Titan Souls

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We did not test the game on PS4 or PS Vita, but the PS4 version should offer a nearly identical port to the PC experience with a controller. The PS Vita version on the other hand offers the bonus of mobility, but may make some of the precise mechanics needed to down each Titan a bit more challenging.

Boss battles provide some of the most potent memories we take away from our favorite games. I'll never forget the first time I batted Agahnim's magic blasts back at him in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, or took down the first lumbering stone giant in Shadow of the Colossus. Developer Acid Nerve recognizes the appeal of a good boss fight, and they've combined the essence of the incredible games I mentioned into a unique package that trims the fat and focuses on big confrontations. More than just a tribute to either game, the studio infuses the core concept of hunting down giant ancien...

I like to consider myself an experienced gamer, having played all sorts of games at all types of difficulty. Once and a while, though, a game comes along that is so challenging it has me raging and spewing obscenities… yet I cannot put it down. This is one of those times. Let me introduce you to Titan Souls. My first experience with the game was at PAX East (Boston) in March, where I had some hands-on time with it in demo form. The demo was short, but gave me a tantalizing taste of the game, wanting more – but would the finished game satisfy, or just leave bad taste in my mouth?

Titan Souls’ sparse world and lore is merely the delivery device for its creative fights that hinge on your perception and skillful mastery of its simple, yet fluid and responsive controls. Though the experience is short, it’s potent, as weathering every titan’s impossibly lethal storm and finding that one true strike is an excellent and intoxicating retelling of David versus Goliath each time. And should you survive the punishing menagerie of monsters, having mastered each bout, Titan Souls raises the stakes and the difficulty, daring you to shoot to kill and do it better.

“A challenging game with a colossal chip on its shoulder”

Overall, a great series of fights and fantastic music and sound design ultimately let down by its lack of content in the long haul.

Remember the titans.

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.

By all means, you should give Titan Souls a go. There is a great game to appreciate, underneath the inexorable encounters with death. However, it’s a shame that only the most truly committed players will ever be able to get the full enjoyment and reward that Titan Souls offers. The majority of us will just give up too quickly, having lost hope after the hundredth fruitless demise.

There are people that would say that you deserve to die if you go on your monster-squashing quest armed with nothing but a single arrow, a pink bow in your hair, and a backpack filled with only the finest Waitrose-branded good intentions. Titan Souls doesn't have a story, but it improves the game tenfold if you view it as a fable dealing with the need to be prepared in all things, otherwise you'll die a lot. A country cousin to the city smart Shadow of the Colossus, Souls goes back to basics to its peril.

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.