I was the English translator and Localisation Coordinator for Souldiers (game was originally produced in Spanish) and I can tell you it was a real joy to work on. I had tonnes of fun playing with the characters and working out ways to best bring out their personalities in English. The guys at Retro Forge are absolutely lovely to work with and have put their heart and soul (pun intended) into this game. Hope you enjoy!
I didn't want to believe all the negative comments about the game but it seems they are true. I just got my physical copy for the switch and it has crashed a couple of times, cannot save inside the temple/pyramid... such a shame since the game looks beautiful and the controls are nice...
I think its decently priced but, as you mentioned, the competition on the Switch is heavy so even with minor flaws, they will stand out more and hinder its progress of becoming one of the greats. Hopefully a patch or two will improve its standing.
I was really eager to nab this as soon as I saw it, despite almost no reviews available. I definitely feel like the difficulty is manageable (I think Metroid Dread had some difficulty spikes too but challenge is a good thing). I'm also seeing that a lot of people think this cavern setting sucks to be dropped into first thing, but it's kind of how the story begins, right? I usually hate when games stick me in a village with a 30 npcs to talk to; I'd rather dive in and see how it feels, y'know? I'm definitely waiting for a patch before getting too far into this - the load times and stuttering (and lag!) are just distracting enough. I never got far enough to encounter its rogue-elements like loosing every item/exp (wtf!). I'd like a better explanation of why that is even a thing in a game like this- could you imagine loosing the Varia suit in Metroid by dying and mistakingly reloading somewhere else? Very confusing choices indeed.
Absolutely not - waiting for the review ratio on Steam to go up to around 75%. Simply being a conscious customer with standards (whatever anyone's personal standards may be) will leave you a happier person overall. I do want to get it, but am glad to have waited for reviews and will wait even longer until the most glaring issues are taken care of. Before that it's a no-go from me.
I'm really enjoying it myself, looks fantastic, controls well once you get a feel for the weight of your character, and I don't mind too much being sent back to the last save point on death, it's no different to games like the old castlevania titles, which I have played extensively. You're right about the quality of the competition but personally I've already exhausted all the other metroidvanias on switch that interest me so this has has been exactly what I've been looking for. Those load times are a real bummer though, I'm enjoying the game enough that I can deal with it, but I have high hopes for a patch to ease that pain sooner rather than later
@@SwitchUpYt based on what I've seen so far in about 6 hours of play time I think it could be a new entry in my personal top 5 metroidvanias if they can just iron out the pain points. Hope to see it in one of your all patched up episodes soon!
This explains how I feel almost exactly. I don't have an issue with the controls at all, it's a conscious choice based on the animation style, which I love. It's challenging in a way that belies it's looks--I'm also quite good with that as well. Overall, I think a review in the 70's is a little harsh, but to each their own. :)
@@mikeuziel 100% agreed. And the complaints about load times are, unfortunately, a switch issue more than a game issue. On ps4/ps5 the load times are seconds at best. Sure, maybe some better optimization can be done, but the truth of it is that the switch is an inferior machine and you are subject to these sort of things when playing cross platform release titles.
Bought the game yesterday, it’s absolutely gorgeous. The music is awesome and the gameplay is cool. The problem is it’s already crashed on me like 10 times in one day. The load times are crazy long. It’s a shame cuz I’d love this game otherwise
It looks lovely but yeah I’ve heard echoes from other publications about the long load times and weird input lag, will wait for some patches. Thanks for the great review as always
Yeah this sounds about right. The loading times even on pc are a bit too long. For a game where death is supposed to be punishing, I want it to be a quick loop where I can instantly retry and not a loading screen that lasts for more than 30 seconds. Hollow knight does this very well, and so go games like Celeste. And the performance, it's inexcusable.
@@SwitchUpYt aye exactly. I get the impression that the engine they are using doesn't take advantage of multiple cores or the way the games been written doesn't use multiple threads. An example of this is saving. In most games when you save on a bench or some other similar mechanism (campfire), there's a slight delay where you have a short animation that covers the save time. In this game, saving at a statue invokes a 10-15 second save screen. Its very distracting and the combat delay implies the same thing where the combat loop is directly connected to the animation loop. If there's a stutter or your character is moving, pressing an attack or jump button is not snappy because it seemingly queues the button action rather than interrupting whatever is going on. The art design and level design are all top notch but the programmers seem to be not very experienced which sucks.
Been playing a good amount today It's great with a very frustrating string on it. It's challenging, but ultimately failing means you have to sit through a load time. Gameplay is fun, nice places to explore, and gorgeous visuals.
Playing on Switch in January 2023. Playing as Scout class. Load times are only bad when loading a different zone. Respawning after death doesn't take that long. There is slowdown/studdering/lag but it's usually just after an event scene; like unlocking a locked door. It's never caused me to die. The game has crashed on me several times during my 12 hours (so far, still lots to do). 1 time it crashed when I was saving my game, I was afraid my data would be corrupted but luckily it wasn't. Even after all these tech issues, I still highly recommend the game. I can't put it down. It's like a zelda-souls-megaman- vania. Bombs to destroy walls like zelda. Souls cause it's difficult but not as hard as souls. Megaman cause you unlock abilities and when equipping them, your armor color changes. Vania cause it's a 2d platforming interconnected world that must be traversed several times over to get everything after special unlocks. Like double jump, wall jump, etc. There are a ton of sub weapons; bombs, throwing spear, throwing knives, throwing poisonous daggers, etc. Each can be upgraded 3 times with gold and upgrade materials. 3 different upgrade materials; sub weapons, main weapon, and armor. Main weapon and armor can be upgraded some 10 or 12 times each. So you only get the weapons and armor you start with, upgrading them changes their physical appearance in-game. Like my Scout Sword+2 changes to Mythril Sword. You start the game being able equip 1 accessory. I can now equip 2. Maybe 3 by the end of the game? Accessories increase attack, defense, gold dropped, etc. Go buy this game. $20 Nintendo eshop. Don't think there's a physical. If there is, ill buy it. Love Souldiers.
There is a physical coming up available from around Feb 2023 at Playasia and the official Pixn Love website ;-) Thanks for your recent review, which lead me to finally buy this!
