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Soulblight

Soulblight succeeds in temporarily satiating your desire for solid rogue-like on Switch, but it fails to maintain your interest after extended play.
Soulblight Game Cover
39%Game Brain Score
gameplay, graphics
grinding, atmosphere
35% User Score Based on 125 reviews
Critic Score 43%Based on 7 reviews

Platforms

Nintendo SwitchPCXboxWindows
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Soulblight Game Cover

About

Soulblight is a single player survival role playing game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by My Next Games and was released on March 15, 2018. It received neutral reviews from critics and negative reviews from players.

Soulblight is a dark, top-down roguelike built around the literal meaning of RPG. Becoming an alcoholic means that you will be rewarded for getting drunk, but from that point being sober might prove to be unbearable.

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Soulblight screenshot
Soulblight screenshot
Soulblight screenshot
Soulblight screenshot
Soulblight screenshot
Soulblight screenshot
Soulblight screenshot
Soulblight screenshot
Soulblight screenshot
Soulblight screenshot
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35%
Audience ScoreBased on 125 reviews
gameplay9 positive mentions
grinding5 negative mentions
  • The game features a unique Taint system that allows players to embrace personal flaws for power, adding depth to character development.
  • The art style and atmosphere are visually striking, creating an immersive and oppressive world that enhances the gameplay experience.
  • Soulblight offers a challenging roguelike experience that rewards patience and strategic thinking, appealing to fans of difficult games.
  • The controls are poorly designed, with no option for customization, making gameplay frustrating, especially for keyboard and mouse users.
  • Combat feels clunky and unresponsive, often leading to player deaths that feel unfair rather than earned, detracting from the overall enjoyment.
  • The tutorial and game mechanics are poorly explained, leaving players confused about objectives and how to effectively engage with the game.
  • gameplay
    72 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of Soulblight is characterized by its unique taint system, which replaces traditional leveling with personality traits that influence power and moral choices, creating a complex role-playing experience. However, the combat mechanics are often criticized for being stiff and poorly explained, leading to confusion and frustration, particularly due to a lack of clarity in controls and mechanics. While the game offers innovative ideas and a roguelike structure, many players find the execution lacking, resulting in repetitive gameplay that can detract from the overall enjoyment.

    • “Central to Soulblight’s identity is its taint system—a mechanic that replaces traditional leveling with personality-defining traits that offer power at the cost of embracing a vice.”
    • “This creates a role-playing element woven directly into mechanics: your power comes from indulging the darkness you carry, and every choice feels weighted by consequence.”
    • “The tainting mechanic and injury effects are clever and keep things interesting.”
    • “Combat is deliberate but stiff, focusing on close-range clashes, stamina management, blocking, and a unique grappling mechanic that lets you momentarily control enemies or break their defenses.”
    • “The roguelike structure—death sending you back to the beginning with only select progress preserved—exacerbates these issues, making mechanical friction more punishing.”
    • “For everything that Soulblight does to be unique, the gameplay still turns into a repetitive slog.”
  • graphics
    33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of Soulblight are characterized by a beautiful and detailed art style that blends fantasy and steampunk elements, creating a strong aesthetic foundation. However, the top-down perspective often hampers gameplay clarity and navigation, leading to confusion about character and enemy visibility. While the visuals are praised for their artistic quality, they are undermined by poor combat mechanics and a lack of clarity, resulting in a mixed reception overall.

    • “The art style uses muted colors and shadow-heavy environments to evoke a sense of creeping dread.”
    • “The art style is beautiful, an interesting mix of fantasy and steampunk.”
    • “The graphics are matching to each other, every fragment of the visible screen has a lot of detail and effects put together to work for great visuals.”
    • “It's top-down and has an art style that makes it hard to tell what things are.”
    • “Unfortunately, there are more similarities than the art style.”
    • “The character graphics are poor enough that you need a little triangle showing which way you're facing, but even then with enemies sometimes you can't tell unless you go into sneak mode to see their vision cones.”
  • story
    17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story is delivered through fragmented lore, cryptic notes, and environmental storytelling, which aligns with its tone but may leave players wanting a more coherent narrative. While the setting and aesthetic are intriguing, the disjointed and convoluted storytelling, combined with repetitive gameplay, detracts from player engagement and makes it difficult to form a meaningful connection to the plot. Overall, the story is seen as sparse and often boring, with many players feeling indifferent towards its progression.

