Titan Souls

 PC
Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 46 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 46
  3. Negative: 1 out of 46
  1. CD-Action
    Jun 29, 2015
    70
    An interesting, challenging game that failed to make one final step towards true greatness. [06/2015, p.72]
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  2. Games.cz
    May 4, 2015
    70
    Nerve-wracking duels, nerve-wracking duels, nerve-wracking duels – don’t expect anything more from Titan Souls. It's a strict action arcade which quite successfully imitates the Shadow of the Colossus.
  3. USgamer
    Apr 14, 2015
    70
    Titan Souls is a solid game that doesn't overstay its welcome, even if it feels like your skill might not be involved in every kill.
  5. GamesVillage.it
    Apr 14, 2015
    70
    An interesting mix between SOTC and a souls-like game. Unfortunately, Titan Souls is very short and the checkpoint system is a little bit broken. "Prepare to die, minimal edition" could be the best quote to describe the game in a couple of words.
  6. Attack of the Fanboy
    Apr 14, 2015
    70
    Titan Souls strips out all of the bloat of contemporary action games, and boils things down to what should be the best bits. Though it might be a little too condensed for its own good.
  7. GameTrailers
    Apr 13, 2015
    70
    In all, Titan Souls is for people who don’t mind struggling to overcome a challenge, but there’s little else to grab your attention. It doesn’t carry the same weight or intrigue as the games that inspired it, but there’s a fun set of battles to test your reflexes.
  8. PCGamesN
    Apr 13, 2015
    70
    Personally, I found it a chore, becoming so caught up in my frustration that it became difficult to enjoy the detailed pixel artwork, take in the soundtrack, or even find satisfaction in finally killing a boss. However, I think there are players who will love this game.
  9. God is a Geek
    Apr 13, 2015
    70
    A fantastic concept that stays true to its vision, but just falls short where it matters - though will be popular with speed-runners.
  10. GameSpot
    Apr 13, 2015
    70
    Luckily, before work comes joy, and in the few hours that Titan Souls maintains your interest, you prove that you--and the diminutive hero that you play--can change the world with incredible patience, and a single arrow.
  11. Polygon
    Apr 13, 2015
    65
    There's a kind of satisfaction to be had in beating Titan Souls' meat grinder, but I only found a feeling of triumph at those points where it stepped away from its die-hard tendencies. In a game that usually kills so quickly, Acid Nerve finds its best moments when its willing to spare the rod, even if it's just for a few minutes.
  12. Eurogamer Poland
    Apr 16, 2015
    60
    An interesting and unique idea for a game. Although exciting from time to time, it is not exactly well-thought-out.
  13. Riot Pixels
    Jul 4, 2015
    55
    By betting everything on just one gameplay feature, Acid Nerve eschewed the story and role-playing elements, so the resulting game is just a string of 19 boss fights, awkwardly crammed into the game's world.
  14. Edge Magazine
    Apr 24, 2015
    50
    Proves that what works as a prototype does not necessarily translate to a final product. [May 2015, p.123]
    All this publication's reviews
  15. Metro GameCentral
    Apr 14, 2015
    50
    As admirable as the single-minded design is it feels a lot more interesting in theory than it does in the endless repetition of actually playing it.

Awards & Rankings

67
#67 Most Discussed PC Game of 2015

User Reviews

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User Score
6.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 166 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 75 out of 166
  2. Mixed: 44 out of 166
  3. Negative: 47 out of 166
  1. Rotten
    Apr 15, 2015
    3
    Most people would call this a 2D Shadow of the Collosus, while that is true to an extent, it's much, much less than that.

    It's basically a    Most people would call this a 2D Shadow of the Collosus, while that is true to an extent, it's much, much less than that.

    It's basically a boss rush hidden away in a empty overworld, each boss has a simple pattern to learn and you can kill them in one hit, that quickly means that as soon as you figure out how a boss works (It doesn't take long at all, bosses have at most three attack patterns) the challenge is gone, you can kill it without even thinking about it, so in the end, each boss lasts 1-20 seconds. 18 bosses in the game. It lasted me 45 minutes my first playthrough and there's no incentive other than improving my time to play through it again.

    As for any extras, there's different unlockable modes after you beat the game, Hard Mode (Speeds up some of the bosses, again, once you know the pattern, all you have to do is speed yourself up, it's not hard) Iron Mode (The typical "one life" thing they put into "hardcore" games) and No Roll mode (AKA: The only mode that makes a difference to gameplay)

    So, in the end, it's an extremely short boss rush, the game likes to think otherwise however and doesn't reload outside the boss on death for some reason, the overworld itself isn't needed in the slightest (there were a few "puzzles" but nothing you won't figure out in a few seconds) and there isn't an actual boss rush "mode", what were they thinking!?    … Full Review »
  2. YarHar707
    Apr 17, 2015
    0
    Not worth $15, not even close, get this on a 90% off sale if you must.
    Use the $15 to get Shovel Knight, a game that will last 10 times    Not worth $15, not even close, get this on a 90% off sale if you must.
    Use the $15 to get Shovel Knight, a game that will last 10 times longer and had much more replayability then this.

