Soulstice

Featuring combo-heavy gameplay and a dark fantasy setting, Soulstice delivers Devil May Cry-style action that's marred by some frustrating mechanics.

With Soulstice, the developers at Reply Game Studios have probably created their most ambitious game. Nervous beat'em up set in a universe reminiscent of the Claymore manga, it plays on the duality of force fields (evocation, banishment) and a mix of exploration, puzzles and action for lovers of the genre. Unfortunately, the lack of means is felt over the length and we very often complain about a badly adjusted camera and obvious technical problems (slowdowns, excessive copy-paste, textures from another time, etc.). Not to mention this permanent juggling at the level of the side keys of the controller. In the end, Soulstice is a game far from being uninteresting, but which is reserved for fans of the genre and amateurs of scoring.

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.

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 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.

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

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 features decent combat with a few unique tricks, but it grows repetitive. With a dull story and lackluster presentation, it might mostly be of interest to DMC fans on a budget.

The developers responsible for ‘Soulstice’ took a good look at the ‘Devil May Cry’ series. The dark, sinister atmosphere in the desolate world from the game is spot on, and you almost effortlessly conjure smooth and flashy battles from the controller. So where does it go wrong? In the way the camera works. It is mostly fixed, but jumps between scenes, suddenly taking you in completely the wrong direction. The clumsy and awkward way the game handles this is your most difficult opponent.

Overall, Soulstice daringly makes the plunge into several genres and subgenres simultaneously, and ultimately comes away, predictably, as competent enough in most areas, but exceptional in none.

A meaty action game let down by a persistently rubbish camera and a lack of variation in its stages.

Soulstice is a competent action game with creative monsters, but they're doomed to live in a bland setting with tedious level design.