Oncus の最近のレビュー

The game had promise but doesn't feel fully finished despite being a full release. It lacks polish and its basic mechanics are poorly explained. Balance is all over the place and there is no save function during a dungeon.

A few examples of poor balance and polish:

• There is a card enchanter that gives bonus effects to cards, but there is no limit on how many times you can use her if you have the gold (which you will). So you will go from 0 enchants to your entire deck being enchanted.
  
• The worst of the balance comes from poison/bleed cards which are just dead cards in your deck added by enemies. By the time you get to the boss, it's not unusual to draw 4 curses from your 5 card draw and at that point it doesn't matter how you build your deck.
  
• There are some cards that provide armor (block) that come in different rarities and cost. Yet, they all provide the same amount of armor (!).

As for card play and deckbuilding, it's simple and lacks card combos but is still fairly enjoyable. Most of the cards are attacks and it's fun one shot monsters. What is not fun is those monsters having damage shields that return a portion of the damage type stalling battles until you build up defense, heal up or find a damage type that isn't returned.

I will say the level up system is pretty cool. It offers plenty skills and in theory opens up different playstyles. In practice, some skills are essential and others are clearly better than alternatives.

Overall, the core gameplay isn't bad but lacks both polish and balance.


+ Level up system allows creating a powerful character outside of deckbuilding

+ It's satisfying to one shot monsters


* Some mechanics are poorly explained.


- Poor balance

- Feels clunky due to the lack of polish

- Most battles feel like fillers


It has some interesting ideas, like the leveling system, but poor balance and overall jank keep it from being fun. Not recommended.

It's a nice addition to the story. Definitely knowing more about Chloe and Rachel makes me see things from a different perspective from the original Life is Strange and even makes me feel a bit bad about my original choice (oh well). It's only about 10 hours long but it's a nice addition for people who liked the original.

That said, there are no superpowers which makes it mostly a walking simulator with a few interactions here and there. Choices, yet again, don't matter as much with only a few providing different cutscenes but it still doesn't feel impactful.
The backtalk mechanic is rarely used, often not that interesting and sometimes poorly written (in addition you barely have time to even read the choices).

Finally, a lot of the dialogue was voiced slowly to the point it sounded unnatural. I'm not sure whether this was to align with the animations, to make dialogue last longer so you spend more time absorbing their emotional reactions (animations are not great so it doesn't help with it) or just to pad out time. Whichever case it may be it's becomes slightly annoying.

Necrocat is joins the line of the many card crawls where your characters tries to outmaneuver enemies on a grid while picking up equipment and powerups and managing health and attack values. There are already great additions to the genre like Meteorfall: Krumit's Tale, so what does Necrocat do differently?

Unfortunately, not much. In many ways it's a distilled version of the tried and true formula. The equipment and power-ups are simple (health and damage - melee, ranged and AOE), as are the enemies. Something positive can be said about simplicity allowing approachability, but those seeking depth will not find it.

Artifacts provide passive bonuses and in theory provide provide variety and different builds, but because they are upgradable, there isn't much incentive to change up your gear especially against increasingly difficult enemies. Gold is another resources that feels lackluster, only providing a starting bonus in equipment.

It's not a bad game and it rewards some planning, but it doesn't stand out in any way from the crowd.


+ Simple and approachable


* Only 3 slots for amulets and them being upgradable means it's less rewarding to experiment with different setups than to keep the same 3 amulets.


- Not much depth

- The music was difficult to listen to and felt distracting. I had to play without sound.

- Repetitive gameplay and low enemy and equipment variety.


Necrocat doesn't have much to help it stand out from the plethora of similar games, but still follows a simple formula that makes the genre mildly entertaining. Decent pick for casual playing, not recommended for those looking for strategy.


Careful Recommendation.

For those who played the board game version: Like many of the other Handelabra adaptations, it might not be a visually appealing one, but it's a faithful and bug clean adaptation.

For those who haven't played the board game version, Spirit Island is an excellent coop game that plays just as well solo (which is my preferred way). The tutorial, while not exhaustive, should help new players understand the relatively complex mechanics easily.

The mechanics are too numerous to explain in detail, but suffice to say the goal is to chase out invaders from your land using the power of cards, deckbuilding (yay!) and map control. You can play 1-4 spirits at a time (for solo the sweet spot is 2) from the selection of 8. While Spirits share most of the cards, their playstyle is very distinct from each other, be it drowning invaders in the ocean or smashing them with big powerful cards.

The card play and deckbuilding both feel very satisfying and provide a lot of space for strategizing. It's not uncommon to start your turn thinking you are done for, only by the end of it to take no damage. Especially on higher difficulties it's not always clear if you are going to win or not which makes every game suspenseful.

One thing to note is that impact of luck is very minimal. This has a lot to do how card play works and is a bit different than most games - you have access to all cards in deck (it's a small deck) but retrieving played cards needs a special action. This means that you are fully in control on what cards you want to play. Despite this, the game is challenging and the trick is to play cards optimally against what feel are insurmountable odds, which is easier said than done.