Just in case anyone peeks at this video/comment... the game still has a game breaking bug that deletes saves. Not only on Switch but on other consoles as well. The company has been refusing refunds for anyone who has bought it and for the past few months has been 100% ignoring, or banning, people that complain about the bug on their Discord. They have made an announcement, recently, that they are not doing any updates for the Switch and have no intentions of fixing the game breaking bug that corrupts and deletes your save. This has nothing to do with the quality of the game when it runs the way it should... but think hard about whether you want to support a company that treats it's customers like this prior to making your purchasing decision.
Was thinking about getting this game, then reconsidered as I watched the review and how he talked about the control lag and save issues. I started getting the feeling the director cared more about how the game looked then if it played competently. Hearing this only further adds to those suspicions. Thanks for the heads up and saving me from giving them my money for shiny, hollow, mediocrity.
Given how the animations seem to have wind up poses I’m a bit worried that it might be a game design choice and not something they’re going to fix. Changing animation timing post-launch rarely if ever happens for games like these because every single aspect of the product has been designed and tested with those frames in place. Looks fantastic though so I hope the developers get to make it work as I’d love to play this.
I was jazzed for this, but it sounds like the load times and lag really pull the whole experience down. This went from a "must buy" to a "maybe once it's patched." Thanks for the heads up.
I picked it up during the night. Played about an hour. Load times are horrendous. Controls take a while to get used to. Still I ordered the collectors edition. I like the artstyle and humor. A couple of performance patches and it will be a solid game.
Yeah it’s still a lovely game but they NEED to fix those load times - just capturing this footage I couldn’t believe the difference between it and the PC version I have been playing. Mark
@@mpo48 xD can't argue with that statement. Still I like the game and it should have been patched until the physical release in September. Pc port runs much better. So there is hope for optimisation.
I bought this game on the switch on release date. I put 25 hours into it and then the data became corrupt so I had to restart. The second go round I was 15 hours in when I realized that all my equip items were gone. Even when I would buy new ones they would just not show up so I restarted yet a again. On my THIRD attempt the same shit happened where all my equip items were missing. I am sadly done with this game for now until they fix this and all the other issues. Thanks for the review, it definitely helps to see someone else having around the same issues as I have been with this game.
I went crazy and preordered the physical edition. Now time to watch your review! Since I trust your reviews 100%. Edit after watching: ouch. Scared now lol. Good thing the physical won’t come until September. Plenty of time for patching!
Fair review. I put about 5 hours into this yesterday and I'm enjoying it despite its problems (fortunately not as bad as Cross Code pre-patch, where the menus didn't work) The aesthetic is absolutely my thing and I don't mind the weighty combat. The first boss (the lance guy) had a really fun flow once I got into a rhythm. But ultimately the technical issues are sapping my will. I had one crash, and, as well as the long respawn time, I timed a transition between areas at 2 minutes... and I'm not sure how I feel about the "experienced marksman" archer's arrows missing if you're more than half a screen away from an enemy! Hopefully the promised patch will help, but it's disappointing that another game has released like this
A few more hours and finding there are too many little annoyances... Health potions are a necessity but expensive (and very rarely drop); the loading between areas makes me reluctant to explore; the odd system for replenishing bombs puts me off wasting them looking for destructible walls; the mechanic of random enemies spawning another 'dark' enemy when they die happens too much; as mentioned in the review the skill points for levelling up seem very stingy... Going back to Card Shark for now 😅
I definitely love SwitchUp's review system. Its not just fair, they give a lot of points to consider if you're gonna buy the game or not. I would definitely pick this up on a sale especially since there is still room to improve and hopefully it gets patched up by then. Looking forward on seeing this game on SwitchUp's Patched Up series in the future too. Another spectacular review guys! Love it
I wish I'd watched a switch-specific review before purchasing the game. The painfully long loading screen every time you die and the painfully long save screen whenever you want to heal at a checkpoint are pretty much deal-breakers. It's nice to hear the developers are working on a patch. Maybe I'll just let the game sit until that comes out. Also waiting on a patch for Roguebook. Any day now...
I had a blast w/ this title and will recommend on stronger consoles because there's so much it offers (in terms of variety). From 30+ boss battles, puzzles that aren't difficilt (but can for 100%), NG+ w/ ending while having 3 different characters completely changing the mechanics of the game. I respect the difficulties mentioned (input latency, sparse checkpoints, occasional bugs) and still enjoyed till the end. I have a couple videos on my channel of a few boss battles
Looks extremely good. I hope they can patch and improve the smaller details and, when they do, we get a retail copy of the game, because I will definitely buy it in a heartbeat. But, sadly, I can see this getting the Limited Run treatment...
Thank you for the review, so sad that this has some significant performance issues, as it was on top of my “buy” list. I like that your channel can be critical, but still highlights the good points of this game. Will be waiting for patches, impatiently 😆
Here we go again! Another switch game that needs a patch because of this and that. I was so hyped to play this on my Switch oled... I still hopefully will play it once its issues are resolved. You know, this type of 'release then pattch' is so commonplace now that we become happily surprised when a game releases in such a state that it doesn't need a patch to fix a glaring flaw(s).
A warning!!! i played this game for 10 hours and experienced 3 crashes. The last crash happened as the game was saving, which affectively deleted my game. My save file thought i had completed the game and wouldn't let me load, create a new game or even delete my save. The long load times combined with the performance means i won't be replaying. I would ask for my money back if the E shop did re-funds.
I've been waiting patiently for this to be on Switch when I saw the trailer. Thanks for the input delay notice. Might have to wait for fix before buying.
So I ran into a massive save data issue while playing I want to share. While in the pyramid area, I stopped playing the game for a bit to do other stuff and when I came back to it, my save data had been corrupted. And not just one save file either. Every slot was filled with broken saves and the screen was locked up. Only way to fix it was wiping my data from the system settings. I was willing to deal with the performance and and control issues but with the save data corruption, I can't recommend it at all right now.
Hopefully, they'll patch this game soon, cause I love the art and game style, but long load times and heavy control are a no-go for me, I want to fight the enemies, not the game itself.
@@SwitchUpYt cheers mate picked up on ps5...its a cracking game with far better load times. Let's hope the patch works well as I prefer my retro themed on switch on the go. Thanks for the reply, devs have a great game, and my money on ps5 for now. Update: load times on ps5 are nearly instant. What a great game. Must utilise the faster ram. I'm sure the devs will sort it on switch its clearly a work of love ! More than happy to double dip if they do.
