Souldiers

Who doesn’t need a good metroidvania in their life? Being what is likely one of the most rewarding, but sometimes one of the hardest (looking at you, Hollow Knight) genres in gaming, metroidvanias are appealing to all types of gaming fans. On top of that, it’s a genre that really works well with every console type. Play games on mobile? Dead Cells actually runs quite well. Switch, Xbox, Playstation, take your pick of games like Bloodstained, or Metroid Dread for some more recent, highly p...

Lastly, it is also worth keeping in mind that the game has seemingly been review bombed to an extent on Steam because the patch that nerfed the difficulty appears to have divided the community. So, go into it knowing that Souldiers isn’t particularly difficult, but the rest should make up for that.

When the issues of a game are rolled and stomped by its greatness, then it’s something to invest on if you have some spare.

Developed by first-time Spanish developer Retro Forge, Souldiers is a charming, if imperfect, pixel-art 2D metroidvania action-platformer. It draws influences from many other games, but ultimately ends up creating something greater than the sum of its parts. Souldiers has its flaws, but the charming art style and compelling exploration and combat are definitely enough to make it a fun and worthwhile experience.

As it is, Souldiers is a very enjoyable entry in the metroidavania genre – providing you have plenty of skill and/or patience. It doesn’t offer anything that’s genuinely new, but most of its components complement each other well. If only more thought had been given to the player experience, as for many it will simply prove to be too punishing at times. And on PS5, it could do with a little more polish.

Souldiers is one of those games that’s disappointing simply because a small number of critical issues hold it back from the greatness it comes so close to achieving. A large world to explore, tough combat system, and an outstanding art style are weighed down by ridiculous load times and poor difficulty balancing. It’s a real testament to the game’s strengths that we’d still give it a recommendation, though perhaps with the caveat that you may want to try it on another platform than Switch, if possible — we really hope that further patches can iron out the issues. At any rate, we’d say Souldier...

There isn't much that sets Souldiers apart from other Metroidvanias. A big map to explore, secrets to discover, and plenty of upgrades. But limiting players to one of three unique classes does not make me want to play Souldiers all over again a second, let alone, third time. Dying is a struggle, and loading back in after a minute to die all over again is not rewarding. Puzzles that frustrated me to no end were common enough to keep me away. Souldiers will only appeal to those who are gluttons for punishment with little reward.

There are other little things that niggle away at you too. Areas feel a bit too large, bosses almost feel haphazardly placed in the world, and it feels as though your character is always struggling to keep up. I still like Souldiers overall, but it ends up feeling a little too stretched, and playing it for a long period of time can leave you feeling as though you’ve not really done anything. At first glance, there’s a lot of potential in Souldiers, but it feel goes amiss in its execution.

If you're like me then you love getting your hands on a brand new Metroidvania so thankfully, Souldiers delivers some solid gameplay.