Another game from my PC game pile, Titan Souls is a game I heard about ages ago, got free on Twitch Prime fewer ages ago, and then finally decided to play yesterday. I knew it was a tougher game, but I really didn't expect it to be so short, as I finished it in just a little under two hours. It's another PC game you'll absolutely want a controller to play (I used my Xbox One controller), and despite its length it still manages to be a worthwhile investment. I played it on normal mode and killed 17 of the bosses (which I thiiink is all but one of them, but I couldn't find the last one ^^;).
Titan Souls is a game that clearly has some fairly strong inspirations from games like Shadow of the Colossus. You play a little person with only a bow and arrow, and you're in a mysterious land to fight and kill Titans and take their souls. Why are you doing this? It's quite unclear, but the point is that you're here to fight these giant monsters. This is another game that drops you in media res but gives you very scant context even up to the final confrontation, and it's a game that largely leaves you to your own conclusions about whether this quest was justifiable or worth it. Like in Shadow of the Colossus, these large beasts are just minding their own business until you come along to kill them, and unlike in even that game, you don't even have a person you're obviously trying to save. The only things in this land are you and the Titans, so you'll have plenty of time to ponder the nature of your quest as you wander from dwelling to dwelling of where they call home. If you REALLY wanna know a little more of what's going on (and fight an extra secret boss), you'll need to play the game several times on harder difficulties (which I did not do because the normal game was hard enough for me ^^;).
Titan Souls is a fairly difficult top-down, Zelda-like combat game where it's not just one hit kills on you, but it's also one hit kills on the bosses as well. Granted, they'll likely have a much easier time killing you than you will killing them, but that element of "just gotta land THE hit" makes it feel almost more like a puzzle game than an action/adventure game. The bosses are quick and tough, but they have patterns you can learn with enough patience. Heck, there were a couple I even managed to beat on my first try. They're not unbeatably hard (at least not on normal mode), but they provide a really nice challenge.
The method you have to beat them is with your bow and arrow, but you only have the one arrow. But that's not a problem, since not only can you pick the arrow back up when you miss a shot, but you can also hold a button to have it return to you. However, to draw back your arrow also means to stand still, which can quite understandably be a death sentence if you aren't careful about when you do it. But even upon returning to you, your arrow is still a weapons, and skillfully drawing it back towards you at the right time can be the key to defeating certain bosses who'd rather have their weak point facing away from you. You can also do a dodge roll and run, but other than that this is a fairly simple game mechanically that will have you needing to get quite good at those mechanics if you're going to see its conclusion.
The presentation is fairly melancholic in how quiet the world is. The music for the boss fights is fairly pumping, but the non-boss rooms have either fairly subdued music or no music at all. All the better to leave you alone with your thoughts with. The pixel art graphics style is nothing super unique, but it's all very well animated and the bosses all look cool. It's clean and crisp and there's very little danger of ever losing where you or the boss are on the screen due to how frantic things can get, which is an excellent quality for tough combat games to have (yet so many of them seem not to have regardless XP).
Verdict: Recommended. I think the asking price for the game might be a bit much for some people, but especially if you plan to do the harder modes, this game has more than enough content to justify the asking price. It's a cleverly crafted little action/puzzle game that is very satisfying to fight bosses in, and if you're looking for a challenge to go through over a weekend then this can be just the ticket.
Titan Souls is a game that clearly has some fairly strong inspirations from games like Shadow of the Colossus. You play a little person with only a bow and arrow, and you're in a mysterious land to fight and kill Titans and take their souls. Why are you doing this? It's quite unclear, but the point is that you're here to fight these giant monsters. This is another game that drops you in media res but gives you very scant context even up to the final confrontation, and it's a game that largely leaves you to your own conclusions about whether this quest was justifiable or worth it. Like in Shadow of the Colossus, these large beasts are just minding their own business until you come along to kill them, and unlike in even that game, you don't even have a person you're obviously trying to save. The only things in this land are you and the Titans, so you'll have plenty of time to ponder the nature of your quest as you wander from dwelling to dwelling of where they call home. If you REALLY wanna know a little more of what's going on (and fight an extra secret boss), you'll need to play the game several times on harder difficulties (which I did not do because the normal game was hard enough for me ^^;).
Titan Souls is a fairly difficult top-down, Zelda-like combat game where it's not just one hit kills on you, but it's also one hit kills on the bosses as well. Granted, they'll likely have a much easier time killing you than you will killing them, but that element of "just gotta land THE hit" makes it feel almost more like a puzzle game than an action/adventure game. The bosses are quick and tough, but they have patterns you can learn with enough patience. Heck, there were a couple I even managed to beat on my first try. They're not unbeatably hard (at least not on normal mode), but they provide a really nice challenge.
The method you have to beat them is with your bow and arrow, but you only have the one arrow. But that's not a problem, since not only can you pick the arrow back up when you miss a shot, but you can also hold a button to have it return to you. However, to draw back your arrow also means to stand still, which can quite understandably be a death sentence if you aren't careful about when you do it. But even upon returning to you, your arrow is still a weapons, and skillfully drawing it back towards you at the right time can be the key to defeating certain bosses who'd rather have their weak point facing away from you. You can also do a dodge roll and run, but other than that this is a fairly simple game mechanically that will have you needing to get quite good at those mechanics if you're going to see its conclusion.
The presentation is fairly melancholic in how quiet the world is. The music for the boss fights is fairly pumping, but the non-boss rooms have either fairly subdued music or no music at all. All the better to leave you alone with your thoughts with. The pixel art graphics style is nothing super unique, but it's all very well animated and the bosses all look cool. It's clean and crisp and there's very little danger of ever losing where you or the boss are on the screen due to how frantic things can get, which is an excellent quality for tough combat games to have (yet so many of them seem not to have regardless XP).
Verdict: Recommended. I think the asking price for the game might be a bit much for some people, but especially if you plan to do the harder modes, this game has more than enough content to justify the asking price. It's a cleverly crafted little action/puzzle game that is very satisfying to fight bosses in, and if you're looking for a challenge to go through over a weekend then this can be just the ticket.