Soulstice: Deluxe Edition (PS5)

Product Information

Explore a dark world brimming with hidden mysteries, master a diverse combat system, and inhabit the dual forces of two sisters in a coming-of-age dark fantasy story with fast-paced action, vicious enemies, and spectacular boss fights. Opening and closing fields to match the thing you're trying to kill has all the fussiness of a game of Simon Says – in that nothing you do counts unless you've remembered to hit the right button first" World Design - Very beautiful, very detailed. Many Areas are reused just with some clutter rearranged to feel different. Es sieht alles ganz schön aus, wenn auch recht gleich, liegt aber am Setting, das recht düster ist, ich habe allerdings etwas düsteres erwartet, jetzt kein Horror, aber irgendwie war nicht wirklich heftiges dabei. Ich hab mich eher wie auf einem Spaziergang mit meiner Schwester in Form eines Rachefeldzugs gefühlt.

Action games come in many flavors. From the soulslikes that dominate the landscape of gaming today, to the more cinematic Uncharted-esque experiences, the genre covers a huge amount of ground and is easily accessible to anyone looking for any kind of adventure, no matter how over-the-top it may be. Soulstice by Reply Game Studios is a game where the action is absolutely face-melting, from the speed of combat to the flashiness of the moves, set in a bleak and doomed world where only you can face its demise.Resolution gives you an amazing graphical presentation, complete with dynamic shadows and persistent particle effects to enhance the shiny crystal dust effects that looks excellent on a 4K display, though the game can get choppy during moments of intense action and runs at a floating 30 frames per second at all times. Soulstice gets a lot right. The combat mechanics are fun, fluid, have a huge amount of depth to them and a high skill ceiling. Lute’s skills add to the combat and exploration as well as giving Briar someone to talk to. Less lengthy levels, with a focus on replaying them at higher difficulties, would have been more appealing to me as after one playthrough I feel burned out. A combat camera which gave the player all the information they need and enemy AI that were less likely to take advantage of those deficiencies would also elevate the experience massively. Wraiths, Corrupted and Possessed have trespassed into the world from beyond the Veil. Use Lute’s auras to weaken or expose them and adapt to a flow of battle that never feels the same.

When starting Soulstice, you’ll be asked which option you’d like to start with. The options are Performance, Resolution and Balance. The game ends on a note that its possibly a Trilogy. Which is pretty cool with how things ended up turning out. Battle Different Enemy Classes - A vile mix of Wraiths, Corrupted and Possessed, have poured into the world from beyond the Veil. Utilize Lute’s unique auras to expose or weaken these creatures and adapt to a flow of battle that never feels the same.Explore a City in Ruin - A Tear in the Sky has opened above the once-holy city of Ilden; As Briar and Lute fight to reach the Tear, they’ll face complex puzzles and secrets while their surroundings become more hostile and twisted Unfortunately, while Soulstice starts with a bang and does a good job of keeping you hooked in the early game, it all falls apart after the first few chapters. Soulstice review And you end up with Soulstice. For the best and for the worst. I completed it on the hardest available difficulty (Hard) on first playthrough. Explore a striking, fantasy-inspired world brimming with hidden mysteries, master a diverse combat system, and inhabit the dual forces of two sisters in a coming-of-age fantasy story with fast-paced action, vicious enemies, and spectacular boss fights. Plunge into a dark story of sisterly love heightened by stylish and sleek art inspired by Japanese dark fantasy classics.

Balance oddly focuses more on the resolution side, meaning you can get nearly the full effect of the environment but keeps the framerate smooth during combat, though this mode doesn’t offer the dynamic shadows that Resolution mode offers and never reaches the 60 FPS that Performance mode does. Throughout the journey, there will also be special portals that lead to Void Challenges. Each has a unique objective to complete, from executing Perfect Counters or slaying all foes before the timer runs out, and provide rewards upon completion. Void Challenges can be played outside of the main campaign as well, if you fancy a higher score. The balance of the Holy Kingdom of Keidas is compromised when powerful, feral creatures known as “Wraiths” invade from the other side of the Veil, threatening to consume the living. Wraiths corrupt their victims and can even possess their bodies, turning into unstoppable monsters that prey upon the common folk. The “Chimeras”, hybrid warriors born of the union of two souls, are the only ones who can protect humankind. Man läuft eigentlich nur von Gegnerbereich zu Gegnerbereich und zwischendrin gibt es Bosse, was ich zwischendrin aber sehr vermisst habe ist mal tiefgründige Story! Es gibt schon ab und zu Storysequenzen etc. aber auch in der Erinnerungswelt fühlt es sich eher nur so an: "hier hast du noch etwas Story, damit du nicht traurig bist, ok?"

More from Modus Games

Discover puzzles and secrets in diverse locations within a troubled city in ruins. A Tear in the Sky has opened above Ilden; as Briar and Lute get closer to it, their surroundings become more menacing and twisted.

Making waves for its sleek art-style and combat, Reply Game Studios’ Soulstice finally releases on September 20th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Despite launching in a busy month, it offers an intriguing story, deep mechanics and fun exploration to go with its fast-paced combat. I recently had the chance to play a preview build with the first 12 missions available so without further ado, let’s look at 14 things you should know before playing Soulstice. Learn the Truth of Your Origin - Through a dark story filled with sisterly love and sacrifice, Briar and Lute discover the truth about themselves and their Chimera powers while working together and staying true to their unbreakable bond. Performance focuses on frame rate, heavily tuning down shadow effects while cutting other persistent visuals down and offering a noticeably higher framerate that smooths out all animation hiccups for an experience that runs at 60 frames per second.

Key Features

It’s an issue of pace. The game does introduce new mechanics whilst exploring and new enemies pop up throughout but it does start to drag around the middle section. It doesn’t help that a lot of the game looks the same. It’s a nice looking game in general with some cool looking boss designs but the environments barely change throughout making the game feel less varied as a result. The Story is fairly decent. This game could be a Hidden Gem. I bought this at risk of the Developer & Publisher being fairly young in the Game Industry. I typically dont trust 'indie devs' in terms of delivering polished quality, or Publishers that just continuously spit out titles left and right (Maximum Games/Modus Games). Quality is always at stake with that type of business practice. However, the Developer's, Reply Game Studios, did produce an A-Budget title, with some issues that are critical and need to be patched out. I personally think these is something that shouldve been noticed in Alpha or Beta Testing stages. If they fix these, it would easily make Soulstice AA title. I’m sure there will be players out there that will master the mechanics and gameplay but that will be in spite of these issues, they’ll find methods to manage them or workarounds. It sours an experience that otherwise gets a lot of the fundamentals right. When the combat flows it feels great with a lot of options to utilise and it rewards clean play. It’s just the pacing issues and an awkward camera that stop this from mixing with the big boys. Dialogue - Besides the main Protagonists Briar & Lute, its kinda bland with conversations. They seem flat and tone deaf, barely any emotion unless its a sequence when the Protagonists get Angry (Briar), Scared or Upset (Lute). The balance of the Holy Kingdom of Keidas is compromised when powerful, feral beings known as “Wraiths” invade from the other side of the Veil. Wraiths corrupt their victims and can even possess their bodies, turning into unstoppable, vile beings that prey upon the living. The Chimera, hybrid warriors born of the union of two souls, are the only ones who can protect humankind.