Kingdom Shell
Kingdom Shell
Game
Game2022
Souldiers
Developer Retro Forge
Souldiers is a 2022 Metroidvania video game with role-playing elements developed by Retro Forge and published by Dear Villagers. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
217 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Oct 27, 2026 · last updated Nov 4, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
70
Fresh
131 positive · 56 negative
95% range 63–76%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 131 | 56 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 6 | 2 | 6 |
| Mastodon * | 2 | 0 | 12 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 2 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
830 of 1,149 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
71% recommend · 134 yes, 55 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 189 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mixed (2,191 of 3,159 positive).
Many players praise the game's beautiful pixel art and music. [1][2][3] Some reviewers note the game is overly long and tedious in certain areas. [4][5][6] Several players mention that early bugs have been fixed in later versions. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [6]
This is a good game. The combat and movement and biomes are all really nice. My biggest problem with this game is that literally all aspects of this game from zones to dialogue to quests are drawn out to a point where the game is annoying to play. The zones are way too big. I felt myself losing interest an hour before I finished each zone. I can see why some people would love this but to me it just felt tedious to …
- [1]
I've seen negative reviews but I can't relate. Maybe the game will show itself somehow bad later, but currently(having 8 hours in it) I think that it is one of the best metroidvanias I've ever played. Bioms are large and diverse. Controls are tight. Pixel Art is just amazing. Writing is funny. Maybe plot itself is weak, but I usually do not read much of it. I for sure can recommend the game *EDIT AFTER ALMOST …
- [7]
It’s an absolutely beautiful and addictive Metroidvania. Negative reviews concerns the early version of the game, but all such issues are fixed in its current version. Cannot recommend it enough!
- [8]
Yes absolutely recommend the game even against all the hate the game got in the past. I 100%ed this game 4 times back to back on the hardest difficulty and new game plus to truly test how hard everyone was saying it was and to hunt it to completion. Apparently when this game first launched it was a disaster. Enemies had too much health, they did too much damage, players didn't do enough damage, bugs, crashing, save …
- [4]
The Good: - Bosses & Combat & Controls - Soundtrack (sewers area is unexpectedly a banger) - Sound design in menus and in game - UI in general was fantastic - Half the areas are solid - Fire Temple, Sewers, Sunken Lab, Castle, etc. - It's huge - Most puzzles were well designed. The Bad: - Half the areas were tedious - Like The Great Pyrimid or The Hel swamp place - It's huge, like almost too big. Some areas …
Summarised from 34 of the 219 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 10, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Souldiers talk about stunning pixel art and visuals; those who didn't talk about some areas are too large and tedious. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Souldiers received "generally favorable" reviews for Windows, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, and "mixed or average" reviews for Nintendo Switch, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. Mitch Vogel of Nintendo Life praised the art style, abundance of collectibles, and combat system while criticizing the performance problems, long load times, and difficulty spikes.
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 217 · most liked firstI've seen negative reviews but I can't relate. Maybe the game will show itself somehow bad later, but currently(having 8 hours in it) I think that it is one of the best metroidvanias I've ever played. Bioms are large and diverse. Controls are tight. Pixel Art is just amazing. Writing is funny. Maybe plot itself is weak, but I usually do not read much of it. I for sure can recommend the game *EDIT AFTER ALMOST BEATING THE GAME* Well, now I get all the negative reviews. The game designed…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Buy it for your friend, if you are sadistic. Buy it for yourself, if you are masochistic. To the devs: whichever one of you created the Fire Temple level, I don't like you, I just want you to know that.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →To the negative reviews - If you can't spell Metroidvania, you shouldn't be allowed to review them. Put the fries in the bag and keep your mouth shut. To the devs: This game has some of the most beautiful art I've seen in years and so much love in every detail that I can't imagine putting it down after just one playthrough. The music has me humming from the moment I wake up to the moment I lay my head back down 24 hours later after chasing bounties while speed-running it for the umpteenth…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game does quite a few things well, but the Fire Temple area brings together all the worst elements of the game and ruined it for me (made it not fun to play). Several of the mobility skills are weak, and the Fire Temple demands extremely precise platforming sections just to advance the plot. I wasn't half as frustrated on the Path of Pain or in Bilewater as I was in this section. First, the ability to run on lava is the worst of the mobility skills. It barely functions for its purpose.