Info about SOULVARS:

Official game description:
JOIN THE PARTY!
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Shueisha Games Title
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About the Game
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SOULVARS takes deckbuilding combat to the next level with the innovative Soulbit system.  
Combine Soulbit actions and use deck-controlling Abilities to pull off 100+ breathtaking moves.  
Tactically counter powerful attacks and debuffs from enemy "Dominators," and time your counterattacks for maximum effect!  
Enjoy the best of both worlds: deep deckbuilding strategy and high-speed RPG battles!  
**◆ A future where human souls can be digitized...**
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Humanity faces the consequences of its technology with the sudden appearance of grotesque Dominators. Elite units consisting of Soulbearers, next-generation humans born with alternate Souls, are dispatched day and night to intercept and counter Dominator attacks. The story follows Yakumo, a freelance Soulbearer, as he handles assignments from private military contractor "DDO" (Dominator Disposal Organization).  
**◆ Deep, exhilarating battles and character growth**
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Experience the best of both worlds - dynamic pixel art animations and turn-based tactical planning. Each enemy is a puzzle to solve, a challenge to overcome!  
Identify their weaknesses and combine Soulbit actions to unleash powerful finishing moves! Explore the cityscape and hunt unique Dominators for rare and powerful gear on your path to mastering the ultimate Arts!  
**◆ Super-enhanced port of acclaimed mobile original**
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The original mobile version, released in January 2022, soared up the rankings to #1 for paid RPG apps and #2 for paid game apps on both Google Play and Apple App Store (in Japan) and continues to garner wide acclaim (4.6 score average on App Store, 4.8 on Google Play as of Sep 2022). The Steam version offers an enhanced horizontal UI and intuitive controller input, combining the speed of SOULVARS with full dynamism on your favorite display!

Release date: 18 Jun, 2023

Categories: Deckbuilding, Turn-based RPG, Strategic Combat, Character Progression, Exploration, Dungeon Crawler, Card-based Gameplay, Boss Rush


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


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 & Strategic Combat (weight 0.99): Players consistently praise the combat system for its fluidity, strategic depth, and satisfying execution. It's described as intuitive to learn but challenging to master, offering a rewarding experience as players develop strategic approaches for battles and boss encounters.
- Stunning Pixel Art & Visuals (weight 0.53): The game's pixel art style is highly lauded for its exquisite detail, fluid animations, and unique aesthetic. It successfully blends retro charm with modern visual flair, creating a visually appealing and distinctive presentation.
- Innovative Deck-Building Mechanics (weight 0.42): The deck-building mechanics, particularly the 'Soulbit' card system, are a core strength. Players enjoy the strategic depth of combining cards, building unique decks, and optimizing builds, which adds significant replayability and strategic fun.
- Deep Character Customization (weight 0.24): The game offers extensive customization options for characters through gear, skills, and 'Soulbits'. This allows players to create diverse and unique builds, contributing to high replayability and a personalized gameplay experience.
- Excellent Music & Atmosphere (weight 0.24): The game's music and soundtrack are consistently praised for being cool, memorable, and effectively enhancing the game's atmosphere. The audio design contributes significantly to the overall immersive experience.
- Successful PC Port & Controls (weight 0.17): The PC port is highly successful, with players commending the significant optimizations, including a well-adapted horizontal UI and flawless controller support, making for a smooth transition from mobile.
- Impressive Skill Effects (weight 0.14): The skill effects are highlighted for their visual impact and gorgeous animations. They are described as powerful, comfortable, and contribute to the overall satisfying combat experience.
- Good Value & Developer Support (weight 0.1): Players feel the game offers good value for its price, expressing satisfaction with their purchase and the developer's commendable attitude towards game development.
- Nostalgic Old-School JRPG Feel (weight 0.08): The game is seen as a hidden gem that captures the essence of old-school JRPGs, appealing to players who appreciate classic gaming experiences.

