Combat/Interface

Swordplay

This isn't your standard Diablo click fest - Soulbringer's combat system is real time, but there are generally fewer enemies to deal with, so each fight is more meaningful. It's a little bit tricky, but you have to orient your character's body in the proper direction using the mouse, and then click from a menu of actions in the right hand toolbar to attack. Although a bit unwieldy at first compared to the simple clicking of Diablo (and even the more advanced keyboard attacks in Revenant), we eventually got more used to Soulbringer's style of combat. The real advantage is that different weapons can have different sets of attacks. For example, a knife will have an array of short stabs and slashes, while a sword might add to that with a more powerful set of lunges and swipes. All weapon attacks are motion captured and animated quite nicely.

Free advice

Off the boat!

Make your own view

The most notable thing about Soulbringer is the ability to change the camera angle as you see fit. You're no longer restricted to a standard ¾ overhead view, or a "behind the character" viewpoint. Changing the camera angle is as simple as holding down the right mouse button and flicking your wrist around. It works out very well for most situations, although we sometimes would accidentally plop the camera right behind a tree in the middle of a fight - not a good thing.

Getting to the point

It's always a favor they ask

Macros

Macros are great for Windows applications when you end up doing a lot of repetitive tasks. It occurred to Gremlin - "hey, why not apply the same principle to our game?" Soulbringer allows you to automate combat by programming specific sequences of actions into macros. These might include different combinations of attacks that flow together. You can even mix in actions like item use, eating (to restore health), and spell casting. You can have up to 10 macros in Soulbringer, and you can even program them to loop themselves.

Love shack

You win

Magic system

There are over 60 spells in the game, based on the five elements of the world of Soulbringer - water, fire, spirit, air, and earth. What's interesting is that the more you rely on one element of spell, the stronger that element becomes within you. However, there is a corresponding antagonist element, which will be weakened. For example, relying a lot on fire spells will mean you'll become weaker when it comes to the water magics. If it's important to you to remain balanced among all five, then you'll have to make the effort to utilize the entire array of elemental spells equally.