Two Fedoras

MagicalTimeBean’s recent Xbox Live Indie Game release, Soulcaster, drops you into the role of a wandering geriatric wizard who, aside from having impeccable taste in hats, appears to have no talents of his own. That is of course until the souls of long ago heroes lend him their strength in an effort to restore peace to the land.

Gameplay

Soulcaster is an action adventure similar in design to The Legend of Zelda in that it features a top-down camera and a real-time combat system. That, however, is the extent of the similarities between the two, as the combat and progression systems differ fundamentally from the old Zelda hack, slash, and find.

Early in the game you come across the heroic souls of  an archer, an alchemist,  and a warrior. These three souls are summoned by you as combatants who will aid you on your dangerous adventure. The summoning system utilizes Soul Orbs as regents for the process and can not be used again until the Soul Orb is deactivated and recollected. You are initially given three orbs and then have the opportunity to buy two more to allow for the summoning of up to five of the three heroes; for example, you could summon three archers and two warriors if you possessed all five Soul Orbs.

As you may expect, each hero excels in certain areas of combat. The archer can fire arrows over chasms  and water, but not over walls or through compatriots. The alchemist can throw explosive potions over walls and compatriots but cannot throw them over bottomless expanses or water and upon death he will explode causing damage to anything in the area. The warrior is a master of close quarters combat, and is equipped with additional hit points and a shield that reduces incoming damage. The configuration of the maps and the adversaries you face will dictate who you summon and in what formation. The focus on strategy and  the summoned heroes immobility give the game an almost tower defense dimension.

To add a sense of progression, Soulcaster allows for the acquisition of not only more Soul Orbs but also upgrades for the individual heroes. There are four  basic classes of upgrade; a weapon upgrade, an attack speed upgrade, a hit point upgrade, and a range upgrade. These upgrades are all purchasable at the shop keep who, in typical game form, appears throughout the various dungeons.

The death and save systems of Soulcaster are a bit reminiscent of games of yore. Upon your death you will be forced to restart the map you’re on. In the event that you wish to save your progress you pause the game and are presented with a code to write down and then enter when you return. There is no confirmation of a purple leotard code.

The game works really well; therefor, I don’t have much to complain about from a mechanical perspective. The controls at time were a little strict only allowing for movement in the cardinal directions, but this is really an intentional design decision to give the impression of retro or D&D style movement.

If there is one thing to complain about it is the length of the game because it really feels like you are just starting when it ends. The pacing of the game felt perfect, so I do think it was simply  a need of, perhaps, another level or two. That said, the game sports two difficulty modes and seems to offer reasonable replay value.

Another item that stands out in Soulcaster is the lack of boss battles. However, even without boss battles the creators manage to escalate the difficulty by deploying swarms of normal creatures in less than ideal environments. Now this isn’t really a complaint, it’s more of an observation, though I wouldn’t have minded seeing a boss or two. I have the feeling that the mechanics of the game’s combat system didn’t lend itself to easy boss designing and tuning.

Audio Visual

Soulcaster has a nice retro eerie feeling world filled with pixel art sprites and a classic tile map environment. The aesthetics of the game are going to appeal most to those who are appreciative of retro styling but likely wont hinder players who may be indifferent to it.

One of the bits I enjoyed most about the game was its music. My favorite track is the one played during courtyard scenes in which you talk with the heroes’ statues and receive information pertaining to the world.. The music itself feels a bit more modern than the game looks but it still has that old school synthesized feel to it that keeps it from seeming out of place.

Summary

I got to say I really enjoyed this one and if you are looking for a top-down action adventure role playing game with a  retro look and feel it would be difficult for me to not recommend Soulcaster. If, maybe, you aren’t looking for a game that fits in exactly that sub-category and are just looking for a fun game, you should definitely check out the demo as its quite representative of the full game experience. The only aspect one should be mindful of when considering Soulcaster as a purchase is its length, it clocks in on initial play through at around an hour long; but do note, the game has a hard difficulty mode and some pretty decent replay value. Soulcaster rings up at 240 Microsoft Wing Dang Doodles and feels appropriately priced.