Common complaints:
- Weak and Confusing Story (weight 0.7): Players found the game's narrative to be weak, confusing, and poorly explained from the start. The lack of character development and abrupt introductions made it difficult to engage with the story or understand motivations.
- Insufficient Tutorial & Guidance (weight 0.55): The game suffers from a lack of comprehensive and user-friendly tutorials, forcing players to learn mechanics through trial and error or external guides. Initial guidance is insufficient, making the early game difficult to navigate.
- Excessive and Tedious Grinding (weight 0.42): Grinding for levels, skills, and soul fragments is described as tedious, slow, and unrewarding. The leveling system is difficult and often feels like a forced, time-consuming activity, especially in the endgame.
- Repetitive and Tedious Combat (weight 0.23): Combat encounters, particularly boss fights, are criticized for being repetitive, overly long, and monotonous. The game's tempo is negatively affected by elements like physical-immune enemies and repetitive side quests.
- Problematic Card & Equipment System (weight 0.22): The card and equipment system is problematic, with many individual cards being useless without specific combinations. Players struggle with deck management, inability to remove unwanted cards, and slow skill progression tied to specific items.
- Clunky UI and Operability (weight 0.16): The user interface and overall operability are clunky, especially for keyboard and mouse users. Issues include poor sorting, cumbersome item selection, and a messy combat interface, making navigation frustrating.
- Poor Audio Quality (weight 0.15): Audio quality is a significant issue, with distorted BGM and sound effects. Combat sounds are often too quiet or cut off, diminishing the overall immersion and excitement of battles.
- Unengaging Dungeon Exploration (weight 0.13): Dungeon exploration is uninteresting due to closed paths and repetitive random encounters. The frequency and difficulty of escaping these encounters make map traversal tedious.
- Poor Localization Quality (weight 0.12): The game suffers from poor localization, including machine translation, typos, misspellings, and untranslated text. This further contributes to the difficulty in understanding the story and game systems.
- Quest-Blocking Bugs (weight 0.07): Players encountered bugs that prevented quest completion, leading to confusion and being stuck. This required running back and forth without clear progression.
- Low Item Drop Rates (weight 0.07): Item drop rates are consistently low, even with drop rate enhancements. This makes acquiring powerful gear and modules a struggle, particularly in the endgame.
- No Key Remapping Option (weight 0.07): A basic quality-of-life feature, key remapping, is entirely absent. This prevents players from customizing controls to their preference, impacting usability.

Gameplay feedback:
- Unique 'Soulbit' Combat System (weight 0.7): The core combat system revolves around 'Soulbits,' which are cards tied to equipped weapons and armor. Players combine these Soulbits to form powerful 'Arts' (battle techniques) and manage their hand, with the ability to convert leveled-up Arts into permanent skills.
- Deck-building Turn-Based RPG (weight 0.62): The game is primarily a turn-based RPG with significant deck-building elements. It combines classic JRPG structures with card-based skill activation, where commands are derived from equipped items and combined to form a 'deck' of actions.
- Souldriver Progression System (weight 0.38): Character progression is tied to 'Souldrivers,' which function as a class system. Players increase a 'sync rate' with Souldrivers through combat, unlocking permanent stat boosts and abilities. This system requires grinding to maximize character strength.
- Strategic & Deep Combat (weight 0.29): The combat system is noted for its strategic depth, requiring players to carefully consider weapon choices, Soulbit combinations, and AP management to activate powerful Arts and exploit enemy weaknesses. It features unique mechanics like combination skills and random encounters.
- Grinding for Progression & Gear (weight 0.27): The game involves significant grinding for character progression and equipment. While some gear can be bought, better equipment with enhancement slots is primarily obtained through monster drops, necessitating repeated combat.
- AP Management in Combat (weight 0.24): Action Points (AP) are crucial for activating skills and Arts. Players start with 1 AP and must strategically gain more by hitting enemy weaknesses, successfully defending/evading, or using buffs. AP management is key to effective combat.
- Mobile Game Port (weight 0.12): The game is a direct port from its original mobile (Android/iOS) version to PC/consoles. This origin might influence certain design choices or UI elements.
- Challenging Enemy Resistances (weight 0.08): A common challenge is facing enemies with high resistances or immunities to common attributes, making combat tedious and requiring specific deck preparation to exploit their few weaknesses.
- Room-Based Dungeon Exploration (weight 0.07): The game's exploration is structured around a regional stage system, with players progressing through interconnected rooms, similar to dungeon crawlers like 'The Binding of Isaac'.
- Boss-Rush Format (weight 0.07): The game features a boss-rush format with increasing difficulty as the story progresses. The overall game flow is designed for longer play sessions.
- Weak Story, Side Quests (weight 0.07): The game includes side quests that add variety, but the overall story is presented with fragmented narration and minimal text, leading to a perceived weak narrative.
- Long Playtime (weight 0.07): The game offers a substantial playtime, with normal playthroughs estimated around 20-30 hours, and a complete playthrough potentially extending to 100 hours (based on the mobile version).
- Limited Playable Characters (weight 0.07): The game features a limited cast of playable characters, with three controllable protagonists joining based on the story, and one character (Yakumo) being locked into the party.

