“Git Gud or Die Trying”
I would wager that the title of “Titan Souls” was picked with great consideration with the word, “souls” in strong contention.
After all, this isn’t really a souls game at all.
Not just in the fact that it’s not made by “From Software” but also in the mechanics and even the tone of the series.
However, it shares one crucial element that may very well be the heart of the “Souls” experience.
A truly rewarding challenge worth overcoming.
Out of the frying pan…
MSRP: $14.99
Platforms: PC
Multiplayer: N/A
Demo Availability: Yes! On Steam
Length: 2~4 hours
There’s no real story to speak of in Titan Souls.
You’re armed with a bow and a single arrow and all along your path lies Titans that must be defeated in order to progress.
There’s a “roll” button which also doubles as the “run” button when held down and a draw button which increases the strength of the arrow shot the longer it’s held down. When a shot is loosed upon the world, the arrow must either be picked up or brought back using something akin to telekinetic powers before its able to be used again.
On the surface, it feels as though with such simple mechanics, there would be little room for strategy or skill but that assessment couldn’t be more wrong.
Given that one hit meant certain death, it was of paramount importance that I studied the attack pattern of the boss to pick the right moment to attack.
Finding that right moment and getting the right angle to shoot that one shot was a matter of a fraction of a second and led to some truly intense moments.
In other titles, an instant death can often feel cheap but in a world where you can also kill the boss just as quickly as they can kill you, it all felt just right.
Even those times I died over and over again, I didn’t feel discouraged and in my short run back to the boss room, I was always thinking about what I could do differently to come out victorious.
This is mostly thanks to the cleverly designed bosses that took some out-of-the-box thinking to overcome and when I was able to figure out what I needed to do, it felt as though I had solved a complex puzzle.
Do.. do I have to take it out and keep using this arrow?
There’s no grinding for levels or better equipment to buy.
You either get good at the game or you’ll just keep dying over and over again till the end of time.
This might not bode well for people who might find the experience overly difficult but as is the case with most experiences worth having, it just simply isn’t for everyone.
My only complaint for the title stems from its relatively short length, clocking it at around 2~ hours for the first playthrough but that’s mostly alleviated thanks to the addition of the hard mode which notches up the difficult in interesting ways.
Making the core attack rotation of the Titans significantly faster and sometimes even adding entirely new mechanics to the already hectic encounter making it feel like a true challenge worth conquering.
I would go as far as to say that if you haven’t beaten Titan Souls in hard mode, you haven’t beaten it at all.
I have the POWERRRRRRRRRRRR~
I was intrigued by Titan Souls when I first heard of it but at the same time, I was skeptical thinking that it might just be a silly little indie game trying to cash in on the “Souls” popularity as of late.
After my playthrough, I can safely say that while this is certainly no souls game, it’s one worthy of the time of anyone who seeks a truly rewarding challenge.
Fun Tidbit – I would love to see a speedrun of this game on hard mode with all the modifiers turns on. I’m curious if it’s even humanly possible!
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
