Spectral Souls

"Doesn't capture the soul of a sensational Strategy RPG"

The Strategy RPG genre has always been full of my most favorite games. So far, all of these games have given me the best pastimes of my life. That was until I purchased a copy of the game known as Spectral Souls. Being a Strategy RPG, I was expecting tons of fun like the other games of the same type. Surprisingly, Spectral Souls didn't deliver the amusement that I hoped for.

Strategy RPGs always sport classic-looking designs that never bore me. This even applies to games that I don't favor much such as Spectral Souls. Sprites may look much more dull than other games of its genre, but the map designs are actually wonderful and well made. The towns look rather plain, but it's not really a major impact in the game.

I have always thought that every Strategy RPG excels in gameplay. That is, until I brought Spectral Souls. While still offering the same system like others of its kind, Spectral Souls didn't really have anything new to offer.

Like any other Strategy RPG, battles are set on a certain map in the game's world. Obliterating the opposing force means victory while getting annihilated by your enemy means defeat. You move your units like a chess piece across the battlefield while engaging the enemy units that comes in range.

Spectral Souls offers a lot of skills and magic that can be used in the battlefield, but there is one major and very noticeable problem. Whenever a skill or magic is used, the animation will always suffer a sort of lag time. This is great evidence that the game is dirty and unfinished. The unit's movements and attacks are also rough and buggy.

A very unique but unpleasant element in Spectral Souls's gameplay is that you switch your armies in accordance to the storyline. This may be good for a few players, but a majority of the gamers will certainly detest this system. Training too much units in the game is way too complex for Spectral Souls to be enjoyable.

What do I think of Spectral Souls's difficulty? Honestly speaking, Spectral Souls might be one of the hardest games I've ever played in my entire life. All I can say is, this game is definitely not for casual RPG gamers and newcomers of the genre.

The script of Spectral Souls isn't abysmal, but it's not memorable either. The timeline for all the armies you'll control is the same, but there are different stories for each nation.

The saga commences in a land known as Neverland. In this colossal continent, three different armies are waging a war in order to become the supreme nation. The main military force of the land, which is the demon army, has been ruling Neverland for ages until a problem started…

All was peaceful until one day the humans rebel against their demon rulers in order to gain freedom. While the humans and demons are rumbling, a secret cult began to develop that will one day threaten both races and dominate Neverland forevermore.

Despite sounding epic and interesting, the scenarios are actually tiresome and uninspired. Dialogues are rather empty while character development is nonexistent. As much as I like doing the skirmishes, it seems rather pointless doing them sooner or later due to the banal plot.

The musical compositions of Spectral Souls aren't annoying, but none of them are outstanding either. Voice acting is fine, but the sounds of the skills and magic are malignant in my ears.

There's barely any reason to replay this game as everything Spectral Souls has to offer is in your first run. There are no extra benefits in doing a second playthrough.

My advice? Spectral Souls isn't a terrible game, but it's definitely not a must to pick it up. If you're a hardcore fan of Strategy RPGs, consider picking this game up, but other than that, I recommend you to pick other games of its genre.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/02/09

Game Release: Spectral Souls - Resurrection of the Ethereal Empires (US, 09/26/06)