Performance notes:
- Minimal bugs reported (weight 0.04): Players reported encountering very few bugs during their gameplay experience. This indicates a high level of polish and stability in the game's current build.

Recommendations:
- Highly Recommended, Especially on Sale (weight 0.45): Many players recommend the game, especially when it's on sale, citing its overall quality, visuals, and gameplay. Some consider it a solid purchase and a high-quality title.
- Ideal for Combat-Focused JRPG Fans (weight 0.28): The game is particularly recommended for fans of turn-based JRPGs, especially those who prioritize combat, character setup, and exploration over story. It's also a good entry point for the genre and appeals to deck-building RPG enthusiasts.
- Repetitive Grinding Can Be Issue (weight 0.21): The game can be repetitive due to grinding for levels and equipment, which might not appeal to all players. It's suggested to play in moderation or on easier difficulties to enjoy the aesthetics without excessive grinding.
- Skill Leveling Needs Improvement (weight 0.04): Improving the skill leveling system could significantly enhance the game's overall quality and player experience, potentially elevating it to a 'god-tier' status.
- Deck-Building Feels Pointless (weight 0.04): Some players feel that the deck-building system loses its purpose if the main story can be completed primarily by relying on consumables, suggesting a potential imbalance.
- Understand System Before Playing (weight 0.03): For players who found the game confusing initially, it's recommended to consult official guides or videos to better understand the battle system and mechanics.
- Try Combination Skill System (weight 0.03): The combination skill system is highlighted as a feature worth exploring and utilizing for an enhanced gameplay experience.
- Avoid Hard Difficulty Start (weight 0.03): Starting the game on a hard difficulty is not recommended, suggesting that it might lead to a frustrating or overly challenging experience for new players.
- Caution with Skill Conversion (weight 0.03): Players are advised to exercise caution when converting main skills into abilities, implying that this action might have significant or irreversible consequences.
- Plan Endgame Before Playing (weight 0.03): Players are advised to decide whether they intend to complete the endgame content or stop after the normal clear before starting, implying different playstyles or time commitments.
- Normal Mode Is Easy (weight 0.03): Clearing the game on normal mode is described as easy and does not require extensive training of the 'Soul Driver' system, indicating a relatively low difficulty curve for the main story.
- Controller Recommended (weight 0.03): Using a controller is recommended for playing the game, suggesting it might offer a more comfortable or intuitive experience.

Other player notes:
- More dialogue and voice acting (weight 0.04): Players expressed a desire for more character dialogue portraits and voice acting. This indicates a wish for increased immersion and character depth through enhanced presentation.
- Adjust predator spawn rate (weight 0.04): A specific request was made to adjust the spawn rate of predators in the western part of the city. This points to a potential balance issue or difficulty spike in a particular game area.
- Needs more polishing (weight 0.04): There's a general sentiment that the game needs more detailed polishing to enhance player retention. This suggests that while the core might be good, small improvements could significantly boost engagement.
- Simple map movement (weight 0.03): The map system is noted for its simple up/down/left/right movement. This describes a basic navigation mechanic, which could be seen as straightforward or lacking complexity depending on player preference.
- Award-winning indie game (weight 0.03): The game won the Google Play 2022 Best Indie Game award. This is a positive external validation of the game's quality and appeal.
- Language and controller support (weight 0.03): The game supports Japanese language and controllers. This is a functional note about accessibility and control options.
- Demo version available (weight 0.02): A demo version of the game is available for interested players. This is useful information for potential new players to try the game before purchasing.
- Hope for more sales (weight 0.02): A player expressed a wish for the game to sell more. This is a general positive sentiment towards the game's success rather than specific gameplay feedback.

