Soulscape: Shadows of The Past (Episode 1)

Le jeu plante constament...

I like it.

Soulscape: Shadows of The Past is a story focused adventure that puts me in the role of Blake Turner, a former agent who is trying to deal with the parts of his past that he would rather leave behind. The game takes place in a dystopian setting and mixes point and click exploration, puzzles, dialogue choices and some light RPG elements. I like the basic setup because it gives the story a darker mystery to work with, and the idea of playing someone whose past is slowly coming back to haunt him fits the atmosphere really well. This is also the first episode of a planned three part story, so it is clearly setting things up for something bigger. The mood system is probably the most interesting idea here for me. My choices affect Blake's emotional state, and that mood can then influence the story, character reactions and even the music. I like this because it gives the choices a little more purpose than simply picking different lines of dialogue. I am not just deciding what Blake says. I am also shaping the way he feels and how the world responds to him. It is a clever concept for a game that is mainly focused on narrative, even if I would have liked the consequences to feel more substantial throughout the whole episode. The investigation and puzzle sections work reasonably well too. I can explore different areas, talk to characters, collect things in my inventory and look for clues connected to Blake's past and the conspiracy surrounding him. The game also lets me change Blake's clothing and has a selection of different characters with their own roles in the story. I like having these smaller systems because they give me something to do between the longer conversations. At the same time, the puzzles are still fairly straightforward, so I am mostly here for the story and atmosphere rather than trying to solve extremely complicated problems. The biggest problem for me is that the episode sometimes feels like it is spending more time setting things up than actually paying them off. I understand that this is only the first chapter, but I still want the ending of an episode to give me a stronger feeling that I have completed something. There are interesting ideas around Blake's history, betrayal, identity and redemption, but a lot of the bigger questions are clearly being saved for later. That makes sense for an episodic game, although it also means I am left with the feeling that I have only seen the beginning of the actual story. I also think the presentation is a mixed bag. The dystopian setting has a good atmosphere and the use of mood changing the music is a nice touch, while the Unreal Engine 5 presentation gives the game a more modern look than I expected from such a small project. At the same time, some of the environments and character presentation do not always feel as polished as the idea behind them. There have also been updates fixing things like characters getting stuck, interface problems and frame rate issues, which tells me the game has needed some work after release. I think the short episodic structure is going to decide how much I enjoy Soulscape. If I am interested in Blake and want to find out what happens next, the first episode gives me enough mystery to keep that interest going. If I am expecting a complete RPG with lots of combat, progression and exploration, I am probably going to find it quite limited. The game is much closer to a choice driven adventure with some RPG features than a traditional RPG, and I think it is better when I judge it on those terms. Overall, Soulscape: Shadows of The Past has a good foundation and some genuinely interesting ideas. I like the psychological story, the mood system, the dialogue choices, the puzzles and the dystopian setting, and I think the idea of letting Blake's emotional state influence the world is the strongest part of the game. The first episode is held back by its limited depth, some rough presentation and the fact that so much of the larger story is obviously being saved for later. Even so, I think there is enough here to make me curious about where the story could go next. It is not a huge adventure, but as the opening chapter of a planned trilogy, I think it shows potential. Rating: 6.7/10