Soul Light is a story of a young, simple girl that is forced to accept her magical gifts on a quest to save her village.

The Story & Writing
You play as Kaya is a simple herbalist who denies her magic but when her native forest begins to die, only she can save it. You're joined by Hary, who is charismatic, adventurous and is skilled in fire magic. Along the way you meet a mysterious yet self assured witch named Anna who joins you on your quest.

The game's routes are determined by two things depending on what your choices are. Light and dark or relationship based choices.
There are two romantic routes, both female. And while there is tasteful nudity it is not graphic or lewd, some kissing and suggestive text but nothing really spicy.

The writing in this game is not as polished as the developers' more recent games. It is the use of the English language and its modern slang and use of curse words that break the immersion. Using phrases such as "Did Kaya, like, walk us out"? Followed by "Like, yes". I don't envision fantasy characters speaking in such a way or using common modern curse words. For some the use of language might not be an issue and the story is more important. However as a fantasy lover, language used in this way broke my own personal immersion in parts of the story.

Also as another reviewer pointed out the game does have a tendency to switch around pronouns for characters and objects throughout the story. You can still understand what the text is trying to say and it does not hinder the meaning of the story at all, it is just very noticeable.

Game-play & Features
The settings are the basics for the most part, skipping choice options, volume, rollback side, text speed, and screen mode. The main menu houses a gallery which captures all the special moments artwork. You can also hide the hud by pressing H if you'd like to take screen caps. There are also lots of save slots for saving important choice moments.
The text colour is white outlined in light blue. I would personally have preferred if I could change the outline to black. The lighter colour was probably chosen to blend into the colour palette of the art but it does make it harder to read since the background behind the text is also white.
The game is polished, not bugs or crashes and runs well in widescreen.

Graphics & Sound
The artwork is gorgeous in this game. Backgrounds and main character art blends very well together. Magical and vivid. And the chibi art is adorable (in all of Vorobushek's games the chibi's are so cute) and well done.
The characters are not voice acted. Whether you prefer this is a personal preference of course but something to note. The soundtrack is upbeat, and reminds me of the music you hear in old school rpg's. It goes with the fantasy theme of the story for the most part. There are some ambient sounds sprinkled throughout as well.

Overall Experience
The story in this game compared to others I have played from the same developer is not as in-depth. It is more simplistic. Character developments are not as deep. The story is charming and all light choices do not mean you get the best endings and the same with the dark choices, it is not as straightforward as that.

The romance is present in the game but it does not shine as a core part of the game. This is due to the lack of character development. The story and characters need to be fleshed out more for us to care about them and get invested in what they feel. This story is too simple to get to that level.
I enjoyed the game but took it at face value. I realised it was not a narrative experience I would get deeply immersed in and accepted it for just a fun, cute story. 🤍

Otome Lovers wishes to thank Vorobushek for providing a free review copy for this game.

Review originally posted on Steam

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