Soulstone Survivors is an action rogue-lite game from Game Smithing Limited, featuring a diverse cast of playable characters. As its name may suggest, Soulstone Survivors is a part of the survivors-like genre of games, popularised by Vampire Survivors. The game sees the player assume control of one of many void hunters, and are tasked with slaying hundreds of monsters and bosses to level up and gain new abilities.
I Need a Hero
The heroes of Soulstone Survivors are the void hunters, definitely the highlight of the game. The roster is large and varied, featuring a spartan warrior, an elementalist, wukong and the necromancer – my personal favourite. Each character comes with their own strengths and weaknesses and their own special skills. The necromancer has the unique ability to summon skeletons and eventually you will have summoned a small army of undead. Other characters are less exciting, like the archer or the berserker. These characters aren’t bad, just not as creative as the best the game offers.
Another highlight is the OST. The soundtrack surprised me with how unusual it was for the setting of the game. The Scorching Valley’s music is easily my favourite. Abstract chanting accompanied with energetic beats enchanted me. All of the tracks are interesting and they definitely lift up Soulstone Survivors.
Performance wise, Soulstone Survivors runs buttery smooth on PS5. During my play I encountered no bugs, frame drops or any technical errors of any kind.
Monster Mash
Soulstone Survivors is filled to the brim with enemy types but I always felt that they could’ve been more unique, mechanically speaking. I wish that status effects or specific attack types granted unique death animations for enemies. I think it would sell the power fantasy a lot more. More enemy types/attacks etc would benefit the experience. Most of the enemies act the same way, just with variable speed, health and damage output. Although annoying in the moment, the glowing enemies did offer variety with their ranged attacks, which I did appreciate. Soulstone Survivors titan bosses are a highlight, varying from ice golems to medusa herself! I just wish there were more, but I’m sure the developers have them in the pipeline.
Ghouls and Goblins
A problem I’ve had with Soulstone Survivors is its menus. I found that they were difficult to navigate, filled with various tabs and sub-menus and stats and currencies. The cursor itself can also be difficult to keep track of and one time I somehow lost it all together. I’m sure on PC, mouse controls make navigation much easier, but on console it is a little subpar.
My biggest gripe with the game are its currencies and crafting materials which all take the form of various coloured crystals, of which I think there are too many. Various types of ores are used to upgrade each character’s weapons, but I think this could’ve been streamlined better. The icons for the ores can be too similar looking and combined with confusing controller controls for the menus, it can be difficult identifying them. Coloured crystals are used to buy new characters and for general upgrades via the skill tree. However, I felt that I was dissuaded from purchasing skill tree upgrades because I wanted to save up for new characters.
Verdict
Overall, Soulstone Survivors is a fun game and is a worthy addition to the “survivors” group of games. Some of the characters are way more interesting than others, but I never found myself having a bad time with any of them. I really enjoyed the soundtrack and it’s honestly a perfect game to turn your brain off to and just chill out for a while. With some updates, this game could turn into something very special and I wish the developers all the best working on this project. I will stay posted!
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