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →10 hours in the game and I'm abandoning it. The game looks and feels great, the combat is solid, graphics are great, soundtrack would also be really good, if it wasn’t going to become repetitive and annoying because every dungeon or area will take you hours and hours of backtracking, and getting lost in labyrinths trying to find why the heck you’re going in circles. I have only an hour or so to play every night and I don’t want to spend that time going back and forth fighting the same enemies…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played Souldiers, a game from 2022, after Silksong, which was a startling experience. Somehow the games have more in common than you might think: Metroidvanias with lush, vivid artwork and excellent music; expansive and intricate biomes full of secrets; a home base region that cues up various side quests (including a foot race of course); a vast array of skills and tools you acquire as you progress; and a fondness for hardcore gauntlet fights. But unlike Silksong, Souldiers has a much more…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a good game. The combat and movement and biomes are all really nice. My biggest problem with this game is that literally all aspects of this game from zones to dialogue to quests are drawn out to a point where the game is annoying to play. The zones are way too big. I felt myself losing interest an hour before I finished each zone. I can see why some people would love this but to me it just felt tedious to play.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's good, then you get to the desert then its okkk, then you get to the alien ship then you realize this is just bad and not fun anymore.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You know how some platformers have controls that just feel right, feel good, are tight and responsive? This game's not in that category.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →::: spoiler long list **Hyper Light Drifter** **9 Years Of Shadows** **Voidigo** **vvvvvv** **Star Of Providence** **Wadjet Eye Point & Clicks** **Rain World** **Colt Canyon** **Gross** **Omega Strikers** **Jazzpunk** **Lyne** **Mixolumia** **Shovel Knight** **Alwa's Legacy** **Souldiers** **Volley Blast** **Strange Horticulture** **Katana Zero** **Rivals Of Aether** **RACCOIN: Coin Pusher Roguelike** **Fez** **Petal Crash** **Apico** **Atomicrops** **Blazing Beaks**…
neutral · AI labelView post →First let me address some of the more common complaints before I get to my review as those would be of interest to those considering this. 1. I did encounter any bugs (I think, if I did it was very minor) throughout my playthrough. 2. The size of the individual maps being a bit too large I do agree with, but while that no doubt is annoying to reviewers who do this for a living, I as a regular person can take breaks and I did so at several points when I needed to and I came back when I wanted.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I ran into some glitches some minor some made me lose 15 minutes of progress. Great Music Fun Fights Rich story Is replayable All in all its fun and its a really good game. 9/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Solid metrodvanina, made by folks who are happy when a man gets assassinated, so don't give them the time of day.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It’s an absolutely beautiful and addictive Metroidvania. Negative reviews concerns the early version of the game, but all such issues are fixed in its current version. Cannot recommend it enough!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't get all of these metroidvania devs that create these very precise platforming actions with really floaty controls. It really gets bad in this game when trying to 100% the maps. The aggravation vs reward is not there with this game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Disclamer: I have the sense of direction of a sea urchin. It DOES play a role in my feeling of this game. This doesn't influence my take on the slowness of movement and imprecise platforming. NO! You don't do that, Bad Retroforge, BAD! You don't get to make a game that has fantastic pixel art graphics, a great soundtrack, and a killer first 10 hours so tedious afterwards. You start with 3 possible classes, I chose the Wizard because years of choosing the Wizard have led me to avoid the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is huge! if you don't like the bright pixel art style, than the length may become burdensome, but personally I enjoyed every minute in this beautiful world. heaps of hidden treasures, false walls and secrets, some fun puzzles and many great boss fights. oh and there is a new game +! I wont forget, maybe 20 hours in i hit a berry bush but i had the water armour equipped ,the berries grew. small details like that show the love that the developers put into the game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fredo's Game-Os: This one totally snuck up on me but Souldiers (included in this humble bundle) rocks, it's a medieval fantasy metroidvania with that sort of SNES+ graphical style (not unlike chained echoes or sea of stars)
