A few months back, we did our first Soulstice preview and had a good time with the game. It started us in the later stages of the first part of the title giving us part of a first act to comprehend. This time around, we backed up a bit further to see the origin (well, a bit of it) of our two sisters, Briar and Lute, and were propelled much further than the first experience. While it didn’t fully correct some complaints we had in the first preview, it certainly has provided us faith that all is going to be well when this game hits Steam in September.
Let me give you some more goods.
The Story (revisited)
Soulstice revolves around two sisters, Briar and Lute, who are reborn as a chimera, a dual-brand warrior. Lute is a soul that is bound to her sister and helps protect her, as well as take care of supernatural issues that may come up on their journey. Briar is the brute that does all the sword-swinging and taking care of business. Their journey, at least in this preview, was to take back a wraith-filled city and discover where everything had gone wrong.
While not a helluva lot has changed in the overall story, it was nice to see a bit more of the duo coming into town on a boat and dealing with all the aftermath of a torn and desolate world. It certainly added a bit creepier feeling to the whole atmosphere of the game, as well as solidified it as more of a Devil May Cry and Dark Souls, which is probably fine by most gamers. And the former of those games was exactly what I thought of when Briar and Lute make it to the shores of the lower half of the kingdom. It was just messy, horrid, and death was everywhere. It was beautiful for the type of story that Replay Game Studios wanted to bring to gamers.
While it doesn’t have the humor that carries Devil May Cry’s horror, it brings a delicious sense of dark ambiance to the world that Soulstice lives within. You get two characters that are suffering together. One is dead, and the other is suffering from being a chimera, and hoping not to cross over to something more powerful and worse. The sense of temporary for both characters and fragility hangs on every word and move the duo makes. The devs didn’t want you to feel comfortable at all throughout the game and they accomplished this through bleak visuals and methodical narrative design. All of it works for Soulstice and will be the reason you immediately get hooked into it. And you want that type of hook if you’re a developer. Grab the player with the story, and work out the gameplay later.
What’s humorous about that last sentence is that Replay Game Studios did the opposite. They knew the world and gameplay design they wanted for Briar and Lute’s adventure, so they built a story around those elements. What’s remarkable is that the story so far works and feeds the gamer at a steady pace. You get some bits here and there about how Lute became a spirit, how the world decayed, and what happened to all the people. You get some indication through the action of what is waiting for Briar if she loses control of herself. There is nothing grounded or stable in the story, which makes it more unnerving and intriguing. Again, it’s a good hook for gamers coming in fresh when this game releases in September.
Gameplay Design
Nothing has really changed in this area since the last time we previewed Soulstice. While we had a bit more freedom to collect more crystals and unlock skills on a large skills tree for both Briar and Lute, it really didn’t deviate too far from when we tried it originally. That’s not to say that we don’t have more information about the world and how it works. Quite the contrary, but as it goes with how the action works, and how Briar and Lute play together, it’s not that far off from the original demo playthrough.
What has changed this time around is that we’re introduced to a few more elements because the level we originally played on had expanded. This time, we ran into some puzzles that we had to figure out, such as trying to get a damaged bridge mechanism to work correctly. What’s neat about this puzzle was that there were some parts of it that were necessary, while others were distractions. It was a true puzzle. There were a few spots in the first few chapters that gave you a good cognitive jog.
We also were introduced to new monsters that were annoying as shit. In the last preview, we discussed having Lute create this blue bubble around the duo (L2), which would materialize spirits so that you could hit them. Otherwise, they would be ghosts and impervious to touch. The first spirits we ran into essentially just threw themselves at you and you had to knock them away until they burst. The new set of spirits was like jellyfish, where they could float around you and were difficult to hit. There were also more enemies this time around and more places to explore. It felt like every fight included the kitchen sink being thrown at you, and then some.
This preview gave us a good view of how the leveling worked and what it was going to take to get to a more powerful Briar and Lute. There is going to be a lot of grinding in this game. I can see it now. Searching for red crystals to level up Briar and blue ones to level up Lute is going to be a task. That may seem like a complaint, but honestly, it’s a compliment. You will fight gobs and gobs of enemies. You will also need a break and just destroy boxes trying to find secret hiding places for crystals. It’s a balance of action and search, and getting a breather between gobs of enemies is a nice thing. Getting both characters leveled up with new skills to unleash will provide enough motivation to go on crystal hunting parties and to destroy every freaking box you see. And when you see some of those moves in action, you’ll be glad you did a bit of grinding. Again, it’s a wonderful balance that works.
