If running your own cyber clinic was easy, everyone would do it. With choosing the direction of the story, usurers and memory loss, Steel Soul Shaper serves us a lot of potential in an hour of demo. Which supplements are most requested? What is hidden in the weapons of the parties? Read below whether this surgical table is worth your time.
The premise bought me right away. As I briefly described earlier, that's basically the whole game. Many are as wide as the ocean, as shallow as a puddle, from huge promises to the fact that the final product does not even serve half. That's why I like this title, it came out of nowhere and grabbed my attention. What it modestly offers, it serves very well. If it stays like this in the final edition of the game, we will have cyber accessories over our heads.
Running your cyber clinic, you are the surgeon in this world. The main faces of the city are coming to you to add a cool new color to their robot arm. The battery in their rifle rusted? No problem, you will order a new one online and it will arrive immediately. Did their neon glasses crack? No problem, you have your own little welder. The game also has short puzzle games where you hack into weapons and have to send each other secret codes to unlock advanced upgrades or access confidential client data.
After a clear introduction, the tasks become more subtle. The game stops with instructions and expects that you have been following what is happening carefully. Such a minimalistic approach to navigation is perfectly suited to this world where every mistake pays dearly.
The characters are colorful and characterful, just as befits a robot society. The authors hit on the visual identity, and with a superb musical background, the atmosphere of the city will not let you go until the very end.
The story branches with your decisions, and the demo offers as many as four different endings. That speaks volumes for the depth that Steel Soul Shaper is aiming for. Every choice carries weight: betrayal, money or debts to a usurer are not just incidental items, but decisions that make me wonder - did I do the right thing?
The game successfully balances between work in the office and difficult decisions related to the wishes of the clients. Each encounter carries a certain weight and dilemma: will you install suspicious equipment at risk or try to deceive the wrong person? These decisions directly shape your path through the digital underground.
After the working day, you can check your emails or listen to the radio that reports on the events in the city - if you haven't already been 'sold' this news by the customers themselves during the shift. Steel Soul Shaper definitely stayed on my radar. I hope that in the final version it will retain its apparent simplicity, while at the same time hiding complicated moral and business dilemmas under the hood.
