Souls-like games are vast and deadly. Exploring the worlds that developers lay out for players can be exhilarating, offering threats and secrets around every corner. Part of the rich design of these terrifying worlds is the optional content: missable bosses, weapons, and areas that players might stumble upon by accident or may seek out while scouring for any mysteries left behind.
Some Soulslike games add entirely new features within optional content, with rewards that can help the player go forward with the main content in the game. Across the genre, these Soulslike games feature the best optional content to dive into outside the main story.
BloodborneisFromSoftware’s flagship horror game. It’s a deviation from theDark Soulsformula, but still sits comfortably in the Souls-like genre. Optional content is plentiful here. Areas like the Upper Cathedral Ward and Forsaken Castle Cainhurst are optional and contain unlockable weapon options, new locations, new lore, and even unique and nightmarish bosses.
The most unique piece of optional content, though, is theChalice Dungeon optionhosted in the hub. Players can take on huge dungeons, in layers that get more challenging the deeper they venture inside. Bosses line up for battle here, as well as hordes of enemies who drop incredible loot and insidious traps that can kill a careless player in a single blow. This entirely new way to experienceBloodbornecan also be made into a randomly generated dungeon crawler for the right material. Endless grinding options are a real possibility.
In the tradition of Soulslike games,Lies Of Phas an optional and hidden ‘true ending’ that hosts a boss that is as spooky as it is challenging. This final boss, the Nameless Puppet, is by far the hardest boss in the game and can only be bested by well-timed parries.
The game’s route from start to finish is quite linear, but player exploration does reward with some hidden bosses who dropunique items, especially impressive-looking masks. Red Fox and Black Cat pose a decent threat to fans who have not quite mastered the combat. Hunting for all thatLies Of Phas to offer could be a deadly quest for many warriors.
The cutesy yet hard-as-nailsHollow Knightwas supported by the developer for a series of updates after release. Among these, the update that added the most additional content for hardcore fans was theGodmasterupdate.
Godmasterintroduced all-new boss fights against masters of the nail weapon, and pantheons of challenging bosses that players must defeat in one run. The most hardcore players were given plenty of brutal challenges to sink their teeth into.Other optional areaslet players unlock new charms to change the way that they play, fight against an evil circus master, or even unlock new endings in trueFromSoftstyle.
4The Surge
NPC Quest Lines & Weapons
The Surgeis a futuristic version of the Soulslike, set in a robot-occupied wasteland. The player must hack and slash through hordes of smaller robots and larger bosses, which hint at how the world fell prey to these mighty machines.
NPC scattered across the world provide optional content through quests. Irina and Jo’s quest lines reward the player with a unique weapon once completed. Other unique weapons are available for players who are willing to put in the work to tear through the bosses in specific ways. Killing a boss in the ‘hardcore’ way, such as by targeting weak spots, will reward the player with abetter version of the normal boss weapon.
FromSoftwareare masters of packing their games full of easily-missed optional content that players can lose themselves in or miss out on. Those without keen eyes will miss plenty of weird and wonderful areas inElden Ring. Meanwhile, those who go out of their way to find secrets will be rewarded with treasure troves of content.
To complete the main quest inElden Ringand become the Elden Lord,players have to kill three of the shardbearers. However, there are seven in total scattered across the Lands-Between, meaning that players can explore the areas that interest them and leave behind overly difficult areas. Player freedom takes center stage, and countless weapons, spells, bosses, NPCs, and enemies are optional.
Sekirois one of the hardest Soulslike games thatFromSoftwarehas ever released. The game has a very different playstyle, with a focus on well-timed parries and perfect clashes with enemieswho often feel like equals in hand-to-hand combat. There is a lot of optional content inSekiro. Someof the most important bosses in the story, including those linked to the true-ending or demonic bosses that reveal the true nature of friendly NPCs, are hidden behind dense exploration and out-of-the-way secrets.
While hidden walls often interfere, there is also a great deal of player observation required. It is sometimes best for the player to use their vertical abilities to get an overhead glance at the layout of the levels to see hidden NPCs that may blend in during the heat of combat.
PerhapsFromSoftware’s most celebrated game of all time,Dark Souls 3features a wealth of optional content for all kinds of players. Huge optional areas, like Archdragon Peak, can only be reached by performing the correct emote in the right place. Some of these secrets mean that players without the benefit of hindsight will never happen upon them without help.
Hidden bosses like the Nameless King are often some of the best in the game. Completing optional quest lines that are left ambiguous, like those for Yuria of Londor, can change the whole ending of the game. With a fleshed-out, optional multiplayer mode, players can battle each other, assist each other against tricky bosses, or pose for funny emotes together. The scope ofDark Souls 3’s content is unmatched.