positive · AI labelView post →I'll start by saying this was longer than I expected. Perhaps a bit tiresome at times. But something kept drawing me back in. The pixel art is stunning. The music gets stuck in your head. The puzzles are engaging and the platforming is challenging. The progression gives you a sense of getting more powerful. The bosses are fun to learn and rewarding to beat. The Metroidvania is Metroidvaniaing. Lots of variety. Big maps. Good fun!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dev abandoned 4 years ago after their first patch ruined the game . Don't fall for the positive reviews.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My favorite games this year: 1). Souldiers (2022 game but apparently that’s okay now)😈 2). Prince of Persia: Lost Crown 3). Hellblade 2 4). Space Marine 2 5). Sonic X Shadow: Generations
positive · AI labelView post →The final boss soft-locking in the middle of a move was the perfect capstone of a truly annoying, unenjoyable game. Terrible controls, numerous bugs, and glacial pacing are truly what kills it. I liked the element system and the general level design, but you couldn't pay me to play this game again.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I came back to gaming after a long break, and Souldiers was such a pleasant surprise. The animation and art direction are beautiful, and the gameplay offers great variety — rarely feeling repetitive. Some areas can feel a bit too long and occasionally tedious (especially the first spider map), but overall the world is very well designed. I finished the game with all three characters + New Game+ for a total of around 150 hours, and each hero has a very distinct identity: Caster — The most…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yes absolutely recommend the game even against all the hate the game got in the past. I 100%ed this game 4 times back to back on the hardest difficulty and new game plus to truly test how hard everyone was saying it was and to hunt it to completion. Apparently when this game first launched it was a disaster. Enemies had too much health, they did too much damage, players didn't do enough damage, bugs, crashing, save corruption, ect all the things you hate in a game they evidently had it. They…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Level up your game library! 🎮 Get your hands on our action-packed platformer bundle with 4 epic titles: #AeternaNoctis by @aeternathegame.bsky.social, #Souldiers, #Elypse and #Worldless. Grab it now at a 15% discount! 🔥https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/50187/Flow_Platform_Frenzy/
neutral · AI labelView post →As I got further into the game some of the platforming was unclear and frustrating. To clarify, the platforming itself wasn't the problem, but the lack of clarity. I eventually hit one in the third dungeon that I couldn't figure out. I gave up after half an hour.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →wanted to like this game, it was fun for a while until the fire temple lava run, don't think I will proceed
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Battled through the whole game, mostly enjoying it. It IS a good game for the most part, bar the odd frustration. Sometimes I found the controls weren't precise enough, or wouldn't register a move. Wall jumps are oddly timed. There are many needlessly punishing sections of the game, which in my view are just slightly too difficult or too tedious for no real need. Whatever, I pushed through, that is until the final boss. This is another game like Kero Blaster where technically it's decent.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TLDR: Pros: -Huge amount of content -Skill trees and lots of fun abilities to obtain -Secret hunting and quests -Great graphics and music Cons: -Too many controls -Dungeons are bigger than they need to be -There are a few very frustrating platforming bits Souldiers started off a little slow, the first dungeon was alright and the second one I didn't like as much so 6 hours in I considered dropping the game, but I'm glad I didn't! All the dungeons after that point got a lot more fun, and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is an awesome metroidvania game and I have no idea how it 1. Got any bad reviews at all. 2. Have dodged so many metroidvania fans radar. I have seen it in the que on playstation & steam for a few years and always looked it over. Then my brother bought it and recommended it and i can only do the same. Beautiful pixelart, great progression & wonderboy-vibe story/world kind of. If you're a fan of metroidvanias like SotN, Hollownight, Nine Sols, Bloodstained, Sunder (meh) and so on -…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Extremely tedious Metroidvania that brings nothing new to the table, and it’s plagued by questionable gameplay choices. Souldiers is a Metroidvania that is characterized by its mediocrity in both story and gameplay: the story is the typical fantasy story about saving the world with some mild twists here and there, while the gameplay is very linear, and the upgrades unlocked trough progression feel very basic. The game doesn’t bring anything new or distinctive to differentiate itself from the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sadly I had this on my wish list for a long time, it finally went on sale so I got it for five bucks. Not worth the five bucks. Boring, repetitive, and somehow on a new gaming rig lags horrible on saves. Tried reinstalling, turning off cloud saves, updated drivers for an old game and nothing. Don't wast your time and skip this trash.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was enjoying the game at first, but after 3 hours in the great pyramid i lost all interest. It's so badly designed maze that it suck out all the fun i was having.