Slime Heroes Review
Slime Heroes is a gentle soulslike that’s best when played with a friend.
Slime Heroes. Credit: Pancake Games / Whitethorn Games
Soulslikes are typically punishing affairs that tax players’ skills, making them claw their way to success. Playing Demon Souls, I would grip the controller hard enough for my knuckles to turn white and hold my breath as I came close to beating whatever monstrosity I was facing because death meant dropping all my precious souls. Slime Heroes, from developer Pancake Games and publisher Whitethorn Games, isn’t that grueling.
Dark Souls has over a dozen stats, resistances, and more to keep track of. Then, the weapons and armor scale based on these numbers. There’s a lot of data to consider. Slime Heroes keeps things simple. You can level up four stats, and no gear is adversely affected. You also only have two gear slots—a weapon and a hat. Hats look like cosmetics, but each one has a unique buff that can serve different playstyles.
Slime Heroes. Credit: Pancake Games / Whitethorn Games
Slime Heroes adds complexity via its skill system. You have slots for four skills, triggered by the shoulder buttons by default. While one of the slots is dedicated to the ultimate skills that you learn by defeating bosses, the other three slots allow you to combine two skills and assign an elemental or debuff property that changes its effect, creating a wealth of possibilities. Experimenting with the skills is one of the highlights of the game; I was able to create tornadoes that would heal me, area-of-effect attacks that would light enemies on fire, and more.
Combat isn’t too challenging. Some enemies can kill the Slime in a single hit, but as long as you have a little patience and are careful, you can avoid them and, with the right combination of skills, dispatch them quickly. Death sends you back to the fast travel and upgrade point. Like most soulslikes, you must reach the place where you died to get back your dropped currency. However, you can also get them back at the upgrade point if you’re willing to give up half; this is a nice compromise that helps to reduce potential frustration.
I had the opportunity to play the game in co-op, and this is where the game truly shines. Once past the initial cutscene, co-op players can jump into the game at any time. The shared loot system also makes it effortless for a friend to join later in the adventure. Exploring with a partner was simply a joy, and equipping complementary skills made combat a blast.
Slime Heroes’ world is dotted with small dungeons featuring combat challenges or puzzles based on specific magic skills. I never missed an opportunity to do these, not just because they lead to growing the health bar; the dungeons are fun and well-designed.
Slime Heroes. Credit: Pancake Games / Whitethorn Games
My main frustration with the game was some of its platforming. Sometimes, I would need to jump and land on a small platform. I couldn’t tell if the collision between the platform and the slime was imprecise or if the controls and movement made these jumps difficult. Perhaps it was both. This got particularly bad in cases where timing was important, for example, in a skill dungeon where I had to time my jump after hitting a target because it would cause the previous hazard to reappear on the platform I was standing on. Falling to my death over and over because of missing the tiny platform got old very quickly.
The colorful environments are the best part of its visuals, though the game’s dated graphics are bland overall. The game’s menus and UI are painfully generic, relying heavily on a bold cartoon font with a simple drop shadow. This does little to give the game the personality it needs. Despite their unique silhouettes, enemies are all the same goopy pink color and aren’t memorable. The titular slime hero can be customized with different colors and facial features, but I wish the game did more to make the slime stand out. Its animations could stand to be a bit smoother and more elastic, too.
Slime Heroes. Credit: Pancake Games / Whitethorn Games
Aside from its novel skill combination system, Slime Heroes isn’t very memorable overall. You’ll have far more fun if you can play with a friend online or in couch co-op, which is truly the key to the best experience. Better control for platforming and more personality and pizzaz for its graphics would have gone a long way to boost the game.
Slime Heroes is available now on PC (Steam) and Xbox Series X|S. It will be released on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4/5 at a later date.
Overall score: 6/10
Played on: Steam Deck
