Soulslinger: Envoy of Death

About

"Soulslinger: Envoy of Death" is a single-player Fantasy Shooter game set in the rogue-lite FPS world of Haven. As an Envoy of Death, players can upgrade abilities and weapons to become the ultimate Soulslinger in a war against the afterlife's criminal cartel. Experience a captivating western-fantasy tale of grief, loss, and one man's obsession with cheating death.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

+13

75%

Audience ScoreBased on 429 reviews

gameplay36 positive mentions

optimization18 negative mentions

The game features a unique blend of fast-paced action and engaging storytelling, set in a beautifully designed world.
Gunplay is satisfying, with impactful shots and a variety of abilities that enhance gameplay.
The developers are responsive to community feedback and have made significant improvements since the demo.

The game suffers from optimization issues, including frame rate drops and crashes, especially during intense combat scenarios.
Content is currently limited, leading to repetitive gameplay and a lack of variety in levels and enemies.
Some mechanics, such as the reload system and enemy behavior, can feel frustrating and unbalanced, detracting from the overall experience.

gameplay
112 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
64%
4%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players enjoying the fun mechanics and engaging combat, but also noting issues with repetitiveness and a lack of content. While some appreciate the smooth movement and upgrade systems, others criticize the game for being buggy and having a gameplay loop that can feel unsatisfying or generic. Overall, the developers are recognized for their passion and ongoing improvements, but significant gameplay enhancements are still needed to maintain long-term player interest.
- “Soulslinger, on the other hand, has very fun and engaging gameplay. It's an actual roguelike/roguelite with good metaprogression, great music, and a nice interesting story with decent voice acting and cutscenes that unlock as you progress.”
- “The moment-to-moment gameplay is engaging, and the devs have been hard at work improving the game and slowly but steadily adding content.”
- “Gameplay is solid, the story is intriguing, controls are tight, and the random abilities make each run enjoyable.”
- “We are in early access, maybe somewhere like 70% completion, it still has bugs here and there and some are game-breaking, like getting stuck on a roof which happened to me twice in 8 hours of gameplay.”
- “There is no satisfaction in anything you do; the stages are small and boring, and if you move at a decent pace, after 20 minutes of gameplay you have seen everything the game has to offer gameplay-wise.”
- “The gameplay is the weakness of this project.”
story
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
51%
4%
The story in "Soulslinger: Envoy of Death" is generally described as engaging and immersive, featuring a unique premise where players work for the grim reaper to combat a soul-harvesting cartel. While some reviews note that the plot isn't groundbreaking and certain characters and dialogues can be bland, many appreciate the well-paced storytelling, solid voice acting, and the integration of themes like death and progression within the roguelike framework. Overall, the game offers a blend of fast-paced action and narrative depth, appealing to fans of various genres despite some criticisms regarding repetitiveness and stability.
- “What really stood out was the great underlying story and great voice acting.”
- “It’s a seamless blend of fast-paced action with an unexpected dose of intense storytelling, all wrapped up in a gorgeously designed world.”
- “Despite encountering the perma-death associated with roguelikes, every run feels purposeful and you’ll find yourself continually pushing to uncover more of the compellingly enigmatic story.”
- “The NPCs and story/dialogue are very boring, and the cutscenes are very drawn out.”
- “The story is bland, the characters are bland—normally in games like this, this wouldn't be a terrible thing, but unfortunately, the gameplay loop isn't all that exciting either.”
- “By design, this game features no proper level design or game/story flow/plot, as they opted to try to use samey repetitive procedural generation algorithms as a substitute for adding such content to the game, to avoid doing the important job of level/map design.”
graphics
74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
59%
36%
4%
The graphics of the game have received widespread praise for their beauty and polish, with many reviewers highlighting the impressive environments, models, and particle effects that enhance the overall experience. While the visuals are considered top-notch and contribute significantly to the game's enjoyment, some players noted occasional performance issues and animation shortcomings. Overall, the game's graphics are seen as a strong point, elevating it above typical indie titles and creating an immersive atmosphere.
- “First of all, the game has beautiful visuals: environments, models, particle effects, and lighting in general.”
- “The graphics are polished and the game runs smoothly.”
- “Top-notch presentation, visuals, and audio well above the indie level, has a well-written story, some of the best NPC characters I've encountered lately.”
- “This feels like an asset flip honestly, only redeeming point is the graphics (UE5).”
- “Early access, still has some lag spikes, but the graphics are fancy.”
- “Some graphic animations (explosive gun rounds for example) seem lacking.”
optimization
52 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
54%
35%
The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with many players reporting severe stuttering, frame drops, and performance issues even on lower settings. While some users with high-end hardware experience smoother gameplay, the overall consensus is that the game requires further optimization to handle intense scenarios and multiple enemies effectively. Many reviewers suggest that until these issues are addressed, the game may be unplayable for those with less powerful systems.
- “Game runs smoothly here on a RTX 3060 Ti, 32GB DDR5, and Intel i5-13400, all graphics settings on max, 2K resolution (1440p) and DLSS set to quality.”
- “The presentation is surprisingly strong with impressive visuals and overall technical performance, which has been much improved since the earlier versions.”
- “Very fun so far, just think it needs better optimization.”
- “The game's optimization is terrible; even on medium, the FPS can drop to 0 and freeze the console!”
