Soulstice Critic Reviews

Soulstice does an exceptional job of keeping the player engaged throughout its entirety. The amount of content just within the combat is jaw-dropping, so much so that it feels like Reply Game Studios aren’t saving anything for a sequel. There’s a lot to discover (and a lot to master) as you slowly trek through its massive world and uncover one of the most enjoyable detective-style stories that I’ve come to experience.

My 14 hours purging Ilden of evil was an enjoyable experience, even with all of the gimmicks presented throughout the journey. Replayability is encouraged with various difficulty options, though I’m unlikely to play through it again. I would, however, love to experience the rest of the Holy Kingdom of Keidas in a sequel to Soulstice! This game is a good first step, but it will be up to future entries to refine the experience into the series it could become.

Soulstice absolutely works as a love letter to action games of the bygone PlayStation 2 era. Vitally, however, it does so without losing a clear identity of its own. Its combat system is unique in the way it asks players to actively monitor mechanics while also avoiding enemy attacks and dishing out flashy combos in true character action game fashion. Its boss battles leave quite a bit to be desired, and the level design may be a bit too narrow at points, but Soulstice manages to make up for these shortcomings with an emotional story and a unique brand of observation-based gameplay that ensures its status as a confident addition to the genre.

Soulstice is a truly great action game, which despite taking many cues from stylish action titles of the past, carves out enough of an identity to stand out on its own. The system of controlling both sisters and maintaining auras while slashing through foes is intuitive and simple to master. Although the plot leaves many threads hanging, the development of the central sibling relationship and setting were enough to draw me into Soulstice’s world and want to see more. If you’re a fan of challenging action games and can forgive a slightly annoying camera, Soulstice is definitely worth checking out.

Soulstice is first of all a technical action game a la Devil May Cry and, while not reaching the peaks of the genre, it defends itself very well and knows how to entertain. The variety of weapons and situations is discreet, but unfortunately the setting repeats itself too often, boring the player's eye. The plot is accurate even if not original or exciting, but it does its duty. If you are looking for a game that lets you have fun with controllers in hand, you have found it. It is a first step, mind you, and there is room for improvement in view of a following, but perhaps for this reason it would be worth supporting an Italian team that has something of its own to say.

Soulstice finally brings a bit of Italy into the realm of hack 'n' slash, fully succeeding thanks to the excellent characterization of the game world and a layered and satisfying gameplay. Too bad for some problems with the room and an artistic sector not always up to par. It looks like one of the best surprises of the year.

While the characters and story don’t do enough to push it over the top, Soulstice delivers a great action game that just about anybody can enjoy.

Soulstice is a pleasant surprise, in an era where the soulslike style predominates, to see a double AA production that bets on hack and slash and it works is great news for the genre. An attractive combat system, along with an outstanding graphic and artistic style, a remarkable soundtrack and a storyline that will make us want to move forward.

Though it may seem like an homage to the famous Japanese title, Soulstice is an action game with its own interpretation of the genre and gives a different type of joy. Its splendid visual and crisp action control enhance the overall experience. However, dizzy and limited point of views with repetitive backgrounds are the ones that hinder the immersion.

Combining a well-realized dark fantasy setting inspired by Claymore and Berserk and an engaging story with solid action gameplay inspired by some of the best character action games, Soulstice is a competent action title. Unfortunately, issues like the horrible camera and the mediocre handling of color-coded enemies and mechanics impact the experience, preventing it from being the great character action game it had the potential to be.

Soulstice is a beat them all with excellent gameplay and we can thank the duality of possibilities offered by Lute and Briar for that. The story is mysterious and transports us for about fifteen hours into a tragic story. Nevertheless, we deplore some technical defects, the layout of some levels or arenas, as well as the third-person view which may put off some people.

Soulstice turned out to be a good stylish action game, with a solid combat system embellished with good ideas, able to tell its excellent protagonists, Briar and Lute, both through the battle and with the cutscenes. The story of Ilden's veil torn above the sky is intriguing, with beautiful twists and a well-studied mythology, it is therefore a pity that the setting is not able to sustain this charm, despite the very good basic technique, trapped in a artistic direction that is often too generic and redundant.

Soulstice from Reply Game Studios brings a strong story, a good amount of action, and paints a perfectly drab world to tie it all together. The backend gameplay design helps to add more value to the experience while motivating the player to keep exploring and pushing forward. The only caveat to the experience is the locked camera that will frustrate and hinder the gameplay at times. Overall, it’s a fun game, but it could use a fully controllable camera to make it even better.

It’s nice to play an action game more influenced by Devil May Cry than Dark Souls for a change. Soulstice makes a good case for its combat and its synthesis of two characters with distinct fighting styles. The characters themselves aren’t particularly interesting or sympathetic, and their quips and asides grow annoying. The game’s fixed camera and how it hamstrings enjoyable platforming and exploration are most troubling. Soulstice isn’t as entertaining or polished as the games from which it draws inspiration, but it’s worth checking out for gamers growing tired of the Soulsborne template.

Soulstice is a competent brawler with a solid core concept and an interesting world history that remains somewhat under-explored. It borrows ideas from multiple sources, including other character action games and even Japanese anime where the character design is concerned, but the execution is somewhat flat. Soulstice may not always dazzle, but if you’re looking for a decent adventure to kill 10 or 12 hours there are certainly worse options.

Soulstice's terrible camera holds back an otherwise ambitious and inspired action game.

It’s still an enjoyable action platformer, and while there are some unique elements to help make the game memorable, it still falls short of some of the great titles that inspired it.

Soulstice is a completely serviceable action title that contains plenty of thrills and some stellar combat, even if its story and presentation fail to rise above its inspirations. Nothing about Soulstice will redefine the character-action genre, but if you're hungry for a deep and challenging experience, it should fit that need nicely.

Strong gameplay and an even stronger story come together to make Soulstice a good character action game, even if issues with weapons, level design, and the camera drag it down.

Soulstice is a decent hack 'n' slash game that is not ashamed of its influences, but at the same time it attempts to deviate from them by implementing its own version of the familiar battle system. It does not have the same finesse as DMC, for example, but fans of the genre will appreciate it a little more.