My only complaint is that the price doesn't justify the base game content. If you have a few spirits you don't like, things might start feeling repetitive after a few (long) games. The expansions help with this, but they are equally higher priced with the biggest costing as much as the base game. Would suggest getting the base game and a few expansions during a sale.


+ Game filled to the brim with strategy

+ Every small decision, every card played, matters.

+ Unique gameplay and mechanics.

+ Spirits feel distinct from each other and offer varied playstyles.


* A single game can last for hours, especially if prone to AP


- IMO not quite enough content to justify the relatively higher base price, but getting expansions on sale easily fixes this.

Wildly and justifiably hailed as one of the best coop board game, its solo play isn't lagging behind. Unique gameplay, setting and strategic card play, set Spirit Island apart as one of the best board game ever made.

Royally recommended.

Deep Sky Derelicts takes a bit different approach from most modern deckbuilders. Instead of snappy runs, It focuses more on the long grind. Your characters will gain levels, you will slowly explore areas and accumulate loot all the while unlocking new areas with more difficult enemies.

The card play feels fine, but limited. Cards are tied to loot, so your equipment defines your deck, which means you will have to choose whether you want the equipment for stats or cards that come with it. While there are some card combos you can do, it's very restricted, partially because you can normally play one card per character, for a total of 3 per round.

The combat itself doesn't feel paced well. Sometimes you will encounter enemies that pose no challenge, and sometimes you will face off enemies that are damage sponges which drag out the battler (and make you lose energy). There is also a fair bit of randomness, especially on items, providing +6% evasion , or 30% chance to do 40% more damage to shields.

The loot is probably the most fun part of the game, but after a while most of it is just junk that you now need time sorting out.

Having 3 characters to control, each with their own equipment, deck, special skills provides some variety but because of the level up mecanic you will hardly ever need to change them.

The weakest part of the game is the map. Exploring is tedious without any exciting moments. It's easy to use up all energy forcing a retreat, then coming back and continuing which just feels like a waste of time.

Despite the negatives, the game is OK. It's unnecessarily grindy and slow, but getting loot and slowly getting more powerful does feel good most of the time.

+ Lots of loot.

+ Slowly building up your characters feels satysfing


* Combat feels unbalanced. Some enemies feel like fillers that you need to slog through, while others feel way too powerful.

- Feels unnecessarily slow and grindy.

- Exploring the map is tedious and unrewarding.

- Tends to feel repetitive once you settle in with your character build.

It tries to sets itself apart from other card games, but the innovations often work against it. It plays as an average card game with slow progression. Careful recommendation.

The Fox in the Forest is a digital adaptation of a 2 player trick taking board game that manages to be both approachable and tactical.

The goal of the game is to win a certain amount of points by winning tricks, and the more tricks you win, the more points you get EXCEPT that there is a twist. If you win too many, you actually don't get points and, instead, your opponent scores.
Yes, winning by losing is absolutely a viable strategy.

Some cards have special abilities, like changing the trump suit that can beat all other suits, but mostly the game is about careful hand management and trying to outplay your opponent.

While online play is available, the AI is decent enough and there are several challenges available that come with rules twists that spice things up a bit.

Overall, it's a good coffee break game, that is probably better suited for mobile (it has a mobile version too) but still fun to play between games.


+ Interesting trick taking mechanic, where you can trick your opponent into winning too much

+ Good balance of strategy and simple learning curve

+ AI is decent enough

+ Animations and UI are pleasant


* Challenges provide an interesting twist and extra solo content, but there aren't many of them.


- None


Good trick taking game with decent AI, but limited content limits it to a coffee break game.

Balantica is a little interesting twist on card games, where you use cards to produce hope on scales, while making sure the scales remain balanced. If the scales are too unbalanced and one twin has much more hope, penalties are enforced. Worst of which is the drop in the twins relationship which usually gives amazing benefits when held high.

The game is simple to learn, but not easy to beat, although it doesn't seem unfair either. There are events that slightly modify battles (trials) as well as artifacts (belongings) that provide passive abilities. Card play and deckbulding both feel satisfying, allowing you modify hope value of cards and manipulate the deck.

Overall, a well designed game.


+ The scale balance mechanic provides an interesting twist to gameplay

+ Cardplay and deckbuilding feel satisfying.


* Losing relationship can feel very punishing.


- None


The scale balancing mechanic and competent card play makes this bite-sized game a real treat. Recommended.

You might think that Beneath Oresa is yet another StS clone but with descending instead of climbing, but this is far from the truth. Beneath Oresa is game with its own identity and innovations, and it's a good one.

While it does follow the roguelike formula of battle/events/boss it does several things differently.

The Far and Near zone mechanic that separates enemies depending on the distance from the player adds another layer of strategy. Being far or near an enemy powers up some cards, but also can power down strong enemy attacks or help escape deadly AOE. Not only that, but it allows for cool animations where you dash across the battlefield and body slam an enemy across the field.

Yes, body slam. It's just one of the dozens of animations that add to the flare of the game. My favorite is that when you chain cards the character does a chained attack animation. At glimpses it feels like an action game.

