Young Souls

Very nice beat em up, with some RPG elements and an amusing storyline. There are many difficulty levels for different audiences. I played it once with a roughly 12 years old with little gaming experience and another time with another 12 years old with more experience and it was both times a fun game. I also finished it twice alone. There are quite a few rare item drops so you discover new things on replay. Also there are quite a few different fighting styles and accessories, so I look forward to replay it and try some stuff out. I finished it on all difficulty levels. High difficulties may be frustrating (you die very quickly), although that's kind of expected in a roguelike game. My feeling is that the beginning of the game is more difficult than the end. But since you can tweak the difficulty as you go (or, for patient players, play until you are a couple of levels above the difficulty of the zone), this is not an issue. Cons: - Minor bugs are present (found maybe 3 in 4 play-throughs), but as a linux player this is not an uncommon phenomenon. - While playing 2P, the camera is (as in many indie local Co-op 2P games) mostly following one player (unfortunately, the male twin). This can be annoying. - The game (both story and balance between the different items and styles) feels more finely tune at the beginning (see above for the difficulty) - You won't be able to try everything in one play-through since some resources to improve items are limited (for me it's rather a pro, because I like to try out other stuff) - some people are bothered by light flashes, there is no way to turn them off - some people are annoyed that there is a part of the game where everybody kills you in one shot (I found this part of the game pretty refreshing and easy, even on the highest difficulty, but apparently, that's not the case for everyone, so be warned!) - some people seem to think it is repetitive (but they obviously did not play other beat'em ups). Personally I just tried something else every time it got too repetitive (and there are lots of things to try). Plus I found that there are lots of rooms which bring new elements (traps, lighting problems, etc.) Pros: - it's a blast to play - adjustable difficulty level: you can not only change the difficulty but also tweak all sorts of parameters (speed of enemies/allies, damage dealt by enemies/allies) - lots of variety in the fighting style and choice of weapons/armors/accessories. You don't have to try all the weapons and armors (like that sword which freezes enemies) to finish the game, but you sure can. - the story is surprisingly good for a beat'em up (but don't expect an absolutely great story). Good enough to be appreciated by my co-players. - the graphics are really nice, give a nice ambiance and work well. Even enemies are nicely "reskined". - although it's a side-scrolling beat'em up, it really does not always feel like one. The rooms are different in shape and size, some sections are "S"-shaped, etc.