I tried playing this new game called Souldiers and it is infuriating. The demo was fun but it got worse and worse as you went on. The difficulty requires you to have really precise controls but the controls aren't precise enough. You need really quick reflexes but your character has weight so the response isn't immediate. Sometimes you hold down and jump to drop a platform and it just won't drop. Sometimes you grab ledges when you're not that close and it messes with your jump, sometimes it won't grab those same ledges. The dodge roll has like a 2 second cooldown and enemies attack so quickly. Some have multiple quick attacks and there's no attack pattern so you can't predict it. Roll through an attack? The enemy might decide to just instantly switch to a different attack before your roll cooldown is up dealing damage.
The platforming is serviceable at the start but as you progress, it gets tougher and tougher. It's still fine but the main problem here is how many flying enemies there are. You have to hit them like 6-7x each to kill them, sometimes they attack two at a time so the fight's even longer, and every time you hit them, they fly away! It really makes the combat drag. Worst yet is they'll often be found where if you miss a jump or get hit, you get knocked off a ledge into a hazard below. Speaking of hazards, sometimes enemies will fall from above right onto your head with no warning. Some checkpoints get so far apart that you can get through 10 minutes of progress and die to some BS like an enemy falling on your head to lose all your progress. I just don't understand that kind of game design.
The reviews were really good and at first I was thinking, "I hated Dark Souls, maybe this is some Soulslike that I just can't be bothered to learn." But then I remembered playing and loving Blasphemous. At least Blasphemous had some tight controls and actually felt fair rather than forcing you into these long, drawn out fights in unfair platforming sections. Now looking at Steam reviews, they're mixed which makes a lot more sense. I'm fine with difficult games, like I said, I loved Blasphemous, but it needs to be fair and fun. This is neither.
