Soulblight

44%
Game Brain Score Based on 77 reviews
  • gameplay
  • graphics
  • story
Soulblight Game Cover
Soulblight succeeds in temporarily satiating your desire for solid rogue-like on Switch, but it fails to maintain your interest after extended play.
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"Soulblight" is a challenging, top-down action roguelike set in a dark, ruined reality. Instead of traditional leveling, it features a unique "Tainting Mechanic" that rewards you with traits based on your choices, encouraging role-playing and influencing your strengths and weaknesses. With dynamic combat, randomly generated levels, and a high difficulty level including permadeath, the game offers a tense and exciting experience for those willing to explore its depths.

  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Windows
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

44%
Audience ScoreBased on 77 reviews
gameplay6 positive mentions
grinding3 negative mentions
  • The art style is beautiful, combining fantasy and steampunk elements, which enhances the overall experience.
  • The taint system introduces unique gameplay mechanics that reward players for roleplaying their character's traits, adding depth to the experience.
  • The game offers a challenging combat system that, while difficult, can be rewarding once mastered.
  • The controls are poorly implemented, making gameplay frustrating and often leading to player deaths due to unresponsive mechanics.
  • Combat can feel punishing and opaque, with many players struggling to understand the mechanics without external help.
  • The game lacks clear guidance on its systems, leading to confusion and a steep learning curve that may deter new players.
  • gameplay35 mentions

    Gameplay in "Soulblight" features a mix of innovative mechanics, particularly in combat and roleplaying, which can take several runs to fully appreciate. While the taint system and injury effects add depth, players have noted a steep learning curve and some frustrations with controls and balance, particularly regarding weapon effectiveness. Overall, the game offers a unique experience that rewards patience and exploration, despite some criticisms about its accessibility and aesthetic choices.

    • “Takes about 4-5 runs before everything starts to click; what seems weird and shallow at first comes to life the more you play, unlocking many different aspects of play and mechanics.”
    • “A lot of fresh ideas and mechanics I haven't seen implemented before in the roguelike genre.”
    • “If you want to spend some time to understand combat, taints, and item mechanics, if you want to discover lore as a result of your hard work and be proud of overcoming challenges, this game is for you.”
    • “If I knew or could find out the mechanics behind gameplay, I would be much more interested in playing it, but currently it appears to be a dead game with no hope to get the materials needed to make it enjoyable.”
    • “Once I realized there was no gameplay change when choosing which boss to start against, I kept only going the doctor's way first, because if I go against him after defeating the two other bosses, I could risk losing everything in a luck-based fight.”
    • “Coupled with a top-down aesthetic that frankly does the gameplay no favors, Soulblight offers little of value despite a relatively interesting premise.”
  • graphics18 mentions

    The graphics of the game are widely praised for their beautiful art style, which blends fantasy and steampunk elements, and for the high level of detail and effects throughout the visuals. Many reviewers highlight the immersive music that complements the graphics, contributing to a captivating overall experience. However, some note that while the visuals are impressive, the gameplay can become tedious, detracting from the overall enjoyment.

    • “The art style is beautiful, an interesting mix of fantasy and steampunk.”
    • “The game has beautiful graphics and great sound/music.”
    • “The graphics are well-matched, with every fragment of the visible screen featuring a lot of detail and effects that come together for great visuals.”
    • “Unfortunately, there are more similarities than differences in the art style.”
    • “Coupled with a top-down aesthetic that frankly does the gameplay no favors, Soulblight offers little of value despite a relatively interesting premise.”
    • “The graphics are matching to each other; every fragment of the visible screen has a lot of detail and effects put together to create great visuals.”
  • story5 mentions

    The game's story is praised for its effort and engaging premise, particularly the intrigue of exploring a dying world. However, many players find the storytelling convoluted and ambiguous, making it difficult to form a strong narrative connection despite the overall enjoyment of the gameplay.

    • “What surprises me about this is that I enjoy the game so much that even with static controls, I find myself recommending the game to those who enjoy difficult games with ambiguous storytelling that are considered to be primarily played with a controller.”
    • “The prospect of uncovering the mysteries of a dying world is gripping enough, but the story is told in such a convoluted manner that forming any sort of narrative attachment is virtually impossible.”
  • optimization5 mentions

    The game's optimization has received mixed feedback, with players expressing a desire for customizable control bindings to enhance their experience. While combat can become smooth once mastered, technical performance issues, particularly on the Nintendo Switch, detract from overall gameplay enjoyment.

    • “The combat isn't obvious at first, but once it's figured out, it can run smoothly...if you want to fight directly, as stealth is an option too.”
    • “I often find myself wishing I could rebind several controls to more optimized locations for my personal use. To put it lightly, the more common phrasing from my mouth is a less socially acceptable variant of 'you have got to be kidding me, let me reduce the time to do this action, please?'”
    • “I often find myself wishing I could rebind several controls to more optimized locations for my personal use (to put it lightly, the more common phrasing from my mouth is a less socially acceptable variant of 'you have got to be kidding me, let me reduce the time to do this action, please?')”
    • “Not helping matters are the title's poor technical performance on Nintendo Switch and the sheer insufferable nature of its combat.”
  • music4 mentions

    The music in the game is highly praised for its immersive quality, complementing the beautiful graphics and impressive art style. Overall, it enhances the gaming experience significantly.

    • “The art style is pretty amazing and the music is very immersive.”
    • “The game has beautiful graphics and great sound/music.”
  • grinding3 mentions

    Players appreciate the game's concept, world-building, and graphical style, but many find the "rogue-like/rogue-lite" grinding experience to be tedious and overly complex, detracting from the overall enjoyment.

    • “The concept, world building, and graphical style are all fantastic; however, the 'rogue-like/rogue-lite' replay grind quickly becomes tedious.”
    • “Tedious, meandering, and needlessly obtuse, Soulblight is far better conceptually than it is in execution.”
  • stability2 mentions

    The game suffers from significant stability issues, with users reporting recurring glitches that take control of the character whenever a level is selected, severely impacting gameplay.

    • “Strange glitches that completely take control of your character every time you choose a level.”
  • replayability2 mentions

    Players note that the fixed nature of the first four taints significantly diminishes the game's replayability, as this lack of variability leads to a repetitive experience.

    • “The first 4 taints will always be the same, no matter what, which kills the replayability of the game.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

43% average critic score

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