Soulash

It's pretty rare to play a fantasy game where you're the problem rather than a hero providing the solution. It's even rarer to see a new title take this form in a title that looks like it was released in 1987. Slash is a retro, roguelike RPG adventure where you are destined to consume the souls of every being for godly dominance in this mystical realm.

Slash garnered popularity as a demo on public game developers' forums. Now it's arrived in a complete incarnation, much to fans' joy. Are you prepared to take on the role of evil and shroud the world in darkness? It's a game that turns the norms of RPGs on its head, yet with surprisingly traditional genre gameplay. Let's get rude in Soulash and discover if being evil is enjoyable.

It's Good to Be Evil

As you've probably guessed by now, the core focus of Soulash is being evil. How will you accomplish your world-dominating agenda? You'll take on the role of a lich necromancer traversing an open world of humans, elves, and dwarves. Eating their souls and annihilating everything that gets in your path. But even though you're all-powerful, all won't be as easy as you think!

Slash incorporates survival mechanics as well as the traditional RPG mechanics. Apart from growing your power with new abilities and character-enhancing stats, you'll have to face other gods vying for the same domination. Surviving against their wrath means farming, raising armies, taking on other menial skills to increase your prospects in a growing evil world.

Being evil requires a surprising amount of micromanagement, it would seem. However, ultimately, all those integrated mechanics serve the game well as a deliciously fun evil experience. Raving villages and cities with your wicked ways are probably more entertaining than they should be. Still, that sense of accomplishing your dark agenda feels satisfying.

The nostalgia factor of the ASCII graphics is also a helping hand in taking us back to the days of traditional RPGs. It's a good feeling all around for the game despite the UI's being a little fiddly and elements of the game requiring a bit too much micromanagement. Slash is a game that would be hard up not to succeed.

Sucking Souls to the Bitter End

The simple approach to Soulash gives it a wealth of opportunity to provide diverse gameplay, a big open world, and a forge of your own storylines. We can safely say that it succeeds on every front in that sense. You almost feel that it's a high fantasy version of Caves of Qud, a game with a similar approach that received critical acclaim.

Round-Up - Pros & Cons

Pros:

• A vast RPG that stays true to traditional mechanics
• Open-world that provides diverse gameplay
• A different approach to the narrative where the heroes reign

Cons:

• The user interface is clunky
• Micromanagement tasks aligned with survival mechanics can be a bit much