Mouseward Demo Preview | A Pixel Perfect Soul
- Kyle Stephenson
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Finite Reflection Studios, the team behind the minimalistic souls-like Void Sols, is aiming to put yet another twist on the souls-like genre by combining it with the collect-a-thon nature of the platformers of old in Mouseward.
The demo places us in control of a member of the Royal Mouse Guard who awakes from the dead. As soon as I gain control, I begin wandering through the starting section with various graves on either side of me. The Royal Mouse Guard controls like most other souls-like games, you have your dodge, lock on targeting, a heavy and normal attack, block button, and even a dedicated jump button, which is perfect for this genre-blending game.
Almost immediately, I was thrown various collectibles in the area in the form of golden coins and celestial fragments, which invoke some of my favorite feelings in the video game world, collecting things. These fragments are used to upgrade your skills on a path to make your Mouse stronger than ever and to take on larger enemies both in size and damage output. The coins are also used to buy new gear and items that you will need in combat. Gear also receives a boost if you equip every item that is in the set, which is a nice touch and gives players the desire to search for everything to maximize their playstyle.
Eventually, I unlocked a ranged weapon in a bow, which came in handy when taking down archers who had the high ground. Speaking of, the level design and verticality is pretty amazing. There is no shortage of paths that you can take and discover secrets along the way and I was very much encouraged to do so because I adore this retro art style so much.
Spoilers! Combat is tough! But that comes with the genre territory. The game is difficult, but never in a cheesy, gotcha way. It is difficult, but it gives the players the tools to learn from their mistakes and gives them options on how to handle each encounter and learn the enemies' movesets to memorize windows of attack opportunity or evade.
I am definitely keeping this preview light on the details of my adventures because I strongly encourage you to get in there and play it for yourselves. We have yet another banger on our hands from the uber-talented Finite Reflections Studio team.
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