Soulstice Hands On Impressions

Developer: Reply Game Studios

Engine: Unreal Engine 4

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows

Publishers: Modus Games, Maximum Games

Genres: Action Hack “N” Slash Fighting Platform Adventure Game

Soulstice is a AA fixed camera (most of the times) hack ‘n’ slash action game featuring Briar who cosplays as Guts from Berzerk on the weekends and Lute, the sister who’s trapped in the spirit realm. I have played most if not every Devil May Cry game as well the old school God of War games in the past which is why I feel right at home so far with Soulstice

I am playing Soulstice on my Playstation 5 in performance mode fyi for the tech heads reading. So far I like Soulstice. It’s a AA game not a AAA game to be sure. If you’re cool with the latter like I am you will have little problems going into this hack “n” slash action game.

The start of Soulstice has the player going through a Pulp Fiction timeline at the beginning of the game where it’s story is near the end at the beginning. You play as Briar and Lute, two chimeras sent from a powerful ancient order due to a large corruption tear in the sky. It appears this particular tear is special, in a bad way.

After the prologue battle gameplay sequence Briar and Lute arrive at some faint misty docks straight out of a Diablo game. Story seems okay, it’s interesting but I kinda know how the game will end from the prologue.

Gameplay reminds me of Devil May Cry. As I write my Briar has a sword, a hammer and gauntlets as main weapons. Lute is a support character who enables Briar to counter corrupted broken (zombies) wraith attacks.

Lute is a offensive and defensive support NPC. Let’s just say Lute is very important in Soulstice. You can upgrade Briar and Lute’s abilities individually with their own red and blue point pools.

Soulstice is a true hack “n” slash with brief moments of platforming and diagnosing “Echoes” which reveal cutscenes as to what happened in Ilden. What Soulstice nails up through it’s first four chapters is it’s atmosphere. I love the art style of Ilden, it’s creatures and characters. Presentation is good so far.

Cutscenes and voice acting are AA and need work. Music and audio are decent displaying metal tunes as female Guts rips and tears into Broken corrupted forces. Visuals are good but not high quality considering Soulstice is a current gen only game. I expected a game like this with fixed camera to look much better.

NPCs I met so far are Corvo a “caw caw” Raven and the observer overseer merchant named Layton who offers dialogue opportunites, a store and the ability to upgrade the two heroes. I have beaten one boss so far called the Champion. Nothing special about that boss.

Just hit him with the gauntlet to knock his armor off then use the sword on his flesh. I’m playing Soulstice on it’s normal difficulty. Soulstice is what it is after four chapters. It’s a AA hack “n” slash akin to Devil May Cry and the older God of War games. It doesn’t have the production values of the latter games. For me however I am having fun and remember people, this game sells at a discount on launch. Before I forget make sure to check out Soulstice Video Gallery Playlist if you want to watch gameplay of Soulstice.