Looking back at past mistakes can help improve decisions made in the future, and tools such as books or online programs can help further the process of self-betterment. What Paws and Soul offers is a relaxing journey through dreamy atmospheres while it encourages players to self-reflect while showing how certain choices can affect one’s life. Among the beautiful landscapes and empowering soundtrack, however, lies a boring and unrealistic storyline filled with clichés and bad advice.
On the surface, Paws and Soul is a pretty unique idea. The player takes control of a dog who explores different mystical areas to collect energy and is frequently visited by apparitions of his own past. The opening sequence is among the greatest moments of the game as plaers awaken in a new wolf body and exit a cave to the bone-rattling strums of an acoustic guitar and are met with an open stretch of land to explore. The only problem is that there is no incentive to explore any areas off the beaten path provided to players.
Over the course of the game, the player visits a number of beautiful landscapes from dense woods to a series of floating islands, but there is no reason to venture from the game’s set path. There are very few hidden items in Paws and Soul, and they do not net the player anything more than extra lines of dialogue if found. There are some hidden shrines that are few and far between among the large open landscapes, but even these can only be activated if the player has collected enough energy orbs – while still only granting the player a secondary storyline of little impact.
While traveling along the dirt road, players will be met with ghostly figures every so often. These figures converse with one another and tell the story of the player’s past life from birth until death. This idea is very unique, but it is squandered by terrible voice acting, unrealistic dialogue, and a series of bad decisions that are made to look like the right decision. Luckily these moments of dialogue are not cutscenes so the player is not forced to stay in an area to listen to them, but the dialogue cannot be skipped which is the worst part of every encounter. No matter how far the wolf runs away, the voices can still be heard.
While the music is another strong part of Paws and Soul, the three-song soundtrack gets old quick. The songs play on a loop, so in a span of 20 minutes, the player will have already listened to the soundtrack a few times. Of the three songs, one is intense, one is peaceful, and one is joyful. These are all well-composed pieces, but they play at random times which can ruin the mood of a scene. A joyful song can be playing while a character passes away, and an intense song can be playing during a marriage proposal. This can happen a handful of times in a single run of the game, and it can make for a humorous yet awkward experience.
The storyline and gameplay of Paws and Soul are similar to That Dragon, Cancer, which is an emotional story based on real events. But the Paws and Souls storyline plays out like a poorly written Hallmark film. The main character falls victim to every depressing movie trope leading up to a very anti-climactic death. There are also several moments throughout the story that leave the player wondering who wrote them. The robotic dialogue and horrible voice acting makes the story feel cheap and pulls the player out of any semblance of immersion they may have had.
Paws and Soul is a very pretty game to look at, and if it were just a wolf-sim collect-a-thon it could be a pretty fun game. Unfortunately, the unappealing narrative mixed with poor voice acting and unfitting background music are enough to kill what little the game has going for it. Paws and Soul may appeal to those who want to play as a wolf roaming empty yet beautiful landscapes, but it’s not for those who are looking to self-reflect or who want to enjoy a deep and thought-provoking story.
Paws and Soul is available now for PC. Screen Rant was provided a Steam code for the purpose of this review.