Metroidvania muito bom, bonitão, cheio de detalhes no cenário, as dungeons são interessantes, cada uma temática diferente, que faz sentido com lore do jogo, não ficando apenas nos estereótipos medievais. O jogo é bem difícil, mas é adaptável, zerei com o mago (no "hard"), sofri muito no início, mas aos poucos fui me adaptando, têm partes bem traiçoeiras, só para incomodar mesmo, outro ponto que incomoda é que o jogo parece incompleto tendo algumas coisas que ficam se explicação. Acredito que deva ter um fator replay positivo, já que existem três classes, eu joguei apenas com mago, só jogando uns 10 minutinhos com as outras classes, recomendo para quem gosta de jogos retrô com uma dificuldade maior como nos mais antigos.
Generally interesting gameplay set in an uninspired and trope-driven setting. There is one aspect of this game that makes it nearly unplayable: it is a metroidvania that respawns you based on your last save rather than your last bonfire/statue you rested at. This means you will often respawn with a fraction of your health remaining because that's where the game wanted to autosave, and now all of the things you found are missing from your inventory. This works in other games, but in metroidvanias like this, it is a catastrophic pit fall. I can not recommend this game to people who love metroidvanias.
Antes de iniciar esse review, informo que joguei Souldiers mais de um ano de seu lançamento, com tempo o suficiente pra equipe endereçar todas as críticas e problemas técnicos e insatisfações de design que praguejaram os primeiros meses do jogo. Li muitas críticas negativas e quando comentei no Twitter que estava curtindo bastante, muitos colegas me perguntaram se o jogo estava finalmente bom, ou se tinham “consertado” o mesmo. Acredito que sim.
A proposta de Souldiers diz: puzzle platforming, metroidvania exploration e crunchy soulslike combat.
Souldiers cumpre a proposta, que é de certa forma bem genérica, e tem excelentes quebra-cabeças e exploração de metroidvania, de fato. As dungeons do jogo são complexas e interconectadas e me fizeram ter uma sensação de grandeza que reflete a de jogos de ação e aventura com grandes proporções. Algo como as famosas dungeons da série ou inspiradas na série Zelda.
Elas são longas, recheadas de armadilhas, inimigos, plataformas que exigem domínio dos controles e das habilidades adquiridas e envolvem diversos mecanismos e desafios que culminam em chefes icônicos, fazendo uso da exploração típica do modelo metroidvania. Eu diria que o escopo de seus mapas seria exatamente seu maior chamariz, seu grande destaque dentro do subgênero.
Quando passamos a refletir sobre a questão do combate eu puxo logo uma questão: “O que significa um combate soulslike?”
Pra responder a essa pergunta, recorri a diversas pessoas pra ter uma ideia de como o consenso geral conclui esse questionamento, e pra minha surpresa, o ponto mais interseccional que encontrei foi: “é um combate difícil, bastante punitivo”.
Eu pessoalmente não compreendo isso como “soulslike”. Eu analiso os elementos do combate dos jogos da empresa, como “ataques vinculados a animações longas”, “gestão de fôlego” pra executar as ações de rolar, atacar, defender…enfim, os elementos que compõem os combates da séries Souls.
Mas Souldiers não tem nada disso além do “ser punitivo” e no máximo, quanto à defesa, ter uma barra limite de tolerância a dano.
O combate funciona como um metroidvania típico ou qualquer outro jogo de plataforma onde se luta em perspectiva sidescroller com armas. Dependendo do inimigo, se ele não estiver em ação de ataque é possível até encostar nele sem prejuízo.
Tem alguns parcos elementos de “souls” presentes, entretanto. Os inimigos são pautados em ataques com antecipações (tell) que permite defender, esquivar ou dar parry (depende do personagem) no momento exato e ter benefícios.
Jogando com o Scout, por exemplo, minha opção, dominando o padrão e o tempo de ataque de cada inimigo permite bloquear e lançar um forte contra-ataque (parry).
