Ordinarily, I like to begin every review by talking about what makes a game unique or significant, but after reviewing two free-to-play dungeon-RPGs in the last month, I may not have it in me this time. This is not necessarily the fault of SoulCraft – it’s easily the best of the three – but it seems there are quite a few developers vying to be the free-to-play Diablo right now, and they all share a lot of the same DNA. It seems like the universe is going to keep trying until they get it right, and while SoulCraft may be getting closer, I’m not convinced that the concept will ever work.
Right off the bat, it’s clear that SoulCraft has a lot more personality than games like Dark Avenger or Dungeon Hunter. You play as a powerful angel – there is no choice of class – sent to protect humanity from the oncoming hordes of demons that have been loosed on the world. There isn’t much of a story to move the game along, but each stage is introduced with a bit of dialog, so there’s at least an attempt.
Similar to Dark Avenger, there is no overworld, and the game is just a linear series of combat-oriented missions. Each stage is only maybe 5 minutes long, and while they’re not all completely linear, they aren’t big enough to feature much of an exploration component. There is at least some attempt to mix up the mission objectives, though, and not all of them will simply be hacking your way to the finish line. There’s also a surprising amount of visual variety for a game like this, with colorful stages set across different realms. It’s a refreshing change of pace from the dark and dreary dungeons that are so typical of these games, and it helps SoulCraft to stand out a bit.
The meat and potatoes of the game will be very familiar, however. The controls are almost identical to the Dungeon Hunter games, with a big button to mash for combos and three satellite buttons for special skills. Mechanically, this game is virtually indistinguishable from the others mentioned in this article, but SoulCraft does at least seem to put more effort into creating enemies that are interesting to fight. Bosses are large and frequent, and they’re easily the highlight of the game.
At its core, this is really more of an overhead hack-and-slash than an RPG. The RPG elements, while present, simply don’t get the love they deserve. There isn’t really any character-building to speak of; no stats to assign points to. All you have is equipment, sometimes earned, seldom found, and usually bought. Even skills are earned and applied in much the same way as other gear, and there doesn’t feel like much of a way to personalize your character or experience.
Overbearing free-to-play mechanics are the downfall of many of these games. Refreshingly, SoulCraft is not particularly greedy in this regard. There is the usual two-currency system (with one being more difficult to earn without paying), but most items can be purchased with either form of payment, allowing cheap players to earn their way to good gear. There are no timer elements, so you can play as much as you want without fear of the game soliciting you for a payment. Gold is available in fairly generous quantities for low amounts, too, which makes the decision to drop some money a lot more appealing than in a game like Dungeon Hunter 4 where your purchase will be spent in an hour. As an added perk, you’ll even get permanent perks like extra items in the shop and bonus rewards if you make a purchase of any amount, making a one-time $1.99 investment seem very appealing.
SoulCraft is not greedy, but it seems like there is something inherently flawed about moving this traditionally loot-driven genre to a free-to-play model. If all of your quality gear is bought, not found, there’s not as much incentive to explore – and that’s assuming the stages even offered anything in the way of exploration, which they don’t. As it stands, SoulCraft is an amusing free-to-play action game, with some seriously neutered role-playing elements. That’s worth a download, and maybe even worth a couple bucks, but it certainly doesn’t capture the thrill of Torchlight on the go.
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