Same thoughts here with you. I play it on Switch version and it's an ultimate patience test. I also played Death Gambit before. Hope this one will be better.
It's on my wishlist, but this review made me hesitate, can you short review it again once patch for fixing performance release ? Again I agree with you that this game has potential.
Well maybe this will be one of those games I pick up and immediately put in the backlog and one day when you do an episode of Patched Up and talk about how great it is now that it's working as intended I'll finally hop in. I slept on Deaths Gambit for the longest time and when I got it when the big patch/rework came out I fell in love with it.
To the devs: If your game is not a rogue-like or rogue-lite, don't add rogue mechanics. Just because Dark Souls does it doesn't mean you have to. To the review: Very well done, thanks, i love especially the comparison with Steam versions if there's some really bad issues on Switch that aren't present on Steam.
I was all about this game until I saw this review. I like a challenge, but I’m not a masochist. Thanks for saving me a chunk of change - I’ll be saving it for Shadowrun. Cheers Mark & Glen!
with all those crucial performance issues, 73 is way too generous. It should be reviewed as is, not by potential patches (if ever). I truly regretted buying this day one (switch vers.)
No it’s not way too generous at all. As stated the game is very good. The heaviness of control is by design and the long load times are an issue but the game is still decent. There’s tons of content here, it looks and sound beautiful and it’s cheap. So no. I respectfully disagree. Mark
I did decide to pick up this game based on your review. Still I love these styles of games and hope they make more in the future. Also thanks for recommending death gambit. I must have missed that after watching that review I went and also bought it. They are both very good so far thanks for all these great review your killing my wallet but keep up the great work
I have this game too and yeah my biggest issues are the load times, stuttering, and slow skill tree progression. It's a fun, beautiful game with actual good dialogue, character designs, and combat is great for the most part. But in a game where you'll die a lot, having to wait so long between load times is a pain. I have to say, I'm getting annoyed of indie devs releasing good games but with lots of issues at launch. Ganryu, Kao, and now this game are all recent examples that I'm aware of so far. I know CrossCode back when it came out on Switch also had some serious issues. It's good they're working on patches but the standard should be to release a proper, functional game at launch. Enough with the "release a problematic game, fix later" bs...
I really enjoyed the demo for this on PC that I was very close to buying it for switch as I love Indies on it. Unfortunately I heard about a lot of technical issues so I'm holding off for now.
This is on sale in the US right now and I read that they released switch patches to address things like loading times and save points! Going to get it!
This is very promising game 😄 i get it yesterday but still didn't play it i love it from the first time i see it Question are you going to review oxide room 104 coming soon on switch 😆
I'm writing this right before the video starts and the one thing that I've noticed is the load times are really long and the first Spider Queen boss got stuck in the upper left-hand corner
I also debated on getting this for switch. I've been burned in the past by poor switch performance and have adopted a policy of "never buy anything on my switch that I could have gotten on my Ps4/ps5." So I've been playing this on my playstation. The issues of frame rate drops and load times are non existent. Load times are about 5 seconds. I agree with your review as this IS a switch channel, but as far as an overall review of the title I would like to point put it's much better on ps4.
I am puzzled why you only mentioned the long load times. The save times are unacceptably long as well. It takes about 20 seconds to save on the Switch while it takes 1 to 2 seconds to save on PC.
I picked this up a few days ago and I’m enjoying it immensely… for the most part. The game is great fun but the one issue I’m going to have to agree with is the loading times. There’s been several times where I thought the game was frozen and I’m about to restart, only to have it suddenly load into the game… “wtf!” They really need to work on that.
Thanks Mark. This looks good, but it’s a pass. Have you happened to see the crystal project on pc yet? I watched a preview playthrough of the beginning and it looks just incredible. I’m hoping out hope that once it’s done I can get it on the switch. (If it gets ported). Cheers!
Since they delayed the original launch date to put out a more polished product, input lag and crazy long load times is unacceptable. I’m sure they will patch it, but dang. Disappointed as I wanted to grab this tonight - but will have to hold off to see what they do with it.
Reminds me of the long load times in Bloodstained RoTN each time you died to a boss. Making it even more infuriating when you died and had no ideas as to how to play the fight any better.
Already bought the physical switch version. Looks great to me and I will enjoy it i think but I will absolutely be waiting until load times and framerates are fixed on switch.
I was so excited for this but I can wait for a few patches, in the meantime Dark Devotion has been scratching the itch. Surprised that game isn't more popular.
Thanks for the great review. I hope this gets a good patch on Switch to improve those controls, load times, stutters and regulates the auto save/death system.
Given the performance on the Switch was so bad (loading / respawn times of 45 secs to a minute) that it forced to play on the PC, I'm shocked that you gave it such a high score. If you didn't have the option of playing it on the PC, like if it was a Switch exclusive game, I really think your overall review would have been a lot more negative. Either way, I do hope they patch it up, because it looks so pretty!
I've picked this one up on pc. Souldiers is good...its fine. Atm, I'm on my first play, Scout, Lv 35+, in a certain fiery area, gained the last ability mcguffin. I dont so much have an issue with losing "progress", I find the levels, although good to have some absurd inconsistency spikes. The Pyramid was a stage that grotesquely wore out its welcome and I just wanted the damn thing to end. But then there's actual consistently pretty good stages, like a certain water lab later on. In some segments, they do this thing where they expect way too much of you before daring to give you a save point. Some enemy gauntlet rooms go a bit overboard with encounters. The main bosses are pretty good with good patters, but some of the sub bosses, mainly some of the "Dark"(insert weapon-type) here, can eat a bag of Richards! The FFXII style petition hunt system is very good, and I hope they bring this back, amplified in the future sequel. Exploration's fun, but this is extremely frustrating game, and most deaths will absolutely not remotely seem like it was your fault. One thing I dislike is the weapon/shield level up system, I'd much, much rather find an assortment of increasingly stronger weapons than to grind for materials and loot only to gain slightly better stats an no visual improvement. And speaking of visuals, can we talk about anything else in this game? Its a given the visuals are quite good, but I feel its the main topic of conversation with this game, and as most know, visuals do not always for a good game make. There is the fore mentioned input lag, which is a bit tiring, and some load times even on the pc version, but they dont bother me as much of some of the absolutely bs deaths that led to them. I like the skill tree system, and hope to see a more fleshed out one in the sequel, its weird maxing out everything you want and having to wait say another 10 levels for more options just to become available. The rings and ammys play a nice role in switching up your strengths and weaknesses, and sometimes complement your elemental orbs, and there's quite a few abilities making for a good mix and match. I feel like this game(if a possible series), is headed in the right direction, and its doing extremely well, but it needs to learn from its current flaws and rise to be as good as it can. Tmv~
Wow, played pc demo a few months ago and thought it was awesome, no reason this should run so poorly on switch, see iconoclasts or ori, hopefully they pay someone to optimize this game and reduce the input delay, never been so disappointed with a day one purchase, so much potential
bought it on switch pro. played 2 hours, beat first boss Dark Lance. like you mentioned - the delayed movement needs fixing in my opinion. it does not feel fun to learn the delay. if i want to dodge, let me dodge. if i want to chain my dodge with a quick turn around, let me do that. why do i need to space my button presses some 0.X seconds apart for it to work right in a battle where snappy movement is needed... load times are also atrocious. i uninstalled, hopefully i can come back in like half a year when things are looking better.