De resto, os danos sofridos são altos e se houver um descuido o game over vem rápido. Fora esses elementos de dificuldade, que inclusive há opções mais fáceis, quase nada de Souldiers remete aos jogos soulslike, muito pelo contrário. Ele tá muito mais próximo de um Castlevania em matéria de dificuldade do que de Elden Ring, por exemplo.
Em todos os outros aspectos de design e lore, Souldiers não é inovador ou traz grandes pretensões. Muito pelo contrário, ele faz um feijão-com-arroz bem feito, seguindo a cartilha do modelo metroidvania e provendo o que um fã do subgênero espera das convenções já estabelecidas.
Isso não tira seu valor, pois ele esbanja competência e conteúdo de sobra. Eu gostei muito do meu tempo com ele inclusive fazendo 100% das sidequests e coletando quase tudo existente nele. Isso é algo que só faço com jogos que me cativam bastante, e Souldiers definitivamente fez isso.
A proposta de Souldiers diz: puzzle platforming, metroidvania exploration e crunchy soulslike combat.
Souldiers cumpre a proposta, que é de certa forma bem genérica, e tem excelentes quebra-cabeças e exploração de metroidvania, de fato. As dungeons do jogo são complexas e interconectadas e me fizeram ter uma sensação de grandeza que reflete a de jogos de ação e aventura com grandes proporções. Algo como as famosas dungeons da série ou inspiradas na série Zelda.
Elas são longas, recheadas de armadilhas, inimigos, plataformas que exigem domínio dos controles e das habilidades adquiridas e envolvem diversos mecanismos e desafios que culminam em chefes icônicos, fazendo uso da exploração típica do modelo metroidvania. Eu diria que o escopo de seus mapas seria exatamente seu maior chamariz, seu grande destaque dentro do subgênero.
Quando passamos a refletir sobre a questão do combate eu puxo logo uma questão: “O que significa um combate soulslike?”
Pra responder a essa pergunta, recorri a diversas pessoas pra ter uma ideia de como o consenso geral conclui esse questionamento, e pra minha surpresa, o ponto mais interseccional que encontrei foi: “é um combate difícil, bastante punitivo”.
Eu pessoalmente não compreendo isso como “soulslike”. Eu analiso os elementos do combate dos jogos da empresa, como “ataques vinculados a animações longas”, “gestão de fôlego” pra executar as ações de rolar, atacar, defender…enfim, os elementos que compõem os combates da séries Souls.
Mas Souldiers não tem nada disso além do “ser punitivo” e no máximo, quanto à defesa, ter uma barra limite de tolerância a dano.
O combate funciona como um metroidvania típico ou qualquer outro jogo de plataforma onde se luta em perspectiva sidescroller com armas. Dependendo do inimigo, se ele não estiver em ação de ataque é possível até encostar nele sem prejuízo.
Tem alguns parcos elementos de “souls” presentes, entretanto. Os inimigos são pautados em ataques com antecipações (tell) que permite defender, esquivar ou dar parry (depende do personagem) no momento exato e ter benefícios.
Jogando com o Scout, por exemplo, minha opção, dominando o padrão e o tempo de ataque de cada inimigo permite bloquear e lançar um forte contra-ataque (parry).
De resto, os danos sofridos são altos e se houver um descuido o game over vem rápido. Fora esses elementos de dificuldade, que inclusive há opções mais fáceis, quase nada de Souldiers remete aos jogos soulslike, muito pelo contrário. Ele tá muito mais próximo de um Castlevania em matéria de dificuldade do que de Elden Ring, por exemplo.
Em todos os outros aspectos de design e lore, Souldiers não é inovador ou traz grandes pretensões. Muito pelo contrário, ele faz um feijão-com-arroz bem feito, seguindo a cartilha do modelo metroidvania e provendo o que um fã do subgênero espera das convenções já estabelecidas.
Isso não tira seu valor, pois ele esbanja competência e conteúdo de sobra. Eu gostei muito do meu tempo com ele inclusive fazendo 100% das sidequests e coletando quase tudo existente nele. Isso é algo que só faço com jogos que me cativam bastante, e Souldiers definitivamente fez isso.
