Uneventful, that is, until they uncover a portal to another world which threatens the very existence of life on Earth as we know it. Life in Portsbourgh for Jenn and Tristan proves uneventful. Jenn and Tristan are two teenagers twins who find themselves suddenly abandoned and without a family until a good-hearted scientist adopts and brings them into his home settled within a small port town. Penned by Matthew Ritter (The Walking Dead game, Nova Phase graphic novels), Young Souls draws players into a familiar place teeming with nostalgia and adventure where everything is possible. Young Souls features precise gameplay mechanics wrapped inside a profound story with unforgettable characters and intense combat. It’s as far from background noise as it’s possible to be.Gorgeously animated, Young Souls draws you in with its distinct art direction but keeps you playing via a deeply narrative-driven RPG beat-em-up that features clever crossover mechanics. It’s populated by beautiful little musical touches that are worth really paying attention to. It really adds to the game’s atmosphere, drawing you into the world with depth and nuance. There’s a different motif for every event, whether you’re in the hub of the town centre or delving deep into the caverns below the mansion. While the art style is undeniably gorgeous, the soundtrack to Young Souls is similarly phenomenal. It’s a brilliant two-player experience though, and working together to take down Dwarvengobben and his minions remains fun and frantic from start to finish. You’re able to switch between the twins with a tap of the left should button, giving the other sibling a chance to recuperate while the other one dishes out some damage, and you have the chance to revive the other if they fall. Young Souls is designed to be played as a two-player co-op experience, but it works nice enough if you’re playing on your own. As the sum of its parts Young Souls doesn’t boast any one unique element, but it pulls those ideas together in an utterly compelling way. It’s a neat touch, albeit one that’s not all that new. You can further bulk up your stats by visiting the Happy Fit gym in town, completing workouts to gain strength, stamina or resistance via the medium of button mashing mini-games. Once you’re done with that day’s quest you take a snooze and gain all of the experience you’ve built up, levelling the twins up and enhancing their stats so you can take on bigger and badder enemies.
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In the course of your adventure you’re sent off through gates that take you to the goblin world, from where you’re searching for items while bashing some goblin heads in using a variety of intriguing weaponry. While it might be tagged as a brawler-RPG, Young Souls is a dungeon crawler, albeit one that’s dressed up in a form we don’t often see. It’s all incredibly authentic, and I couldn’t wait to see where the game was taking me. There’s a wonderful Saturday morning matinee feel to it that calls to mind movies like The Goonies and Dreamwork’s Trollhunters series. The central mystery circles the Professor’s research, and his discovery of the goblin world. Their complicated relationship with their adoptive father The Professor is mixed with care and resignation and it’s nicely played out, so when he disappears it makes perfect sense that they rush off to find him. This pair are cool, quippy, and resolutely Gen-Z, and they’re an absolute pleasure to spend time with. This is one of those flash-forward moments, so prepare for a glimpse of the game’s end before the beginning. You’re introduced to adopted twins Jenn and Tristan in a perfect spot of scene setting, with their town on fire, and magical weaponry simply appearing in their hands.