I have already picked it up beacause it seemed so promising ... But not yet had time to play it ( because I also boughtthe "Blaze evercade, with Tanglewood / Xeno Crisis (last one I own it also on my switch :-p .. very nice little retro gaming console btw)
I've been waiting for this one to come out and was going to pick it up immediately but I think I'll wait until they fix it up a bit and hopefully get a physical release.
Bought this on release day for 11 bucks on switch (I had points saved up) but I haven’t started it yet I’ve been playing another game…Maybe I’ll hold off on starting it and play other two games I bought on same day lol..
I played on switch and I think the game was gorgeous until It kept crashing and then wouldn't let me play again and the loading screens are a pain. Also if anyone else has this problem do you know anyway to fix it as I really enjoyed playing it it's just really buggy because of all the crashing.
I think autosave wouldn’t work with the game right now. It takes me like 16s to save on the Switch, imagine doing it while trying to play. I really liked the game, but I’m putting it on hold until it gets better.
Those load times are a feature, not a bug. They make every life that much more important and staying alive (so as to avoid interminable loading) of paramount importance. Very different from games where you're instantly back in after a death -- those make each life a bit of a throwaway, like there's no cost to starting the area again. Brilliant design. [yes, I'm kidding]
Feels like a lot of souls/metroidvanias always require patches and rebalancing to get things perfect. This is still high on my wishlist but I’ll wait to see if the issues are ironed out.
I usually wait for reviews but I gave it the benefit of the doubt but honestly I really hate the load times makes me want to play it until I die twice and none more for the rest of the day. I have games that treat my time way better.
I would love to check this out but I think I will wait until a patch comes out to fix the load times. But this is a great review and the game looks amazing, looking forward to checking it out soon
So far I've been liking the game, it is true the loading times take to much time. If the patch things up it will improve greatly. In the library they mention other classes so it would be nice to play with them as well.
I love the art style and the classes seem like a lot of fun to play. But the cons really drag it down too much to pick up right now. Hopefully shows up on all patched up soon.
Intersting about the controls being jarring and delayed. It's the first thing I picked up on in the couple of hours I played last night. I don't really understand why they've made the choice to make it deliberately annoying and unresponsive to play as visually, it reminded me of ff6/mana/trigger in the best way.
Souldiers is a fantastic game and much improved on Switch since this review - check out our latest all patched up episode! Mark
Is it worth $15 USD at this time? Heard a lot of negative reviews when looking this one up
So where’s the video that goes over the improvements after the latest patch?! I figured you guys would have a link ready for easy viewing…
I was the English translator and Localisation Coordinator for Souldiers (game was originally produced in Spanish) and I can tell you it was a real joy to work on. I had tonnes of fun playing with the characters and working out ways to best bring out their personalities in English. The guys at Retro Forge are absolutely lovely to work with and have put their heart and soul (pun intended) into this game. Hope you enjoy!
Started playing last night, no issues with the text so far so good job :)
I didn't want to believe all the negative comments about the game but it seems they are true. I just got my physical copy for the switch and it has crashed a couple of times, cannot save inside the temple/pyramid... such a shame since the game looks beautiful and the controls are nice...
For me Souldiers is more fun than Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, but the fire Temple keeps crashing my game and I can't progress any further
I think its decently priced but, as you mentioned, the competition on the Switch is heavy so even with minor flaws, they will stand out more and hinder its progress of becoming one of the greats. Hopefully a patch or two will improve its standing.
Exactly right! Mark
Here’s our review of Souldiers - have you picked it up? What are your thoughts on the game? Seeeeya!! Mark
I like the art style but it’s not for me. Looking forward to your guy’s KOTOR 2 review this month!
I loved the C&C reference.
I was really eager to nab this as soon as I saw it, despite almost no reviews available. I definitely feel like the difficulty is manageable (I think Metroid Dread had some difficulty spikes too but challenge is a good thing). I'm also seeing that a lot of people think this cavern setting sucks to be dropped into first thing, but it's kind of how the story begins, right? I usually hate when games stick me in a village with a 30 npcs to talk to; I'd rather dive in and see how it feels, y'know? I'm definitely waiting for a patch before getting too far into this - the load times and stuttering (and lag!) are just distracting enough. I never got far enough to encounter its rogue-elements like loosing every item/exp (wtf!). I'd like a better explanation of why that is even a thing in a game like this- could you imagine loosing the Varia suit in Metroid by dying and mistakingly reloading somewhere else? Very confusing choices indeed.
Absolutely not - waiting for the review ratio on Steam to go up to around 75%. Simply being a conscious customer with standards (whatever anyone's personal standards may be) will leave you a happier person overall. I do want to get it, but am glad to have waited for reviews and will wait even longer until the most glaring issues are taken care of. Before that it's a no-go from me.
Are you guys going to review Card Shark?.
I'm really enjoying it myself, looks fantastic, controls well once you get a feel for the weight of your character, and I don't mind too much being sent back to the last save point on death, it's no different to games like the old castlevania titles, which I have played extensively. You're right about the quality of the competition but personally I've already exhausted all the other metroidvanias on switch that interest me so this has has been exactly what I've been looking for. Those load times are a real bummer though, I'm enjoying the game enough that I can deal with it, but I have high hopes for a patch to ease that pain sooner rather than later
Yeah - VERY good game beneath a couple of really annoying things for me. MArk
@@SwitchUpYt based on what I've seen so far in about 6 hours of play time I think it could be a new entry in my personal top 5 metroidvanias if they can just iron out the pain points. Hope to see it in one of your all patched up episodes soon!