Souldiers é um metroidvania bem ambicioso e divertido, ele sempre consegue te manter preso com conteúdo novo e personagens carismáticos, as mecânicas que o jogo traz são boas e tem um nível de dificuldade muito bom, minha maior critica nesse jogo é por ter jogado de caster e não ter tantas magias para se utilizar no jogo e tinha tanta arma que eu só usava uma ou duas no máximo, só que eu usava elas só em bosses então sinto que não foram muito bem aproveitadas, ficar trocando elas no combate é um saco por ter tanta opção, tu fica apertando as setinhas até vim a arma que quer
This game is currently in the Humble Choice for November 2023, and this is part of my coverage of the bundle. If you are interested in the game and it's before December 5th, 2023, consider picking up the game as part of the current monthly bundle.
A Metroidvania with three playable classes.
In Souldiers, you can choose to play as a warrior, an archer, or a mage, and it looks like all three will have different experiences or at least combat options. There is what feels like a massive world awaiting the player, with the first area being the spider’s lair, and inside is a large map with a lot of opportunities to double back when players earn more abilities. The combat is slick, and before long it will challenge the player, along with major boss battles. However, I didn’t see much more than that area.
I’ve heard from someone that the game’s launch was problematic with a lot of issues. Those reviews are also on Steam, however, it does appear a lot of changes have happened since then including three new difficulty modes to address a big issue many people had, and the challenge here feels more reasonable.
Pick this up if you want a big Metroidvania and want to take a risk. There are a lot of differing opinions on this, but it does seem like the studio was able to take the negative reviews and improve the game, rather than letting it suffer a slow death, I can’t speak to that as I didn’t get far enough to experience it.
If you enjoyed this review or want to know what I think of other games in the bundle, check out the full review on or subscribe to my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/NSoVlkgy0D0
A Metroidvania with three playable classes.
In Souldiers, you can choose to play as a warrior, an archer, or a mage, and it looks like all three will have different experiences or at least combat options. There is what feels like a massive world awaiting the player, with the first area being the spider’s lair, and inside is a large map with a lot of opportunities to double back when players earn more abilities. The combat is slick, and before long it will challenge the player, along with major boss battles. However, I didn’t see much more than that area.
I’ve heard from someone that the game’s launch was problematic with a lot of issues. Those reviews are also on Steam, however, it does appear a lot of changes have happened since then including three new difficulty modes to address a big issue many people had, and the challenge here feels more reasonable.
Pick this up if you want a big Metroidvania and want to take a risk. There are a lot of differing opinions on this, but it does seem like the studio was able to take the negative reviews and improve the game, rather than letting it suffer a slow death, I can’t speak to that as I didn’t get far enough to experience it.
If you enjoyed this review or want to know what I think of other games in the bundle, check out the full review on or subscribe to my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/NSoVlkgy0D0
Pretty impressive for a game I’ve never heard anyone talk about and can’t even remember how I found out about it. It’s ‘Souls’-y insomuch as it has a parry and a dodge roll, but really it’s a solid and snappy 2D action game with solid 3-hit combo combat and a level of polish and production way beyond what was required.
Didn't click
Beautiful looking metroidvania, that really falls apart in the combat and movement sections.
Movement is often quite limited and clunky, but it does have the usual metroidvania abilities - dash, wall jump, etc. Your character is painfully slow, until you get one of those abilities, which helps you move about 15% faster. The decision to not re-enable double jump after wall jumping also limits whatever platforming options you have.
Combat has A LOT of variety, regarding secondary weapons, but you probably won't get to utilize them, due to the limited amount of times you can use them. And it's not like ammo shards regen after resting at a dragon statue, no no no, you need to either buy them for dirt cheap from the shop or find them in chests/enemies.
Speaking of chests, it's like a 50/50 split if you're gonna get something useful from a wooden chest (coins, area items) or something completely useless (potions that you don't use or aforementioned ammo shards). The big boy red chests are less of a gamble, but you can still get ass warts from them (secondary weapons you're never going to use).
The world is beautifully constructed and animated, there's virtually never a place where it feels empty (by metroidvania standards). However, the dungeons are a bit too large. They all have their separate unique gimmicks and that's fine, but boy is it tiring trying to re-visit those areas to get all of the chests, bugs and crystals.
