Info about Soulstice:

Official game description:
The balance of the Holy Kingdom of Keidas is compromised when powerful, feral creatures known as “Wraiths” invade from the other side of the Veil, threatening to consume the living. Wraiths corrupt their victims and can even possess their bodies, turning into unstoppable monsters that prey upon the common folk. The “Chimeras”, hybrid warriors born of the union of two souls, are the only ones who can protect humankind.  
Briar and Lute are two sisters who have been reborn as a Chimera. The transformation has granted Briar superhuman strength and resilience, while Lute, sacrificed to bind her soul to her sister’s, has become a shade with mystical powers. Voiced by Stefanie Joosten (Metal Gear Solid 5), Briar and Lute are sent on a mission to reclaim a city in ruins that has been ravaged by the Wraiths, only to discover that the Order they belong to has a far more complex plan in mind.  
Explore a dark world brimming with hidden mysteries, master a diverse combat system, and inhabit the dual forces of two sisters in a coming-of-age dark fantasy story with fast-paced action, vicious enemies, and spectacular boss fights.  
Key Features
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*   **Fight in Synergy** - Manage sisters Briar and Lute simultaneously. Master melee attacks and combos as Briar and take control of the battlefield with otherworldly abilities as Lute. Combine their strengths to unlock powerful, transformational abilities and tap into their true potential as Chimera.  
*   **Explore a City in Ruin** - A Tear in the Sky has opened above the once-holy city of Ilden. As Briar and Lute fight to reach the Tear, they’ll face challenging puzzles and unveil secrets of the Order while their surroundings become more hostile and twisted.  
*   **Customize Weapons and Abilities** - Weapons are unlocked and upgraded throughout the game and can even be switched on the fly to unleash stylish and highly devastating combo attacks.  
*   **Battle Different Enemy Classes** - A vile mix of Wraiths, Corrupted and Possessed, have poured into the world from beyond the Veil. Utilize Lute’s unique auras to expose or weaken these creatures and adapt to a flow of battle that never feels the same.  
*   **Learn the Truth of Your Origin** - Through a dark story filled with sisterly love and sacrifice, Briar and Lute discover the truth about themselves and their Chimera powers while working together and staying true to their unbreakable bond.

Release date: Sep 19, 2022

Categories: Soulslike Combat, Character Progression, Action RPG, Exploration, Weapon Customization, Story-driven Gameplay, Boss Fights, Platforming

Feature scans:
- Steam Deck: score 50; verdict: Tinkering Required; summary: The analysis of user feedback for Soulstice on Steam Deck reveals several significant issues impacting the overall experience. The most prominent problems include unresponsive and inaccurate controls, which hinder gameplay, and performance issues such as frame drops and low FPS, even on lower graphical settings. These issues require users to seek optimized settings or modifications to improve the game's performance, indicating that the game does not provide a seamless experience out of the box.

- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price:
  - Community fair range: $10.00 - $20.00
  - Reasoning: The evidence suggests that the community finds the game worth purchasing at a discounted price, typically around $10 to $40. Many reviews mention that the game is worth it when bought on sale, indicating that the fair price range is lower than the full price. The repeated mentions of the game being worth it at a discounted price point to a community consensus that the fair price range is between $10 and $20, with some willingness to go up to $40 for a particularly good sale.
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 20.0h
  - Story completion: 15.0h
  - Session length: 5.0h
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: The evidence provides direct and indirect references to playtime metrics. The first quote mentions 15 hours of gameplay, which can be associated with a typical game completion time. The second quote indicates a player's progress at 5 hours, suggesting a session length or partial story completion. The third quote mentions 20 hours of gameplay, which aligns with a longer playtime metric, possibly indicating endgame content. The fourth quote implies a high level of engagement and completion of the game, supporting the idea of a full game completion time.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: The game starts with fun combat but becomes tedious and repetitive around mid-game, particularly after mission 12 or 13. Unlocking more weapons and skills makes the game more engaging.
  - Stance: Fun then drops
  - Anchor: Unlocking more weapons and skills
  - Time to anchor: 15h 0m
  - Friction: Repetitive mechanics; Tedious pacing; Damage sponge enemies; Camera issues; Color-coded enemy mechanics
  - Unlock drivers: Unlocking more weapons; Unlocking more skills
  - Conditions: Patience for mid-game slog; Tolerance for repetitive combat; Interest in character progression
- Player Archetypes:
  - Classic Hack-and-Slash Enthusiast (buy)
    - Motivation: Nostalgia and appreciation for classic gameplay mechanics.
    - Playstyle: Enjoys challenging combat and classic camera styles.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: DMC fan; old-school player
    - Reference games: Devil May Cry; God of War; Bayonetta
  - Genre Appreciator (sale)
    - Motivation: Recognition of the game's strengths and appeal to genre fans.
    - Playstyle: Prefers games with solid combat and story, even if not personally enjoyed.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: action-combat fan
    - Reference games: Devil May Cry; Bayonetta
  - Critical Optimist (deep sale)
    - Motivation: Hope for improvements and recognition of potential.
    - Playstyle: Enjoys games with promising elements but is critical of flaws.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: deep sale
    - Labels: critical player; optimistic gamer
    - Reference games: Devil May Cry; Bayonetta
  - Casual Hack-and-Slash Fan (sale)
    - Motivation: Enjoyment of old-school gameplay and value for money.
    - Playstyle: Prefers casual playthroughs and enjoying games without deep investment.
    - Experience: newcomer
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: casual player; hack-and-slash fan
    - Reference games: Devil May Cry; Bayonetta


