Role-playing games, better known as RPGs, are a realm in the gaming universe that I gladly appreciate. When checking the PlayStation Store, I look forward to RPGs because of three factors: storyline, action, and characters.
Along my gaming journey, I have played various RPGs, but they did not include Japanese RPGs (JRPGs). My first JRPG was Final Fantasy VII Remake, and after playing it I realized how different JRPGs are. I believe it is how the three above elements are involved in a JRPG structure. With this genre, I became more attached to the characters and their story more than expected. Additionally, it made me appreciate fighting enemies and grinding.
As my gaming journey continued, I played more JRPGs, appreciating the story, grinding, heroes, and surprisingly the villains. They are something to behold. Why I’m telling you this because I sat down with my most recent venture in the genre with SOULVARS and it has re-ignited my appreciation for JRPGs.
SOULVARS is a deck-building JRPG game that was developed by ginolabo and SUCCESS Corp. , and published by SHUEISHA GAMES. It was originally released as a mobile game back in January 2022. Due to its success, they released the game on various other platforms, such as Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox. For this review, I got the chance to play it on the PlayStation 5.
Before we dig too much into the gameplay, I think it is great they released SOULVARS on other platforms, not to just gain more fans, but for people to play a cool JRPG that has a deck-building system. I never knew what deck-building was prior to this experience, but once I played it and discovered its amazingness, I could not believe how much cooler the game became. More to that sentiment in a second.
On With The Latest JRPG
SOULVARS has a storyline following the main protagonist Yakumo who is a freelance Soulbearer, a human with an alternate Soul, working with the Dominator Disposal Organization (DDO) that assigns missions to take down Dominators, which is the outcome of advanced technology. Along the way, Yakumo meets other agents, Genzo, Izuna, and Hizume. Together, they work to achieve missions and take down whatever gets in their way.
The game begins with Yakumo riding his bike while a blue bird is following. Suddenly, a vortex opens and Yakumo had to fight a Dominator. I honestly thought Yakumo was going to fight him in a cutscene, but the game throws you into the mix right from the get-go. The sudden situation made me panic because I did not know how to fight, what buttons to use, which moves Yakumo had, and how much HP the enemy had. Fortunately, there was a tutorial, but sadly, I couldn’t understand the mechanics of using the D-Pad or L3 to pick Yakumo’s moves until the next battle. Getting thrown right into the mix without warning was overwhelming because JRPGs usually show a longer cutscene and then head into the first combat.
After the intro, the player continues the story through Yakumo by going to different places, picking up missions, meeting the other protagonists, and doing other things. Even though the beginning threw me off, I pressed forward and got in the groove of SOULVARS and was comforted by the game’s girth because there is so much to accomplish, explore, and grow.
The way the game started did not help me understand the storyline, in fact, it might have hindered my full understanding of what was going on. the story wasn’t necessarily clear, the gameplay became crystal clear, after my initial foray into my first fight.
Action! Well, More Like Gameplay
As I mentioned previously, the deck-building system caught me off guard because of how astonishing it is. Each move can help you build your deck or not, as well as the number of moves you can use based on the deck each character holds. Additionally, you can combine different moves to create an even more powerful move.
Added to the deck-building aspect of gameplay is its turn-based personality. I love turn-based games because fighting as a team is always somewhat better than fighting alone. Once you have chosen each member’s moves, there could be links, which means the Dominator receives back-to-back combat with no chance of landing an attack when changing members. Those links come in handy when the enemy has unexpected attack damage. You can also choose which attacks your player will unleash, but before unleashing them, you have the chance to go back. Yes, you have time to choose which moves you want to use. Be forewarned, an enemy can attack during this decision-making time, so you have to be slightly fast.
Apart from the moves, you can activate the alternate Soul the character has when their health is low, and you can use their ultimate move that has a high attack damage. After defeating Dominator(s), you will gain SoulFragments and money. Money helps you buy gears, weapons, cures, and other items, while SoulFragments helps unlock levels/moves for the alternate Soul your Soulbearer uses.
As you progress through the story, enemies will get tougher, so gathering money for shopping and equipping new items will help your Soulbearers take and deal more damage. Fortunately, the gameplay helps with increasing your character’s relationship/sync rate with a Souldriver by successfully defeating the enemy. After doing so, you will receive the battle’s result that shows a percentage of how much the connection increased. As far as I could see, the percentage varied by factors, such as how many turns the Soulbearers took to finish the enemy and what type of Dominators they fought. At first, I liked this system because it made it tough on increasing the sync rate. Therefore, it felt challenging to reach 100%. After realizing there are more Souldrivers to choose from, I was a bit annoyed because that meant I would need to grind so each Soulbearer could connect to two or more Souldrivers. On the other hand, it is good to see how different Souldrivers affect a Soulbearer by the bonuses acquired as you increase the sync rate. Some bonuses you can unlock are statuses, such as HP and SPD, and abilities that fit with the Souldriver. I loved unlocking the bonuses since it helped create quick and smooth battles.
Since you need to increase the sync rate through battles, you will encounter various enemies. Some are powerful that it will take a couple of turns to finish them. As you upgrade your Soulbearers, those same enemies become weaker. Apart from that, there are enemies that will take you down no matter the tactic you had. It happened to me various times. Do not worry since there are items to help out with enemies, such as an electric suit to wear when battling electric Dominators. As for the bosses, you will need to make sure your Soulbearers are fit to take them down. I felt fear fighting for the first once since my characters kept dying during the battle. I appreciate how enemies are difficult to combat since it makes the game challenging and it gives a great feeling when the Dominators are finished.
As for the length of the game, you can find yourself playing it for hours. Some of the reasons are grinding, defeating enemies/bosses that you couldn’t before, or unlocking achievements. I found the game pretty lengthy, but it was worth my time since there is a lot to do besides the main quest.
Adding on, the gameplay is great when you have mastered the attacks, combinations, weapons, gears, and Souldrivers with the Soulbearer. It was fun experimenting with all of the possibilities.
The Vibes
When I say “The Vibes,” I mean the music and graphics/art style of a game. I appreciate the music more than the graphics because when I hear an OST on my playlist, I travel back to the time when I played a game associated with the OST.
Typically, JRPGs are known for the OSTs that some composers become well-known to fans. SOULVARS is one of those JRPGs that has incredible OSTs attached to its moments. When I say incredible, it means an OST fits amazingly with its scene, making me feel pumped up to take down any Dominator. Also, I look forward to exploring different areas because the OST fits in with the atmosphere.
playing for some hours, I have the SOULVARS’ battle music ingrained. Yes, I encountered enemies, but I usually pay attention to the action and gameplay so my characters will not die on me, even though it happened.
The OSTs got me in the groove of playing the game. Each OST is adequately placed, and there is even a victory OST played after winning a battle. I found that cute and satisfying to hear.
Besides the OSTs, the art style/ graphics made me feel as if I was playing an 8-bit game with a modern twist to it, which is the point of the game. I enjoyed the feeling of playing a modern game that has a retro touch to it. Honestly, retro games are in.
Overall, the OSTs and art style are essential to the game since both elements add a retro touch to SOULVARS and make the game enjoyable.
MMMmm…that price point
Adding to the coolness of the game, the price point was equally cool, as the game came in at $16.99. This discovery shocked me because I felt the game was worth a little more based on the action.
Overall
The game might have had a rough start with laying out the story and explaining the gameplay mechanics, but SOULVARS quickly smoothed out and got in its JRPG groove thanks to a good mix of deck-building and turn-based action. Additionally, it let its retro vibe personality show and it quickly became a pleasant experience.
