Why You Can Trust CNET Wayward Souls for iOS review: Easy to learn, enormously difficult to master
Battle your way through tons of cute but dangerous monsters as you master the moves of each character class.
Wayward Souls is an unforgiving, retro-looking RPG that challenges you to get as far as possible through dangerous dungeons filled with monsters. But what starts out as a seemingly simple hack-and-slash dungeon crawler becomes much more nuanced and addictive the more you play, as you try to master the strategies for each of the different character classes.
Wayward Souls for iOS
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Wayward Souls is the spiritual successor to Mage Gauntlet, a 2011 title from Rocketcat Games that had a very similar play style and the same charming cartoon-like graphics. But in Wayward Souls, you get just one chance at survival because -- unlike Mage Gauntlet -- if you die you stay dead and you'll have to start over from the beginning.
With such steep consequences, Wayward Souls becomes a game that's more about survival, forcing you to figure out how to stay out of harms way while simultaneously battling through hordes of monsters.
Before we go any further, it's important to note that Wayward Souls is a relatively expensive game at $4.99 currently. Rocketcat games has stated they will release several content updates that will raise the price by one dollar. If you pay now, it's about 5 bucks and you'll get all the updates for free. So while it is a bit pricey compared to other games, if you have any interest, it's definitely worth it now.
Starting your journey
When you start Wayward Souls you're treated to a sort of tutorial level that shows you the ropes for the touchscreen controls. You initially play as a Paladin as you learn to touch and swipe the left side of the screen to move, and touch the right side of the screen to attack. In this introductory part of the game you'll get a taste for general gameplay and preview the game's excellent electronic soundtrack. Once you get a feel for the game, you also have the option to switch to an onscreen gamepad-like controller, but I found the default controls to work great.
In addition to moving and attacking, you have two extra skills you can do with a vertical swipe. What skills you get depends on which class you play. As the Warrior, for example, you throw an axe when you swipe upward, or equip a shield with a downward swipe. When I first started playing, I couldn't get the swipe controls to work reliably, but after a few games, it became second nature.
There is one problem with the control system, however. As you play you'll find items that are added to your four-slot inventory. These can include things like attack potions, health potions, and other useful items. But in order to activate an item in your inventory, you have to stop play and select the item on another screen. It's clear Rocketcat Games wanted to go for an all-gesture interface, but I don't think it would hurt to have a couple of onscreen buttons for inventory items.
Classes and strategies
Though you play as the Paladin in the opening tutorial, the Paladin character class is not available when you start playing the game. Instead, you'll have the choice between a Warrior, a Rogue, or a Mage. Three additional classes are greyed out on the character select screen, including the Adventurer, the Spellsword, and the Cultist. Each of these additional classes will unlock as you complete quests and kill bosses. I managed to unlock the Adventurer in my testing, but it was extremely difficult.
Once you choose your class, you'll enter the first dungeon. The class you choose deeply effects how you'll play the game. Not only will it change how you attack, Wayward Souls is about staying alive, so durability is a big part of your choice. In this way, you can almost think of the classes as difficulty levels. The Warrior will probably last the longest of the three characters because he's the most durable. Playing the other classes requires you learn how to play around their specific vulnerabilities. In other words, I recommend you start as a Warrior, learn the ropes, then move on to the other classes.
Tons of replay value
Even when you play the Warrior class, it will take several games to finish even the first dungeon. Health potions are few and far in between, so hacking and slashing blindly won't help you.
In Wayward Souls, dodging attacks from monsters is almost as important as getting the kill because when you reach the end of the fifth floor of the dungeon, you will fight your first boss. Any health you've managed to save will be all you have against the strongest monster in the game yet. Don't forget: if you die, you start over from the beginning.
Therein lies how the game sucks you in. With every bit of health a valuable commodity, you'll need to learn how to avoid each monster's attack. You'll play several times just to master your movements, and even more when you play the other "weaker" classes. Mastering each class is what brings you back to the game for another round, and makes the payoff that much greater when you can finally finish a dungeon.
Fortunately, the game gives you a little help in the form of upgrades and skill bonuses. At the beginning of a run, you'll have the option to use earned coins to buy upgrades for various skills. Some will help you regenerate health faster, while others might make your attack stronger. Your upgrades carry over game to game, so you can come back the next time even stronger than the last.
Weapon and equipment upgrades happen within the dungeon whenever you find one of the shrine-like structures. The game will give you two upgrade options for a single item making it stronger than before. These upgrades do not carry over between games, but could be just the thing to make you survive in your current game.
Conclusion
Wayward Souls, on the surface, is your garden variety hack-and-slash RPG, but after a few plays it becomes much more involved. The game forces you to play defensively even as you mow down hordes of monsters and every item you find suddenly becomes valuable as a possible aid to your survival.
While I like the touch controls for the most part, I don't like that I have to stop the game to look at my four-slot inventory. It seems like it wouldn't be too jarring to have a couple of buttons for inventory items, so hopefully it's something Rocketcat will consider adding.
Still, even with these minor control issues, Wayward Souls is a deceptively deep game, with tons of replay value as you try to conquer difficult dungeons.