The Wii U gamepad is not just a remote, it is also a machine that connects you with another dimension called the world of Mustland. In this land there are people known as Ánimas, who wear life-essential masks which protect their souls from the world around them. Souls float around the Ánimas similar to a celestial light, revealing their innermost thoughts and feelings. The life in Mustland is rough, there are strict rules set by a dictator. If you do not obey his rules you are sent to the Moon Prison.
In the 3Souls episodes you follow different inhabits of Mustland. In Episode 1 you follow Nelesa, a girl wrongfully imprisoned in the sad cells of Moon Prison who is seeking a better life. Luckily for Nelesa you can help her escape the prison with the help of our dimension using the Wii U gamepad.
At first sight, 3Souls seems like a simple game. You move Nelesa through the levels by moving here and jumping on platforms but it is the gamepad input that makes things interesting. As I said the Wii U gamepad connects our dimension with the dimension of Nelesa and the interactions with both dimensions are needed to solve the puzzles to make it through the level. One of the earlier featured mechanics requires the player to blow into the microphone to activate wind fans so that Nelesa is able to jump across bigger gaps.
Eventually, Nelesa will encounter seemingly unreachable platforms, only to discover the GamePad and its motion ability can tap into prison security cameras, which then reveals a series of hidden platforms that can reach even higher points. A lot of new mechanics like these are introduced and start pretty easy but get harder when the game progresses.
It is pretty cool to make use of the Gamepads full potential, I really tried to have fun with this game but there are a lot of mechanics that just don’t feel good. Either it is super hard and feels awkward to use, or it’s so repetitive which results in a slow and frustrating gameplay. I played this game but a few times and every time I rage quitted it. You only got 3 lives and when you die you have to redo everything all over again. Believe me, this is not an easy game, and it’s pretty buggy too, so sometimes you are going to die for no reason at all. I hope they fix these bugs and frustrating mechanics in the next episodes.
The only thing I loved about this game is the story, 3Souls gets you involved, the voice-acting is on point and the minimalistic art style is pretty cool. The problem is that the good parts are raptly overshadowed by the sloppy mechanics and the frustrations of this game.
| The good | The Bad |
| – Great story | – Very Frustrating |
| – Cool art style | – Buggy |
| – Makes use of gamepad potential | -some mechanics are repetitive |
I really tried to make the best of this game, but did not enjoy playing this game. It was a good attempt to make use of the features of the Wii U gamepad but it just does not feel good. I hope they work on it and make episode 2 and 3 much better because the story of 3 souls is promising.
Score: 2 out of 5
