Soulforge Lost Path

Playtime: 13 hours For the price, this game has been an absolute blast. I went in expecting a small indie roguelite, but ended up sinking 13 hours into it almost immediately. It scratches the same itch as Vampire Survivors mixed with Backpack Battles, while adding its own ideas through weapon forging and permanent progression. The combat is satisfying, and the progression feels rewarding early on. Forging Balance The forging system is one of the game's most unique mechanics, and I really like the concept. The issue isn't forging itself, but how its progression is balanced. Early on, you naturally want to start crafting and experimenting with better weapons, but because the same resources are also used to level your forging skill, it feels more efficient to delay crafting and invest almost everything into the skill tree instead. Once that investment starts paying off, the progression swings in the opposite direction. Forging scales extremely quickly, and before long you're able to create weapons that completely outclass the game's difficulty. After around 13 hours, I reached the point where I could forge weapons that one-shot almost everything. The surprising part is that I've only defeated the first major boss. I've cleared the available stages leading up to the later bosses, but my character already feels overwhelmingly powerful. It feels like the forging system starts a little too slowly, then ramps up too aggressively. A smoother progression curve would make the mechanic feel even better. Skill Tree Progression The game has two progression systems: Character stats Utility skills (forging, spell mastery, merchant prices, etc.) I like having multiple progression systems, but many of them compete for the same limited resources. Permanent stat upgrades, forging progression, and several other skills all draw from the same pool, which often makes it feel like you're constantly choosing which system to neglect. One thing I noticed is that the resources earned don't seem to scale much between the early and later stages. The first level rewards essentially the same upgrade materials as the higher-level areas, so progression starts to feel grindy as upgrade costs increase. Increasing resource rewards in later stages would make progression feel more rewarding while giving players a reason to push into harder content. Instead of feeling rewarded for engaging with every mechanic, it can feel like each progression system is competing for the same limited resources. I think the game would benefit from introducing additional resource types for different progression systems, while also increasing upgrade material rewards in later stages. That would make harder content feel more rewarding, reduce unnecessary grinding, and allow players to progress naturally without having every system compete for the same currency. Other Issues There are still a few rough edges: Some balance issues. A handful of bugs. Translation/localization could use another polish. Nothing here stopped me from enjoying the game, but they're noticeable enough to mention. Final Thoughts Despite the issues, I genuinely recommend this game. The gameplay loop is addictive, the forging system is creative, combat feels good, and it's incredibly easy to lose track of time while playing. Especially at this price point, it offers excellent value. I've genuinely enjoyed my time with the game, and I hope Ziyue continues building on what they've created. There's a lot of potential here, and I'd happily jump back in when new content arrives. Recommended. Looking forward to future updates! Edit: I went back and killed all bosses, same weapon as i made earlier. 1 shot all of them (less than 1 sec) just bought compass from the merchant, went in, used the compass, straight to boss, boss dead within a sec. cleared the last boss level + boss in less than 2 minutes (finding the boss and killing it)