- “The optimization is garbage for this game; constant lags even when I lowered settings to the lowest and it still lagged like hell.”
- “Need more optimization; at the graveyard after the 2nd cutscene when fighting the spellweaver, my FPS dropped to 10 FPS the whole time and only increased after I killed the spellweavers.”
music
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
44%
13%
The music in the game is generally well-received, with many players appreciating its ability to enhance the atmosphere and complement the setting, particularly favoring guitar-centered tracks. While some find the soundtrack enjoyable and fitting, others note a lack of variety and suggest that it could be more dynamic and contextually appropriate to elevate the gameplay experience. Overall, the music contributes positively to the game's ambiance, though some players desire more diversity and intensity.
- “The soundtrack might not have dozens of bangers, but it complements the setting very well, it enhances the mood, and man do I love me some guitar-centered music.”
- “Music is amazing and adds a ton to the overall atmosphere of the game.”
- “The sound, music, and graphics are all really good.”
- “The issue for me is the lack of music - you have the same music in a shop and in a fight that doesn't seem right.”
- “The music could be heavier, more metal, and more contextually appropriate based on what's happening on screen to create a sense of urgency or tension for the player.”
- “The soundtrack might not have dozens of bangers, but it complements the setting very well; it enhances the mood.”
atmosphere
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
90%
10%
The atmosphere of Soulslinger is highly praised for its unique blend of western and fantastical elements, creating a hauntingly immersive experience. The standout sound design and music significantly enhance the game's ambiance, while the art style and graphics contribute to a visually appealing world. Overall, players appreciate the well-crafted atmosphere that complements the game's themes and characters.
- “Atmospherically, Soulslinger blends western and fantastical elements, crafting a unique 'not-quite-right' western vibe.”
- “The sound design is a standout, enhancing the game’s immersive world of limbo with a hauntingly atmospheric score.”
- “Music is amazing and adds a ton to the overall atmosphere of the game.”
stability
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
86%
The game, currently in early access, is reported to be quite buggy, with issues such as invisible walls, unresponsive dashing, and occasional freezing or crashing. While players appreciate the animations and voice acting, many express frustration over the stability problems, indicating a need for patches and updates to improve the overall experience. The developers are noted to be responsive to reported bugs, which offers some hope for future improvements.
- “Now the game is still early access, so it will be a bit buggy with a lot of invisible walls and corners to get stuck on. Personally, my biggest criticism is that the dash isn't always as responsive as I would like, but the developer is very responsive to most bugs and criticisms reported.”
- “Jumping and dashing glitches out by getting half stuck or hitting an invisible wall, and instead of dashing forward, you go up.”
- “I'll have to wait for a patch/update to play again, as now I'm in a loop bug situation where I can't go back to the hub, and if I continue and go through a portal, the game freezes and crashes.”
monetization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game has been criticized for being intrusive, with players feeling overwhelmed by ads while trying to navigate gameplay. Additionally, the overall experience is marred by a lack of content and optimization issues, which detracts from the enjoyment and fluidity of combat mechanics.
- “The ads are off-putting, where the gun itself aims down but instead of using the sights, you still use the reticle.”
- “You'll be frantically dodging the swarm of small ads while there are 6 or more bullet sponge 'ogres' that can launch huge AoE attacks anywhere in the arena.”
- “Firstly, aiming down sights seems almost useless, or in some cases an outright hindrance as the shotgun doesn't have a sight at all and removes your crosshair when you aim down sights.”
character development
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development in Soulslinger is praised for its depth and engaging narrative, setting it apart from typical shooters that prioritize combat. Players appreciate the unique and appealing character designs, particularly for Lady Gunslinger and Dead-eye, which enhance the overall experience and draw players into the game's world.
- “Unlike other shooters that focus solely on the thrill of combat, Soulslinger offers a rare gem of character development and an intriguing narrative that keeps you coming back not just for the gameplay, but for the characters and the world they inhabit.”
- “Lady Gunslinger has a great character design.”
- “Dead-eye's character design is pretty damn cool; big ups to the pirate who voiced him.”
grinding
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and often feel that their efforts do not yield significant improvements, leading to frustration. While some recent updates have made grinding feel more rewarding, many still believe that balancing issues and unresponsive mechanics detract from the overall experience. Overall, there is a call for better integration of upgrades and a more satisfying progression system.
- “Also, the shard grinding gets pretty tedious on the upgrade system.”
- “I've been grinding non-stop since yesterday and got so many upgrades, yet I feel weaker than in my first run. Why is that?”
- “I think they need to balance a whole lot of aspects of this game to make it less tedious.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Users indicate that the game currently has no replay value, suggesting a lack of incentives or content that encourages players to revisit it.
- “At the moment, the replay value is 0.”
- “At the moment, the replay value is 0.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features poignant moments that resonate emotionally, particularly as the protagonist confronts themes of mortality and loss. These heartfelt instances contribute to a deeper connection with the character's journey.
- “The game features some heartfelt moments as the protagonist grapples with the concept of death.”
- “The game features some heartfelt moments as the protagonist grapples with the concept of death.”