Thing to note about the ‘optimised for inline’ geo is that it’s exactly that.
From what Cy says about it, the bike is still designed with a rider in a certain place, but the original design assumed a layback post and longish stem both of which are now unlikely in the real world. The ‘new’ Soul geo simply puts the rider back where the design expects but with a dropper post and short stem. It’s not really a bike that’s had the nuskool rule book thrown at it.
I like mine a lot, currently running 130mm and 760 with 50mm stem.