Pixel art, a 100% player-driven economy, loot dungeons in co-op: Soulbound smells of 2000s MMOs. But between the bullet-heaven and a true Ragnarok heir, there's a world.
Alexandrosse
InsertCoins.press Score
6/10
Verdict
Mixed
One glance at Soulbound: Online is enough for the Proustian madeleine to kick in. That pixel art, that populated overworld, that economy entirely run by players, everything immediately evokes the MMOs of the early 2000s on which a whole generation left its youth. Ragnarok Online, MapleStory, RuneScape: the ghosts are there, and hope with them. But hope, precisely, is a trap, and you have to ask honestly whether Soulbound truly rekindles that flame, or simply plays the nostalgic string.
Soulbound: Online is a pixel-art action MMO developed by independent studio Spiderware, available in early access on Steam since 21 July 2026 for around fifteen euros. The game is no unknown: it's been running for years on browser and Discord, where it quietly gathered more than a million players before landing on Steam. It blends an MMORPG overworld with bullet-heaven roguelite dungeons, playable solo or in three-player co-op, with boss raids, gear crafting, base building and a 100% player-driven economy. The kinship with the genre's great elders is owned, right down to the aesthetic.
What Soulbound does best is rekindle the addictive loop of the loot MMO. You chain runs of snappy, bullet-heaven-style dungeons, dodging swarms of projectiles to snatch gear, which you then bring back to craft, upgrade and theorycraft your builds. That dynamic of farming and optimizing, hypnotic and rewarding, captures a real part of what made Ragnarok so gripping. You climb seasonal ladders, you refine your character, you look for the perfect synergy, and the pleasure of min-maxing is well present for anyone who likes to get lost in it.
But the real success, the one that anchors the game in the heritage of MMOs of old, is its entirely player-run economy. You hold your forge, you open your shop, you trade, and all the game's wealth circulates in the hands of its community rather than being handed out by the system. It's exactly the spirit of the great social MMOs of yesteryear, where the market was a game within the game, and Soulbound restores it sincerely. With its million players already won over on browser, it also arrives with an active community, which is vital for this kind of title and far from guaranteed.
Let's be honest, because it's the expectation you voiced: is Soulbound even better than Ragnarok Online? And here, the answer is no, or rather, the question is badly framed, because it's not the same game. Ragnarok was a social turn-based tactical MMO, with slow progression and legendary class depth, a world you lived in as much as you played. Soulbound, meanwhile, is a far more arcade action-roguelite hybrid, centered on dungeon runs and snappy farming. It shares the aesthetic DNA and the community spirit, but its core is fundamentally different, faster, more solitary in its action phases, less tactical. Whoever seeks the true successor to Ragnarok risks being thrown.
You also have to recall its early-access status and the modesty of its means. It's an independent studio game, with real ambition but limited resources, and its browser-game past is felt in certain rough edges. The depth of its economy and its builds is promising, but it will have to be tested over time, as will its ability to keep its million players alive on a new platform. Soulbound isn't the Ragnarok 2 some hoped for, it's something else: a nostalgic, addictive MMO-roguelite, to be judged for what it is rather than for the ghost it summons.
Soulbound: Online is an endearing game that awakens real and beautiful memories. Its pixel art, its farming-and-loot loop, and above all its entirely player-run economy capture an authentic part of what made 2000s MMOs so gripping. With its community of a million already-won-over players and its modest price, it's a sincere and generous proposition for anyone seeking to rediscover that atmosphere of a social world and endless min-maxing. The nostalgia it summons isn't stolen, and the pleasure it provides is real.
But you mustn't be wrong about its nature. Soulbound isn't a better Ragnarok, it's not even really a Ragnarok: it's a more arcade action-roguelite hybrid, borrowing the master's aesthetic and spirit without taking up its tactical core and contemplative rhythm. For anyone who accepts that difference, it's a nostalgic, addictive gem, still in early access and improvable, but full of charm. For anyone who literally dreamed of Ragnarok's return, better to set that specific hope aside and discover Soulbound for what it truly is.
A pixel-art MMO-roguelite that sincerely rekindles Ragnarok Online nostalgia, without being its successor: addictive and endearing, but a far more arcade game than it seems.
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Tested on PC, in early access.
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