The last point was supposedly especially brutal for the developer (which consisted of two “core individuals” and contracted personnel). “Throughout the entire duration, we, our publisher staff, other publisher dev teams and our close ones were constantly attacked by a cyber persecutor, and some of you, as our community, were also tormented with unwanted messages and emails.

“The matter is now in the hands of our lawyers, so we cannot speak about it any further, but know that we will not abandon it despite the studio’s closure.”

Despite the studio shutting down, no one has been laid off, since it “never functioned as a large corporation.” Instead, the team members decided “that each of us will go their separate ways.” The IP is still owned by the developer, but the chances of further support are looking unlikely.

Stray Souls launched in October 2023 for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PS4, Xbox One and PC. Check out our review, where we awarded it a 4 out of 10 for its story, characters, voice acting, bugs and other issues, though it did receive some praise for its visuals courtesy of Unreal Engine 5.

https://twitter.com/JukaiStudio/status/1738327876032774630

The story starts with a father who gets up from his stupor and proceeds to shotgun his entire family, almost like that one radio news story from P.T. They were all eating dismembered body parts, but when they’re all shot dead, aha! It was all a hallucination! Do you take control of this broken man and seek the truth, wondering what unnatural horror twisted you to murder those you love? Do you explore the darkness and intrusive thoughts inherent in every person, perhaps venturing on a path towards redemption, or fall into damnation?

No, but that would have made for a much more interesting premise.

"It’s by this point you notice something vital about Stray Souls – the presentation is awful."

Instead, cut to 18 years later where you control Daniel, a Metahuman (no, not that kind) who just inherited his grandmother’s house after she passed away. Daniel alternates between leaving his clothes all over the place like a slob and chatting up girls online, like Martha, who also coincidentally lives next door to him.

It’s not long before scary incidents occur, whether it’s a strange figure skulking about, odd noises coming from around the house or the classic power outage. What could be causing all of these – oh, it’s the ghost of his grandmother. Just out of the blue, revealed immediately and looks more comical than scary. Then she leaves. And returns to peek menacingly around corners. Then leaves again. And reappears. She’s trying her best here.

It’s by this point you notice something vital about Stray Souls – the presentation is awful. When Daniel sees the ghost of his grandmother, he goes from being scared at her twitching appearance to suddenly having a blank expression, like he’s en route to check the refrigerator. The grandmother is also just gone like she was never there in the first place. There’s no building of dread or creating an atmosphere of terror at the unknown past the first few minutes. It’s all a joke with no punchline.

It also gets worse.

"The game draws from other superior horror titles but seemingly can’t decide what it wants to be."

After these occurrences, Daniel contacts Martha – with their messages typed ahead of each other if you skip forward too quickly – and subsequently embarks on a journey to cure his haunting. Sorry, what I meant was going to the cemetery to see his family’s grave and running through the woods while attacked by terrifying creatures as Martha sets off fireworks in the distance to celebrate Daniel’s birthday. Hurray.

Upon controlling Daniel in the woods, I had the biggest personal jumpscare when pressing R1, which brings out The Gun. Why does Daniel now have a gun, and why is it a gold Desert Eagle? How is he suddenly so good at using a gun? Don’t worry, it belonged to Martha and, I kid you not, that’s the short version of the story. The duo then take off to a nearby police station to find clues about their father and how to stop their grandmother. Or something.

The game draws from other superior horror titles but seemingly can’t decide what it wants to be. Does Stray Souls want to be a psychological horror, like Silent Hill, where you must evade terrifying otherworldly creatures? It fails at this because the monsters in question just inexplicably pop up – the reason why is somewhat explained in perhaps the dumbest, most underwhelming lore revelation – and easily fall to a hail of bullets.

"Since there’s no real reason to be scared, there’s no point even shooting anything at some sections where you can just run past and forget about any threats."

There are multiple ammo boxes (all conveniently of the same ammo as your gun) and medkits in the woods, all similar and arranged carefully enough to remind you that this is a video game. Even if you run out of bullets, Daniel can execute a dodge-roll to evade almost every attack. No stamina is required either.

Since there’s no real reason to be scared, there’s no point even shooting anything at some sections where you can just run past and forget about any threats. This isn’t always the case, but the AI being dumb enough to never really outmaneuver or outwit you, forget posing any real danger, ruins that. Don’t tell me to “Try and survive” when my opponents can’t even get past each other without stumbling around.

There’s also a police station with its dark hallways, narrow corners and locked doors that push you to backtrack continuously to find the way forward. Does it want to be Resident Evil? Possibly, but again, there’s no strategic management of resources or running away to conserve ammo. There’s no feeling of surviving against all odds.

Even when it comes to puzzles, Stray Souls’ best work is probably in the house, after which it devolves into gathering items and keys and opening doors (and not even in a fun or clever way). On two occasions, I had to follow Martha, who approached two different doors on two separate occasions, concluded they were locked and tasked me with doing the heavy lifting. Thanks, sis.