    I finished it in 2 hours, mainly because the 1 hit kill mechanic favors just rushing in and cheesing bosses in the first 10 seconds when their first few moves are super predictable.
    After you face the first 4 bosses that the demo contains, you've already seen nearly everything the game has to offer in terms of mechanics. It's a bit sad considering there are 20 bosses.

    You'll die a bunch of times on some bosses but only because the game forces you to stand still while aiming and shooting your arrow, like in the old Resident Evil games, and this makes it very frustrating in a fast 2D action game, especially when the bosses are very agile and jumpy, leading to a ton of cheap deaths.

    Nice proof of concept, lousy game. Also a shameful use of the "Souls" in the title to make it seem like this is a 2D Dark Souls, nope, since all the bosses here are all basically variations on Bed of Chaos.    … Full Review »
  3. Fufski
    Apr 15, 2015
    3
    It just won't cut it.

    First the good: 1. The art style is good, the pixel graphic is good, good use more various landscape tho. 2.    It just won't cut it.

    First the good:

    1. The art style is good, the pixel graphic is good, good use more various landscape tho.

    2. Boss design is interesting, at least the idea behind it.

    3. Glyph system. Looks like the game is trying creating a language system that resembles to some glyph. I like the idea, it's really cool.

    4. Music is decent.

    Then, the bad:

    1. No story, this is intended alright. So I will make do.

    2. The game is too hard the a bad checkpoint system.
    Being hard isn't a problem, but the problem is the checkpoint system. If this is a game where you die a lot you need to be able to jump right back in. Instead of spawning at the beginning and run through the star. And what's more disgusting is that in order to run faster people usually roll, but you can't roll at the stair, you will be bounced back. This is a notorious design choice that force player to spend more time between the boss fight. You might die 10 seconds after the fight starts and spending 30 seconds running to the door.

    3. Unresponsive combat system.
    If you wanna make something like dark soul, the you need to have a very fluid combat system where everything is responsive. But you won't find it here. Running is slow, rolling has a long cool down which force you to move very slowly. If that wasn't enough, it's going to take time for you to charge the bow before you can shoot it, and you can't move while doing that. Oh did I mention you only have one arrow? So you are gonna have to pick it back every time after you shoot. By either running to get it or by calling then back. If you call the arrow back, it's still going to take a long time, longer than the charge time even depending on the distance, and of course you cannot move during the calling process. And the screen zoom in a little and DARKEN YOUR VISION making it more difficult to see things. I completely don't get the point of it. This mechanism basically discourage player from using the arrow. But arrow is the only thing that you can do damage with. You are basically forced to stop again and again, having your vision impaired, and don't have time to maneuver (the mechanic won't allow you either, it's extremely restricted).

    4. No aim assist.
    You heard me right, even this is not a fps, it is still a shooter, when you are in such a restricted space and time every shot counts, however the boss moves like wind and you just can't catch it. It might be fine if you are using a mouse on a PC. But for console it's pretty much say good bye. The joy stick just doesn't allow pin point accuracy in that short amount of time. And you are gonna end up missing shots a lot. And you are going to have to call the arrow back while not moving and not seen things. Then you get killed. Wonderful isn't it?

    5. Too short. Too little content.
    I haven't finish this thing yet but as I heard there are about 20 battles in total, let's include all hidden/secret ones (if any) and that makes it 30 (I doubt it). Remember, boss battle ONLY. No story, no level, no mobs, just rooms and bosses. And a checkpoint that brings you to the very beginning of the staircase.

    Basically it's 30 battles, that's it. Which probably translates into 5 hour worth of game play.You might spend some longer time on this, but not because you enjoy it, rather, because you kept dying a lot and you have no choice, those time doesn't translate into enjoyment.

    6. No progression, no reward.
    When you finally defeat a boss. Guess what? You got nothing, no rewards, no skill, no nothing. Just a cheap blow up animation.

    Can you imagine that? You are fighting a boss where the boss is moving like a rocket and you can only run at a fairly slow speed and can do some evasive maneuver by rolling around, which has a cool down. Want to shoot the boss? Well you need to charge for a second before you can shoot it, and spending more time calling the arrow back, during which process you cannot move and can see little things. And the shot probably end up missing the target a lot. You are just getting smashed by the boss again and again because you cannot move fast enough, or just cannot move at all. After you die you respawn at the beginning of the staircase and has to run to the door all over again, and it discourage your rolling action by bouncing you back. After many tries you might have eventually defeat a boss. NO REWARDS. NO NOTHING. Just 30 of this same torturing experience and then you are done.

    The games is hard because the combat system is flawed. It discourage evasive maneuver where the game needs it the most. Either the developer don't know how to design or they intended on punishing players for mistakes not by the player, but the system.

    My verdict.

    Overall, I think this is a game with interesting design, beautiful arts. But with no story and a flawed combat system that punish player for mistakes they didn't make. And it is tedious and repetitious. This is coming from me who has a CS who is also a game developer.    … Full Review »
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