Soul Axiom Reviews
Overall, Soul Axiom is a painful experience.
If you were eyeing Soul Axiom, I'd say buy Master Reboot or stay clearly away. Wales Interactive has done much greater things in the past, which makes this all the more jarring. Now, I just hope their critical and commercial pinnacle isn't faded away due to a failure like this.
Having played a few of Wales Interactive games, Soul Axiom is a disappointing release from a studio that is capable of better. Muddled in with the disjointed story and an uninteresting cast of characters, there are a few glimpses of genius design that only serve to highlight the lacklustre moments that surround them. Soul Axiom tries to discuss the subject of the soul, but doesn't have one itself.
Initial intrigue brought upon by Soul Axiom's cool concept and sharp art design quickly tumble downhill when you discover that everything else is a rough, unsatisfying husk that disappoints in a way that brings out your frustration more than your anger. This is one poor soul.
Undoubtedly, fans of abstract puzzle games will find a lot to enjoy here. But those not so inclined to stick with something a little frustrating and overtly self-insistent perhaps may prefer to wait for the next reboot of this intriguing but poorly executed experience. Where Journey uses the concept of abstract, indirect storytelling to its empowerment, Soul Axiom ends up leaning on it like a crutch when it suits, much to its detriment in terms of the overall experience. The confusing PR description of the game, which is nothing like the experience you actually get, is testament to that muddled framework. This is well worth a go, but it is not a polished gem by any stretch of the imagination.
Soul Axiom has a few fantastic puzzles and some lovely environments. Sadly its also full of boring puzzles, an uninteresting story, horrid cutscenes, and some of the worst glitches I've seen in a video game.
Soul Axiom's psychedelic first-person platforming features some interesting puzzles which could be much more enjoyable, if the game's level design was more interesting and its gameplay mechanics more immersive. The lack of creativity elsewhere prevents the game's puzzles from keeping the players' interest for very long, which shows Soul Axiom could be a better game if more care had been given to it.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Soul Axiom for Wii U is a rough port of an interesting first-person puzzler that just doesn't quite live up to its potential. The combination of frustrating controls, poor graphics that don't live up to the PC version, and intentionally slow storytelling may be too much for anyone that is not a huge fan of the first person puzzle genre.
Soul Axiom is an incredibly uneven game that feels disjointed and unpolished. Moments of beauty in its futuristic overworld are only temporary, as half of the game looks completely out of place. It's incredibly disappointing that the game isn't able to come together since some of the puzzles are delightful to figure out. Instead, gamers are left with a puzzle game that's merely okay, and one that is easily passed up when you've got incredible offerings like The Witness on the system.
clearly the developers were influenced by Bioshock: Infinite, just don't expect a game even remotely close in quality
Ultimately, Soul Axiom, is a title of an eerily odd nature. It seems destined for greatness, but instead of pursuing it through excellence of execution, and simplicity, it strives for elaborate complexity it doesn't quite comprehend.
There's around 20-30 hours' worth of content on offer, but the lengthy load times and boring puzzles make it feel like such a slog that after 10 or so your interest wanes
Soul Axiom initially holds promise, but design flaws, a convoluted narrative, and constant guesswork make the puzzles feel arbitrary rather than rewarding.
Soul Axiom has some strong points to make it potentially enticing for eShop enthusiasts; it works hard to deliver an interesting narrative, there are plenty of hours of play, and it's atmospheric and intriguing at times. There are downsides though, with performance and puzzle design often middling and sometimes poor, which both drag the experience back somewhat. Perhaps worth a punt - at a budget price - for fans of first-person puzzles, but Soul Axiom sadly doesn't deliver to its full potential.
Certain sections of Soul Axiom are as memorable as Wales Interactive would like them to be. Unfortunately, however, these moments are buried under a lacklustre and confusing storyline and simplistically dull puzzles.
Wales Interactive's Tron-like puzzle game has great atmosphere, a compelling setting, and an engaging concept – but it's ultimately not that interesting to play. The story lacks pace and substance, while the puzzles are lacking in difficulty and nuance – especially given that the powers used to solve them quickly become tiresome.
Soul Axiom has some really interesting parts, but its whole is still something left to be desired.
Despite an impressive variety in art direction and environments, Soul Axiom's puzzle design is shallow and frustrating.
Here's hoping Wales Interactive are able to keep working on Soul Axiom, because these game-breaking bugs are holding back a game that's otherwise creative, intriguing, and utterly gorgeous.
The game is rugged in some departments and a little less ambitious than I had previously thought it would be, but Soul Axiom is still a well put together and intriguing experience. It's a cool world filled with sparkly tech surroundings, a multitude of far ranging level environments and some really enjoyable puzzle solving.