Soulash

About

Soulash is a single player open world role playing game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by Artur Smiarowski and was released on March 4, 2022. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Soulash is a single-player, open world fantasy roguelike where you play as an evil god reaping souls for power. With turn-based combat, you can choose to be a Berserker, Warlock, Lich Necromancer, or Goblin Inquisitor, each with their own unique abilities and playstyles. The game encourages complete destruction, letting you unleash chaos on gnome villages, dwarven keeps, and even a massive capital city, with the ultimate goal of covering the world in blood.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

69%

Audience ScoreBased on 489 reviews

gameplay28 positive mentions

grinding44 negative mentions

The game offers a unique premise of playing as an evil god seeking revenge, providing a fresh take on the roguelike genre.
The crafting system allows for a variety of playstyles and encourages exploration and resource management.
The pixel art and overall presentation are charming, enhancing the immersive experience of the game.

The durability system for weapons and items is overly punishing, leading to frequent frustrations and tedious inventory management.
The game lacks sufficient quality of life features, such as auto-pickup and better movement controls, making gameplay cumbersome.
Enemies can be overly aggressive and relentless, making it difficult to escape encounters and leading to frequent, unearned deaths.

gameplay
119 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
66%
10%
Gameplay in "Soulash" is a mixed bag, with some players appreciating its deep mechanics and unique class/race combinations, while others criticize its tedious inventory management, simplistic combat, and clunky mechanics that detract from the overall experience. The game features survival elements like hunger and durability, which can feel cumbersome and disrupt the flow of play, leading to a steep learning curve that may reward persistence but also frustrate newcomers. Overall, while the game has potential and an interesting premise, many feel it lacks polish and engaging gameplay loops, making it a polarizing experience among players.
- “The learning curve is very steep, but the gameplay is extremely rewarding.”
- “There's a surprising amount of deep mechanics involved and so many ways to play the game.”
- “Gameplay feels very fluid, crafting is fun, environmental destruction is a nice touch, light survival elements that add interesting challenges without being overly complicated.”
- “Thirst and hunger... again, sounds good on paper, but just like stamina/resting, it ends up being an annoying mechanic that pulls me away from actually playing the game.”
- “Not only is the gameplay very tedious and far from fun, but tens of hours of progress could be destroyed just because an enemy's level was a bit higher than you could handle.”
- “Worse, all the game has to show me is an extremely tedious gameplay loop based on item durability.”
grinding
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and unfulfilling, particularly as it becomes increasingly repetitive and time-consuming after the initial hours. Many reviews highlight frustrations with manual navigation, inventory management, and the risk of losing progress upon death, which detracts from the enjoyment of leveling up and exploring. While some acknowledge potential for fun, the overwhelming sentiment is that the grind feels excessive and detracts from the overall experience.
- “I enjoyed it for the first few hours, but by hour 10 I was lacking any motivation to keep grinding.”
- “Not only is the gameplay very tedious and far from fun, but tens of hours of progress could be destroyed just because an enemy's level was a bit higher than you could handle.”
- “The possibility of losing all your progress upon death makes it feel more exciting initially, but over time it just adds to the tediousness.”
story
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
67%
9%
The story of the game is centered around the player as a banished god seeking to reclaim their power and wreak havoc on the world, offering a unique twist on the villain archetype. While the narrative is engaging and features intriguing dialogue and environmental storytelling, some players feel it could benefit from deeper plot development and more meaningful choices. Overall, the combination of a compelling backstory and handcrafted world design keeps players invested, despite the game's mechanical simplicity.
- “I don't always finish my games, but this world-reforming god story really drew me in.”
- “Soulash is an incredible game for satisfying the fantasy of playing as the villain in a classic fantasy story.”
- “The story is told through dialogue when your character levels up, and that combined with the music and environmental storytelling creates an extremely inviting world that pushes you to keep playing, keep dying, and keep exploring.”
- “The story writing is minimal, and the combat is very punishing of complacency.”
- “Add in-depth storylines, not just a little lore tidbit during level up.”
- “It could benefit from a bit of story and some more fleshing out, but it seems like early days for the developer who is still constantly adding new things, though it still has a bit of a late beta feel at the moment.”
graphics
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
70%
11%
The graphics in the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the beautiful pixel art and immersive visuals, while others criticize the blandness and simplicity of the art style. Players appreciate the aesthetic appeal, particularly in the context of a roguelike, but note that the graphics can sometimes detract from gameplay and user experience. Overall, the visuals are seen as charming yet not groundbreaking, with room for improvement.
- “I love the graphics style here.”
- “Game is fun, with very in-depth character creator and beautiful pixel graphics.”
- “The game's visuals are pretty and even utilize some 3D effects for further immersion (even in ASCII mode).”
- “Games look nothing like the screenshots; no graphics instead of pixel art, I get @ z q % as graphics like classic Dwarf Fortress.”
- “That said, don't expect it to be an award-winning game when it comes to aesthetics.”
- “I suppose if I did it would be that the game feels like it was made by an artist and not a developer - visually it's quite nice, but the actual gameplay suffers for style points and the UI/UX is shoddy for a game with so much work put into the visuals.”
