The moment to moment combat itself feels good, albeit a tad murky at times. Overall the combat is good with just enough depth and functionality to satisfy most seasoned players and surprisingly approachable in its relative simplicity compared to other similar games. Blood bursts are just as much an invitation to regain some ground as they are an opportunity to accelerate your failure. While the idea of inching your life bar back up is enticing, and fun to do, it can also lead to death quickly if you get slightly carried away with it and don’t keep your eye on the ball. The blood burst attacks often prove useful as they reward you with bits of health as you hack away at your opponent. Most of those inaugural attempts will end in death and will probably do so quickly, as it only takes a few hits from any one boss to kill you – if that. All of them require patience and are rarely navigated properly on the first few tries. Some attacks are more of a challenge of your ability to dodge at the exact right time, while others are more focused on getting you to learn where to stand to avoid taking damage, and some leave short windows of time for you to get a few hits in. Using your dodge effectively, managing your stamina, charge time, and knowing exactly when to land a few hits or use a special attack is key to memorizing and surviving each one of the boss’ multiple attacks. Bosses are varied, and present multiple types of challenges that need to be identified and conquered in order to even have a chance at taking them down. The combat in Eldest Souls is a firm challenge. "Not exactly the most original concept in 2021, but while Eldest Souls may not be the first to the party, it is a game that combines its ideas well." So to simply lump Eldest Souls in with the countless other souls-likes would be an oversimplification. Dying and trying again is a loop that is better served by the quickness you might more often find in something like Super Meat Boy, and the overall structure of the boss rush format has more in common with Cuphead than Souls games. There are no standard enemies per se, and dying doesn’t really make you lose anything (other than perhaps your patience), and I think that works in the game’s favor. Especially in outdoor areas, shattered buildings and rubble accompany every location, so the game does give you the feeling of being in the midst of a dense lore, despite the context of the current situation being quite simple.Īll that said, the similarities between Eldest Souls and an actual Dark Souls game almost entirely end after you account for the high difficulty and the dreary gothic setting. It’s a simple set up but also alludes to a tumultuous and complicated past that the game constantly reminds you of with shards of a former civilization all around you. Humanity is under threat and you play humanity’s last hope to put the conflict to bed for good. The story of Eldest Souls is similar in tone to most games of this sort. ![]() ![]() ![]() The game does end up doing its own thing a little bit more than it lets on with its premise, but with “souls” being right there in the title, it’s a pretty obvious signal to that fan base from developer Fallen Flag Studio. Not exactly the most original concept in 2021, but while Eldest Souls may not be the first to the party, it is a game that combines its ideas well. If you enjoy a super sharp pixel art visual style or punishing souls-like combat, then Eldest Souls clearly wants to be the game for you by trying its best to provide a marriage of those two concepts.
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