Soulstice can be a lot of fun, though nothing about it particularly stands out. If you’re itching for a new character action game that you’ve yet to experience, you’ll likely have a good enough time with Soulstice, despite its flaws.
Soulstice
Developer: Reply Game Studios
Price: $40
Platform: PS5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, and PC
MonsterVine was provided with a PS5 code for review
I’m very late to this review, so it’s a bit funny that I’m covering it so close to the release of Bayonetta 3. I’ve never played Bayonetta, though, so there is no need to worry about it affecting my perspective on Soulstice.
Still, almost right off the bat, you will certainly notice some strong similarities to genre veterans like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta. Perhaps that is why Soulstice doesn’t have much of a distinct identity of its own to stand on. A lot of the areas look the same, and while the main characters, Briar and Lute, are visually appealing and unique, most of the game feels a little bland.
A great portion of Soulstice is spent fighting ghoulish enemies, which is pretty fun. There’s a bit of a stilted feeling to bigger combos, but once you get into the game’s groove, slashing through foes and dodging enemy swipes becomes entertaining. Obtaining different weapons adds a good deal of variety to your combos and encourages you to keep playing by adding further layers of depth to the otherwise straightforward encounters.
Combat can be very satisfying at times, but it’s tripped up by this odd color-based mechanic. Some enemies can only be killed when within a force field that Lute can create. There are a couple of different types of fields, and you can’t use the fields infinitely since they have a cooldown. Having to jump between the two types of fields is already tedious, but having to also juggle regular enemies while handling the two types that are immune to one another’s fields is a bit overwhelming.
The story is also a bit too dense. It feels as though a lot of terms and circumstances are thrown at you immediately, making it difficult to get a handle on everything that’s going on. Perhaps you’ll become more quickly attuned to what’s happening, but I didn’t find what was presented to be especially interesting beyond the strong dynamic between Briar and Lute. However, the core concept of Chimera having to protect humanity due to their number of souls is neat.
Soulstice looks quite nice, with Briar and Lute standing out as the most visually appealing and interesting characters. The various enemy designs work for what they are, and the stages are of high quality despite the themes blending together and feeling like one long stage.
The Final Word
Soulstice is an all-around decent character action game that is weighed down by a few odd mechanics and a bit of a lack of identity. It’s fun enough to fill the hack-and-slash hole that you may have, though I’d say to wait for a sale to get the most out of it.
MonsterVine Rating: 3.5 out of 5 – Fair
