Breaking down the gameplay of impressive titles such as Dark Souls and Shadow of the Colossus is Titan Souls, a 16-bit style adventure about uncovering the best approach given the situation at hand which generally involves a large and unique boss battle to overcome. Released in 2015 across Windows, Mac and PlayStation consoles players will find a challenge akin to Dark Souls albeit in a smaller game package and with significantly more colour.
Set between planes of existence you’ll explore the spiritual world that lies between Earth and the unknown world beyond. Within these surroundings lie the titans which lie idle amongst the ruined setting just waiting for an adventurer to tempt fate against them. Playing as a young lone hero armed with only a single magical arrow you’ll embark on your quest to destroy each of these to claim the power shards that they hold.
Your ultimate objective is take out each of the titans that lie in wait for you around each corner of the game world to complete your quest for truth and power. In order to do so you’ll need to discover each strategy to overcome their unique skillsets and designs. With each titan you’ll have a different challenge albeit a similar flow as you discover what their special talents are, try different strategies to find their weakness and ultimately perfect the counter strategy required.
With no other enemies in your journey the focus is solely on these battles which does hurt replay value as the bulk of the Titan Soul’s appeal is the discovery of the appropriate strategy to counter the given boss. Despite this even a single adventure is reasonably deep in content with over 20 diverse titans to conquer with players unlikely to beat any of them in a first encounter. Within these titans you’ll fight creatures like the Eye of the Guardian (Eyecube) that chases players and fires a giant laser from its eye direction or the Vinethesis Poison Flower that has large swinging vines to swipe at players instead.
The controls available to conquer these titans are simple to learn but applying them to maximum effect will still take a little bit of time. For weapon you’ll have your trusty bow and arrow which holds only a single arrow but can be called back after being fired to hit targets twice if required. Additionally players can utilise a roll mechanic which is vital to dodging some of the faster moving attacks that will come your way from the titan attack patterns.
These simple design principles also extend to player health with only a single hit from a titan ending your small hero’s life that at first glance feels like an impossible mountain to climb. Upon death you’ll respawn at your latest defeated titan unless you’re attempting one of the alternate modes (Iron Man Mode) which limits you to one life across an entire playthrough.
Summary:
- Defeat nearly two dozen titans with their own unique design and attack patterns that require different strategies to overcome.
- Master your arrow, arrow recall and the dodge roll to mechanically outwit your enemy titan.
- Discover the secret behind each titan to ensure success in battle with little room for error.
- Additional game modes add replay opportunities and further challenges for the hardcore player.
- Released in 2015 across computer and PlayStation console platforms.
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Review Platform: PC