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Engaging and satisfying combat (weight 0.37): The combat system is widely praised for being fun, challenging, and rewarding. Players enjoy the variety of weapons, combos, and the strategic depth it offers.
- Compelling story and characters (weight 0.31): The game features a well-developed and engaging story with unique characters. The lore and drama are well-received, making the narrative a strong point.
- Impressive visuals and art style (weight 0.31): The game is praised for its beautiful and stylish visuals, including character designs, animations, and art direction. The visual style is often described as visually appealing and well-done.
- Similar to Devil May Cry (weight 0.23): The gameplay and combat mechanics are often compared to Devil May Cry, appealing to fans of that series. The similarities include combat style, camera angles, and overall feel.
- Inspired by Claymore and Berserk (weight 0.13): The game draws inspiration from the anime/manga series Claymore and Berserk, which is reflected in its story and character designs.
- Memorable boss fights (weight 0.13): The boss fights are highlighted as dynamic, challenging, and well-designed. They provide some of the best combat experiences in the game.
- Well-designed levels (weight 0.12): The level design is praised for being engaging, well-made, and visually appealing, contributing to the overall enjoyment of the game.
- Variety of weapons and combos (weight 0.09): The game offers a wide variety of weapons and combos, adding to the depth and enjoyment of the combat system.
- Good value for money (weight 0.06): Players feel that the game offers good value for its price, making it a worthwhile purchase.
- Well-made cutscenes (weight 0.05): The cutscenes are well-directed, animated, and spectacular, adding to the game's cinematic appeal.
- Outstanding creature design (weight 0.05): The game features impressive and interesting designs for characters and monsters, contributing to its unique visual style.

Common complaints:
- Camera angles cause frustration (weight 0.52): The fixed camera angles are widely criticized for causing inconvenience, confusion, and difficulty, especially during combat and platforming sections. Players find the camera angles problematic and poorly implemented, leading to a frustrating experience.
- Repetitive and boring gameplay (weight 0.37): The gameplay is often criticized for being repetitive, boring, and lacking polish. Players find the gameplay monotonous and uninteresting, with repetitive environments and levels that blend together.
- Combat mechanics are tedious (weight 0.25): The combat system is frequently described as repetitive, boring, and poorly designed. Players find the combat mechanics tedious, confusing, and lacking fluidity, which makes the combat experience frustrating and unenjoyable.
- Platforming sections are frustrating (weight 0.14): Platforming sections are often described as frustrating and poorly designed. The fixed camera angles and lack of camera controls make platforming sections difficult and annoying.
- Enemies have excessive health (weight 0.13): Enemies are often criticized for having too much health, making combat sections tedious and frustrating. Players find that enemies are too resilient and lack variety, leading to repetitive and boring combat.
- Poor optimization and controls (weight 0.12): The game suffers from performance issues, poor controls, and optimization problems. Players report stuttering, poor hit detection, and bad sound effects, which detract from the overall experience.
- Lock-on system is problematic (weight 0.08): The lock-on system is criticized for being poorly implemented and uncomfortable to use. Players find the lock-on system disorienting and problematic, especially during combat.
- Clunky gameplay mechanics (weight 0.06): The gameplay mechanics are often described as clunky and janky. Players find the combat and platforming mechanics rough around the edges and poorly refined.