On the topic of those green flying shits, I wish the map marked them (as it does with every other collectible on the map), because doing 100% exploration without a third party map is impossible. You can absolutely find them, but it's going to take hours upon hours of wall hugging, jumping down random cliffs, straining your eyes to see the littlest crumb of differing texture on a wall (which would indicate it's bombable, very nice). This is like a joint point on map clearing, but it does blow at times. I have no clue how people even found some of those secrets, they're sometimes hidden at absolute random locations, with no indicators that something is there to be blown up or passed through.
If you're going to 100% this game, the game requires you to complete it 4 separate times (for the 3 classes available and 1 NG+ mode). Complete insult of anyone's time. Speaking of that, everytime you collect a health crystal (forgot what they're called in-game, it doesn't matter), the game plays the collection animation (ala Legend of Zelda) and then plays a separate animation of the crystal going into the collection slot. Waste of time, every time. Also all of the cutscenes are unskippable. At least you could skip the credits.
The game gets the general idea of metroidvanias, but really falls apart trying to execute everything. I'd still recommend playing it, but do beware ofthe scare of being lost in the humongous dungeons.
Movement is often quite limited and clunky, but it does have the usual metroidvania abilities - dash, wall jump, etc. Your character is painfully slow, until you get one of those abilities, which helps you move about 15% faster. The decision to not re-enable double jump after wall jumping also limits whatever platforming options you have.
Combat has A LOT of variety, regarding secondary weapons, but you probably won't get to utilize them, due to the limited amount of times you can use them. And it's not like ammo shards regen after resting at a dragon statue, no no no, you need to either buy them for dirt cheap from the shop or find them in chests/enemies.
Speaking of chests, it's like a 50/50 split if you're gonna get something useful from a wooden chest (coins, area items) or something completely useless (potions that you don't use or aforementioned ammo shards). The big boy red chests are less of a gamble, but you can still get ass warts from them (secondary weapons you're never going to use).
The world is beautifully constructed and animated, there's virtually never a place where it feels empty (by metroidvania standards). However, the dungeons are a bit too large. They all have their separate unique gimmicks and that's fine, but boy is it tiring trying to re-visit those areas to get all of the chests, bugs and crystals.
On the topic of those green flying shits, I wish the map marked them (as it does with every other collectible on the map), because doing 100% exploration without a third party map is impossible. You can absolutely find them, but it's going to take hours upon hours of wall hugging, jumping down random cliffs, straining your eyes to see the littlest crumb of differing texture on a wall (which would indicate it's bombable, very nice). This is like a joint point on map clearing, but it does blow at times. I have no clue how people even found some of those secrets, they're sometimes hidden at absolute random locations, with no indicators that something is there to be blown up or passed through.
If you're going to 100% this game, the game requires you to complete it 4 separate times (for the 3 classes available and 1 NG+ mode). Complete insult of anyone's time. Speaking of that, everytime you collect a health crystal (forgot what they're called in-game, it doesn't matter), the game plays the collection animation (ala Legend of Zelda) and then plays a separate animation of the crystal going into the collection slot. Waste of time, every time. Also all of the cutscenes are unskippable. At least you could skip the credits.
The game gets the general idea of metroidvanias, but really falls apart trying to execute everything. I'd still recommend playing it, but do beware ofthe scare of being lost in the humongous dungeons.
Eu gostei de tanta coisa nesse jogo, ele é um Metroidvania interessante, os combates tanto pelos inimigos que você enfrenta quanto a dinâmica de ter que trocar para o elemento de fraqueza do inimigo é bem legal, e QUE JOGO DE PIXELART BONITO, não apenas bonito como tem um cuidado com os detalhes muito acima da media, desde vento nas paisagens, as formigas andando aleatória mente na floresta, o fundo do cenário jamais se repetindo.
O único e derradeiro problema que eu encontrei, e o que me fez parar de jogar, é que o jogo é porcamente otimizado, é um nível de relaxo atroz, os carregamentos de cenário e salvamento demoram bastante e diversas vezes o jogo fecha por erro durante o salvamento, coisa que me fez perder horas de progresso, o que é um absurdo esse tipo de coisa acontecer.
