Soulstice and the spaghetti stylish action – Interview

If this is the first time you hear about Soulstice and you immediately started thinking about a new soulslike, let us stop you right there. After developing Joe Denver’s Lone Wolf and the VR game Theseus, the Milan-based Reply Game Studios decided they’d develop their own take of the Japanese stylish action genre. With Hideki Kamiya as their muse, the team has very clear ideas about the groundwork necessary to ensure the quality of their dark and adrenalinic action game, well-refined both in its controls and its storytelling. Quickness of execution, carefully thought out camera angles, an art style inspired by dark fantasy and two sisters whose story seems very intriguing. Briar and Lute are joined in a Chimera, half body and half spirit, and are the only ones who can save the Kingdom of Keidas from the Wraiths, supernatural beings that hunger for death and destruction. The story turns into combat and the combat into story, inseparable as the two sisters.

“We were inspired by various media, cinema, videogames, anime [Berserk, Devil May Cry and everything in between – ed.] when giving life to Soulstice and developing its features, especially the dual nature of the combat system: the player will control both main characters at the same time”, says Fabio Pagetti, Creative Director and Studio Manager of Reply Game Studios, while around us the Milan Games Week buzzes with activity, the echoes of the gameplay trailer that was shown on the main stage still in the air. “Briar, the elder sister, handles the melee part of the combat, while the young Lute specializes in magic. Her independent AI is one of the things our game brings to the table. She’s capable of making decisions based on the flow of combat, and to react and increase her potential based on our playing style and skill. In game terms, this happens through the Synergy mechanic, shown on screen, that increases as our combo progresses, unlocking the full potential of Lute. The player will also be able to execute special actions, otherwise impossible to achieve.”

An interesting mechanic, meant to give a new spin to a combat system that is not too unlike those of NieR: Automata and Astral Chain. And if in the middle of combat, as the blood flows and the sparks fly, one might not pay attention to the artistic direction, as soon as the dust settles and the thrill of victory fades, we are embraced by Keidas. “Once the core gameplay was defined, we dedicated ourselves to creating a world that we liked, and that we knew our artists could deliver. Our artists are great with graphics that are more grounded in reality, we love mature themes and darker settings, and also anime. Personally, I [Fabio – ed.] really enjoy games that are set in one macro-location, like Soulstice.

Keidas is a dark but plausible, pseudo-medieval world. The magical element obviously plays its role (and a big one!) but we keep it low fantasy, unlike say Lord of the Rings, a world completely ruled by magic and also populated by various races like elves, dwarves and hobbits”. As explained by Samuele Perseo, Product Manager and Game Writer, “it was actually harder to create the realistic elements of the story, like the religion, what people believe about the afterlife, the mysteries and the secrets of the Order [an organization which aims to protect the world, and has created Briar and Lute – ed.] rather than adding the fantastical elements afterward.”

The world of Soulstice is defined by myths and rites, and it takes form under the direction of Lead Artist Christian Ronchi. “The first thing that comes to mind when you’re planning to make a game that is very ‘Japanese’ is that the art style should reflect that, but we only went halfway down that road. There are no giant heads, or unrealistic proportions, for example, we tried to keep it somewhat grounded in reality. There is obviously a simplification of silhouettes, also for readability purposes, but the materials are represented realistically. We come from past projects that had a similar artistic direction, such as Theseus, and our artists were already skilled at this. Of course, the characters have long legs and eyes bigger than normal, but everything still feels believable. And in the environment, we can find things that could exist in the real world, if not for their colossal size. Take for example the city where the game takes place, its proportions would be…” “Gargantuan!” interjects Fabio.

“Exactly! Everything is exaggerated but without weird magic stuff, these are things that technically could work in the real world. This is also true for our animations. We have tried to use as reference the shows we loved as kids, such as Saint Seiya, Ronin Warriors, things that are part of our cultural background and that we tried to use as inspiration.” “We grew up with Grendizer, Mazinger, that kind of stuff, not with Pinocchio, even if he’s Italian!” It’s not just a matter of experience, but also of budget, according to Samuele. “If you try to go for true realism, there’s always going to be someone with more money than you! [laughs] So we told ourselves, let’s find a way to show exactly who we are and what we can bring to the table.” “And also when it comes to the genre. What did we want to create? Action games, because we love them”, adds Fabio. And judging by what we’ve seen of Soulstice, the choice seems to be paying off.

“It was not just a matter of what we liked, however. We thought this was a niche that was still not too busy, relatively speaking. Sure, there’s Platinum, Capcom, Ninja Theory, but not many others, and especially not in the dark-fantasy or low-fantasy setting. So we thought: if we go there, maybe we can leave a mark and make a name for ourselves, since the genre is not that overcrowded.” “And, I mean, these are usually shorter games. So once you’ve played those triple As, maybe you’ll take a look at our game as well!”. Soulstice is a game that loves to showcase its scenography, its choreography, with fixed cameras, evocative backdrops and fights seen from afar, to give a better view of the chaotic whirling of blades. We asked Reply Game Studios to expand on this choice. “Design-wise, it’s important that the player has a clear view of what is happening on the battlefield. We adopted a fast-paced combat system, so you need to be able to figure out how many enemies there are, where they are, who’s about to attack you and where you can move at a glance,” says Fabio.

“Outside of combat, during exploration, it was interesting to have the camera angles that we liked the most, that could showcase the environment, although even in such cases you can still move the camera. It’s just not completely free. We have a complex camera system actually, we have ‘on rail’ cameras similar to the classic God of War games, then there’s third-person free view, depending on the situation. Kind of like NieR: Automata does it, with the sidescrolling… for example, when you face our first boss, he jumps up and aims at you with his bow: and there the camera changes and becomes almost top-down.” The project should not just be manageable production-wise, but also exciting for artists, Samuele tells us. “The idea of having a fixed camera is a choice that we made to balance our efforts, too, because a completely free camera in a 3D world is much harder to handle.” And can lead to many more issues. “Exactly! Also, one neat thing we did was that first the designers set up the camera shots, but then we went to the artists and told them ‘okay, these are more or less the cameras that we would like to use gameplay wise, are there any shots that you’d like to focus on?’ so there were multiple steps”, promoting cooperation within a team that has grown a lot in recent years: from 13 people in 2013 to 47 today, with every asset created inhouse. The cinematic in-engine videos are handled by an external team, Maga Animation Studio, located in the nearby town of Monza. Soulstice is 100% Made in Italy.

But coming back to the beating heart of Soulstice, its gameplay, we also asked Forge Reply Studios about the way progression is handled. “The game has a linear level design, but there are some detours here and there that will let you find special items. There are bosses and mini-bosses, but the game is linear. Going for an open-world structure can be risky, so we decided to avoid that. As for character progression, both the elder and the younger sister have their own skill trees, one more focused on combat abilities and the other on magical, support abilities. So it’s up to player choice”, allowing us to prioritize one combat style over another. “There are also secondary weapons. Briar’s sword, her primary weapon, won’t be replaced over the course of the game, but can be combined with secondary weapons that allow for build variety, for example by having Lute focus on crowd control, or support abilities, or single target damage.”

And after this very interesting chat, our excitement for Soulstice has grown exponentially. Currently slated for a 2022 release on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, it looks like a very promising game, full of heart, with a clear design philosophy and a solid production value, and ready to prove its mettle in a landscape hungry for more stylish action games. Ready your body and your soul to the daunting task of freeing the Kingdom of Keidas: the time of reckoning approaches.

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Questo articolo è una traduzione. Potete trovare l’originale, in lingua italiana, a questo link.