Titan Souls (PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita & Android)

Titan Souls

Developer(s) – Acid Nerve

Publisher(s) – Devolver Digital

Designer(s) – Mark Foster & Andrew Gleeson

Programmer – Mark Foster

PEGI – 7

Drawing influence from some of the most critically acclaimed gaming franchises of all time such as Legend of Zelda and Dark Souls. And being met with critical acclaim following its release in 2015, Titan Souls is a top-down adventure game, similar in gameplay style to A Link to the Past. But with much of the same difficulty as Dark Souls. After playing this game for the first time at Play Manchester 2015, I was somewhat skeptical about going back into it in an attempt to complete it. Since I’d only played the first part prior. And was massively under the impression that things were only going to get insufferably harder after that point. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the game is nowhere near as inaccessible as I feared that it would be. And I ended up enjoying it very much.

Graphics – 10/10

Rendered in 16-bit graphics reminiscent of the fourth generation of gaming, the game looks even better than some of the classic titles of that era. Aside from the in-game world looking vibrant, colorful, and extremely unique in terms of conceptual design, in both its setting and boss characters, the attention to detail regarding the environment. Such as shadows in the forests, and footprints in the snow.

And splashes in the water make it extremely enjoyable to take in whilst playing. In addition, due to elements put in such as overgrowing moss on buildings and snow mounts in the colder regions, very little about the in-game world looks replicated like what was typical of games of earlier gaming eras. It’s similar to how each cave in Skyrim was uniquely designed in comparison to how they were designed in Oblivion.

Gameplay – 7.5/10

The objective of the game is to seek out and kill a series of titans situated throughout the land. Similar in many ways to Shadow of the Colossus. The player’s only weapon is a single arrow from a bow. It can be telepathically summoned back to the player upon firing. This is where the game’s intense level of challenge comes in. Players need to be able to move and dodge enemy attacks efficiently as much as they to be accurate in placing their attacks.

The game can be made to look intimidating in terms of challenge. But speaking as a gamer who considers games like Dark Souls and the original Mega Man and Castlevania titles to be overly inaccessible, I didn’t find it to be unforgiving. Players will need to persevere since death will happen more than once. Especially as the player dies in one hit. But the satisfaction to be had after completing the game makes it more than worthwhile to play. Harder than completing the game is fulfilling the additional criteria during boss fights needed to unlock certain achievements within it. For example, knocking out all of the mountain titan’s teeth before killing it.

Controls – 10/10

Thankfully, there are no issues with the game’s control scheme whatsoever. It came as an especially big relief to me. As I’ve found that many challenging games. Most notably earlier eras of gaming like Castlevania and Mega Man have suffered from having problems with the controls. It can be an unnecessary annoyance while playing. If a game demands that players need to be on top of their game to complete it, then the developers need to be on top of theirs while creating it, I feel. Otherwise, it can largely contradict the point of making a game that hard at all.

Lifespan – 7/10

One playthrough of Titan Souls, depending on how often the player gets themselves killed while playing, can be made to last roughly 5 to 6 hours. However, there is some replayability to be had if players want to truly master the game and do everything there is to do in it. Making for an experience lasting around 15 to 20 hours overall. I think with the size of the world the developers incorporated, they could have added a few more side quests to contribute to the game’s longevity. But regardless, the game does last a respectable amount of time. For those willing to put as much time into it as possible.

Storyline – 6.5/10

The story of the game follows a nameless traveler armed with a bow and a single arrow, on a quest to defeat all the titans throughout the land. In order to harness the power of the titan souls and realize a great truth and power. What bugs me about the story more than anything is that there is too much left unexplained in my opinion. There’s nothing with a level of ambiguity when it comes to a story. For example, if it ends on an interesting cliffhanger. Or if there are certain aspects of characters or plot twists that are left open to debate.

But since there does seem to be some kind of mythology attached to this game, I would have liked to find out a lot more about it. Shadow of the Colossus’s plot was somewhat similar. But there was more depth to it than there is in this game. Making the players care more about what would be going on, or what would happen to the characters. But where Titan Souls is concerned, I was left wanting in this aspect. At least until a sequel may be developed.

Originality – 7/10

Though Titan Souls may not be the first game to do many of the things that it does by any stretch of the imagination, they are all done with their own unique twist which will make gamers. Especially seasoned players of retro games, appreciate it to a great extent. It’s open to players looking for a wondrous sense of nostalgia. As well as younger gamers looking to explore how gaming used to be. But at the same time, it is in for a different kind of experience to what was typically available to gamers back in the days of the Super NES and Mega Drive.

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In summation, Titan Souls is a gaming experience well worth delving into. It’s challenging without being accessible, its visuals are marvelous to behold. And though it may be lacking somewhat in the story, it provides an ample amount of what matters most; immersing gameplay.

Score

48/60

8/10 (Very Good)

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