Soulslikes with faster, more aggressive combat than the Fire Ring

Released in February 2022, Fire Ring is still remembered as the true king of the soul-like genre, bringing the best qualities of FromSoftware's signature action games to a vast open world and outshining anything else available through the scope and variety of zones, locations, dungeons, enemies, bosses, spells and weapons. While the game's combat is definitely one such highlight, offering different classes through character stats and gear, resulting in fans still finding new overwhelmed combos, the breadth of its combat system can be both overwhelming and lack the depth that some other, more condensed and action-focused games can offer.

As many recent games blur the lines between classic Soul-like combat and traditional action, leaving fans in constant debate over each genre's top criteria, several Soul-likes deliver much faster and more aggressive combat than Miyazaki's masterpiece. By focusing on fewer weapon types and tools, making enemies faster and combat more dynamic overall, emphasizing parrying, and bringing in full combo systems with unlockable moves through character progression, these new games offer different combat flows to suit every player's taste. Below are some good examples of soulslikes that have faster, more aggressive and intense battles than Fire Ring.

The First Berserker: Khazan

Feel the wrath

Half soul-like, half pure action game-like Stellar Blade or Nier: Automata, The First Berserker: Khazan is about fast-paced, internal battles with many unique moves, a few but very well-developed weapon types to choose from, and a series of special powerful abilities that players unlock as the game progresses. In fact, Khazan offers so little other than a brilliant combat system and dozens of nail-bitingly tough bosses to face that it's almost like a combat glove.

The combat is as demanding as it is spectacular, consistently coming up in discussions of the best combat system in the genre to date, and rightfully so. By mastering spears, greatswords, or dual weapons such as ax and sword, along with their signature moves and precise parries, The First Berserker: Khazan players become almost unstoppable, smashing everything in their path. Fortunately, the game's bosses are more than up to the challenge, resulting in impressive clashes where the dance of blades never ends.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

A dance of parries

When looking at FromSoftware's own offerings in the soul-like genre, few games stand out with much more flexible, aggressive and fast-paced combat for those who find Fire Ring a little too slow. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is arguably at the top, often cited as the best action game combat system ever, period. Built entirely on timing and parries, players must master this unforgiving battle to even have a chance of going beyond the intro bosses, as there is no room for hesitation or error in Sekiro.

Completely powered by a single katana weapon, with a very limited range of extra tools like only a handful of special attacks or prosthetic hands (each one consumes resources so players can't spam them constantly for the easy win). Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice gives few defects. Instead, it keeps players constantly aggressive and steadfastly dealing with everything enemies throw at them until an opportunity to end the fight with a single hit presents itself. Alongside Sekiro, Blood borne is also worth mentioning among FromSoftware's own games, with faster and more aggressive combat, standing somewhere between the two.

Nioh 2

Too much of everything

Team Ninja, masters of the action genre, tackles the soul-like formula in Nioh series is drastically different from FromSoftware's titles such as Fire Ringbut equally respected by the fans. Combining fast, fluid, aggressive movements with dozens of weapon types, magic spells, power-up attacks and literally anything you can think of, Nioh 2s combat can feel overwhelming to new players and definitely takes time to understand and get used to.

Many layers and mechanics have been woven together to produce Nioh 2s exciting and spectacular combat, where timing, parrying, resource management, character stats and equipment quality contribute equally to success. Additionally, among Team Ninja's games, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty deserves a mention for its no less intricate but noticeably different Nioh 2s combat system, combined with active companions to feel even more distinct.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

May patience be with you

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor represents an enticing blend of classic action-adventure with Souls-inspired combat. While its combat mechanics are more approachable overall than many other titles in the genre, largely revolving around a single lightsaber without too much extra fluff, there's still an obvious need to learn enemy and boss attack patterns, timings, parries, and when to attack or retreat.

But as you might expect, Jedi: Survivors combat is more fast-paced and aggressive than Fire Ringsbuilt on spectacular Jedi moves from the movies, counter attacks, acrobatic dodges and cinematic finishers, complete with a sprinkling of Force powers to feel distinctive. “Easy to learn, hard to master” is a perfect description for Star Wars Jedi: Survivorand while the game is arguably less challenging than FromSoftware's or Team Ninja's games, certain enemies and bosses will definitely give players a hard time.

Black Myth: Wukong

This monkey got hands

To this day, fans continue to debate about Black Myth: Wukong belongs among soulslikes at all, with its clear inspirations drawn from some of the best action-adventure titles out there. Without going too deep into categorization, let's just say that there are clear influences from both action games and soulslikes, with the entire game built around epic boss encounters that offer little to no respite.

Black Myth: Wukongs fast-paced combat feels incredibly dynamic, thanks to the Destined One's innate abilities, which allow players to dodge almost anything in an instant, while delivering an unstoppable barrage of weapon attacks. Multiple staff positions with unique techniques, unlockable combo moves, a range of OP magic abilities, and even countless transformation spells all contribute to diverse and ever-evolving battles that remain engaging at all times, while dozens of unique enemy types and creatively designed bosses keep players on their toes. Even after mastering Wukongs battle, several bosses are so notoriously tough that not everyone managed to defeat them.

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers

The wind of change

Standing among the latest soul-like games, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers turned out to be a surprisingly good addition, especially for a debut project. The game packs fast, dynamic, challenging and satisfying combat with just the right amount of customization, resulting in memorable and intense confrontations where players must be aggressive and alert to survive. Even better, the developers quickly implemented fan feedback from early launch days, bringing the overall experience to new heights.

Distinct weapon types, each with deadly techniques, flexible character building at no special cost, and a range of useful spells with unique effects all contribute to a welcome sense of experimentation in Wuchangwhere players can always try new approaches when the next boss causes too much trouble. Constantly pressing enemies and bosses that unleash a second phase when players least expect it make the journey tense and risky, while checkpoint placement can be so excruciatingly long that players must use everything at their disposal to keep pushing forward.