O único e derradeiro problema que eu encontrei, e o que me fez parar de jogar, é que o jogo é porcamente otimizado, é um nível de relaxo atroz, os carregamentos de cenário e salvamento demoram bastante e diversas vezes o jogo fecha por erro durante o salvamento, coisa que me fez perder horas de progresso, o que é um absurdo esse tipo de coisa acontecer.
Every area in this game feels like it could be a full game they're truly massive and the game itself is really long, to a fault, eventually you just get bored because the game is simply way too long especially for a metroidvania.
The fact that you're hardlocked into your class from the start also really killed the game for me, the combat can be fun and the elemental and movement upgrades do make the game more dynamic but as you're playing the game you can't help but think "I wonder how the other classes would play in this part" but due to how long the game is you can't really just start a new game and try them out without investing a ton hours to get to the same point in the game.
The fact that you're hardlocked into your class from the start also really killed the game for me, the combat can be fun and the elemental and movement upgrades do make the game more dynamic but as you're playing the game you can't help but think "I wonder how the other classes would play in this part" but due to how long the game is you can't really just start a new game and try them out without investing a ton hours to get to the same point in the game.
I feel like if Souldiers had like one more year of development time, it would have been a good metroidvania. It wouldn't be groundbreaking or something, but most people would have a good time. As it stands now, it's a mix of really bland features thrown together to create a cake that leaves a dull aftertaste in your mouth. There is the beautiful pixel art, some interesting combat mechanics such as the switching between elements or the charming story. But then there is also the levelling and item system that doesn't bring anything to the table, the pacing that is ruined by dungeons that overstay their welcome and the boring boss encounters. Let's hope the studio can learn from their mistakes and come back stronger.
I'm going to coin a term called "Pixel Hypnosis" where a game will have extremely good pixel artstyle, but will be extremely fucking boring to the point of drowsiness. I'm not gonna expand on that anymore, just how I feel about some indie games that go for good pixel art.
Souldiers is a Metroidvania that uhhhh, is boring. You get to choose from three classes at the beginning, and you cannot change. Cool for replayability or bad because they diverted focus between three characters? Im going the latter. I chose soldier and they just have a sword and shield. Sword has like 3 attacks that I can tell (you can get more skills but few and far between). You can block or parry but the parry fucking blows. So, not a lot to the combat and doesn't feel very satisfying. There are subweapons that all feel bad too.
You can switch between elemental types as you unlock them with your right thumb stick, I do like this. Quick changes on the fly that also can facilitate exploration in the overworld along with combat advantages.
The wrapping of this game is also woefully generic. Soldiers in armour, woopee.
Souldiers is a Metroidvania that uhhhh, is boring. You get to choose from three classes at the beginning, and you cannot change. Cool for replayability or bad because they diverted focus between three characters? Im going the latter. I chose soldier and they just have a sword and shield. Sword has like 3 attacks that I can tell (you can get more skills but few and far between). You can block or parry but the parry fucking blows. So, not a lot to the combat and doesn't feel very satisfying. There are subweapons that all feel bad too.
You can switch between elemental types as you unlock them with your right thumb stick, I do like this. Quick changes on the fly that also can facilitate exploration in the overworld along with combat advantages.
The wrapping of this game is also woefully generic. Soldiers in armour, woopee.
La direction artistique est superbe et le gameplay est fun, ont parcours des zones qui sont construites comme de grands donjons et le sentiment d'aventure est présent. Malheureusement les améliorations qu'on débloque pour notre personnage sont très médiocres se qui empêche un renouvellement du gameplay et fait de la durée de vie assez conséquente du jeu un point noir car on risque fortement de s'en lasser avant d'atteindre la fin. De plus le jeu est assez mal équilibré avec certaines phases de combat ou de plateformes bien trop longues ou difficiles compte tenu du nombre un peu réduit de Checkpoint et la mort punitive. Un jeu très joli et une aventure avec du potentiel, mais un potentiel raté.
Good game, hold back by low frame rate and a serious amount of issues that literally take you out of the game.