System of Souls | PS5 Review

For someone who has yet to play Portal, I sure am interested in games similar to it. There is something about puzzle-based platformers that really seem to draw me in. It has to be the satisfaction that you have this difficult puzzle that you cannot seem to solve when you have that “A-Ha” moment and finally figure it out. From my understanding, Portal and Portal 2 do a great job of providing that satisfaction. The Entropy Centre, which I reviewed for The Gaming Outsider last year, looks inspired by Portal and also had those moments of satisfaction. When I saw the trailer for System of Souls by Chaotic Lab and saw the similarities between The Entropy Centre, I had to give it a shot. Unfortunately, there were not many “A-Ha” moments to give me that satisfaction I was craving.

I Am Robot

System of Souls follows L-064N, who wakes up to an artificial intelligence called Aura explaining that you were a human, but were in an accident. ION, a large neuro-technological company, placed your consciousness and memories in a robotic body while they attempt to save your body. In order to find out what happened, you have to go through different puzzles which help unlock memories related to your accident.

Honestly, I found the story to be forgettable and uninteresting. It is not a bad story by any means, but finding out why my character was in an accident and sifting through their memories just did not interest me. Since the game is only about 3-4 hours long and L-064N does not talk, I never felt like I formed a connection with the character to truly care why they were in this position. There was a subplot that was beginning to reveal itself towards the end of the game and from side conversations throughout that was more interesting than the main plot. But the story felt like it was there to connect the different puzzles together.

I Pick Things Up and Put Them Down

Similarly to The Entropy Centre, the basic puzzle structure in System of Souls is to pick up blocks and place them on switches to solve the puzzles. Instead of using a futuristic gun to pick them up, your robotic body has powers to pull blocks towards you. As you progress to the different areas, it starts adding different elements, like magnets and gravity changers, and abilities, such as a slowdown mechanic, into the puzzles.

A simple puzzle structure is not necessarily a bad thing, as introducing new mechanics and creating obstacles can make them feel challenging. Unfortunately, System of Souls did not introduce enough new mechanics, or increased the difficulty to make it feel fresh. I would argue that some of the more thought-provoking challenges were earlier in the game, which is not saying much. While new mechanics are introduced, they do not really add depth that I would have expected to make it more challenging.

What only made later levels more difficult was the clunky jump and slowdown mechanics that put you at a disadvantage. I often felt that I had solved the puzzle within minutes, but it might have taken me longer just because I did not perfectly time a jump or slowed an object at the precise time requiring me to start all over. For some, they might enjoy incorporating more skill to advance, but for me, I would have preferred a more thought-provoking solution over clunky platforming.

Platinum Made Easy

I may not have been blown away by the puzzle mechanics, but I will say that Chaotic Lab had some great quality of life features to make this an easy platinum. First, most of the trophies are achievable by progression of the story. Some may find that annoying and it does not feel earned, but I appreciate only needing to do a couple things outside of the main story to platinum a game. 

Second, you can replay any level after having completed it. One of the trophies requires beating the game in less than three hours, but you do not have to replay the entire campaign. Instead, you can pick and choose levels to improve upon to get the total under three hours. The total time is conveniently placed on the levels screen. Also, each level has a certain number of collectibles and displays how many you have collected in each level. I usually have intentions to obtain a platinum when I am enjoying a game, but usually never take the time to do everything required, especially when you have to play the game multiple times. So I appreciate not having to complete the full game multiple times in order to achieve the platinum trophy.

The Extras

Instead of a couple more long, drawn out paragraphs, here are a couple items I felt needed mentioning. The music has a cool, futuristic vibe that works well with the futuristic environment. I also had no glitches or technical issues with System of Souls.

Final Verdict

System of Souls appears to draw inspiration from Portal, but unfortunately does not present enough of a challenge to feel the satisfaction I would hope for in a puzzle game. It is by no means a bad game, and I did enjoy the four to five hour experience. However, the story did not grab me, and the puzzle mechanics lacked depth to feel fresh and challenging. If you are looking for a simple puzzle game or an easy platinum trophy, this game might be for you. But if you want a challenging puzzle game that feels fresh, I would look past this one.

To hear me talk more about System of Souls, be sure to listen to the June 21, 2023 episode of the Gaming Outsider podcast around the 55:40 time stamp.

This review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy of System of Souls provided by Gammera Nest for coverage purposes. It is also available on PlayStation 4 and PC via Steam.