While at PAX West, I had the opportunity to check out developer The Arcade Crew's Young Souls. It's a sidescrolling RPG beat em up strongly focused on its narrative about two twins, Jenn and Tristan. Young Souls features hand-drawn art and animations and is set to release sometime next year. No platforms have been announced yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jm-ritzuxE
You take on the role of either Jenn or Tristan, two twins suddenly abandoned without a family until a scientist adopts them. Of course, all goes wrong and they find a portal to another world that threatens to destroy their own world on Earth. They then set off to make sure that doesn't happen.
The Arcade Crew said that the game is best played in co-op, but in singleplayer you'll be able to swap between the two on the fly as you want. That may make for some interesting combos, as both Tristan and Jenn can be equipped with different kits. Along the way you'll get more loot to change out weapons and upgrade armor and spells.
Each weapon plays a little differently, and the twins can be equipped with spells as well. In the demo I played, we had a rather basic fireball and ice spell, but both proved useful in their own way. The swing is different on the varied weapon types, as are the combos they set up. Each one will take time to learn as you vary your loadout.
Dodging between enemies will be key as well, as placement to both land hits and avoid those from enemies is a big part of Young Souls' combat. Having a good understanding of how your weapon works and the statuses it may have is important to success.
My short time with Young Souls showed me a competent beat em up with good mechanics to work from as development continues. The game is still early on and has plenty more to do, but the foundation is good. I didn't experience the story really, but the developers say the narrative is extremely important to the game.
If you're into beat em ups and intrigued with some RPG elements tossed in, Young Souls is one to keep an eye on.