Gameplay feedback:
- Classic hack and slash gameplay (weight 0.2): The game is a classic hack and slash with strategic elements, inspired by titles like Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, and the old God of War saga. It features deep combat mechanics and a variety of weapons and combos.
- Weapon variety and switching (weight 0.16): The combat system involves switching between multiple weapons, each with different properties and performances against enemies. This adds a layer of strategy and variety to the gameplay.
- Color-coded combat mechanics (weight 0.13): The game features combat mechanics with color-coded enemies and fields, requiring players to use specific strategies based on enemy colors.
- Combo and special attack system (weight 0.1): The game has a robust combo system with special attacks tied to the combo meter. It includes perfect parry and combo timings, as well as light and dark attacks.
- Story and narrative elements (weight 0.1): The game features a compelling story and narrative, with elements of drama and world-building. The story is inspired by series like Berserk and Claymore.
- Fixed camera angles (weight 0.09): The game uses fixed camera angles, which can be challenging but adds a unique perspective to the gameplay. Players have adapted to these camera positions.
- Challenging difficulty (weight 0.07): The game offers a high level of difficulty with challenging combat and various difficulty levels. This adds to the game's replayability and skill-based gameplay.
- Fun and skill-based gameplay (weight 0.07): The game offers fun and engaging gameplay with a focus on skill-based mechanics. It includes a variety of gameplay activities and has high replayability.
- Beat 'em up gameplay (weight 0.06): The game features beat 'em up gameplay with waves of enemies and third-person brawler mechanics. It combines action and narrative elements.
- Transformation and level progression (weight 0.06): The game includes a transformation mechanic and requires players to progress through levels to reach a portal. It combines third-person shooter and 3D platformer elements.
- Platforming and puzzle sections (weight 0.06): The game includes platforming sections and puzzle mechanics, adding variety to the gameplay and requiring players to use different skills.
- Character progression and upgrades (weight 0.06): The game includes a character progression system with upgrade mechanics for characters and weapons. This allows players to enhance their abilities and weapons as they progress.

Performance notes:
- Optimization issues (weight 0.14): There are widespread complaints about poor optimization, particularly on PC. Players note that the game could be better optimized and runs poorly even on high-end hardware.
- FPS and performance drops (weight 0.12): Many players report frequent FPS drops and performance issues, often experiencing framedrops into the 40s and general instability in frame rates.
- Camera issues (weight 0.11): Camera problems are frequently mentioned, with complaints about terrible camera angles, fixed camera angles causing issues, and camera issues during fights.
- Crashes and fatal errors (weight 0.08): Several players report crashes, including black screen crashes, crashes during cutscenes, loading chapters, and fatal errors, particularly with the UE engine.
- Gameplay and technical tweaks (weight 0.07): Players mention the need for engine.ini and startup command tweaking, shader streaming disabled, and using DX12 for better performance.
- Stuttering problems (weight 0.06): Stuttering is a common issue, with players experiencing occasional stuttering and micro stutters every 5-10 seconds, affecting gameplay smoothness.
- Miscellaneous bugs and issues (weight 0.05): Various other issues include poor hit detection, animation problems, minor bugs, and specific bugs during boss fights.
- High system requirements (weight 0.04): The game has high system requirements, with some players noting that even newer PCs struggle to run the game smoothly without tweaks.
- Audio problems (weight 0.04): Audio-related issues include no in-game audio and sound delays, which detract from the overall gaming experience.
- Visual and graphical issues (weight 0.03): Visual problems include heavy VFX impacting performance, visual pollution, and various visual bugs.

Recommendations:
- Recommended on sale (weight 0.22): Many players suggest buying the game only when it is discounted, often specifying a significant discount. This indicates that while the game is enjoyable, it may not be worth the full price.
- Recommended for hack and slash fans (weight 0.19): The game is frequently recommended for fans of the hack and slash genre, particularly those who enjoy games like Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, and God of War. This suggests that the game appeals to a specific niche of action-combat enthusiasts.
- Potential for a sequel (weight 0.1): Many players express a desire for a sequel, often mentioning specific improvements they would like to see. This suggests that while the game is enjoyable, players believe there is room for enhancement in future installments.
- Worth playing for combat and story (weight 0.09): Players highlight the game's unique combat system, engaging story, and character designs as key reasons to play. This indicates that the game excels in these areas, providing a worthwhile experience for those interested in these aspects.
- Worth playing for the price (weight 0.07): Several players mention that the game is worth playing, especially considering its price. This indicates that the game offers good value for money, particularly when purchased at a discount.
- Gameplay tips and advice (weight 0.07): Players offer various tips and advice for playing the game, such as using a specific controller, adjusting difficulty settings, and managing health items. This suggests that the game may have a learning curve or specific mechanics that benefit from these tips.
- Mixed recommendations (weight 0.07): Some players have mixed feelings about the game, with recommendations ranging from avoiding it altogether to suggesting it only for specific types of players. This indicates that the game may not appeal to everyone and has its share of detractors.
- Positive overall experience (weight 0.06): Several players express overall satisfaction with the game, mentioning that they are happy with their purchase or enjoyed the experience. This suggests that, despite some criticisms, many players found the game enjoyable.
- Recommended for fans of specific anime (weight 0.05): The game is recommended for fans of specific anime like Berserk and Claymore. This indicates that the game's style or themes resonate with fans of these particular series.

