Despite the name, Soulstice isn't trying to be a Soulslike

There are so many Soulslike games out there now that it's easy to conflate third-person action in a gloomy world as a wannabe FromSoftware fantasy RPG. Based on the name alone, you might assume Soulstice is one of those games, but you can see in the new trailer shown at the PC Gaming Show today that it'll be far from it when it's out later this year.

Soulstice is a character action game that hews much closer to Devil May Cry than it does to Dark Souls. In a recent combat video, you can see how main character Briar can juggle enemies in the air and transform her weapon mid-combo. The game isn't about trading blows with slow attackers; it's about pummeling your enemies into a pulp, and doing it fast.

The new story trailer focuses on the partnership between Briar and her ghostly sister Lute. The two are linked, but it seems like Briar's role as a demonic 'Chimera' could wrench them apart. Briar's big armor, big sword, and big eyepatch are obvious nods to Berserk's iconic hero Guts, but otherwise there's not much overlap with FromSoftware's style. The cinematic features her fighting off a ton of grotesque monsters: a glowing golem, a razor-edged wolf, and a floating mangled head demon that looks like you'll have to take down as bosses in the game.

"Soulstice takes from the Souls games the atmosphere, not the gameplay," creative director Fabio Pagetti told us last year. "Combat is completely a hack-and-slash game, not the slow-paced tactical combat that you have in Dark Souls and Bloodborne. I like it a lot, I'm a big fan. But our combat is more similar to Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, and Nier combat. It's very fast."

The trailer lines up with Pagetti's comments. It looks much more fast-paced than the Souls games and much more interested in telling a story about distinct characters versus player-made heroes.

Reply Game Studios plans to release Soulstice on September 20. You can visit the website to register for an early PC demo.

Tyler has covered videogames and PC hardware for 15 years. He regularly spends time playing and reporting on games like Diablo 4, Elden Ring, Overwatch 2, and Final Fantasy 14. While his specialty is in action RPGs and MMOs, he's driven to cover all sorts of games whether they're broken, beautiful, or bizarre.