This explains how I feel almost exactly. I don't have an issue with the controls at all, it's a conscious choice based on the animation style, which I love. It's challenging in a way that belies it's looks--I'm also quite good with that as well. Overall, I think a review in the 70's is a little harsh, but to each their own. :)
@@mikeuziel 100% agreed. And the complaints about load times are, unfortunately, a switch issue more than a game issue. On ps4/ps5 the load times are seconds at best. Sure, maybe some better optimization can be done, but the truth of it is that the switch is an inferior machine and you are subject to these sort of things when playing cross platform release titles.
Bought the game yesterday, it’s absolutely gorgeous. The music is awesome and the gameplay is cool. The problem is it’s already crashed on me like 10 times in one day. The load times are crazy long. It’s a shame cuz I’d love this game otherwise
It looks lovely but yeah I’ve heard echoes from other publications about the long load times and weird input lag, will wait for some patches. Thanks for the great review as always
Yeah this sounds about right. The loading times even on pc are a bit too long. For a game where death is supposed to be punishing, I want it to be a quick loop where I can instantly retry and not a loading screen that lasts for more than 30 seconds. Hollow knight does this very well, and so go games like Celeste. And the performance, it's inexcusable.
Yeah they have some code to fix there - something is not right. Mark
@@SwitchUpYt aye exactly. I get the impression that the engine they are using doesn't take advantage of multiple cores or the way the games been written doesn't use multiple threads. An example of this is saving. In most games when you save on a bench or some other similar mechanism (campfire), there's a slight delay where you have a short animation that covers the save time. In this game, saving at a statue invokes a 10-15 second save screen. Its very distracting and the combat delay implies the same thing where the combat loop is directly connected to the animation loop. If there's a stutter or your character is moving, pressing an attack or jump button is not snappy because it seemingly queues the button action rather than interrupting whatever is going on.
The art design and level design are all top notch but the programmers seem to be not very experienced which sucks.
Try Rogue Legacy 2, 9.5/10 for me
@@Spyro5500 it's a decent game but it's really more of a roguelite than a metroidvania.
I mean, long loading is a punishment ;)
Been playing a good amount today
It's great with a very frustrating string on it. It's challenging, but ultimately failing means you have to sit through a load time.
Gameplay is fun, nice places to explore, and gorgeous visuals.
Playing on Switch in January 2023. Playing as Scout class. Load times are only bad when loading a different zone. Respawning after death doesn't take that long. There is slowdown/studdering/lag but it's usually just after an event scene; like unlocking a locked door. It's never caused me to die. The game has crashed on me several times during my 12 hours (so far, still lots to do). 1 time it crashed when I was saving my game, I was afraid my data would be corrupted but luckily it wasn't.
Even after all these tech issues, I still highly recommend the game. I can't put it down. It's like a zelda-souls-megaman- vania. Bombs to destroy walls like zelda. Souls cause it's difficult but not as hard as souls. Megaman cause you unlock abilities and when equipping them, your armor color changes. Vania cause it's a 2d platforming interconnected world that must be traversed several times over to get everything after special unlocks. Like double jump, wall jump, etc.
There are a ton of sub weapons; bombs, throwing spear, throwing knives, throwing poisonous daggers, etc. Each can be upgraded 3 times with gold and upgrade materials. 3 different upgrade materials; sub weapons, main weapon, and armor. Main weapon and armor can be upgraded some 10 or 12 times each. So you only get the weapons and armor you start with, upgrading them changes their physical appearance in-game. Like my Scout Sword+2 changes to Mythril Sword. You start the game being able equip 1 accessory. I can now equip 2. Maybe 3 by the end of the game? Accessories increase attack, defense, gold dropped, etc.
Go buy this game. $20 Nintendo eshop. Don't think there's a physical. If there is, ill buy it. Love Souldiers.
There is a physical coming up available from around Feb 2023 at Playasia and the official Pixn Love website ;-) Thanks for your recent review, which lead me to finally buy this!
@@TheBaer3103 should i get it ?
i still see some people with save issues
Just in case anyone peeks at this video/comment... the game still has a game breaking bug that deletes saves. Not only on Switch but on other consoles as well. The company has been refusing refunds for anyone who has bought it and for the past few months has been 100% ignoring, or banning, people that complain about the bug on their Discord. They have made an announcement, recently, that they are not doing any updates for the Switch and have no intentions of fixing the game breaking bug that corrupts and deletes your save.
This has nothing to do with the quality of the game when it runs the way it should... but think hard about whether you want to support a company that treats it's customers like this prior to making your purchasing decision.
Was thinking about getting this game, then reconsidered as I watched the review and how he talked about the control lag and save issues. I started getting the feeling the director cared more about how the game looked then if it played competently. Hearing this only further adds to those suspicions.
Thanks for the heads up and saving me from giving them my money for shiny, hollow, mediocrity.
Given how the animations seem to have wind up poses I’m a bit worried that it might be a game design choice and not something they’re going to fix. Changing animation timing post-launch rarely if ever happens for games like these because every single aspect of the product has been designed and tested with those frames in place. Looks fantastic though so I hope the developers get to make it work as I’d love to play this.
Very true! Mark
the music in this game is astounding.
I appreciate this review so much. Thank for for taking the time to give players like me an understanding of the games I want to play
Thanks mate
I was jazzed for this, but it sounds like the load times and lag really pull the whole experience down. This went from a "must buy" to a "maybe once it's patched." Thanks for the heads up.
I picked it up during the night. Played about an hour. Load times are horrendous. Controls take a while to get used to.
Still I ordered the collectors edition. I like the artstyle and humor. A couple of performance patches and it will be a solid game.
Yeah it’s still a lovely game but they NEED to fix those load times - just capturing this footage I couldn’t believe the difference between it and the PC version I have been playing. Mark
Shit loading times and shit controlls but oh boy im paying full price for shit!
@@mpo48 xD can't argue with that statement.
Still I like the game and it should have been patched until the physical release in September.
Pc port runs much better. So there is hope for optimisation.
Thanks for this review. Was thinking about getting this game but will wait for now.
