Souldiers Review War In The Afterlife The Nerd Stash

Released in early June, the indie Metroidvania title Souldiers, developed by Retro Forge Games, is available on all devices. The 2D action-adventure game will have players taking on one of three roles and setting out to discover what happened to them and everyone who came with them. We got our hands on the recently released Retro Forge indie title. Find out how the game is with our review of the Metroidvania game Souldiers.

Story: An action-adventure tale of conflict in the afterlife

Taking place at the beginning of a war against the Dadelm and Zarga, the two armies begin preparations for their clash. After a change in strategy, the troops of Zarga descend into a cave. Right when a devastating earthquake begins, they find themselves trapped inside. With the collapse of the cave, a luminous figure appears. A Valkyrie mythical beings that appear on the battlefield to escort souls beyond the world of humankind. She invites them to accompany her into the next. Waking up in the world of Terragaya, players will pick their class and set out on a new adventure.

The story will reveal itself and progress as the player explores and clears the various open areas and dungeons. The pacing can be varied based on that, which can either be good or bad. Getting story breaks between hours of exploration and combat may be too slow for some. On the other hand, while attempting to bypass much of the exploration to progress, the story will leave a lot behind.

Gameplay: Multilayered exploration and combat

Players will choose one of three classes between a Scout, Archer, and Caster, each with their stats and abilities when starting. The basic controls offer a relatively easy-to-learn attack and defense system, offering quick but weak and strong but slow attacks with the ability to block and dodge. Working through the game will offer more advanced methods of play, unlocking more abilities like for the caster we chose gave us a spell book that fires projects or a shield that slows down enemy’s projectiles. In addition, various items will elevate methods of attack and defense with bombs, potions, and throwing weapons at your disposal.

Additional equipable items offer bonus boosts to stats and abilities that can be mixed and matched to provide the best mode of play. Another level of combat can also be found using the traversal mechanics. Further, in the game, the player’s ability to jump and slide off walls will assist in dodging and getting attacks off in advantageous places.

Unfortunately, even with the number of different attacks, items, and abilities, the combat in Souldiers can become tedious. With a fairly linear leveling system, there isn’t much that allows players to build different class paths. Navigation is also something that could use some improvement. Several times, an hour or so felt wasted searching for forward progression into the main storyline or a side objective inside or outside a dungeon.

Graphics: A beautifully cohesive but large world

The team at Retro Forge Games built a beautifully pixelated world for Souldiers. Delivering lovely environments and well-animated sprites that compliment the world that players explore. Not only is the world beautiful, but it’s also quite large. Dungeons are full of little secrets that sometimes can’t even be accessed in the first walkthrough. Open areas also offer secrets that can be found but are more linear compared to the dungeons. Exploration provides a rewarding experience of discovering upgrades and accessories in the nooks and crannies throughout the world. However, as mentioned before, an improvement in the navigation system would help make exploration feel a little less time-consuming.

Meanwhile, the audio in our Souldiers review does well to compliment the game. With mellow environmental sounds for each region and well-produced sound effects that do well to enhance exploration and combat. The developers at Retro Forge Games did an excellent job pairing audio and world-building to deliver a gorgeously cohesive world, even if, at times, it can feel a bit too large.

Conclusion: A well-designed game that’s worth a try

While the Retro Forge Games indie title can be a bit tedious and challenging at times, Souldiers is a well-designed Metroidvania-style game that offers a solid amount of fun. There is plenty to enjoy in an expansive and attractive world with loads of stuff to find and relatively intuitive controls. So if you’re looking for a new indie title to try out, Souldiers is worth checking out.

After reading our Souldiers review, you can find the game on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 & 5, and Xbox One & Series X|S for $19.99. Additionally, you can follow the team at Retro Forge Games on their development website to learn more about the team and any other projects they have in the works. Lastly, you can head over to the Dear Villagers publishing website to learn more about Souldiers or check out any other published titles.