In the midst of the fall gaming season, it’s very easy to lose track of games that aren’t the new hotness of major studios or haven’t gotten enough advertising to grab attention. Despite this reality, a dark action-adventure game managed not only to capture my attention, but also exceed my expectations, proving itself far more than just another derivative game paying tribute to its contemporaries.
soulstice, by Reply Game Studios, is a hack-and-slash action game. You play as both Briar, a stoic swordsman suffering from a demonic curse that threatens to overtake her, and her sister Lute, a ghostly creature who can summon barriers and cast rays of light to protect her sister from enemies. Their mission is to seal the tear in the middle of a war-torn kingdom and defeat the townspeople turned into monsters under the tear’s influence. In short, you might struggle not to think about soulstice as related to the Berserk manga with a touch Claymore.
And yes, the comparison to that anime is apt. On paper you could also draw parallels between soulstice and other stylish action games where the heroes face hordes of enemies from other realms, games like bayonetta and Devil May Cry. However, soulstice sets itself apart from those games by telling a compelling story that doesn’t put the battle in the background.
Like his contemporaries, soulsticeCombat features light and heavy attacks, a multitude of weapons to switch between seamlessly, a wealth of Lovecraftian-inspired bosses to rip and tear, and a temporary overpowered state where you deal even more damage to enemies. Where it differs in both the gameplay and the emotional hook of the story is with Briar’s sister, Lute, who acts as the emotional compass. soulstice away from an everyday copy of older hack-and-slash games.
At first, Lute drags her ghostly feet into the carnage that she and her sister have to trudge through, making it feel like the game is setting her up as yet another annoying, pacifist character to escort you everywhere. However, it turns out that her inclusion in the game does more than give it a compelling emotional core. It also makes the combat feel fresh and unique.
When I think of a hack-and-slash game, I often think of the power fantasy of quickly dishing out your enemies, often with the help of your overpowered, Devil trigger-type of move set. In soulsticeHowever, the Berserker state of Briar acts like a candle that burns off at both ends. While his flame burns brilliantly, he doesn’t live that long. Like anyone who plays a hack-and-slash game and unleashes their character’s full destructive potential for the first time, Briar marvels at how powerful her demonic state makes her, and sees it as a means to mamoru her ghostly imouto. Lute, on the other hand, chastises Briar and warns her not to rely on her Berserker state as this will lead to her downfall. The silences during those downtime moments when you break boxes to retrieve health after a harrowing battle are routinely broken with a dialogue between the two sisters in which they subtly temper each other’s expectations about the journey ahead.
Whenever Lute tries to distract herself and Briar from butchering the townspeople of the kingdom, partly by their own hands, with idyllic daydreams of how things used to be in their more peaceful childhoods, Briar curtly brings Lute back to Earth by reminding her that she will have to get used to the carnage to survive. Conversely, whenever Briar dismisses the overuse of her newfound dark power (and the toll it takes on her) as a means to a necessary end, Lute drops her soft voice and sternly reminds her older sister of it. that although she is a ghost and Briar is cursed, the pair still have a lot more life to live. The weight of these small interactions is further enhanced by the sensational vocal performances of Stefanie Joosten (Quiet from Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain) which portrays both sisters. This ongoing back and forth between the sisters, coupled with Briar learning to rely on her once defenseless sister instead of carrying the burden alone, makes for a powerful story.
Even outside soulstice‘s story, Lute quickly becomes one of the most essential supporting characters in the hack-and-slash genre. During combat, Lute works mechanically in the same way a Stellage would in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. If an enemy is about to attack Briar, pressing the “Lute button” will counter them, parry, or stop time in their tracks, allowing Briar to defeat a targeted enemy or finish off their allies. or end up destroying their allies. However, hitting the “Lute button” at random will distract her, leading her to look for enemies that aren’t open to a counter, leaving you open to attack.
Lute is also essential throughout the game’s many platforming segments. Throughout the game there are red crystals blocking your path, and blue ghostly platforms. By raising her left or right hand, Lute allows you to deal damage to the red progress-blocking crystals and adds mass to soulstice‘s blue platforms. However, if you do this for too long, Lute will wear out to the point where she will disappear. Don’t worry, she’ll come back after a while.
The biggest drawback of soulsticeAs with many character action games, the camera often acts like an enemy within itself. This, combined with most of his enemies using projectiles, makes for a frustrating experience at times. For example, at one point I asked out loud, “Why are you arguing here?” as I faced a wave of enemies in two courtyards connected by a narrow alley. As I walked in and out of the alley to finish a combo sequence, the camera would shift to show the courtyard I was entering, blurring my view of the enemies in the alley I found in the midst of battle. This not only disoriented me, but caused me to miss prompts to counter oncoming projectiles, as the camera no longer had them in view. This, coupled with too many enemies having projectiles that you have to counter, dodge, or freeze time to avoid, makes the action feel too cluttered at times.
Environmentally, soulsticeThe color palette rarely goes beyond having a dark blue and gray watercolor style background, apart from the challenge mode where it kicks things up a notch with some vibrant blue and purple landscapes. This makes early types of enemies pretty much fade into the background, making them hard to distinguish until the game starts confronting you with more conspicuous enemies with glowing red and blue crystals in their bodies.
in his heart, soulstice exists as well as proof of the proposition that: everything is a remix, and as a refutation of Mark Twain’s statement that comparison is the death of joy. Admittedly, I saw play at first soulstice as a way to get some practice before the release of Bayonetta 3but i was surprised to find out soulstice shines the best, not when it reminds you of the battles in character action games like bayonetta or Devil May Crybut in how it takes its time to prioritize its story over its action, making it more than worthy of the attention of anyone with a penchant for skill-based hack-and-slash adventures.
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