[NintendoEverything Review] Fractured Soul, 3DS

Overview

‘Fractured Soul’ is a game that harkens back to the days of tough-as-nails platformers, but more importantly it calls upon a certain style that we don’t really see much of anymore: You actually spend time with most of the levels, learning their nuances and intricacies, getting further and further with each successive attempt– and there’s a wonderful sense of accomplishment when you finally make it to that level-ending door after maybe hundreds of deaths. It’s a game made for platforming nuts, by platforming nuts, on a system that is slowly cementing itself as the king of the genre. And while it lacks in areas that Nintendo platformers tend to excel at (charm, vibrancy, etc), one could easily argue that what makes ‘Fractured Soul’ great is far more important than any of that.

Now if only we could get Endgame Studios to make the next Mario game…

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The good…

Perfect gameplay.
Great level design.
Tight controls.
High difficulty.
Lots of replayability.

The bad…

Atmospherically bland.
Not a whole lot of charm.

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This game is better than…

Chronos Twins
New Super Mario Bros.
New Super Mario Bros. 2

But worse than…

MegaMan 1
MegaMan 2
Super Mario Bros. 3

And on par with…

Mutant Mudds

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Worth your $12?

Without a doubt.

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Name: Fractured Soul
Genre: Platformer
System: 3DS
Developer: Endgame Studios
Publisher: I don’t know, actually.
Players: 1
Length: 6 hours to “beat” the game, probably well over 20 if you want to complete everything. Which you will.