Young Souls Review – The Twins Strike Twice

Analysis of Young Souls for Xbox Series X.

We have just finished the month of February. A really intense month in terms of video game releases. titles like Dying Light 2 O Ring of Elden they monopolize all the attention these weeks. After the premiere of such works, March seems empty. But luckily, once in a while, we have the weird surprise like young souls.

And it is that this video game that started as a Stadia exclusive now comes to Xbox and Game Pass. Developed in collaboration by 1P2P and The Arcade Team, the title puts us in the shoes of two brothers who will have to face dozens of enemies to prevent life on the planet from becoming a thing of the past. To do this, they rely on mechanics that collect elements of beat them and Roleplay. All seasoned with a strong narrative component. Do you want to know what else this incredible indie has in store for us? I will tell you later.

How are these young people today?

Young Souls features the orphaned twins jenn and Tristan. They both feel challenged by the world, conditioned to fend for themselves and earn a reputation as troublesome outcasts in their small town. The only person they respect is the teacher, their adoptive father who had opened his home to them a year earlier. The three maintain a harmonious, if emotionally awkward relationship. But things will change for the twins when they discover that the professor has been kidnapped.

From there we will discover that there is a portal in his laboratory that leads to an underground world inhabited by goblins. And worst of all, their leader plans to storm our beloved city. Double penalty.

“We’re going to kick your ass, you filthy goblin!”

To save the professor and save the world along the way, Jenn and Tristan are eager to grab a gun. Young Souls offers us a combat system based on classic games of the genre beat them. We will move sideways through simple linear levels full of enemies and perform combos by pressing the attack button. This will chain consecutive hits. We can also dodge, jump or make a powerful attack.

This brings me to talk about two novelties which includes the 1P2P title in traditional mechanics: stamina and mana.

Vigor or endurance, as its name suggests, is the bar that measures our fatigue. You will be able to dodge enemies a limited number of times before your stamina depletes and you are exposed. On the other hand, mana indicates the possibility of making a powerful attack once it is charged. If it’s sold out, we can refill it Make parades.

Young Souls: Dragons and Monsters

And it is that one of the peculiarities of this game is the integration of elements typical of the RPG genre. Each of the twins, starting out, has the same strength, agility, etc. stats. Corn we can improve them depending on the type of weapon we use or raise the level of each character by sleeping in the mansion that is our home. In turn, this building will also be our “base” to change our appearance with clothes that improve our attributes or to enter the world of goblins.

In the title we will find a varied lethal arsenal made up of daggers, swords, hammers or heavy axes. Some even have status effects which will make them more powerful. We will also have protective items such as shields or armor and even magic.

However, if we need a little nudge to improve any of Jenn or Tristan’s characteristics, we can always resort to at the “Happy Fit” gym

to tone our muscles. Here we will find mini-games like lifting weights which, without being too complex, add variety to the dungeon exploration routine.

Two is always better than one

as well beat them worth its salt, the title of 1P2P will allow you to play with a second player. Unfortunately yes only in local mode. But for lone wolves, the game is just as fun to play.

If we choose to play alone, We will deal with the rebel brothers immediately. One can alternate between one and the other in the middle of the fights, giving this game to make double combos when we send enemies into the air. Also, switching between Jenn and Tristan will help one of them recover slowly as long as we don’t summon him into the fight. This will come in handy in the expansive and complex combat we’ll encounter as the game progresses.

But here is the most interesting. Being able to have two individual characters will allow create two totally different classes each. By not sharing levels, we can design how we want the brothers to be. For example, we can make Jenn focus on quick attacks and evasion with knives and daggers, while Tristan can become a deadly tank if we equip him with lots of protection and weapons heavy. Using this strategy will be useful against certain bosses.

Young Souls is flawless in narrative and gorgeous in visuals

But without a doubt the icing on the cake and what surprised me the most about Young Souls was your story

. At first glance, the pacing of the plot can be comical for certain situations. But every once in a while, the game hits our hearts with a more emotionally charged story than expected.

It’s also a pleasure to see how well the game is translated into Spanish. See the two brothers talking, hesitating and using expressions typical of generation Z or millennials It will make more than one laugh and gives the title a very characteristic rebellious air. You can’t help but stop by and talk to any NPC to see how Jenn or Tristan will react. And it is that absolutely all the interactive characters in the game are endowed with a unique personality. Even the bad guys don’t seem so bad after listening to some of their conversations.

Regarding the visual part, the work has a cartoon art style, simple but very beautiful. If looking at the game footage you think the characters look familiar to you, you’re probably not on the wrong track. And it is that the French developer had the company Ankamacreator of the Wakfu series, for character design.

Ultimately

1P2P and The Arcade Team have reached with young souls nail almost perfect fusion between beat them more classics and RPGs. A title that surprises us by offering us something more than pressing buttons to crush enemies, with a deeper narrative than it seems and combat with a certain strategic nature. It is possible that the lack of variety in the level design and the occasional small flaw play against it, but that does not detract from the quality of a more than remarkable video game. Young Souls is an exceptional and very naughty adventure not to be missed.