As for any boss fights or big baddies, I ain’t telling you a thing. You can experience that on your own. As you can see from the pictures, there are some warped bosses out there waiting for you. Enjoy them.
Anyway, all in all, the game featured more of the same (which was fine) and enough new locations and enemies to satisfy anyone enjoying this title. The look-see of the skills tree for both characters will get you going to search every nook and cranny of this game. It will balance action and adventure. For me, the gameplay was an action-packed hack and slash with some strategy on the side. Nonetheless, there is a lot of button pushing and being fully aware of your surroundings, and what those surroundings are throwing at you while you’re playing. Before we move on, I need to also bring up the fact that the gameplay flowed crazy well. This means you don’t drag at certain points with dialogue or overpowered enemies. It just flows like Ghost ‘n Goblins, where you just keep going for as long as you can stand it. Like I said before, there are gobs and gobs of enemies, and the game is just action-driven content that flows.
Moving along…
Still an issue
Before we get into this, let me note that DMC has a fixed camera. Resident Evil (the old one, not the new one) has a fixed camera. Pretty much any Capcom-published action game that involves guns has a fixed camera of some sort. This type of camera work keeps the viewer on a rail for the story and leads them to where they need to go to progress. It’s linear, but it works, and there is nothing wrong with it at all. It’s especially effective when you want to scare the shit out of people. While the latter didn’t happen too much in Soulstice, at least not this round of it, that is an effective way to justify the lack of camera movement.
Now, the camera in Soulstice is finicky, and it’s mainly due to the dark surroundings. The game is dark, it’s mainly at night, and it’s brutal on the eyes. Everything blends together, which is great when you want a bit of a scare, but still tough to identify where you should be going. When you add giant burning pieces of the kingdom to the mix, everything blends in graphically (bravo for that effect because that is technically visually right). Where that hurts things is that you can’t get a good eye on the next place you should be going. There were several times in the gameplay this time around where I had to backtrack and see what exit or next area I needed to go to because I couldn’t see it due to darkness and a locked camera. As I stated last time, I know there is a good reason for this. Locked cameras keep the story flowing and are used for creepy atmosphere purposes. I get it. The reason for the locked camera could be the above reasoning, or it could be something a bit more technical. The game is gorgeous to the point where you will enjoy what you see and admire the artistry that went into it. Maybe all that art can’t load at the same time, especially when it’s ultra-high and ray tracing is on. Maybe the developers simply want to lead you to the next area so that you can get back into the action as quickly as possible, a fair reason considering DMC is so popular. Maybe it’s all the above, and that’s fine. It just needs to be a little bit more improved in some visual aspects where the player doesn’t have to search for the next step with a fixed camera, rather they just see it. Or maybe the next location just needs to be cleverly indicated somehow. As it stands, I think I did more searching and box disposal than killing enemies because I just couldn’t move the camera and search for the next step. It was a frustration that I know can be solved. Somehow, someway. I’m not a developer, so I’m not giving any timelines on that correction.
Again, I don’t hate the fixed camera, but I don’t love it. I just need a bit clearer picture of where I need to go, especially if the fixed camera stays fixed.
This is my only big complaint about the preview. It’s not a dealbreaker by any means.
Graphics and Presentation are Primo
Gorgeous freaking game. From environments to models, you get one big piece of gorgeousness that reinforces the atmosphere and story of the game at every turn. I was pleasantly surprised with how many details the game put in it, such as the lighting shift, how it works with large flames and the subtle glow that glimmers off wet landscapes. Visually, this is one of the more stunning games of 2022. I’m flabbergasted by how gorgeous this game is and the devs probably haven’t even applied the finishing touches to it.
One huge praise I must give, even in the sparse amount of story I extracted from my preview time is how wonderful the script is and how fantastic the actors who live/breathe the characters. What I’m particularly surprised by is how the acting is not over-the-top. It’s on point and Stefanie Joosten’s portrayal of both Briar and Lute is amazing. She kills it. She delivers the story and does a perfect job in doing so. I thoroughly enjoyed the acting and cutscenes. They added to the gameplay in a positive manner.
You won’t be disappointed in this area of the game. Not one bit.
Conclusion
Soulstice is shaping up to be a great game. Its September release is right around the corner, and it looks like you’re in for something fun and special. We’ll certainly be reviewing it when it hits, so stay tuned for more information.