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My biggest complaints with this game were the clunkiness of the movement, the spells being relatively useless in most all fights (mage), the inability to try all classes within one playthrough, the lack of a zoom feature for the mini map, and the inability to show all chest/bygul locations on the map once getting to endgame. If you can get past these issues then the games not too bad. Overall I'd give it a 7.5/10.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was enjoying this until the very last boss. It froze twice during his teleport attack (only thing I can think of is I tried to heal both times.) 3rd time I did not heal during those attacks and beat the game. I love the graphics, beautifully done and tons of secrets. The music is catchy and on souldier difficulty, I felt the challenge was just right. Controls take some getting used to. xbox controller worked a lot better than ps4 controller, I have to say. Steam is way off on time, I got…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Beautiful pixel snes art, enjoyable first part of the game and then it just becomes repetitive and annoying. Didn’t bother to finish it and I do like to finish my MVs but this one just became boring to the point where I just wasn’t having fun.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →*** Edti - Finished it, loved it, wished there was more of it. So refreshing to play a game that doesn't tell you exaclty what to do, this was challenging like the 8-bit games we used to play as kids. If you see a bad review, it's either because it's of an older version of the game before all the fixes, or someone just needs to git gud. *** This was such an awesome find. I was shocked to see the bad reviews but I get it, the game can be tough at times. The controls and visuals are great. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →idk man. It starts off strong, but the second major area is so absurdly massive, hard to navigate, sparsely populated with bonfires, filled with irritating enemies (not hard per se, but irritating) and has such repetitive, needlessly high damaging and poorly designed boss fights that I needed to peace out. Not to mention the (infrequent) extremely questionably designed platforming rooms that have such complex movements and precise timings that I'm not sure how you're supposed to get through…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There is a bunch of jank that never got fixed and some elements are just... Why. DO NOT LET THAT DETER YOU. This is a fantastic game. 9/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I should be close to completing this game, with 100% completion on all areas so far, and only 2 side-quests incomplete, so I think I can say with confidence that this game is *not* worth it. The graphics are charming and have a very 90's super nintendo vibe to them. Unfortunately the same can be said about loading times (very long for a 2D game like this) and controls (clunky and often not responsive the way modern games should have them). Bosses are boring and frustrating. Figuring out…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I feel a need to write a review for this game, because I feel the bad reviews do it severe injustice. I always considered getting this, but the negative reviews kept putting me off. I'm glad I finally made the purchase. I've just cleared the first area at the time of this review and so far, I really like what I see. This is akin to an old school adventure game where the main character sets out on an epic quest to save the world. I was so busy navigating and exploring the levels that I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →it's a fun metroidvania with a bit of souls. I'm enjoying it the longer I play.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Good: - Bosses & Combat & Controls - Soundtrack (sewers area is unexpectedly a banger) - Sound design in menus and in game - UI in general was fantastic - Half the areas are solid - Fire Temple, Sewers, Sunken Lab, Castle, etc. - It's huge - Most puzzles were well designed. The Bad: - Half the areas were tedious - Like The Great Pyrimid or The Hel swamp place - It's huge, like almost too big. Some areas should've been cut in half, getting stuck in the Great Pyrimid for hours just sucks.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bought on huge sale this is a very good metroidvania. If you like exploring map when you play hollow knight you should try this game on discount. Exploring in this game is very fun, Boss is challenging and a lot of side content to do. But, this game do have a lot of problem and almost change my opinion about this game. The Problem 1. A lot of game breaking bug. This is just some example of bug that bothering me a lot, Some platform you instant lost a grip when you grab them. Happened to the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Skip. Don't be fooled by its charming 2D artstyle. If you are looking for are good metroidvania or soulslike this is neither of them.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Has a few issues, but most of it is good, and it's really fun, and the story is great NG+ is a joke, don't bother