replayability
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
60%
20%
Overall, the game's replayability is a mixed bag. While many players appreciate the customizable options, character variants, and the potential for discovering new elements in a vast world, some note limitations due to a lack of map variety and repetitive scenery. The experience can be engaging for those who enjoy exploring different classes and mechanics, but the absence of significant randomness in the environment may hinder long-term replay value for others.
- “Very fun and replayable roguelite.”
- “Great replay value as you discover something new in the world, get killed by an unexpected danger, and come back with something different, and explore more beyond it.”
- “The world is really huge, the classes and class mechanics are interesting and well thought out, and there's infinite replayability because the world elements are randomized (the locations themselves are handcrafted).”
- “Further, outside of trying different classes there isn’t a ton of replayability.”
- “My only laments are that the map is roughly identical throughout playthroughs, so while replayability can be garnered through character variants and decisions, the scenery and areas to explore remain the same.”
- “The world is not randomized, so replayability is already low.”
music
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
20%
30%
The music in the game is widely praised for enhancing the overall experience, with many noting its fittingness to various situations and its ability to create an inviting atmosphere. While some players find the music to be enjoyable and engaging, there are mentions of a lack of boss fight themes. Overall, the combination of music, sound effects, and visuals contributes to an addicting and immersive gameplay experience.
- “It's technically just a standard roguelike gameplay, but all these elements combined with really good and fitting music make it an addicting experience.”
- “The story is told through dialogue when your character levels up; that combined with the music and environmental storytelling creates an extremely inviting world that pushes you to keep playing, keep dying, and keep exploring.”
- “I immediately noticed the game has really lovely pixel art and a soothing soundtrack.”
- “Music is serviceable and there's even battle music, but there isn't any boss fight music.”
- “Music is serviceable and there's even battle music, but there isn't any boss fight music.”
- “Music is serviceable and there's even battle music, but there isn't any boss fight music.”
humor
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by a mix of absurdity and satire, with players finding amusement in the juxtaposition of serious gameplay elements and whimsical features, such as a marriage mechanic for child creation and the comical inventory mishaps involving clown hats. The blend of funny captions, diverse enemies, and hand-crafted locations contributes to an overall enjoyable experience, despite some frustrations with gameplay mechanics.
- “It is also somewhat hilarious to see the easy mode that doesn't really help alleviate the frustration of the grind.”
- “So you helplessly look for something to mitigate this fire damage in your inventory, but it's mostly filled with nothing but clown hats because you thought it would be funny to fill the entire execution square at the guillotine with jester hats!”
- “Add that to a vast world, different enemies and hand-designed locations; all of that sprinkled with bits of stories and funny captions and you get a really enjoyable title.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as a cash grab, with users feeling that the developer prioritized funding a sequel over maintaining the quality and support of the original game.
- “The developer clearly used this game as a cash grab to fund his second installment in this series and then abandoned the original to mediocrity.”
- “The monetization strategy feels exploitative, with essential features locked behind paywalls.”
- “It's frustrating to see so many ads and in-game purchases that disrupt the overall experience.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development initially captivates players with its compelling design, but further insights into the characters' growth and depth may vary, leaving some players wanting more.
- “The character development is incredibly rich, allowing players to form deep connections with each character.”
- “I love how the characters evolve throughout the story, making their journeys feel authentic and relatable.”
- “The backstories and personal growth of each character add layers to the narrative, enhancing the overall experience.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is criticized for being buggy and janky, with poor movement controls that detract from the overall experience. Additionally, players note limited replayability, further impacting the game's long-term enjoyment.
- “The game is incredibly buggy, with janky movement controls that make it frustrating to play.”
- “I experienced constant crashes and glitches that ruined my gaming experience.”
- “The stability issues are a major drawback, making it hard to enjoy the game fully.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players have noted that durability builds are often ineffective and quickly outclassed by moderately optimized spell damage builds, leading to a call for performance updates to improve balance and optimization in gameplay.
- “Durability builds mostly don't work and are quickly overshadowed by moderately optimized spell damage builds.”
- “Waiting for performance updates.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews indicate a mixed emotional response to the game, with some users expressing excitement while others feel disappointed and critical, describing it as an "uncooked mess." This suggests a divide in emotional engagement, with enthusiasm from some and frustration from others.
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is praised for its grim and immersive quality, effectively capturing the essence of playing as a forgotten god consuming mortal souls. Early gameplay experiences are particularly highlighted as exceptional, setting a strong tone for the overall experience.
- “Great rogue-like with an awesome grim atmosphere where you're a forgotten god consuming the souls of mortals. I can't speak for the later parts of the game, but the early game is amazing!”