Ah, right... I don't own a PS4 either. Well, let's wait and see just for how long it will remain exclusive. But as far as I know, it's quite different from the traditional Souls games anyway.

As for LotF, I haven't played it myself yet, but know from reliable sources ( and gameplay videos ) that it's a solid game. It's not quite Dark Souls, but it gets enough things right to be enjoyable. If nothing else, it's not like there's many alternatives around.

And as for your other comment: if you're a big fan of the series and haven't played Demon's Souls yet, then there is no such thing as "too late to buy a PS3". :P

Shadow of Mordor perhaps? :S

Oh? Perhaps include other good rouge-likes, including ADOM, and TOME?

Hmmm then we might get into the RL adaptations of games like Doom, Diablo, and Castilvania (which was quite hard)

Of the games I know, Vagrant Story on the PS1 comes closest to it. A very good but somewhat overlooked game.

Damn! I've never heard of this game, but after searching it and watching some gameplay videos, holy crap do I want it.

Please GOG, get thIs game back on the catalogue. I absolutely adore the Souls series and this looks so similar (moreso than King's Field ever did).

Bullshit. Many PS3 exclusives will remain PS3 exclusives. It's never too late to get that system and stock up on those. And some PS3 exclusives are still being made (admittedly particularly JRPGs, though). I also keep extending my PS3 game collection and couldn't care less that the PS4 is out. Going by the games catalogue the PS3 is still a better deal than a PS4 and it may take years before that's gonna change (if ever).

Dragon's Dogma (Console) is similar. However, if you're talking about games with a similar multiplayer component, forget it. The games are fairly unique in that regard.

There is Demon's Souls (PS3)
Lords of the Fallen is ok.
The Witcher 2 is even a little similar.

Indeed. I played TW2 for the first time last year and I kept cursing at the screen. "THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A HARDCORE RPG, NOT FUCKING DARK SOULS DAMMIT!". No, seriously, I played The Witcher 2 right after a playthrough of the original game and the new and ridiculously tough action oriented combat was a punch in the face. Normally I always appreciate it when RPGs have action oriented combat but in case of The Witcher 2 I was just pissed.

It's certainly not too late to but a PS3 NOW - in fact with price reductions and a large 2nd hand market, I'd say it was the perfect time!
However, I wonder if the PS3 will be part of the first generation of consoles that it WILL be too late to buy at some point - once Sony network for PS3 has been switched off and you suddenly lose all access to patches and other content...
Scary!

Yeah, I already got pissed when Sony deactivated the multiplayer portions for some of its PS3 games soon after the PS4 launched (like Resistance, which had been online since the PS3 launched). I'm also shit scared that one day Sony might turn off all online support for the PS3, especially game updates (which would render some PS3 titles nearly unplayable). I think if Sony went that far I'd abandon consoles for good.

Right, I forgot about Dragon's Dogma. That is indeed another good candidate, and another reason for OP to get a PS3. :P

Combat wise blade of darkness comes close. Dragon's dogma had a awesome concept but there are huge flaws in the game, this game really need a PC release so the mods could fix what the developers can never do

There's also Shadow Tower, which is apparently actually getting a digital rerelease on psn soonish (at least I heard it was rerated by the esrb)

Lament of Innocence on psn could work, maybe. The Legend of Korra has parrying and blocking so I guess that counts. You also level up your elements through using them and you can buy moves for them, so that is kinda/sorta like the rpg elements of souls but I feel like I'm pretty much tearing the rubber apart at this juncture.

I no longer have a PS3, I gave it up for various reasons back when PSN was first hacked, but I would be very surprised if Sonys eventual abandoning of the console and its online services would be the doomsday scenario that you fear. Multiplayer might be gone for good, but hobbyists will probably find ways to patch the games up to date.

I remember that back then it was pretty easy to download the game patch files from the web if you knew what you were doing, they were just useless because there was no way to install them. This became possible when the console got jailbroken. Jailbreaking would risk getting the device bricked by Sony with a future update, but this wouldn't be a concern for preparing for the console to be abandoned.

What's the situation these days, can it still be jailbroken? Even if not, I expect someone will eventually find a way after Sony gives up patching it, and would be very surprised if someone didn't find ways to rescue the game patches somehow.