14 DAY TRIAL // Much can be said about Soulstice, Reply Game Studios’ upcoming action hack’n’slash game, but one thing is clear: it’s going to surprise everyone. Showcased last year at E3, Soulstice made a comeback this year when it also announced a release date: September 20.
I had the chance to play a preview build (Steam demo) of Soulstice in June and my excitement toned down a bit. I still love the game, but I equally loathe the camera orientation. Soulstice plays from a third-person perspective, but the camera angles are so awkward that many times you won’t be able to see the enemies attacking you.
The demo offers a pretty good glimpse of what Soulstice is all about. Although it’s pretty short (about 30 minutes), it’s a relevant slice of the game that introduces players to the world of Keidas, and even contains a pretty cool boss fight.
Heavily inspired by anime series like Claymore and Berserk, Soulstice’s combat screams Devil May Cry (without the crazy good music). The combos are easy to achieve and satisfying but dodging or blocking enemies is a bit trickier when you don’t see them on the screen due to the camera orientation.
In Soulstice, you control Briar and Lute, two sisters that have been reborn as a Chimera. Briar has gained superhuman strength and resilience, whereas Lute has sacrificed herself to bind her soul to her sister’s, thus giving her mystical powers. It’s an unusual duo that covers both physical and magic damage, but Lute does a bit more than just showing off her mystical powers.
While Briar is dishing out the bulk of the damage, comboing and jumping from one enemy to another in devilish DmC style, Lute is ready to block any attack that threatens to interrupt her sister’s war dance of death and peppers enemies with magic missiles.
Controls are pretty tight, and you don’t need to switch between characters, you just need to click the block button when an icon shows up on the screen. Basically, you can perform your combos and block at the same time, which makes the entire combat experience pretty smooth. Lute attacks automatically, so you can just focus on getting your combos right with Briar.
Some enemies can’t be damaged by Briar’s CLAYMORE, so Lute must enclose these enemies in a magical halo that completely removes their damage negation. However, keeping the halo up for too long will drive her crazy, so you’ll have to be fast or use it in short bursts.
There are different weapons in the game, but Briar’s huge sword will remain the main damage dealer. You can have various secondary weapons that help deal bonus damage to certain enemies or for breaking shields, armor, and launching enemies into the air.
Another interesting aspect of the game is the synergy between Briar and Lute, which is represented by the Unity gauge. Depending on what combo you’re using, you can build the Unity gauge faster and unleash a devastating attack.
Each of the two sisters has her own skill tree with plenty of abilities to unlock and upgrade. Unfortunately, the demo shows only a fraction of what should be available in the game, but I have high hopes for a fun, yet devastating build.
Visuals are quite alright for a dark, grim setting. Unfortunately, the camera orientation didn’t make the environments justice enough, on the contrary. Also, I didn’t feel compelled to explore too much in the game because of that. I also find the rewards for exploring off the beaten path less satisfying to justify the time spent, but the main game might include better rewards.
Conclusion
That said, I’m hoping for better puzzles and meaningful rewards for those who love to explore. I also have to give the developers the thumbs up for the boss fights, at least the one available in the demo. Different phases and a lot of movement make these ultimate challenges pretty intense and extremely satisfying.
Preview code provided by the publisher.