I bought this game on the switch on release date. I put 25 hours into it and then the data became corrupt so I had to restart. The second go round I was 15 hours in when I realized that all my equip items were gone. Even when I would buy new ones they would just not show up so I restarted yet a again. On my THIRD attempt the same shit happened where all my equip items were missing. I am sadly done with this game for now until they fix this and all the other issues. Thanks for the review, it definitely helps to see someone else having around the same issues as I have been with this game.
I went crazy and preordered the physical edition. Now time to watch your review! Since I trust your reviews 100%.
Edit after watching: ouch. Scared now lol. Good thing the physical won’t come until September. Plenty of time for patching!
For me the cue the game was crap was the letters "soul"
It’s a good game - it just needs some TLC - I am sure it will be ok by September lol
@@MarquisDeSang I agree. The name is cringe.
And don't forget to try the free mod "Shoulders". It's basically the same game but every character is wearing 80s style jackets with shoulder padding.
😂
Fair review. I put about 5 hours into this yesterday and I'm enjoying it despite its problems (fortunately not as bad as Cross Code pre-patch, where the menus didn't work) The aesthetic is absolutely my thing and I don't mind the weighty combat. The first boss (the lance guy) had a really fun flow once I got into a rhythm. But ultimately the technical issues are sapping my will. I had one crash, and, as well as the long respawn time, I timed a transition between areas at 2 minutes... and I'm not sure how I feel about the "experienced marksman" archer's arrows missing if you're more than half a screen away from an enemy! Hopefully the promised patch will help, but it's disappointing that another game has released like this
A few more hours and finding there are too many little annoyances... Health potions are a necessity but expensive (and very rarely drop); the loading between areas makes me reluctant to explore; the odd system for replenishing bombs puts me off wasting them looking for destructible walls; the mechanic of random enemies spawning another 'dark' enemy when they die happens too much; as mentioned in the review the skill points for levelling up seem very stingy... Going back to Card Shark for now 😅
I can deal with the loading times but the input lag is inexcusable. It should have never been released on switch as it stands. It's nearly unplayable
I definitely love SwitchUp's review system. Its not just fair, they give a lot of points to consider if you're gonna buy the game or not.
I would definitely pick this up on a sale especially since there is still room to improve and hopefully it gets patched up by then.
Looking forward on seeing this game on SwitchUp's Patched Up series in the future too.
Another spectacular review guys! Love it
Thank you mate! Mark
I wish I'd watched a switch-specific review before purchasing the game. The painfully long loading screen every time you die and the painfully long save screen whenever you want to heal at a checkpoint are pretty much deal-breakers. It's nice to hear the developers are working on a patch. Maybe I'll just let the game sit until that comes out.
Also waiting on a patch for Roguebook. Any day now...
I had a blast w/ this title and will recommend on stronger consoles because there's so much it offers (in terms of variety). From 30+ boss battles, puzzles that aren't difficilt (but can for 100%), NG+ w/ ending while having 3 different characters completely changing the mechanics of the game. I respect the difficulties mentioned (input latency, sparse checkpoints, occasional bugs) and still enjoyed till the end. I have a couple videos on my channel of a few boss battles
Looks extremely good. I hope they can patch and improve the smaller details and, when they do, we get a retail copy of the game, because I will definitely buy it in a heartbeat. But, sadly, I can see this getting the Limited Run treatment...
Well, seems like it is getting released by Pix'n Love.
Thank you for the review, so sad that this has some significant performance issues, as it was on top of my “buy” list. I like that your channel can be critical, but still highlights the good points of this game. Will be waiting for patches, impatiently 😆
Haha cheers mate! Mark
Here we go again! Another switch game that needs a patch because of this and that. I was so hyped to play this on my Switch oled... I still hopefully will play it once its issues are resolved.
You know, this type of 'release then pattch' is so commonplace now that we become happily surprised when a game releases in such a state that it doesn't need a patch to fix a glaring flaw(s).
Yeah you’re not wrong mate - I hope we are at least able to save you guys money until they do what they should have in the first place. Mark
Finally. Was waiting for your review.
A warning!!! i played this game for 10 hours and experienced 3 crashes. The last crash happened as the game was saving, which affectively deleted my game. My save file thought i had completed the game and wouldn't let me load, create a new game or even delete my save. The long load times combined with the performance means i won't be replaying. I would ask for my money back if the E shop did re-funds.
I've been waiting patiently for this to be on Switch when I saw the trailer. Thanks for the input delay notice. Might have to wait for fix before buying.
Bought this yesterday. I hate the load times.
Yup
So I ran into a massive save data issue while playing I want to share. While in the pyramid area, I stopped playing the game for a bit to do other stuff and when I came back to it, my save data had been corrupted. And not just one save file either. Every slot was filled with broken saves and the screen was locked up. Only way to fix it was wiping my data from the system settings.
I was willing to deal with the performance and and control issues but with the save data corruption, I can't recommend it at all right now.
Hopefully, they'll patch this game soon, cause I love the art and game style, but long load times and heavy control are a no-go for me, I want to fight the enemies, not the game itself.
Yeah I had to play on PC to get the most out of it. Mark
if only it were only load times !! the game keeps crashing my switch like every other save attempts wtf is this
I was literally waiting to pull the trigger on this, and waited for your review. It 'looks' awesome, just need to hear your verdict.
It’s one I would buy on any other platform or wait for a patch. Mark
@@SwitchUpYt cheers mate picked up on ps5...its a cracking game with far better load times. Let's hope the patch works well as I prefer my retro themed on switch on the go. Thanks for the reply, devs have a great game, and my money on ps5 for now.
Update: load times on ps5 are nearly instant. What a great game. Must utilise the faster ram. I'm sure the devs will sort it on switch its clearly a work of love ! More than happy to double dip if they do.
Picked it up yesterday. Wish I waited. I keep lagging in quite a few spots. I will enjoy it though but boy it’s tough lol
Wow didn’t expect such low scores on combat and controls, thanks for always being honest mate!
Another thing, (as you mentioned too) I just saw on their Reddit that they posted Switch patch will be coming. So at least they are on it.
Thanks for the review.
Been itching to buy this one, but now I know to wait so I can enjoy it to the fullest once it's updated 👍🏼👍🏼
Same thoughts here with you. I play it on Switch version and it's an ultimate patience test.
I also played Death Gambit before. Hope this one will be better.