"The so-called “jokes” and witty responses are terrible and make games like Forspoken and Atomic Heart look like masterpieces."

Let’s talk about the siblings. The dialogue where Daniel talks to himself is bad enough – when he shoots monsters, he says things like “I got a bullet with your name on it” or “I got your birthday cake right here” with some of the worst voice cracks yet. However, the banter with Martha is simply horrendous. The so-called “jokes” and witty responses are terrible and make games like Forspoken and Atomic Heart look like masterpieces. Their exchanges feel utterly fake and more like how someone thinks siblings interact instead of how they actually would, that too in a life-or-death situation with supernatural forces seeking to kill them.

What’s not said is even worse. There’s no discussion about the horrors they’ve encountered or reacting to events that just took place. At one point, another ghost arrives to do nothing but add annoyingly loud jump scares. Neither Daniel nor Martha react – it may as well not happen, for as little as it adds to the experience. Given how pivotal that character is to both of them, you would think there’d be some emotional breakdowns or disbelief, but nothing of the sort.

Adding to this are the facial animations. At first, they seem fine, if a little uncanny, but you eventually notice each character cycling through the same expressions. Daniel will have that same scared mumbling with every single horrific sight. He’ll also randomly yawn and purse his lips to the side. It’s just so odd and jarring, especially during combat.

There’s no intense expression of fighting for his life, though he does react to pain. So we know he’s human in that department, though taking damage does not affect his movement or posture. Characters don’t look at each other while talking, and there are even situations where Daniel doesn’t even look at his enemies while shooting them.

"Perhaps the only real positive to Stray Souls is the visuals. Unreal Engine 5 puts in work, with some solid-looking fog effects and foliage, the latter reacting naturally to the wind most of the time."

Speaking of combat, it’s…existent. Whether in the service of providing an entertaining shooting experience, adding to the horror or just for funsies, I’ll leave it to you. Except for the times when you suddenly can’t aim or shoot. I don’t know what triggers this bug or how to get rid of it.

When shooting, you don’t reload automatically when a magazine is empty, requiring you to stop aiming and press the reload button. There are times when Daniel won’t pick up ammo because he doesn’t need it, which is understandable given the limited amount of ammo to carry. Hit the prompt again, and he’ll inexplicably pick it up, the ammo seemingly vanishing into the ether.

There are weapon upgrades automatically unlocked as you progress through the story, like shooting faster, but otherwise, that’s all you get. You run into “bosses” occasionally, like the one giant creature who seemingly skated around and couldn’t damage Daniel’s body despite clearly flinging him away. At this point, I don’t know how to describe the experience other than “present.” There are some interesting enemy designs, but their tactics range from “spew stuff” to “run/shuffle towards the target and hope for the best.”

Perhaps the only real positive to Stray Souls is the visuals. Unreal Engine 5 puts in work, with some solid-looking fog effects and foliage, the latter reacting naturally to the wind most of the time. The lighting and shadows are solid, as are the atmospherics and effects, though there is the odd glitch and clipping at points.

"The less said about the sound, from the forgettable soundtrack and awful voice acting, the better."

Unfortunately, the character models aren’t always properly lit, with faces feeling overexposed despite the darkness of some environments. The camera can also get janky during up-close moments, perhaps the least surprising thing given everything else. At least the experience runs at a consistent frame rate.

One could go on with other annoyances, like how I couldn’t shoot a padlock to enter the police station without doing the whole song and dance with Martha, after which it could be shot. The flashlight also doesn’t point in the direction that Daniel is facing, but rather the camera’s. It led to an awkward moment where the flashlight was towards the camera, but the light source illuminated things behind the character. Maybe I’m nitpicking, but it’s just one of those things that outright breaks immersion. The less said about the sound, from the forgettable soundtrack and awful voice acting, the better.

Perhaps the final nail in the coffin of Stray Souls was when I discovered some “lore” in the police station. While most lore tries to educate you on the surrounding environment and its history (which Stray Souls also does, and not in an interesting way), this lore piece reads like a Wikipedia page, providing some much-needed context. Daniel has “The Darkness”, seemingly from being haunted by his grandmother, and that’s caused some deterioration in Aspen Falls, where the woods and police station are located.

There’s a cult with an Inner Circle, and Martha stole a sacred gun, though they removed some of the essential parts, so it’s not as powerful (I think). It’s the same gun she gave Daniel, by the way. I still have no idea what to make of it. How does this lore document exist within the context of the game world? Is there an Alan Wake-like figure chronicling it all?

"It feels more like a showcase for Unreal Engine 5 with an abysmal game attached."

It doesn’t matter because reading this document elicits no reaction from Daniel or Martha. It doesn’t alter their fate or present some new path forward. Worst of all, some of the incidents described don’t even feel all that more interesting than the actual story, which is a heck of an achievement.

I know Stray Souls isn’t a triple-A blockbuster horror title, priced at $29.99 instead of the standard $70. However, it feels more like a showcase for Unreal Engine 5 with an abysmal game attached.

