I have a love - hate relationship with Soulslike game . Well , more hate than love .
I ’ve play almost all of FromSoftware ’s Souls game , fromDemon ’s SoulstoElden Ring , but have bounce off them intemperately . Outside of those games , I occasionally find one I enjoy on the indie conniption , likeAnother Crab ’s Treasure , but even then , those both had downsides that forbid me from saying I ’ve ever truly loved a Soulslike . That ’s in the end changing withVoid colloidal solution , a self - prescribed “ minimalist Soulslike . ”
We ’re entering a minimalist moment for some well - trodden video recording biz genres . Earlier this class , SoulGame Studios’Minishoot ’ Adventurescombined duplicate - spliff shooters with The Legend of Zelda ’s formula to produce something limited . Now , Finite Reflection Studios and Modern Wolf have done the same , but with the Soulslike writing style . By hit a quite a little of the noise that can fence in Souslikes , churn down the music genre to its basics , and include some helpful gameplay - change options , Void Solshas become one of my favorite Soulslike games .
Going minimalist
Void Solsbegins with me breaking out of their prison mobile phone . I crusade my way out of that and then through the surrounding forest , village , mess , mine , and more . Combat is stamina - ground , so methodically dodging foeman attacks before strike with a flurry of my own is critical to last out alive . I obtain “ sol ” after killing foe but knock off them when I die . I ’ll lose them forever if I die before getting them back and redeeming them for a level - up at a Light Spark , Void Sols’version of a campfire .
If you ’ve played a Soulslike before , that will all sound incredibly familiar to you . The turn withVoid Solsis that there ’s scarce any chronicle or traditional knowledge , the player and foe are simple geometric pattern , and the whole thing is played from a top - down perspective likeAsteroids . As long as I verify the Triangulum I ’m play as is n’t hit by enemy attacks in between strikes of my own , I ’m golden . This pivot toward minimalism and some other innovation pick removed much of the frivolity and overstimulation that typically makes me not need to play Souslikes .
Simply put , I ’m not very full at combat in most Soulslike game . I choose activity to be quicker , so I play series like Bayonetta , Devil May Cry , or Yakuza a plenty more . That ’s plausibly whySekiro : Shadows Die Twiceis my favorite FromSoftware biz . Seeing combat from a raw view and worrying less about the surrounding environment , a thwarting tv camera , or oddly telegraphed attacks makesVoid Solsmuch more enjoyable for me than your typical Soulslikes . While games that look like it typically function like shoot-’em - ups , Void Sols ‘ scrimmage armed combat is astonishingly accessible thanks to its absolved animations and simplistic controls .
Void Solsunderstands what work the serious in Souslikes , namely how interconnect the world can feel and how rewarding slowly exploring can be . It replicates those component as well as it can in its minimalist style . Each region feel like a maze weaving in and out of itself ; warm well-grounded design and ocular flourishes give different arena a distinct personal identity , and there are lots of helpful item to find and beak up for those who explore .
foe test my skills in different agency , while bosses are importantly rugged challenges that require me to find and “ solve ” their impuissance . As for leveling up and customizing my character , Void Solskeeps affair simple with four primary stats . I have the ability to fix up loadouts for different playstyles ; I used the basic sword and scythe the most .
On top of that , there are difficulty options that permit me customize how much hurt I deal and receive , which avail in particularly troubling floater . I ’m all foraccessibility option in Soulslikes , so I ’m glad that Finite Reflection Studios is as well . As an outsider , it often feels like Soulslikes can get caught up in themselves , overcomplicating thing to pay homage to FromSoftware or contrive a certain room because that ’s howDark SoulsandElden Ringdid it .
By going the minimalist route , Void Solsretains what makes Soulslikes great while sheer out a lot of the overwhelming junk that typically hail with that subgenre . Void Solsis importantly more engaging for me as a result . If you ’re in the same Soulslike boat as me or just curious about how a minimalist one works in action , I ’d highly recommend checkingVoid Solsout .
Void Solsis available now on PC , and there ’s a free demo to try out as well .