It's on my wishlist, but this review made me hesitate, can you short review it again once patch for fixing performance release ?
Again I agree with you that this game has potential.
Yeah I’ll include it
The input delay is a Switch issue, theres a native 4frame input delay. It's not present on Steam
Well maybe this will be one of those games I pick up and immediately put in the backlog and one day when you do an episode of Patched Up and talk about how great it is now that it's working as intended I'll finally hop in. I slept on Deaths Gambit for the longest time and when I got it when the big patch/rework came out I fell in love with it.
I was tempted for this because I love the design but I'll wait for an All Patched Up update before I commit.
To the devs: If your game is not a rogue-like or rogue-lite, don't add rogue mechanics. Just because Dark Souls does it doesn't mean you have to. To the review: Very well done, thanks, i love especially the comparison with Steam versions if there's some really bad issues on Switch that aren't present on Steam.
Thanks for the review i have it on my wishlist..when they fix the controls you mentioned it will be bought!
I was all about this game until
I saw this review. I like a challenge, but I’m not a masochist. Thanks for saving me a chunk of change - I’ll be saving it for Shadowrun. Cheers Mark & Glen!
with all those crucial performance issues, 73 is way too generous. It should be reviewed as is, not by potential patches (if ever). I truly regretted buying this day one (switch vers.)
No it’s not way too generous at all. As stated the game is very good. The heaviness of control is by design and the long load times are an issue but the game is still decent. There’s tons of content here, it looks and sound beautiful and it’s cheap. So no. I respectfully disagree. Mark
I did decide to pick up this game based on your review. Still I love these styles of games and hope they make more in the future. Also thanks for recommending death gambit. I must have missed that after watching that review I went and also bought it. They are both very good so far thanks for all these great review your killing my wallet but keep up the great work
Finally been waiting for this all day!! 😂😂
Edit - I’ve finished the vid now. I’m glad I waited for the review from you guys.
Thanks for valuing our opinions - that’s cool! Mark
@@SwitchUpYt of course. You’re hands down the best out there for this type of content.
I have this game too and yeah my biggest issues are the load times, stuttering, and slow skill tree progression. It's a fun, beautiful game with actual good dialogue, character designs, and combat is great for the most part. But in a game where you'll die a lot, having to wait so long between load times is a pain.
I have to say, I'm getting annoyed of indie devs releasing good games but with lots of issues at launch. Ganryu, Kao, and now this game are all recent examples that I'm aware of so far. I know CrossCode back when it came out on Switch also had some serious issues. It's good they're working on patches but the standard should be to release a proper, functional game at launch. Enough with the "release a problematic game, fix later" bs...
I really enjoyed the demo for this on PC that I was very close to buying it for switch as I love Indies on it. Unfortunately I heard about a lot of technical issues so I'm holding off for now.
The PC is more or less fine. Load times are a little annoying, but I have ran into little technical issue or game breaking bugs
This is on sale in the US right now and I read that they released switch patches to address things like loading times and save points! Going to get it!
Well apparently it’s still in a really bad shape on consoles so I’m not going to pick it up unfortunately.
This would be one of those games I hope you go back and review once a patch is out. I am interest in this one but will wait for an update.
I think I'll wait for an update to address the load times and save spots.
Totally agree think I’ll pick Blasphemous back up and try Deaths Gambit instead. Great review saved me the disappointment.
This is very promising game 😄 i get it yesterday but still didn't play it i love it from the first time i see it
Question are you going to review oxide room 104 coming soon on switch 😆
I'm writing this right before the video starts and the one thing that I've noticed is the load times are really long and the first Spider Queen boss got stuck in the upper left-hand corner
This game is a hybrid between two of my favourite genres! It looks lovely!
Looks great. Sounds great. But the performance issue is a bummer. I hope they fix that soon. Into my wishlist this go. Will get it someday for sure.
I also debated on getting this for switch. I've been burned in the past by poor switch performance and have adopted a policy of "never buy anything on my switch that I could have gotten on my Ps4/ps5." So I've been playing this on my playstation. The issues of frame rate drops and load times are non existent. Load times are about 5 seconds. I agree with your review as this IS a switch channel, but as far as an overall review of the title I would like to point put it's much better on ps4.
I am puzzled why you only mentioned the long load times. The save times are unacceptably long as well. It takes about 20 seconds to save on the Switch while it takes 1 to 2 seconds to save on PC.
Yes I was KICKING myself I didn’t put that in there - it was a RIGHT pain in the ass. Thanks for the reminder! Mark
I picked this up a few days ago and I’m enjoying it immensely… for the most part. The game is great fun but the one issue I’m going to have to agree with is the loading times. There’s been several times where I thought the game was frozen and I’m about to restart, only to have it suddenly load into the game… “wtf!” They really need to work on that.
Thanks Mark. This looks good, but it’s a pass. Have you happened to see the crystal project on pc yet? I watched a preview playthrough of the beginning and it looks just incredible. I’m hoping out hope that once it’s done I can get it on the switch. (If it gets ported). Cheers!
Since they delayed the original launch date to put out a more polished product, input lag and crazy long load times is unacceptable. I’m sure they will patch it, but dang. Disappointed as I wanted to grab this tonight - but will have to hold off to see what they do with it.
Reminds me of the long load times in Bloodstained RoTN each time you died to a boss. Making it even more infuriating when you died and had no ideas as to how to play the fight any better.
Already bought the physical switch version. Looks great to me and I will enjoy it i think but I will absolutely be waiting until load times and framerates are fixed on switch.
Does anyone have suggestion for an easy Metroidvania for me? At the moment I enjoy exploration more than fights.
I was so excited for this but I can wait for a few patches, in the meantime Dark Devotion has been scratching the itch. Surprised that game isn't more popular.
As always an excellent honest review, thanks Mark.
Thanks for the great review. I hope this gets a good patch on Switch to improve those controls, load times, stutters and regulates the auto save/death system.
Given the performance on the Switch was so bad (loading / respawn times of 45 secs to a minute) that it forced to play on the PC, I'm shocked that you gave it such a high score.
If you didn't have the option of playing it on the PC, like if it was a Switch exclusive game, I really think your overall review would have been a lot more negative.
Either way, I do hope they patch it up, because it looks so pretty!
