There will be plenty of times when you’ll need to hot-switch these fields every few seconds so you can actively attack each type of enemy.

You know how more annoying it would have been if Grace and Glory encounters were with a bunch of other enemies (or if you have to battle two sets at the same time)? Battle Different Enemy Classes - A vile mix of Wraiths, Corrupted and Possessed, have poured into the world from beyond the Veil. And while these linear stages hide collectibles, upgrade points in small detours and unchallenging platforming segments off the beaten path, I wasn’t very motivated to explore these largely underwhelming locations, especially if breaking even more crystals could potentially be involved.How about Soulstice, then, a new fantasy RPG from publisher Modus Games and developer Reply Game Studios. The balance of the Holy Kingdom of Keidas is compromised when powerful, feral beings known as Wraiths invade from the other side of the Veil. Before Rapture ends, you can also have Lute do a finishing move, which depends on how you upgrade her.

There are slight puzzle elements involving the red/blue fields, with crystals blocking the way which need the right field to be destroyed or dispersed crystals all being linked to one big one but there’s nothing too tricky. As you explore and progress, the interiors give way to exteriors, the darkness gives way to the blizzard-covered centre of the city where the tear is they are trying to reach, but on the whole, most of Soulstice looks the same. This only seems to take hold when one is on the verge of death as a Chimera is made up of a living half with superhuman strength and a ghost, or Shade, half with mystical powers. Because of these scored and defined encounter areas, instead of free-flowing scoring against any enemies ala Devil May Cry, Soulstice starts feeling incredibly scripted. Your bigWhenever a fresh looking area is introduced, a cutscene quickly puts our protagonists to the other side of it and back into the city. The “Chimeras”, hybrid warriors born of the union of two souls, are the only ones who can protect humankind.

I hated every single repetitive second of these sections between fights – and there were a lot of them.As Briar and Lute fight to reach the Tear, they’ll face complex puzzles and secrets while their surroundings become more hostile and twisted. The camera gets itself in too close, forgetting about other enemies that then attack from off camera. Bosses have a wide range of attacks and patterns that can be easy to identify but hard to master, on top of being visually expressive and cool. You can go two hours without any meaningful story occurring, and then be bombarded with 40 minutes of non-stop cutscenes and dialogue.