Titan Souls Review

Souls without the soul.

The protagonist has one arrow (yeah, only one) that can be drawn and fired at any time. Seems a bit unfair, no? The thing is, this arrow can be retrieved with what seems to be the players one and only special ability (if you don’t count the constant reviving mechanic). When an arrow is fired it can be called back in a straight path to wherever the player happens to be standing, allowing for some real strategy. Maybe a Titan has a weak-spot on it’s back, so fire an arrow at a wall, get the boss in front of you and summon the arrow right into place.

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titan souls

Those types of strategies will actually come in handy more often than not. Each encounter is more than just a battle, it is a puzzle to be examined, and then solved in a way similar to the classic Shadow of the ColossusTitan Souls starts out simple enough, with the first couple of bosses making very clear what their weaknesses and patterns are. As you progress, so does the difficulty. The Titans move about more, or are more keen when it comes to hiding their weaknesses, leading to innumerable deaths. And this is where the issues start to show.

Like a certain other game with Souls in the title, Titan Souls lends itself to the notion that lessons can be learned in death. And, the more you die, the wiser you can (and should) become. As players slay more and more Titans, advancing through each area, deaths become more familiar. Speed, reflexes, problem solving, and ingenuity are all required, but knowing to what degree each one is needed for each specific battle can be a bit of a head scratcher. Yet there is a feeling of excitement and relief when you do finally figure it all out, only to have your view obscured and the protagonist sent back to the checkpoint.

titan souls

You see, Titan Souls has a fixed camera on the action at all times. You can only move it to scan an area in the distance, but it still maintains the same angle. This becomes a huge problem, especially during fights with the larger enemies. You will often find yourself unable to view the protagonist. Whether it’s because the huge cube you’re fighting decided to park right in front of your section of the screen, or one of the encounters effects blocks your sight for a second or two. This is very frustrating.

The frustration builds when an unseen ground effect takes hold (effects that are never explained by the game) and you have absolutely no idea why you are unable to move until you see the death screen. While this doesn’t happen during all encounters, it happens in more than enough to become a real issue that hammers on the frustration in a way that sort of cheapens the challenge.

titan souls

It becomes a bit worse when you realize this is pretty much all their is. The narrative is paltry at best, with little direction. Players are treated to a mural here, and a cryptic cutscene there, but nothing solid in the way of story telling. One thing that goes hand in hand with challenging games is a sort of calming balance that is carried by both narrative and world interaction outside of the difficult bits. Aside from walking in its beautiful world, Titan Souls offers none of that.

What you are instead left with is a series of encounters and little more. The Dark Souls series, and even the recently released Bloodborne, aren’t solid, critically acclaimed experiences because of their difficulty. It’s everything that surrounds that difficulty that makes those games special. Titan Souls strips most of that away in an effort to take one singular, refined approach, but comes up short.

Don’t get me wrong, Titan Souls isn’t a bad game, it’s just noticeably lacking. If players are just looking for tough, often short, battles that involve one hit kills, then this is the perfect game. But, if a fleshed out, well rounded experience is what’s desired, then Titan Souls will leave you wanting. They nailed the unique element of each encounter, but that attention to detail was lost on other important factors, besides those of an aesthetic nature.


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Author
Ishmael Romero
Just a wandering character from Brooklyn, NY. A fan of horrible Spider-Man games, anime, and corny jokes.