Soulstice preview – A fun and intriguing demo for Reply Game Studios’ beat ’em up?

Announced during E3 2021, soulstice took advantage of the latest edition of the PC Gaming Show broadcast last night to show off as well as reveal its release date via a new trailer. Expected on September 20 on PC and next-gen consoles, the beat ’em up action-RPG from Reply Game Studios (Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf, Theseus) and Modus Games (Cris Tales, Ary and the Secret of Seasons, trinity 4…) also took the opportunity to deploy a demo accessible to those registering on its official website.

As part of a press event, we had the opportunity to discover it a little in advance, a few days ago. So, does this title already have some solid weapons in its possession about three months from its launch? Answer in this overview.

Preview conditions: Previewed with an Xbox One controller on a 1080p screen and a PC equipped with an Intel Core i5-9400F processor (2.9 GHz), an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 and memory lively 16 GB of RAM. The demo of the title ran in its highest graphics configuration (NVIDIA DLSS activated in Balanced mode) for one hour, the time necessary to complete this version of the game once in a difficulty mode set by default. This article is guaranteed spoiler-free. Not being authorized to take our own screenshots, all the images present in this preview were provided by the publisher.

Brotherhood, Ghosts and Corruption

Taking place within the Sacred Realms of Keidas ravaged by dangerous and corrupt creatures called Specters, soulstice invites us to follow the story of Briar and Lute, two young women reincarnated in the form of a Chimera. Through a ritual, the first was endowed with superhuman strength and resistance while the second was sacrificed to link her soul to that of her sister as a spirit possessing powers mystics.

Working together on behalf of a mysterious Order, they are sent to Ilden, a once prosperous sacred city, to investigate the appearance of a huge tear in the sky. What will they find when they get there? Unfortunately, we will have to wait until the start of the school year to find out.

Contrary to what one might think, the demo offered by Reply Game Studios and Modus Games does not give us access to the very beginning of the game but to a montage linking portions of chapters 2 and 5 of the adventure. It is therefore difficult to give a first precise opinion on the narrative dimension of the game for the moment. From what we have seen, the script looks very intriguing and there is a real desire to offer us interesting writing in order to get us to attach ourselves to the protagonists who are both voiced by Stefanie Joosten (Quiet in Metal Gear Solid V: The Pantom Pain).

Other nice points to highlight, the dark universe is skillfully depicted by an artistic direction and a neat character design with a graphic style that seems to be a mix between what can be found in comics and manga. Without taking a slap, the general visual rendering as well as the various animations are already pleasing to the eye. The sound design is of good quality. As for the soundtrack, it contains some rhythmic and ear-friendly musical themes.

Honestly, if such rigor is brought from beginning to end to its complete version, we should take great pleasure in discovering this production which seems to benefit from a real cachet at launch.

Chasing Diamond Rank!

Although its name suggests, soulstice is absolutely not yet another Souls-like but a beat ’em up action-RPG drawing its inspiration from famous licenses like Devil May Cry, Bayonetta or Deny. In other words, the game experience essentially revolves around linear progression focused on nervous, fluid and dynamic gameplay and combat to which a few phases of platforming and simplistic puzzles have been incorporated.

Without seeking to revolutionize the mechanics of the genre, the title encourages us to thwart the monsters who want us dead by quickly and efficiently chaining combos with Briar’s main sword and his secondary weapons (axe and whip in the demo) while taking keep dodging enemy offensives with the LB key in order to get the best possible score and rank.

Controller in hand, the sensations are exhilarating and we have a lot of fun. The Italian studio showed great rigor in the placement of the various fixed cameras so as not to interfere with the readability of the action or the progression and, surprise, it did not forget to add its own personal touch to experience. And yes, as a reminder, we do not control one but two characters and the relationship between the two sisters promises to be just as present in the narration as in the confrontations.

In addition to acting automatically, Lute can attack or defend us from danger using its various powers if we press the B key at the right time (against, stasis, etc.). Other specificities, it is able to temporarily generate at our request a field of banishment (red color – RT trigger) or evocation (blue color – LT trigger) to offer us the opportunity to eliminate possessed Specters, it is i.e. invisible or invulnerable to conventional attacks. But beware, if you ask too much of your protective spirit, you will have to do without its help for a short time.

So yes, it’s true, all this slightly complicates the gameplay and fully mastering it necessarily requires additional adaptation time. However, this also allows it to gain depth and slightly raises the overall challenge level of the title.

Do not panic however, if you are having difficulty moving forward, you will have the possibility of recovering gems / red and blue crystals to exchange with Layton during the adventure. A curious intermediary acting as a merchant, he will give you the opportunity to unlock new combos for Briar’s weapons as well as new skills for Lute.

Once again, the integration of this system is nothing extraordinary but, coupled with all the mechanics we have had access to so far, the whole thing gives us access to gameplay that is properly oiled to the point of taking fun at stake and that’s the main thing.