Back to gameplay, apart from the zones, there are quite a few other things the game does well. There are 3 types of heroes, each with their own creative mechanics, including viruses, counterattacks and even guns and ammo. Each hero type also has 3 different characters to choose from, each adding an distinctive twist on the class' playstyle.

Game also allows for companions, which don't join the fight (disappointingly) but provide a progressive set of bonuses as you choose to level them up throughout the run, each adding additional variety to the run.

Lastly, but not least, the cardplay is very satisfying, both in deckbuilding as well as per turn decisions. To top it off, each card can be upgraded in two different ways.

Overall a very awesome game, but not without some downsides. Contrasting the playstyle variety, the enemy variety just isn't there and you will be seeing the same encounters quite often. The difficulty is right for experienced players, but new players may struggle with the starting character as its not the simplest deck to manage.


+ Excellent playstyle variety through different heroes, deckbuilding options and two upgrade paths per card

+ Animations make the game feel much more alive

+ Innovative mechanics, including the far and near zone system


* Starting hero's special ability might not be the best starting point for new players and some may struggle with the initial difficulty.

- Edit: This was thankfully removed. A win for ranting I'd say. Quitting during a battle deletes your save. For the life of me, I do not understand why this anti-save scum mechanic exists in a single player game. If you need to quit mid-battle or there is a crash (although I never had one) you risk losing an entire run

- Enemy variety could be better.


Diverse heroes with interesting and distinct abilities along with fun card play and the far/near mechanic makes Beneath Oresa an awesome entry into the genre. Royally approved.

If you ever wanted to feel the joy of running a card game shop without the accompanying frustration, this isn't it.

The biggest problem is that the gameplay is too simple, yet simultaneously frustrating to manage reputation. By simple I mean that you buy cards in shop then re-sell (only!) several at a time at a markup. The game tells you which cards will increase/decrease in price so it's fairly straightforward to earn a profit. As a result day 1 looks the same as day 12, but with different prices attached. There are a few other mechanics involved, like events, stickers which give slight bonuses to cards you're selling but none of them are very exciting.

You would expect that the main goal of running a shop would be to earn a profit, but the reputation system punishes that because if you earn too much profit it damages your reputation and it's pain to increase it again, especially if you don't get stickers for it.

When gameplay isn't satisfying, sometimes the story takes over, but this isn't the case either. Conversations are mostly on the level of idle chatter while the writing tries to be entertaining but ends up being awkward and dull.

Whether you are a sim or card game fan, I simply cannot recommend this one.


+ Interesting concept


* It's slightly annoying to open card packs by using the cursor movement to simulate ripping open the packs. Gets especially tedious when opening multiple booster packs.


- Overly simple and repetitive

- Reputation system is tedious to interact with

- Uninteresting writing


Card shop manager where the gameplay is simplistic and repetitive and decision space minimal. Not recommended.

Lost pages is a roguelike deckbuilder unlike many other thanks to its novel take on the energy system.

It takes the idea of deckbuilding with cards and throws it out the window, and says no!, you will instead deckbuild energy to play those cards. In many ways, it completely changes how the game is played.

To explain a bit more: Each spell requires certain colored crystals to cast. So instead of having a fixed energy pool, all of these crystals are joined in a giant pool from which only several are drawn per turn to play cards.

The limited draw of energy opens up interesting choices: Which spells, competing for the same resource, should I cast this turn? Do I keep a few energy crystals for next turn to power up stronger spells or cast more spells this turn? Do I take this spell just for the energy crystals it provides? Do I forego defense for offense hoping the risky play won't end my run down the line?

The game has a ton of different relics which power different strategies and is not afraid to hand them over. In fact, it may give a bit too much of them since there were situations where I was dealing damage and couldn't quite see where it was all coming from due to the sheer amount of relics I had. Although, I guess it's a good problem to have.

The game has roguelite elements where you can buy runes that boost stats (not with real money). This is where its mobile origins become clear - one of the ways to get runes is to buy lootboxes (again, not bought with real money) or to buy them directly. In addition to runes, there are rewards for leveling up and it all ties into a more grind-oriented mindset where the key is to get bigger numbers against ever-scaling enemies. It feels a bit unnecessary as upgrades can easily be used a substitution for skill improvement which is an important aspect for games of this type.

My biggest negative is that unlike relics, there is less variety in spells and bosses. While the game is in EA and this may still change, it's also a mobile port so adding more items might not be a priority.

Overall, a unique game with an interesting twist on deckbuilding with a fair amount of content and polish for EA.


+ Unique system where you deckbuild energy for playing cards

+ Large variety in relics and plenty of ways to receive them

+ Good price/content ratio

* A lot of roguelite upgrades makes it seem as a race for stats than getting better at the game

* UI can be rough around the edges. For example to see what some keywords do it's not enough to hover over them but click on a special window. Personally, I'm also not a fan of how the battles look leaving a lot of empty space while the spells are in one long row instead of two.

- I wish that there were a bit more spells and bosses


Unique game where you deckbuild your energy for playing cards. Lots of relics, but could use more spells. Recommended.