Eldest Souls

Return to the world of Eldest Souls with the Depths of the Forgotten DLC, a worthy continuation of a good, sometimes great, boss rush Souls-like hybrid.

Though it wears its overly obvious influences on its sleeve, Eldest Souls is an incredibly satisfying boss rush that still manages to set itself apart. Its brilliant combat is complimented by a smart skill system and some incredible pixel art. Designed with replayability in mind, it’s a little bit of a bummer that its impressive customization doesn’t really blossom until partway into your first playthrough. But one thing that’s there from the start is that feeling of immense glory after every hard-earned victory: Ceremoniously slumping onto the living room floor, clutching the carpet for dear life with one hand while exhaustedly flipping off the television with the other.

With absolutely sublime pixel art, lively and enjoyable gameplay all of its own as well as a dozen successful bosses and a nice replayability, it's hard to fault Eldest Souls. If you like demanding action games, you are going to be served. Maybe a little too much. To be choosy, we can say that the Fallen Flag studio is sometimes a little too happy on the difficulty.

Fans of games like Furi and Devil May Cry may be surprised with how well Eldest Souls can produce the same sort of frantic and expressive action those games are known for. Its “soulslike” credentials don’t stem from replicating the slow and plodding experience that the subgenre is known for very much. Instead, it’s the focused and diverse boss encounters, on top of the snappy combat and clever customisation. Eldest Souls may not change the face of soulslikes just yet, but it at least demonstrates that there are still new ways to interpret them.

Eldest Souls will punish you with its difficulty, but you're going to love it thanks to refreshing combat mechanics and ridiculously frantic boss fights. However, you might encounter a few issues due to visual miscues, and replayability is solely dependent on how much you wish to rerun tougher encounters.

There are some problems in Eldest Souls, though, including weird pathing to certain bosses that require trap-dodging, which just feel out of place. Additionally, the lack of a true pause means re-speccing may require a return to a previous checkpoint. These are ultimately small gripes for what is a wonderful experience overall, as Eldest Souls is a challenging but fair boss-rush with great pixel art and some smart New Game+ content. The Souls community is sure to enjoy this, but the build experimentation and shard system add an appealing sense of growth that makes Eldest Souls feel like it has even broader appeal than its niche.

Eldest Souls has an objective: to make us work hard and, finally, leave us with a feeling of satisfaction for the victory. Does it succeed? Yes, but for this reason, it's not a game for everyone.

You want an experience that is so difficult, but rewarding, that it keeps you coming back for more. Eldest Souls fits the bill, but because it focuses on just boss-rushing, it feels more like a lite version that is still just as fun to play. It’s great for those who know what they’re signing up for and are okay with a more minimalistic, if not frustrating approach to a brutal genre.

The boss fights might drag on a bit more than they should. Nevertheless, the battles are well crafted, offering high challenge but fair. Kudos to the deep progression system, with myriad of options that begs to be implemented in a more extended game.

I had a great, albeit frustrating time with Eldest Souls and thoroughly enjoyed the short experience. It is a brutally difficult game, but the music, art style, and overall challenge had me coming back for “one last try” each and every time. I will say that if you are not a fan of boss-rush or challenging games, then this will not change that. But if you are after a title with an old-school appeal that does not hold you by the hand and presents a truly captivating time, then I think you will find a lot to enjoy here.

Eldest Souls is one of the most beautiful indie games out there but the hurdle to get into it is far too high. The skill points handed out to upgrade your character do little to help while there is no room to learn the mechanics. The notorious Souls difficulty is only amplified in the boss-rush genre, which makes this a near-impossible entry-level game. For anyone who enjoys Dark Souls’ most difficult segments emphatically because of the challenge, Eldest Souls has a lot to love. But that’s just it - Eldest Souls is one for the die-hard fans and no one else.

Eldest Souls has a New Game+ mode where the bosses hit harder, players heal for less, and the enemies have significantly more health — as well as new moves — but who wants to go through that? If you’re hungry for a fresh Souls-like experience, this isn’t it. If you’re the type of player who craves a challenge and loves memorizing boss patterns, then this could be for you. Just don’t expect to have meaningful options.