4 title. Confirm that you have compatible access before choosing it; platform ownership is the practical barrier that separates this recommendation from the others. Current availability, editions and any platform support can change, so check the store listing for your region before purchase.
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- Choose it if you want the strongest gothic mood in this list.
- Choose it if you prefer attacking to recover from mistakes rather than relying on a shield.
- Choose it if you want a tighter, more authored world than Elden Ring’s open map.
- Look elsewhere if broad build experimentation or modern platform flexibility is your priority.
Lies of P: a polished, story-led Soulslike
Why it stands out outside FromSoftware
Lies of P is the leading third-party Soulslike choice in this comparison. The researched guides characterize it as polished and story-led, with parry-oriented combat and a Belle Époque-inspired setting. That combination gives you familiar Souls pressure while presenting a more clearly authored campaign than Elden Ring’s deliberately fragmented storytelling.
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.
It is a good bridge for players who want the structure of a Souls game but do not require the next title to come from the same developer. Areas, encounters and narrative beats are arranged with a stronger sense of direction. You still need to study attack patterns and manage risk, but the game is less dependent on the feeling that you are charting an enormous continent on your own.
How its parry focus changes the rhythm
Parry-oriented defense rewards commitment. Rather than relying only on a last-second roll, you learn which attacks can be answered directly and when a defensive timing creates a punish opportunity. That makes the game a gentler bridge to precision play than Sekiro for some players, while retaining more conventional Souls expectations.
Do not expect Elden Ring’s freedom of route or its sheer range of character concepts. The appeal is a polished, controlled experience in which the setting and story have room to guide you. If you want a campaign that tells you more about its world while preserving demanding encounters, this is the strongest fit.
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| If you value… | Lies of P offers… | Compared with Elden Ring |
|---|---|---|
| A clear narrative path | A more authored, story-led progression | Less wandering and fewer radically different routes |
| Guard timing | Parry-oriented encounters | More emphasis on deliberate defensive timing |
| A distinctive setting | Belle Époque-inspired environments | A narrower but more unified atmosphere |
| Soulslike familiarity | Checkpoints, boss learning and risk management | Similar vocabulary without FromSoftware’s open-world scale |
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom: choose exploration over combat similarity
What it preserves
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the recommendation for players whose favorite Elden Ring activity was exploration. GameSpot’s comparison emphasizes open-world wandering, free-form routes and player-directed discovery. Like Elden Ring, it lets curiosity set your itinerary and frequently rewards leaving the obvious path.
You can approach a landmark from different directions, experiment with tools and solve problems in ways the game does not prescribe. That sense of self-directed discovery is the closest match to Elden Ring’s exploratory freedom in this list.
What it changes
The combat and progression systems are fundamentally different. You are not moving from one Souls boss lesson to another, and the game does not use Elden Ring’s stamina, dodge, build or checkpoint vocabulary as its foundation. Its challenge comes from a broader action-adventure toolkit and from deciding how to use the environment, equipment and abilities available to you.
Choose it when you want to keep the feeling of finding your own route, not when you want a replacement for Elden Ring’s boss combat. Treating it as a Soulslike will create the wrong expectations; treating it as a giant discovery-driven adventure makes its strengths clear.
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When it is the right next game
- You spent more time following distant landmarks than optimizing a character sheet.
- You enjoyed unexpected solutions and environmental experimentation.
- You want a change of pace after a difficult boss rather than another test of roll timing.
- You are comfortable with a different progression model and combat language.
Choose by the part of Elden Ring you want to keep
| Your priority | Best choice | Reason | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Closest overall feel | Dark Souls III | Shares the core Souls combat and progression vocabulary | Less open and less expansive |
| Hardest timing test | Sekiro | Deflections and posture make precision the whole game | Minimal conventional build freedom |
| Gothic, aggressive combat | Bloodborne | Firearm parries and rally recovery reward forward pressure | PlayStation 4 requirement and focused weapon identity |
| Story-led Soulslike | Lies of P | Polished, authored campaign with parry-oriented combat | More linear and less exploratory |
| Open-world discovery | Tears of the Kingdom | Free-form routes and player-directed exploration | Combat and progression are not Souls-like |
A simple decision path
- Do you want the same basic combat language? Pick Dark Souls III.
- Do you want to replace build choice with execution? Pick Sekiro.
- Do you want a darker world and more aggressive healing loop? Pick Bloodborne.
- Do you want a non-FromSoftware game with a clear campaign? Pick Lies of P.
- Do you want to wander more than you want to duel? Pick Tears of the Kingdom.
How to transition from Elden Ring without carrying the wrong habits
For Dark Souls III
Begin with a simple weapon concept and learn the spacing of ordinary enemies before chasing an elaborate build. The smaller world means backtracking and shortcuts matter more than map coverage. Spend time understanding how a checkpoint changes your route; that knowledge is part of the level design, not merely convenience.
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.
For Sekiro
Practice deflection timing deliberately and resist the urge to solve every problem by retreating. Your goal is to make an enemy’s rhythm familiar. The game rewards staying close enough to answer attacks, so a cautious Elden Ring roll-everything approach can slow your progress.
For Bloodborne
Use the rally system as an invitation to regain lost health through a controlled counterattack. Learn which enemy swings can be interrupted with a firearm and which require repositioning. The game’s aggression is calculated, not reckless: attacking without reading the next move still carries a cost.
For Lies of P
Expect to spend more time learning guard and parry windows than searching for a radically different route. Pay attention to the story and environmental details; the authored structure is one of the reasons to choose this game over another open-ended adventure.
For Tears of the Kingdom
Stop looking for a Souls-style “correct” route. Follow curiosity, test the tools you have and accept that solving a problem creatively is often more important than perfecting a single combat loop. Its value after Elden Ring comes from changing your habits while preserving the pleasure of discovery.
Platform, edition and availability checks
Platform availability and store editions are volatile. Verify the current listing for your country immediately before buying, especially for older releases and games tied to a specific console generation. Bloodborne is the clearest case: it is a PlayStation 4 title, so ownership of a compatible PlayStation system is essential.
For every game, confirm the edition, language options, included downloadable content and whether your intended platform receives the same version as the original release. Prices, stock, regional storefronts and subscription access can change after this article’s publication. The recommendations above are based on each game’s design, not on a temporary discount or a particular retailer’s inventory.
The verdict
Choose Dark Souls III first if you want the closest, least disruptive follow-up to Elden Ring after defeating Starscourge Radahn. It preserves the core loop while giving you a more concentrated campaign. Choose Sekiro when you want to turn boss learning into a pure precision exercise; Bloodborne when atmosphere and aggression matter most; Lies of P when you want a polished, story-led Soulslike outside FromSoftware; and Tears of the Kingdom when exploration—not combat—is what you are really trying to replace.
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