Emotions:
- Satisfaction (weight 0.34): Players expressed satisfaction primarily due to the enjoyable and deep combat system, often highlighting its strategic depth, smooth tempo, and cool skill effects. The game's unique art style, visuals, and music also contributed significantly to a positive experience, alongside a sense of good value for money and engaging progression systems.
- Frustration (weight 0.19): Frustration stemmed from various issues including tedious grinding, difficult boss fights, and a general lack of clear guidance or explanations for game mechanics and progression. Players also reported issues with poor UI, clunky controls, and technical problems like game crashes, which hindered their overall experience.
- Disappointment (weight 0.17): Disappointment was largely driven by a perceived lack of story depth, character development, and overall narrative explanation. Players also felt the game did not live up to its potential due to unoptimized mechanics, repetitive gameplay, and a lack of polish, despite having an aesthetically pleasing foundation.
- Excitement (weight 0.08): Excitement was generated by the discovery of a high-quality game, particularly its innovative combat system, beautiful pixel art, and engaging turn-based battles. Players were also excited by the game's unique concept, customization options, and anticipation for future content.
- Confusion (weight 0.06): Confusion arose from a lack of clarity in the game's story, overwhelming introductions of mechanics, and insufficient in-game explanations. Players found the UI difficult to navigate and the initial guidance poor, leading to a struggle in understanding the game's systems and narrative.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.05): Enjoyment was derived from the game's combat, visuals, and music, along with the engaging challenge of its strategic battle system. Players appreciated the character customization and the overall new gameplay experience provided by intuitive systems.
- Annoyance (weight 0.01): Annoyance was caused by minor technical issues and problems with the user interface, indicating small but noticeable inconveniences during gameplay.
- Anger (weight 0.01): Anger was primarily directed at the tedious grinding required in the game and the overall perceived poor state of the game, suggesting significant dissatisfaction with core gameplay loops.
- Desire (weight 0.01): Players expressed a desire for specific changes, particularly regarding the skill leveling system, indicating a clear wish for improvement in a particular game mechanic.
- Resignation (weight 0.01): Resignation occurred when players accepted technical issues, such as game crashes, and found workarounds, indicating a reluctant acceptance of problems.
- Helpfulness (weight 0.01): Helpfulness was demonstrated by players providing tips and advice to others, suggesting a community-driven effort to mitigate game difficulties.
- Mild disappointment (weight 0.01): Mild disappointment stemmed from weak game guidance, indicating a minor but noticeable flaw in how the game introduces its mechanics or objectives.
- Mild confusion (weight 0.01): Mild confusion was caused by insufficient early guidance and unclear story explanations, suggesting a slight difficulty in grasping initial game concepts.
- Hope (weight 0.01): Hope was expressed for more sales and the addition of new features, indicating a positive outlook for the game's future development and success.
- Surprise (weight 0.01): Surprise occurred when players unexpectedly enjoyed a game that resembled a card battler, despite their usual preferences, highlighting a positive and unexpected gameplay experience.
- Regret (weight 0.01): Regret was felt by players who started the game on a hard difficulty, indicating a misjudgment of the game's challenge level.
- Joy (weight 0.01): Joy was specifically attributed to the cute pixel characters, highlighting a positive emotional response to the game's aesthetic design.
- Mild frustration (weight 0.01): Mild frustration was caused by hidden UI features, suggesting minor usability issues that slightly hindered the player experience.
- Curiosity (weight 0.01): Curiosity was driven by a desire to learn more about the game's story, indicating an engagement with the narrative despite potential initial confusion.
- Challenge (weight 0.01): Challenge was a direct result of the game's high difficulty, indicating that players found the game demanding.}