Soulstice

Soulstice is a classic hack’n slash, a solid technical section with some bugs, a frantic and dynamic combat and an interesting story. But with an excessive duration.

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.

It’s a chaotic push and pull between ecstatic fun and dull annoyance that honestly drives Soulstice, but it’s nonetheless worth checking out.

Despite their inexperience with the stylish action genre, the Reply Game Studio guys have developed a multifaceted and innovative combat system, which uses the different resources of Briar and Lute in a very ingenious way. On the flip side, the excessive chaos that arose during the battles, combined with a camera that we believe to be almost entirely redesigned, too often penalizes the reading of the action, complicating even the simplest challenges. Hoping that the Italian studio will roll up its sleeves to at least partially remedy the shortcomings of the product, we recommend its purchase to fans of heart-pounding clashes.

An experience not without many technical flaws, but which will nevertheless convince fans of the genre.

A solid game with good intentions, but a far cry from the biggest games in the genre. As an appetizer is ok, but the most hardcore hack and slash fans will probably prefer to wait for Bayonetta 3... or boot up Devil May Cry 5 one more time.

Soulstice is a solid outing that I wanted to love and recommend more. It borrows heavily from games like Bayonetta and Devil May Cry without fully capturing what makes those titles so special. Still for a fairly new developer taking a stab at the genre it is filled with promise and in an era where games are supported I hope a patch can sort out of some the minor issues over time. I had fun with the game and hope they continue to improve on their craft. I am always down for character action games and if you are like me and miss the days when these were a dime a dozen, Soulstice is likely right up your alley.

Soulstice has great old school vibes but it may fall short of what it was trying to achieve. It can be frustrating at times and after a while I found it more frustrating than fun. For those who love DMC/Bayonetta, I’d definitely say give it a go, but beware that you will be sinking hours into the game.