Soulbringer

"A decent game, but flawed."

I was checking out some of the bargain bin games in my local Fred Myer's, when I spied a dual - jewel game set. The two games included were Planescape, Torment and an unknown game I had never heard of before called Soulbringer. Being an avid fan of Dungeons and Dragons, I decided to buy the set, mainly for Planescape, as it was set in a D&D world. It was an excellent game, but for a long period of time, I shunned Soulbringer. I had messed around with it for all of a half hour and decided that I was not interested in it. Recently, I decided to give it another try, and found it quite satisfying.

Gameplay - The game itself is massive. Your character can pretty much roam wherever he desires. Like most RPG's, your character levels up by gaining experience, whether it be by slaying monsters or running errands for other people. When you do level up, you gain stat points that you may distribute into categories such as combat, health, and magic. This way, you can customize your character to your liking. You may also assign combination attacks for you melee weapons that you acquire which is interesting to experiment with. Learning spells can be quite tedious though. You must first find the proper magical tome, then find the tome's corresponding rune and activate it at the proper hexstone, which is a magical deposit of sorts. It can be very frustrating at times, but fun to some. Another interesting thing about the magical system is if you use one element often, such as fire magic, than your opposite element will become weaker while the one you use will become stronger. This is an interesting aspect of gameplay and tries to help you balance out your spells. There are many items you may acquire and experiment with, some good, and some bad. All and all, the gameplay is quite fun, but can quickly become extremely annoying at times.

Graphics - The graphics were good for it's time, but by today's standards, are mediocre. The main character walks in jerky marionette strides which can be bothersome. There is always a fog of darkness surrounding the outer countryside that can make it hard to see and easy to get lost, but that's what the map and compass are for right? Normally, I don't have a problem with graphics, but people just interested in good eye candy may whine and complain.

Sounds - There is a great lack of music in the game. Most of the sounds you will hear are the footsteps of the characters and the voice acting. Be warned though, most of the voices in the game sound extremely prissy and well.... wimpy for lack of better words, especially the men in the game. I am usually listening to my own music though when I play games so this was not that big a deal to me. Oh, and did I mention that whenever the character eats some food, it always makes the same crunching noise. Get that man some decent bread. Bread is not supposed to crunch! Same with ham... and fish..... and apples.... Well maybe apples.

General Story - Very cliched is all I can say. You main character is the descendant of a great warrior and his uncle is a witch. Long ago, they banished a great evil from the land that has since returned. To follow in their footsteps, you set off to become the great hero and destroy the evil. YAWN! Like we haven't heard this one a zillion times before. But come to think of it, most RPG's have a similar storyline so I guess I can't complain huh? I just would have liked a more engaging and enthralling plot. A unique and innovative idea. But beggars can't be choosers. Still a fun game though.

Replay Value - Once you beat it, there isn't much else to do.

Well, all and all, Soulbringer is a fun game, but may not appeal to all. I enjoyed it myself, but found it to be tedious at times.

Pros -

Unique magic system
Non linear gameplay
Tons of weapons and items
It's fun to laugh at the prissy men in the game
Fun and challanging gameplay

Cons -

Boring and repetitive storyline
Combat can be somewhat difficult to learn for newbies.
CAMERA ANGLES!!!!!!!!!!! enough said

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/13/03