    • “It reveals its lore through fragments—cryptic notes, environmental storytelling, and symbolic imagery.”
    • “The setting and graphics are quirky and do a reasonable job of making the somewhat stereotypical fantasy story seem more interesting.”
    • “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.”
    • “This fits the game’s tone but can feel sparse for players seeking a more coherent storyline.”
    • “The story is there, but it doesn't keep me all that engaged.”
    • “The story is completely boring; you have to get cards to unlock part of the story, but either way, it is completely missable.”
  • grinding
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and unenjoyable, often feeling like a repetitive gameplay loop that detracts from the otherwise strong concept, world-building, and artistic style. While the introduction of tainting mechanics aims to innovate beyond traditional XP grinding, it ultimately leads to a frustrating experience that overshadows the game's potential.

    • “The rinse and repeat over and over again is extremely tedious and unenjoyable.”
    • “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.”
  • atmosphere
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere in the game is characterized by an oppressive and decaying environment, featuring rusted machinery and flickering torches that enhance the tension of survival. This procedural design, combined with ambient music, creates a compelling experience for players who appreciate challenging roguelikes that incorporate both mechanical and moral dilemmas. Overall, the atmosphere effectively immerses players in a harsh and unpredictable world.

    • “In the end, Soulblight is best suited for players who appreciate harsh, atmospheric roguelikes and enjoy mechanics that challenge not just reflexes but moral choices.”
    • “The sanctuary is procedurally generated, but its design leans heavily on an oppressive atmosphere—rusted machinery, rotten wooden structures, flickering torches, and signs of decay at every turn.”
    • “Still, the oppressive atmosphere and the unpredictability of injuries, corruption, and resource scarcity give each descent a tension that can appeal to players who enjoy harsh survival loops.”
  • replayability
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's replayability is a mixed bag; while the taint system offers some variety in strategies and builds, the lack of diverse enemies and consistent environmental elements significantly hampers long-term engagement. Players note that despite the potential for different traits, the core combat experience remains largely unchanged, leading to a perception of limited replay value.

    • “Replayability is high because of the taint system that can be combined into multiple taints, making you insanely strong.”
    • “You can explore different strategies using traits, which adds some variety to the gameplay, even if the core fights remain the same.”
    • “The game tries to maintain replayability through its moral mechanics and the allure of deeper sanctuary floors, but the lack of broader enemy variety or environmental twists limits long-term engagement.”
    • “The monsters are always the same; the replayability is almost zero aside from the trait factor. You can get some different damage based on your trait and employ different strategies, but the fights will always be the same.”
    • “The first four taints will always be the same, no matter what, which kills the replayability of the game.”
  • music
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's music is highly praised for its dramatic fantasy tracks that perfectly complement the environment, enhancing the overall immersive experience. The ambient soundscapes contribute significantly to the atmosphere, making it a standout feature alongside the beautiful graphics.

    • “Music, too, is very good: dramatic fantasy tracks that fit the environment perfectly.”
    • “The art style is pretty amazing and the music is very immersive.”
    • “Atmosphere and ambient music is great, adding to the atmosphere.”
  • character development
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development is praised for its innovative approach, focusing on psychological depth rather than traditional numerical progression. Additionally, the NPC designs are noted as impressive, enhancing the overall experience.

    • “It is a fascinating idea, one that attempts to explore character development through psychology rather than through numbers alone.”
    • “The character development feels shallow and lacks depth, making it hard to connect with the characters on an emotional level.”
    • “I was disappointed by the lack of meaningful choices that impact character growth; it feels like a missed opportunity.”
    • “While the game introduces interesting concepts, the execution of character development is poorly handled and leaves much to be desired.”
  • stability
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users report significant stability issues, highlighting frequent glitches that disrupt gameplay by taking control of the character whenever a level is selected.

    • “Strange glitches that completely take control of your character every time you choose a level.”
    • “The game crashes frequently, making it nearly impossible to progress.”
    • “I experienced constant lag and freezing, which ruined the overall experience.”
  • optimization
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization has received criticism for its poor technical performance on the Nintendo Switch, which detracts from the overall experience. Players express a desire for customizable control bindings to enhance gameplay efficiency, particularly in combat, which can be frustrating despite having potential for smooth execution once mastered.

    • “I often find myself wishing I could rebind several controls to more optimized locations for my personal use. 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?'”
    • “The combat isn't obvious at first, but once it's figured out, it can run smoothly. If you want to fight directly, 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?'”
    • “Not helping matters are the title's poor technical performance on Nintendo Switch and the sheer insufferable nature of its combat.”
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43%Critics’ scoreBased on 7 critic reviews
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Frequently Asked Questions

Soulblight is a survival role playing game with fantasy theme.

Soulblight is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, Windows and Xbox.

Soulblight was released on March 15, 2018.

Soulblight was developed by My Next Games.

Soulblight has received neutral reviews from players and neutral reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its grinding.

Soulblight is a single player game.

Similar games include Mortal Shell, Deep Sky Derelicts, Dark Devotion, Alaloth: Champions of The Four Kingdoms, Immortal Planet and others.