Other player notes:
- Lista de jogos Hackn Slash (weight 0.02): Players are requesting a list of Hackn Slash games.
- Ukrainian language support (weight 0.02): There is a request for adding Ukrainian language support to the game.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.37): Players are primarily frustrated with the game's camera issues, which significantly hinder combat and platforming sections. Additionally, repetitive combat mechanics, unbalanced difficulty, and various technical issues such as crashes and poor optimization contribute to a frustrating experience.
- Disappointment (weight 0.13): Disappointment stems from the game's unmet expectations, particularly in combat mechanics, camera issues, and repetitive level design. Players also express dissatisfaction with the story, character development, and overall lack of innovation compared to other games in the genre.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.13): Players enjoy the game's combat mechanics, story, and visuals. The engaging gameplay, unique enemy variations, and overall positive experience contribute to their enjoyment, despite some flaws.
- Excitement (weight 0.08): Excitement is generated by the game's unique and stylish combat mechanics, engaging story, and high-energy presentation. Players are also excited about the game's similarities to other popular titles like Devil May Cry and Claymore.
- Appreciation (weight 0.04): Players appreciate the game's unique blend of gameplay elements, beautiful visuals, and interesting story. The effort and care put into the game's development, as well as its solid mechanics and character designs, are also highly valued.
- Joy (weight 0.04): Joy comes from the overall positive experience with the game, including its combat mechanics, art direction, and engaging story. Players also enjoy the variety of enemies, mechanics, and the game's atmosphere.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.03): Satisfaction is derived from the game's value for money, enjoyable combat mechanics, and interesting story. Players are also satisfied with the game's visuals, optimization, and the overall positive experience despite some minor flaws.
- Boredom (weight 0.02): Boredom is caused by the game's repetitive gameplay, lack of engaging content, and monotonous combat. Players find the game boring due to its lack of depth and originality.
- Anger (weight 0.01): Anger is primarily caused by the game's poor camera mechanics, repetitive dialogue, and enemy behavior. Fixed camera angles and repetitive enemy encounters also contribute to the frustration.
- Criticism (weight 0.01): Criticism is directed towards the lack of upgrade variety, repetitive mechanics, and poor level design. Players also criticize the movement, launcher move, and camera issues, as well as the need for polishing in combat, weapons, and sound design.
- Admiration (weight 0.01): Admiration is expressed for the game's great characters, world, lore, and optimization. Players admire the game's excellent hack and slash mechanics and its similarities to classic titles like Devil May Cry.
- Hopeful (weight 0.01): Players are hopeful for the potential improvement in a sequel and future games. The game's potential to rival veterans in the genre also gives players hope for better experiences in the future.
- Surprise (weight 0.01): Surprise comes from the game exceeding expectations with its well-made story and combat. Players are pleasantly surprised by the game's quality and depth.
- Hope (weight 0.01): Hope is expressed for the potential of a sequel, especially due to the cliffhanger ending. Players hope for improvements and further development of the game's story and mechanics.
- Interest (weight 0.01): Interest is sparked by the game's intriguing story and characters. The engaging narrative and open ending leave players wanting more.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.01): Nostalgia is felt due to the game's similarities to classic hack and slash titles. Players experience a sense of nostalgia for the golden age of the genre.
- Positive (weight 0.01): Positive feelings are generated by the overall enjoyable experience with the game, despite some camera issues. Players appreciate the game's inspiration from the anime Claymore and its quality.
- Excited (weight 0.01): Excitement is generated by the game's potential and its similarities to popular titles like Claymore and Devil May Cry. The game's high quality and homage to classic games also contribute to the excitement.}