5 Soulslike Games With The Most Complicated Lore

Key Takeaways

• FromSoftware games prioritize lore discovery through gameplay, not exposition.
• Mortal Shell’s lore is complex but lacks explicit narrative, and revolves around immortality.
• Lords of the Fallen features dense, poignant storytelling about the living and the dead.

FromSoftware’s Dark Souls series has been a trailblazer of the action RPG genre and of modern video game development as a whole. Not only do the games have a very different approach toward level design, gameplay, and combat, but the way that they’ve structured their narratives and stories is completely varied compared to most RPGs. FromSoftware games often have lore that players must discover through playing the game itself rather than having exposition and dialogue being front and center.

A lot of the storytelling and lower in FromSoftware games is complicated and players need to trudge through it and make a sense of what’s happening in the world. Be it the true purpose of the Old Blood in Bloodborne or the rise to power of Pontiff Sullyvahn in Dark Souls 3; these games feature tons of complicated lore and players often revert to videos on YouTube about how to make sense of it. Most Soulslike games also have a similar pattern in terms of complicated lore, even though it might not be of the same nature as a FromSoftware Dark Souls or Bloodborne. With that in mind, here are the Soulslike games with the most complicated lore.

5 Mortal Shell

A Brief Hunt for Immortatility

Mortal Shell is a game that is heavily inspired by Dark Souls, and this is evident through its style of storytelling. The game had a lot of interesting ideas in terms of its lore, but it didn’t quite execute them as well as it could have. Mortal Shell does a decent job at atmospheric storytelling; everything is sullen, and sorrowful and has an eerie vibe around it.

While there’s very little in terms of actual explicit narrative, players, through playing the game, can put bits and pieces together. The story revolves around a search for immortality, the exploitation of religion, and unending greed. While some parts of the game have a similar feeling to Bloodborne, considering how brief the game is and how little exposition the players get, the lore can get pretty complicated, especially keeping in mind the different factions at play and the hunt for immortality at the heart of it all.

4 Lords of the Fallen (2023)

A Welcome Return To Axiom

Perhaps the original Soulslike game, Lords of the Fallen, recently received a remake that had a rocky release but quickly found its footing as one of the most enjoyable Soulslikes out there. Lords of the Fallen has a solid, well-written story. While it isn’t as cryptic as the series it drew inspiration from, it still poses a poignant, compelling, and complicated narrative. The game centers around navigating between the world of the living and the dead.

The game features tons of dilapidated villages, undead swarms, and visually striking sceneries that, when considered in conjunction with dozens of comprehensive NPC storylines and how muddled the transitions between the two realms can be, lead to a fair amount of confusion. While the lore of Lords of the Fallen isn’t exactly cryptic, it’s dense enough, with a broad enough focus to be complex.

3 Ashen

Fantastical Yet Sullen

Ashen is a game that wears its Soulslike branding proudly on its chest. The game has a very familiar feeling to it for any long-term fan of any FromSoftware games. However, Ashen has managed to use its Soulslike inspiration to craft its own narrative and carve its own separate identity very well. At its core, Ashen is a game that’s about a simple battle between light and darkness, and it does this very well. While it has a similar feel to Dark Souls 3, the key highlight of Ashen is how the story is told through the different characters players meet and their own stories.

Ashen uses its atmosphere and its environments very well to depict its story. The original world is dark, bleak, and gloomy but hauntingly beautiful. As players progress through the story, recruit more allies, and defeat more bosses, the atmosphere slowly turns more warm and welcoming. While the overarching narrative of Ashen is very standard in its approach, the way it utilizes different characters and their motivations, coupled with environmental storytelling, makes it somewhat complicated, and extremely competent.

2 Lies of P

A Dark Fantasy Soulslike With A Twist

Perhaps the most successful game in this sub-genre, Lies of P tells a re-imagined story of Pinocchio, in a gothic setting – a world very similar to Bloodborne. However, the game executes its unique premise excellently.Lies of P weaves a thrilling tale, full of twists, turns, and unexplained mysteries.

The protagonist wakes up in the aftermath of a puppet frenzy through which the entire city is slaughtered. The rest of the game is about slowly unraveling the mysteries of the past, learning and internalizing this dark fantasy world whilst, of course, progressing through the central narrative. The dichotomy between being a puppet and slowly turning human is done well, and what tops it all off is the dozens of side characters that players can interact with and learn more from. Lies of P doesn’t have confusing lore, but it is complicated in that this is a wholly built, in-game world with stories around every corner and tons of complex interactions.

1 Blasphemous

A Riveting Metroidvania

Blasphemous perhaps captures the Dark Souls formula of cryptic storytelling the best whilst also owning it with a unique twist. While the game isn’t an action RPG, it stands as one of the most acclaimed Soulslike games out there. Players play a member of the Brotherhood of Priests known as the Penitent One. The game is chock-full of dreadful, bloody, and dark imagery with tons of tragedy sprinkled in for good measure.

The main plot surrounds the cycle of penance, an endless pattern of suffering, tragedy, and subservience for the people of Cvstodia. The game makes quite a few things explicit, such as themes around religion, greed, and guilt. But it is also full of tons of individual tales, lore dumps in descriptions, and incredible world-building. While the game is brief, the lore rivals most FromSoftware games and is most assuredly as complex as it gets.