In summary, buy Black Tabby Games’ Slay the Princess instead. It’s a better horror game, a much better story with interesting characters, has a distinctly gorgeous 2D art style and is cheaper. Even if you receive Stray Souls for free, the few laughs you’ll get from the absurdity of it all and the solid graphics can’t overcome how terrible the gameplay experience is. It may not beat the likes of Skull Island: Rise of Kong or Gollum for Worst Game of the Year, but that speaks more to their utter lows than anything else.

This game was reviewed on PS5.

"During the early days of Stray Souls’ development, we took a lot of inspiration from what we consider to be the best of the best in survival horror games."

Stray Souls seems to be taking plenty of inspiration from survival horror classics. Can you talk about some games that you looked at the most to take cues from for the development of Stray Souls?

During the early days of Stray Souls’ development, we took a lot of inspiration from what we consider to be the best of the best in survival horror games. There’s heavy influence from Capcoms’ remakes of Resident Evil 2-4 in a lot of the mechanics of Stray Souls, and when we were creating the atmosphere of the game, we looked at the Silent Hill series for inspiration on how to get the perfect spooky mood. Alan Wake had an influence on the way we handle weapons and inventory, but also was crucial to influencing the narrative itself. We drew inspiration from The Last of Us in creating our environments and some gameplay elements and finally, we sprinkled a little bit of influence from Souls games into our combat systems.

Stray Souls seems to be placing a lot of emphasis on its technical aspects, from its photorealistic visuals to its facial animations. How much have you focused on that aspect of the experience during development, and what can you tell us about the technologies you have used to achieve that?

The visual elements of Stray Souls have been paramount to our development process. We’re doing some really cool things with Metahuman and Unreal 5 to create realistic characters that can truly express the full range of human emotion on their faces.

A horror game’s setting can make or break the experience, and sure enough, Aspen Falls looks like a pivotal part of the game. What should players expect from it in terms of its atmosphere, backstory, and design?

Aspen Falls is at the epicenter of the story of Stray Souls, and as such, we aimed for it to be something players would immediately resonate with. The atmosphere was definitely influenced by the aesthetic of Silent Hill, but we think that players’ experience while exploring the town will have its own flavor unique to Stray Souls. Regarding the backstory of the town, we can’t really say too much without spoiling the story, but as we mentioned before, Aspen Falls is at the epicenter of the events of the game similar to how Silent Hill is the town that ties together that franchise.

"The visual elements of Stray Souls have been paramount to our development process. We’re doing some really cool things with Metahuman and Unreal 5 to create realistic characters that can truly express the full range of human emotion on their faces."

What can you tell us about the game’s combat? How much of a focus will it be throughout the experience?

We really aimed to have as balanced of an experience throughout Stray Souls as possible. There are some areas that are definitely “combat focused” while other places may have some encounters, but balance that with exploration and puzzles. The combat itself was designed to give players the ability to strategize exactly how they want to approach each encounter. We’re looking forward to sharing more about all of that in the months to come.

How extensive will the options in the game’s branching story be? How much will they impact the story and how it plays out?

Our system is a bit different than something you would find in a visually similar game like The Quarry or Until Dawn. The approach we took was more akin to the player projecting their emotions onto Daniel’s reactions to certain revelations about his past, and those projections ultimately influencing the choices they will make along the way. This results in a much tighter narrative that fits our vision for the overall experience in the game.

What can you tell us about the game’s randomization system? How much variety will it inject into proceedings, especially where replays are concerned?

Players will essentially be on their toes regardless of whether they’re on their second playthrough or their tenth. Randomization of key items, resources such as health and ammo, and even enemy placement will go a long way in keeping the player off balance in subsequent runs. One cool thing about our random weather system is that some players may run into enemies while it’s bright and sunny, making it fairly easy to find and dispatch them, but in a subsequent run, it’ll be overcast with heavy fog which will ramp up the difficulty of these encounters quite a bit.

Roughly how long will an average playthrough of the game be?

It’s difficult to say because everyone will play the game at their own pace, but more industrious players may find their sessions extended by exploring the world and really rooting out everything the game has to offer.

"Aspen Falls is at the epicenter of the story of Stray Souls, and as such, we aimed for it to be something players would immediately resonate with."

Do you have any plans to eventually bring the game to the Switch as well?

You can never say never, but at this time, we do not have plans for Switch.

What frame rate and resolution will the game target on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S?

60 FPS with adaptive resolution, capping out at 4K on the PS5 and Xbox Series X, and 1440p on the Xbox Series S. The exact range on this is still TBD.

What are your thoughts on the Steam Deck? Do you have plans for any specific optimizations for the device?

We absolutely want to get Stray Souls into the hands of as many players as possible and Steam Deck is part of those plans! We don’t necessarily have any specific plans, but the game will benefit from the same optimizations and rendering settings as other devices in its class.