I've picked this one up on pc. Souldiers is good...its fine. Atm, I'm on my first play, Scout, Lv 35+, in a certain fiery area, gained the last ability mcguffin. I dont so much have an issue with losing "progress", I find the levels, although good to have some absurd inconsistency spikes. The Pyramid was a stage that grotesquely wore out its welcome and I just wanted the damn thing to end. But then there's actual consistently pretty good stages, like a certain water lab later on. In some segments, they do this thing where they expect way too much of you before daring to give you a save point. Some enemy gauntlet rooms go a bit overboard with encounters. The main bosses are pretty good with good patters, but some of the sub bosses, mainly some of the "Dark"(insert weapon-type) here, can eat a bag of Richards! The FFXII style petition hunt system is very good, and I hope they bring this back, amplified in the future sequel. Exploration's fun, but this is extremely frustrating game, and most deaths will absolutely not remotely seem like it was your fault. One thing I dislike is the weapon/shield level up system, I'd much, much rather find an assortment of increasingly stronger weapons than to grind for materials and loot only to gain slightly better stats an no visual improvement. And speaking of visuals, can we talk about anything else in this game? Its a given the visuals are quite good, but I feel its the main topic of conversation with this game, and as most know, visuals do not always for a good game make. There is the fore mentioned input lag, which is a bit tiring, and some load times even on the pc version, but they dont bother me as much of some of the absolutely bs deaths that led to them. I like the skill tree system, and hope to see a more fleshed out one in the sequel, its weird maxing out everything you want and having to wait say another 10 levels for more options just to become available. The rings and ammys play a nice role in switching up your strengths and weaknesses, and sometimes complement your elemental orbs, and there's quite a few abilities making for a good mix and match.
I feel like this game(if a possible series), is headed in the right direction, and its doing extremely well, but it needs to learn from its current flaws and rise to be as good as it can. Tmv~
Thanks for the review and the "warning" - I'd love to play this in a patched version, seems like the perfect title to play in handheld mode.
there was a new update for this game recently and it was version 4, i tried looking for details for the patch but cant find any..
😁✌
I dont know why but its not available in the eshop in Mexico, do you know something about it?
Yeah I saw that when I went for the price - very odd! Mark
@@SwitchUpYt thanks for the answer! It also happened with The Always run, the two only games I was interested hahaha! Damn!
I was about to ask the same thing when I saw your comment. Couldnt find it on the eshop. Wonder what's the issur here.
Wow, played pc demo a few months ago and thought it was awesome, no reason this should run so poorly on switch, see iconoclasts or ori, hopefully they pay someone to optimize this game and reduce the input delay, never been so disappointed with a day one purchase, so much potential
EXACTLY this
bought it on switch pro. played 2 hours, beat first boss Dark Lance. like you mentioned - the delayed movement needs fixing in my opinion. it does not feel fun to learn the delay. if i want to dodge, let me dodge. if i want to chain my dodge with a quick turn around, let me do that. why do i need to space my button presses some 0.X seconds apart for it to work right in a battle where snappy movement is needed... load times are also atrocious. i uninstalled, hopefully i can come back in like half a year when things are looking better.
I have already picked it up beacause it seemed so promising ... But not yet had time to play it ( because I also boughtthe "Blaze evercade, with Tanglewood / Xeno Crisis (last one I own it also on my switch :-p .. very nice little retro gaming console btw)
Game looks fantastic, if there is a physical release I will grab a copy.
Souldiers or Salt and Sacrifice?? (Ps4).
I loved Salt and sanctuary but I heard Sacrifice is not as good as the first one.
It reminds me of Tails of Iron in terms of that input lag and long loading screens but once you get used to it its great.
Let’s hope most don’t have to get used to it and they patch it up :)
I've been waiting for this one to come out and was going to pick it up immediately but I think I'll wait until they fix it up a bit and hopefully get a physical release.
You can pre order physical releases
thank you! waiting for a performance patch it is!
I'm loving the game but those load times and save times kill me
EXACTLY THIS - it wouldn’t take them much tweaking to make the game SIGNIFICANTLY more enjoyable with a few tweaks to both of those. Mark
Playing it on ps5 so far loving it ! Great game
Bought this on release day for 11 bucks on switch (I had points saved up) but I haven’t started it yet I’ve been playing another game…Maybe I’ll hold off on starting it and play other two games I bought on same day lol..
I played on switch and I think the game was gorgeous until It kept crashing and then wouldn't let me play again and the loading screens are a pain. Also if anyone else has this problem do you know anyway to fix it as I really enjoyed playing it it's just really buggy because of all the crashing.
I think autosave wouldn’t work with the game right now. It takes me like 16s to save on the Switch, imagine doing it while trying to play.
I really liked the game, but I’m putting it on hold until it gets better.
Those load times are a feature, not a bug. They make every life that much more important and staying alive (so as to avoid interminable loading) of paramount importance. Very different from games where you're instantly back in after a death -- those make each life a bit of a throwaway, like there's no cost to starting the area again. Brilliant design.
[yes, I'm kidding]
Feels like a lot of souls/metroidvanias always require patches and rebalancing to get things perfect. This is still high on my wishlist but I’ll wait to see if the issues are ironed out.
I usually wait for reviews but I gave it the benefit of the doubt but honestly I really hate the load times makes me want to play it until I die twice and none more for the rest of the day. I have games that treat my time way better.
Thank You, waiting for that patch then!
I would love to check this out but I think I will wait until a patch comes out to fix the load times. But this is a great review and the game looks amazing, looking forward to checking it out soon
the dev just need to fix the cursed loading time problem and this game is perfect
Been checking this game, but I care too much about performance for metroivednias, I guess I will consider again once it’s on sale.
Uh oh, not liking that "shows real promise" in his opening prelude.
You know me so well! Mark
So far I've been liking the game, it is true the loading times take to much time. If the patch things up it will improve greatly. In the library they mention other classes so it would be nice to play with them as well.
@Travis Smith 15 sec saving the game. Around 40 to 42 seconds to load after you die and want to retry.
I love the art style and the classes seem like a lot of fun to play. But the cons really drag it down too much to pick up right now. Hopefully shows up on all patched up soon.
Intersting about the controls being jarring and delayed. It's the first thing I picked up on in the couple of hours I played last night. I don't really understand why they've made the choice to make it deliberately annoying and unresponsive to play as visually, it reminded me of ff6/mana/trigger in the best way.