Young Souls finds sister and brother, Jenn and Tristan, mixed up in a war they didn’t start. Their father figure, the Professor, was working with an underground city of goblins to help generate peace between the two societies. One day he disappears with the kids stumbling into the goblin dimension through a portal.

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Armed with magical gear, they decide they need to rescue their caregiver and kick some goblin butt along the way. Young Souls is, at its core, is an old-school brawler mixed with a hack and slash RPG. It does feature co-op gameplay for those curious. What else should players know before starting? Let’s find out.

8 There Are Plenty Of Assist Options

Fighting enemies in Young Souls

The assist options in Young Souls are wonderfully robust. There are also four difficulty settings. Those and the assist features can be changed at any time, even while in a dungeon.

The game is customizable in many ways, making it easy to jump into. The standard options are here such as lessening damage or increasing damage. There is even a way to remove cursing for younger gamers. If players dig into the menus, they can find a lot to tinker with.

7 How Co-Op Works

The equipment menu in Young Souls

Young Souls is designed around co-op as it features two siblings battling hordes of evil goblins. This mode is local only for couch co-op which may influence whether gamers will pick this up.

It can be tricky to play the game alone, but that is where the assist features come into play. There is also a tag system in Young Souls. At any time players can swap between Jenn and Tristan. There is a cooldown meter for the tagging ability, but it is very brief.

6 A Good Strategy For Tagging

Fighting enemies in Young Souls

When is it a good time to swap? It’s important to note that both characters have their own stats. The obvious answer to the question then is to swap out a sibling when they are about to die. If they do die then they can be resurrected, but it takes time.

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When not playing a co-op game, it might be tricky to revive a character while fighting off goblins. So, try not to let death happen. Another good time to swap out is when a character gets knocked to the ground. Tagging in the other sibling will keep the battle going without delay.

5 Choose Different Paths For Jenn And Tristan

Exercising at the gym in Young Souls

Jenn and Tristan start with similar stats. As they level up normally, they will remain similar. However, there are ways to build these siblings into different RPG archetypes. Every few levels or so players will be rewarded with a gym token. Here, gamers can play a mini-game that allows the siblings to boost one of three stats.

Equipment can also help build these two characters differently. Make one nimble with high agility and quick weapons like double daggers. Make the other a strength-heavy tank with giant weapons like axes. Those are two examples but the important part to take away is to make each sibling distinct.

4 How Saving Works

The hub lab in Young Souls

It’s rare that a game, indie or otherwise, launches with the ability to save anywhere. Young Souls is a rare case. With few exceptions, players can save at any point in the game. If they are above ground then the saves will keep the characters in place.

However, if players save while in a dungeon, then the next time they load up they will be back at the lab. The players position will change, however, progress will be saved. It’s a good thing to make a distinction before players start the game and get confused.

The map in Young Souls

Young Souls has a bit of Metroidvania DNA in its systems. The dungeon will have branching paths, with each road blocked by the lack of an item or a key. Thankfully, there is fast travel so getting back to where players need to go is easy.

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The thing to note here is that players might come across chests while in a room that they can’t open yet. Make a manual note of these chests. The in-game map marks some chests on it while others it doesn’t. It can be confusing which is why good old-fashioned manual notes can lessen brain hemorrhages.

2 Utilize Objects Well

Fighting enemies in Young Souls

Besides being able to pummel goblins with a vast array of weapons, players can pick up objects too. There is nothing like throwing a pot or an enemy at another enemy in a brawler. Some pots have hearts in them which should be saved for when health gets low.

Usually, the hearts pots line boss areas. Since these hearts disappear, it would be a waste to break them open early. Make sure to steer enemies away from these objects if they can help it. That is a basic tip for any video game: don’t waste HP.

1 Selling Gear

The goblin market in Young Souls

There are two types of currency in this brawler RPG. There is human cash that can be used to buy clothes in the above world. Then there are goblin coins which can help beef up Jenn and Tristan for their dungeon crawling.

There is a lot of loot to be had in Young Souls so selling it should come naturally. Don’t sell it back to goblins for their coins though. Instead, sell it at the Pawn Shop. It’s hard to get cash in the game, but it is easy to get coins. That’s why this tip is important to follow.

Young Souls was released on March 10, 2022 and is available on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.

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