Hello platformer my old friend! 3Souls is a platformer with unique puzzles which can be solved using the Wii U game pad, either solo or in co-op. Though I did not complete the first episode solo, I did complete it in co-op mode. There are 3 planned stories, but for now only the first is available. The other two stories should release some time in the near future. 3Souls kind of reminds me of a old school platformer. For example, you only have 3 lives and the enemies, as well as your character, are pixelated. These characters pop off of the hand drawn backdrops, creating a very unique look.
Our characters in 3Souls, called Anima, are also rather unique. They wear masks that protect their souls. No mask, no soul. The masks and always exposed souls also show others their emotions. Our first character is named Nelesa, she starts out in Moon Prision. You traverse the levels in this story, while trying to figure out why you’re there. The story is not really clear, but I am hoping that it broadens in the next episode. The level transitioning is not my favorite, but is necessary due to the backdrops. There are so many loading screens, but the load times are not too bad. The music in the game is something that didnt really stand out to me. After I started to get more into playing the game the music just kind of drowned out.
More recently platformers have gotten a bit more intricate. More puzzles, difficult levels, and sometimes the game will show no mercy when you die. 3Souls is definitely in the category of a harder platformer. But I blame that on the puzzles. For instance there is a part where you are in an empty room and you have to go to the prompt on the tv screen, and then connect the Wii U game pad to it and it will reveal that there are platforms in the room for you to jump on. It’s pretty cool. Except for the fact that you have to memorize where these platforms are. As soon as you walk away from the prompt the solution disappears from the game pad. On top of that when you reveal the secrets such as these, if you don’t know where to hold the game pad you will be turning completely around in your seat. Something I found to be a bit annoying.
The invisible platforms are not the only unique puzzles in the game. In another part you have these traffic lights with color and you have to take a picture of the corresponding color, using the Wii U game pad. At first I was like “Oh! This is so cool! I’ve yet to see a game mechanic like this.” But that quickly turned into frustration since it seems you have to have damn near perfect lighting or it won’t capture the color. It only uses three different colors, so that’s nice. At one point my blue was not blue enough and we even used something orange, even though it was supposed to be red. These types of puzzles had me running all over the house.
One part that I thought was kind of fun was having to activate a fan by blowing my Wii U game pad. In co-op one person blows on the game pad and the other stands on the fan and trust me, you need that perfect timing. I couldn’t tell you how many times we had to restart simply because we couldn’t get our timing right. When you have lost your three lives you have the option to restart two different ways. You could start all the way over, or you could choose the respawn rush option. If you choose respawn rush you lose previous collectible progress.
From the start 3Souls looked like a very fun and interesting game. As I got further into the first story, it became more of a chore to do the puzzles. It’s a great concept, but it needs a little tlc. The levels are beautiful and our little character is cute as hell. I have the memory of a goldfish so the disappearing solution was a bit difficult for me. When I wasn’t getting mad about dying over and over again I was finding my self to be bored. I did enjoy using the gamepad, and though the color puzzles were annoying I found it to be a unique concept.
REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo Wii U code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.
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