Technology has gotten out of control. Take on the powerful Dominators in SOULVARS to see if you can survive.
The future always remains uncertain. One of humanity’s dreams is to have the best technology accompany us into the future. SOULVARS shows us the flip side of this far-off dream. Some of us fail to understand that our technology will always contain flaws. Some of those flaws may be nothing more than programming errors. In the world of SOULVARS, humanity’s arrogance has finally caught up with them.
From ginolabo and SUCCESS CORP, comes a pixel action game where one acts as a member of the DDO. It may be the first game released by the ginolabo developer, but if this is their first title, they are sure to meet with success in the future. The DDO, or dominator disposal organization, has hired you as a freelancer to remove threats to humanity. Depending on the opponents such a task may be nearly impossible. But with the help of friends and special abilities, Yakumo will make short work of the monsters that plague the earth.
Others with similar abilities might work to stop Yakumo and his allies. They can transform themselves into hideous monsters with alternate souls, able to wield Dominator power. But the DDO and its mercenaries have power up their sleeves as well. At some point, it will be all about who’s more determined.
The gameplay for SOULVARS is fantastically simple. To date, most modern PC games employ a keyboard and mouse combination. So, it is refreshing to see a title that uses the keyboard exclusively. It makes it so that no mistakes can be made when choosing a specific menu item. It is certainly an adjustment not needing to reach for the mouse every so often.
The left, right, up, and down options corresponded to the W, A, S, and D keys. Because the game is in 2D format these controls make complete sense. Accompanying those simple controls our nice little 2D map indicates where Yakumo is and isn’t able to go. Most squares when entered will light up once Yakumo is inside of it. Some areas, unfortunately, might be locked away and require participation in other events.
A lot of sequences are initiated by listening to the requests of the NPCs. Once ‘listened to,’ one can complete the request. There is nothing in the way of a journal so it’s hard to keep track of requests. It can be a little time-consuming if one forgets exactly where their objective is. Writing down the quest objectives and location might be good if one is more forgetful than the average squirrel.
Sometimes it is possible to find oneself without any healing items. This is when the Escape function becomes important. Hitting ESC, of course, performs this action. Useful in some situations, it won’t always work. It seems to be slightly tied to chance or perhaps based on enemy speed. My eyes met with the GAME OVER screen an unfortunate number of times simply because the enemy had the advantage.
Some of the things that hinder Yakumo’s journey forward in SOULVARS are simple shutter gates. Hit the right button and the shutters will open with no problem. One might run into a problem, however, in trying to find the button for a set of shutters that might be in the way. Each time my party found the right button a battle would ensue.
Attacks and actions come in the form of a radial menu at the bottom center of the screen. Each character possesses unique skills. These skills, however, can be bought and taught to a different character, provided they are leveled up enough. For example, Yakumo, for his part, can use an awesome multi-hit attack called ‘chain heat’. Combining two fire attacks summons this ability, bombarding the enemy multiple times with a fire-based attack. His companions can also learn this ability. For that to happen, though, they must be able to execute the same actions.
As useful as multiple skills are it seems best to keep characters focused on specific skills. Because there are limits in SOULVARS, changing character skills too often can result in accidentally sacrificing something useful. It seems best to keep characters to the elements they’re introduced with.
No matter what action one chooses, SP or Soul Points must be spent. Some attacks or actions will take far more points to execute than others. Fortunately, there is a simple way to circumvent this issue. Defense is likely to the relief of many, simple but extremely effective. Activating defense seems to use little to no SP. Knowing this, it’s easy to stack SP for the next turn. Taking advantage of this can turn the tide of battle.
It’s easy to make short work of enemies with the right set of combos. At times, the attacks between characters will chain together. This is so cool to watch, especially with how unexpected it can be. Once executed, there’s this spectacular light show to accompany every strike in the combo.
Attributes in SOULVARS like attack, defense, psy, and tech levels can be enhanced slightly through boost items. These things can be reviewed by pressing I to access the inventory menu. From here, one can review how many of each item. It also affords the player the ability to mod their armor and weapons.
Unfortunately, for those looking, there is no way to ‘god-mode’ a weapon or set of armor in SOULVARS. Mods slots are limited to about one or two per item. If one is to want a new enhancement, one must be willing to sacrifice an enhancement they already have. It’s an interesting way to force the player to strategize with what boosts are right for their fighting style. Having to strategize based on boosts was both a fun and intense challenge.
One must also pay attention in SOULVARS to the arrows that are visible near attacks or actions. One may point down and the other may point up. A down-facing arrow indicates the attack will be weak against the targeted opponent. This is extremely useful in planning a series of attacks in the next turn. Seeing the arrow pointing up means an attack will be exponentially more effective. Delivering absolute devastation to the enemy, it’s entirely possible to obliterate every opponent before they have a chance to do a thing.
Not being able to create an overpowered weapon is completely fine. SOULVARS more than makes up for it with character transformations. The Dominators may have crazy tech-based powers. But the agents of the DDO are blessed to be able to do the same. It isn’t just attacks that are increased but speed and defense as well. Activating this requires each respective character to be below a certain HP to be able to transform.
Transforming in SOULVARS can be accelerated at a cost. Using a special action, characters can injure themselves, purposely lowering their HP. Hit it at the right time and voila, Dominator transformation becomes available. Stacking the self-inflicted HP loss is never a good idea. Using it too often too quickly can allow the enemy to wipe out one’s entire team. My team met many ends because of this. Even when the ability becomes available it is always best used as a last resort.
The pixelated artwork for SOULVARS is lovely. It has a wonderful old-school feel that invokes a sense of nostalgia. An excellent choice in visual artwork complements the action sequences nicely. It gives a very old-school arcade box feel to the entire game. It’s nice not having to carry a pouch full of quarters to play.
SOULVARS has all the great MIDI sounds to accompany the action itself. Though, the music itself, fortunately, isn’t simple MIDI music. Action is accompanied by a blood-pumping rock soundtrack. Whether you are looking or listening, there’s always something fun to experience.
SOULVARS is a fantastic pixel-art arcade action game. It has very few problems, surprisingly, for being the first title released by ginolabo on Steam. Developers have done a wonderful job in streamlining both the combat and the adventure. With all the wonderful things it does have, it is a shame that there is no journal to keep track of quests. It is not a bad price for what it offers its players. There is always a demo for those who like to try before they buy.
