Video Game / SoulWorker

SoulWorker is a Korean free-to-play MMORPG created by Lion Games. Originally released in April 2016 for open beta testing in Japan, it eventually received a release one year later (January 2017) in Korea. Currently, it is published by Smilegate Megaport (Korea) and self-published by Lion Games (Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau). A North American/European server was published by Gameforge in February 2018, however it was shut down on April 30th, 2021. A self-published international server from Lion Games was released May 13, 2021 after the shutdown.

The planet of Second Stair was suddenly overrun by a disaster known as the Great Void, a portal that destroyed and consumed any living being that came in contact with it, as well as giving birth to SoulDregs, alien monsters that pose an active threat to humanity. Humans who managed to survive the Void’s onslaught were forced to live within it, harboring the potential to become a superpowered soldier known as a SoulWorker, while those living on the outside of it were left to mourn the loss of their loved ones in a post-apocalyptic world. With no way in or out of the Void, humanity would be permanently shut out until fifteen years later, when the Void suddenly opened to reveal a beam of light, and with it, a person with supernatural powers…

SoulWorker lets you play as said superhuman characters, whose powers are drawn from intense emotions, such as revenge, madness, and sorrow. Its gameplay is centered on completing Mazes (dungeons) in order to progress through the main story. The game also introduces unique mechanics such as its skill build system (which puts an emphasis on mix and matching different skills in combat, rather than keyboard combos) and the Akasha (special cards obtained from a gacha system that can be activated alongside your skills, providing special buffs, debuffs, or flat-out damage to assist you in Mazes).

A five-episode anime produced by Larx Entertainment was released from March 17, 2016 to April 5, 2016, and was dubbed in Korean, Japanese, and English. An official playlist of all the English-dubbed episodes can be found here.

SoulWorker also currently has three mobile game spinoffs, SoulWorker: Zero (a reimagining of the original game with slightly different gameplay), SoulWorker Anime Legends (essentially the same game as Zero, but published under Gameforge), and SoulWorker Academia (a campus-style Slice of Life spinoff that introduces new content such as dorm life, club activities, and part-time jobs).

---

This game contains examples of:

• An Adventurer Is You: Though all of the characters can qualify for a DPS role, they also have their own individual sub-roles.
  • Haru is a jack of all trades who is capable of buffing, doing AOE damage, etc.
  • Erwin is the archer (though ironically, most of his beginning skills are melee).
  • Lily is a nuker who is capable of doing high amounts of damage if her Soul Gauge is managed wisely.
  • Stella uses a Stance System to switch between being a DPS or a healer/buffer.
  • Iris is an AOE nuker whose impressive damage is offset by her slow attack speed.
  • Jin is a jack of all trades whose skill set allows him to be a mitigation tank (with the unique ability of countering enemy hits), a debuffer, and a mezzer.
  • Ephnel is the scrapper with high attack speed and movement speed stats.
• After the End: The game's story takes place fifteen years after the Great Void has overrun the world.
• All There in the Manual: All of the lore regarding how the Great Void formed (as well as Kant and Rosca's role regarding it) is hidden in audio dramas of the game, which have been fansubbed but have yet to receive an official translation.
• Always Check Behind the Chair: SoulSequence items are hidden throughout the game's Mazes, forcing the player to explore Mazes thoroughly to look for these items (to make the search easier, the game's screen turns black and white when your character is nearby an item).
• Always Night: Candus City will always be in nighttime, regardless of when you play.
• And Your Reward Is Clothes: Completing the story quests for Rucco Town awards you with temporary clothing. The second promotion quest and DesireWorker promotion quests award you with permanent clothing.
• Another Side, Another Story: Though Haru, Erwin, Lily, Stella, Iris, and Jin follow the same main story, each of them show different nuances in terms of how they interact with other people/respond to the story's conflicts. In addition, Chii, Ephnel, and Nabi show a different side of the main story entirely due to their differing roles (Chii and Ephnel are irregularities that don't fit within Rosca's divine plan, while Nabi is a second generation SoulWorker).
• April Fools' Day: For April 2021, all the characters became traditional RPG party members, with Haru as a priest, Erwin as a ranger, Lily as an alchemist, Stella as a knight, Jin as a thief, Iris as the Hero, Chii as a mage, Ephnel as a bard, and Nabi as a swordswoman.
• Ax-Crazy: Lily. She even gets her powers from it.
• Bad Boss: The NED Company. Hands down, if not just due to their lack of ethics, but also due to their treatment of the mercenaries they hire. In one particular case, Ralph/Bamz is tasked to retrieve documents from a dangerous area belonging to NED, only for the security system's sentry guns to come online and shoot him. An attempt to disable the sentry guns promptly gets denied by NED senior staff, leaving Ralph/Bamz no choice but to deal with the guns.
• Bland-Name Product: Candus City is full of these. The storefronts in the city include "Noning Glory" (a parody of "Morning Glory", a Korean company that produces school supplies), Candus Fried Chicken/CFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken), and Moonbucks Coffee (Starbucks).
• Character Development: Invoked by Rosca, as she split the characters into separate timelines in order to ensure that they grow into better people, capable of harnessing their powers and taking on their inner demons.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Each playable character has a specific color for their SoulWorker powers.
  • Haru is orange.
  • Erwin is sky blue.
  • Lily is fuschia.
  • Stella is violet.
  • Iris is red.
  • Jin is bright yellow.
  • Chii is crimson.
  • Ephnel is green.
  • Nabi is teal.
• Completion Meter: The game uses this to measure "progress" within towns, which can be filled up by completing main/side story quests and collecting SoulSequence items.
• Creepy Doll: The mannequins and dolls Edgar makes can classify as this.
• Crossover: The game has collaborated with Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? and KonoSuba, both of which introduced costumes based on characters from their respective series.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Applies to all playable characters except Erwin. Kant's emotional manipulation only amplified the trauma caused by their pasts.
• Darker and Edgier: The DesireWorker forms are this, bringing out the more violent and malicious personalities of the characters.
• A Day in the Limelight: The Corrupted Record quests give Haru, Erwin, Lily, Stella, Iris, and Jin their own spotlight, detailing what their lives were like within the Great Void.
• Dub Name Change: The Gameforge-published server had a multitude of these.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: All of the DesireWorkers have this, minus Erwin. This is most likely because Erwin didn't become a DesireWorker out of trauma, but out of necessity to avoid getting killed by Haru (who had already awakened as a full-fledged DesireWorker by then). Customizable eyes can also be purchased from the store.
• Fanservice: As of Chii's release, the game has steadily leaned more and more into this trope, from Chii's Navel-Deep Neckline and extremely short hoodie-dress, to Ephnel (who's a Walking Swimsuit Scene with an in-game taunt of pole-dancing on her spear), to Nabi (who has the biggest chest size to date), to the generally form-fitting and/or revealing costumes released for the female characters.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: The main SoulWorkers never meet each other for the majority of the first story arc, due to being in separate timelines. However, this won't stop you from playing together with other characters in-game.
• Gameplay Grading: At the end of each Maze, you receive a ranking that spans from from F to SSS.
• Gone Horribly Wrong: Rosca's divine interference of destroying the Serenade Guild was intended to keep them from becoming a threat to Second Stair. Instead, it turned Tenebris into a power-seeking Fallen Hero as well as one of the main villains alongside Kant, making him an actual, if not ''bigger'' threat to Second Stair.
• Heel–Face Brainwashing: Every one of 6 Original Protagonists were DesireWorkers who committed massacres back in the Void. Rosca pulled them out of Void and tempered with their memories to make them into SoulWorkers.
• Improbably Female Cast: Over two-thirds of the currently playable characters are female, with the last playable male character (Jin) released in 2017.
• An Interior Designer Is You: The Home system allows you to decorate your own one-room apartment.
• Karmic Death: Henry, after you spend several questlines tracking him down to avenge Catherine's death, dies in the same way she does: Getting turned into a SoulDreg in the exact same way, forcing the this time more than happy to do the job player to kill him.
• Kill the Cutie: At the end of the Candus city area quests, Catherine gets turned into a SoulDreg, forcing the player to kill her.
• Palette Swap: When first creating a character, you can choose between different palette swaps of the characters' school uniforms. In addition, costumes can be dyed in different colors.
• Scenery Gorn: The entirety of District 6 has been destroyed and taken over by SoulDregs.
• There Are No Therapists: Justified in the original timeline, as most of humanity had been killed/separated by the Great Void, leaving very little room for healing in a broken, post-apocalyptic world. Any emotional healing the characters do accomplish in the original timeline is ruined by Kant in the long run.
• Token Mini-Moe: Stella. she is one of, if not the youngest, player character in the game, is the shortest among the playable cast, and definitely acts the most immaturely.
• Video Game Caring Potential: Unlike most MMORPGs, the game's promotion quests will detail your character's psychological state, as well as how they emotionally develop through their promotions, encouraging players to grow attached to them as they watch them move past their respective traumas.
• Walking Swimsuit Scene: Applies to Ephnel from the get-go due to her default design, however all characters can be equipped with swimsuits to in-game.
• Wham Shot: The CGs of the Corrupted Record quests are dramatic, often depicting the characters right before things go From Bad to Worse.
  • In season 1 of the Corrupted Record quests, an exhilarated Lily is shown lying on the ground, finally defeated at the hands of Tenebris. Not long after, she begins to beg for him to end his life, causing him to finally figure out what exactly was fueling her greed as a DesireWorker...
  Tenebris: "Lilly. Is your greed... your own demise?"
• You Don't Look Like You: The character model revamp changed the base designs for Haru, Lily, and Erwin, with notable differences on their facial expressions and the way they dress.
• Zerg Rush: What happens when you aggro all the enemies in a Maze without defeating them. This is used as an efficient strategy for Maze-clearing, as you can group all the enemies in one space to wipe them all out at once.