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Souldiers is not a souls-like game. It is a difficult metroidvania even on normal mode (Soldier), but I expect much harder in a souls-like game. The easy mode should be enjoyable for casual. As for the game itself, mechanics and progressions are pretty good. There are character levels, equipment (main weapon, sub weapon, accessories, orb, pockets), consumables. You may need to use extensive consumables for bosses. Puzzles are also enjoyable. Unfortunately, Souldiers has achievement bugs. It…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I couldn't find any fanart of Souldiers, so I made my own. #Souldiers #game #metroidvania #fanart #art
neutral · AI labelView post →This just isn't a good game. The platforming mechanics are awful and waaaay too many of your inputs are just ignored. You can't expect people to do precise stuff with floaty, unresponsive controls. It started fun and started to go really downhill at the Floating Module (which is somehow only like halfway through the game). I was trying to finish this thing out of spite, but I'm throwing in the towel.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ this game is a mixed bag. It started well, had a fun time with the first two dungeons but this game just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ draaaaaaaaaaaaaaags on. The fire dungeon is absolute ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and I’m just tired of having to deal with this game’s HORRENDUS backtracking.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hands down one of the best games I've played in a while. After beating the first portion of the game (spider cave area) I have since been unable to put this game down and have since logged 15 hours at the time of writing this review. Overall best Metroidvania game that is filled with as much dungeon exploration as you could ever ask for. If you see this review get this game!!!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Recommendation As far as 2D action-adventure games are concerned, Souldiers is a very high B-tier, carried by its gorgeous pixel art aesthetic, strong soundtrack, and frequently excellent level design. The visual design and music mostly speak for themselves (I mean, you can see just from this store page how nice the game looks), so I'll focus mostly on the level design here. Firstly, a caveat: if you're expecting a true Metroidvania here, you'll likely be at least a little bit disappointed,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is good, the person who designed the great pyramid map is Psycho
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I did not realize I played 10 hours non stop, this is a great game on controller and put together well. It def takes time and I do like the level up system.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game is good at least, yes, maybe some uncommon decisions was made in development (like your heal potions do not restock on save point), but game have some solid mechanicks like you must use evade, block and specials, you must change elemental form, to fight with enemies effectivle. For the beggining, you would be somewhat uneasy about how to fight, but as game goes, each class would unveil its potential.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you enjoyed this review, please consider following my Curator Page [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33864135/]Nep's Gaming Paradise (Nepiki Gaming) for more reviews! Nepiki's Stats Overall length Around 25 hours for the beat. Overall difficulty Normal difficulty Overall score ★★★★★ Summary Souldiers delivers a massive open world that didn't get tiring for me once, with satisfying ability-gated…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I dunno how this game went so much under the radar . I think this game didn't get his shine somehow .. and it's a shame .. It is simply a very well made "metroidvania" from the beginning to the end with all the cases checked . GOOD Music , GOOD ambience and story , GOOD fighting "very exciting" , the levels disign is absolutely well though and gorgeous with a lot to look for and all chalenges are doable , even if the ones at the end game might be a bit irritating , I loved everything about this…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Simply put, I’m loving this game so far. I honestly don’t understand all the negativity I’ve seen online. This is a strong addition to the genre and delivers on many fronts: - Combat feels great and fluid - The story is engaging and keeps you hooked - Characters are interesting and well designed - Progression feels rewarding and meaningful - The music is excellent and fits the atmosphere perfectly I also really enjoy the loot and leveling system. Getting different drops from enemies and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've played this game in 2025 and with its current state it is a good game. Not perfect, but actually really good. The three classes feel different enough that you really have to adapt your playstyle. My favorite was the mage, which I also played in New Game+. And yes, it might be harder than your everyday games, but it's still a good experience. And if it's too hard, you can always switch to Explorer difficulty, which is still somewhat challenging for casual gamers (I guess), but definitely…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you liked the graphics, you enjoy exploring maps and you're not in a rush to finish all your games, this is a great finding. The only advice I would give would be to use a controller instead of a keyboard, because the game has too many buttons, which makes using the keyboard somewhat harder. Other than that, great experience! I will 100% play again with the other classes someday.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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