I want to start by saying, this version on mobile(iPhone) is noticeably with more immediate button reception than on Xbox(Series X) platform. I can press Back Dash right after Attack, and it will retain the input for after the Attack recovery time.
Also, if you have a preferred iPhone gamepad(I use RiotPwr brand mfi wired models), then that’s where this game really shines. There are so many well-demanded mechanics that reflect other standard, console-level games’ button mappings(especially with fighting game “claw”-hand posture, with index finger for left and up face buttons, and thumb for down and right face buttons, leaving the ring and middle fingers for the right shoulder buttons), that I don’t even find myself wanting to explore the touchscreen buttons at all.
To start with how stable the game is, I have played this version for an entire day, from 10am to 10pm binge, without a single reset of app, and it saved, maintained frames, and loaded every asset I expected from the various in-game interactions during that one session, while watching YouTube and Twitch in idle.
In terms of the game’s retention of story, art, and exploration flow, I’ve played it to the end without beating the final main boss. All the way through, lore discoveries, story impact, stats, utilities, difficulty, and character role were all improved promptly, frequently, at the right times, and in complement to one another. Everything stepped up exactly as it should have.
Between side-scrolling FoV format, frequent potions, and general simplicity of common and uncommon enemies, this Souls-Vania achieves a true “Lite” design, intended or not. Once navigation and combat is warmed up to, the bosses provide a sturdy difficulty of random attacks to have fun reading and countering.
To top it off, the abundance of choices in the loadout system really secure an ability to identify with a selection, and the player-character’s role of an anonymous mercenary helps contextualize what the game’s story plays out as.
One real critique that I think I might not be alone about, is one that just simply might never be implementable. This game would have been awesome if a multiplayer PvP “Invasions” system like a real Souls game. It truly deserves to be reflected upon, as a serious loss of potential quality.
I know for sure that many people across the Souls series and beyond, came to prize that type or setting of multiplayer interaction, as well as co-op. Even a reduced extent of 2v2 would have had a high probability of fostering a rather strong cult-community, given the firm understanding demonstrated behind the gameplay design, both in journeying and fighting.
Overall and regardless, this game goes down for me as a recent, valuable return to early gaming, that stays impossible to ignore even in the midst of our current highest games industry projects pursued, and certainly warrants a full 5 stars.