I’m still not a huge fan of roguelikes, but at least you can’t say I didn’t try.

To start off with the positives, this game has a lot of content beyond what’s expected for the genre, there are 37 levels in the main campaign that each offers a different challenge. This is one of the game's greatest strengths but also its biggest weakness. The rules and play style between the characters and levels are all so different to the point where nothing really sticks, if you really enjoy the ruleset for one level, well that’s probably the only time you’re going to see it. I didn’t really notice this until the final level introduces an entirely new level gimmick that is cool on paper, but still feels entirely out of left field. Sure you can replay the levels you enjoy, but I also don’t like the idea of ignoring the rest of the game to replay the same mission again.

In general, there are a lot of ideas that don’t feel fully executed again, once again partly due to every level having a different gimmick. There is a really weird weakness and resistance system that only applies to a few enemies, at best it kinda just exists and at worst it completely shuts down unique deck builds; why make an interesting combo that relies on setting all your opponents dice on fire when the final boss can be a dragon that takes less damage from all fire. With the ability to upgrade cards the player is urged to commit to a deck, why would they take the risk on something that might be less effective later. You think being a roguelike would encourage experimentation, but most of the time the same stagnant deck types end up being the most effective.

I’ll round this out with more positives since I don’t want to sound completely negative. The free DLCs included are pretty fun albeit short, I especially like the levels that turn the gameplay into a puzzle that was actually a unique and fun section. The presentation and music are pretty clean, nothing crazy but nothing to hate either. There is a good selection of achievements, which encourage variance in play style far more than the actual games does, though It does kinda bum be there is only three achievements across the entire DLCs.

There is a lot of content in this game, and a lot of it is enjoyable. But overall I’m mostly underwhelmed.

I’m still not a huge fan of roguelikes, but at least you can’t say I didn’t try. To start off with the positives, this game has a lot of content beyond what’s expected for the genre, there are 37 levels in the main campaign that each offers a different challenge. This is one of the game's greatest strengths but also its biggest weakness. The rules and play style between the characters and levels are all so different to the point where nothing really sticks, if you really enjoy the ruleset for one level, well that’s probably the only time you’re going to see it. I didn’t really notice this until the final level introduces an entirely new level gimmick that is cool on paper, but still feels entirely out of left field. Sure you can replay the levels you enjoy, but I also don’t like the idea of ignoring the rest of the game to replay the same mission again. In general, there are a lot of ideas that don’t feel fully executed again, once again partly due to every level having a different gimmick. There is a really weird weakness and resistance system that only applies to a few enemies, at best it kinda just exists and at worst it completely shuts down unique deck builds; why make an interesting combo that relies on setting all your opponents dice on fire when the final boss can be a dragon that takes less damage from all fire. With the ability to upgrade cards the player is urged to commit to a deck, why would they take the risk on something that might be less effective later. You think being a roguelike would encourage experimentation, but most of the time the same stagnant deck types end up being the most effective. I’ll round this out with more positives since I don’t want to sound completely negative. The free DLCs included are pretty fun albeit short, I especially like the levels that turn the gameplay into a puzzle that was actually a unique and fun section. The presentation and music are pretty clean, nothing crazy but nothing to hate either. There is a good selection of achievements, which encourage variance in play style far more than the actual games does, though It does kinda bum be there is only three achievements across the entire DLCs. There is a lot of content in this game, and a lot of it is enjoyable. But overall I’m mostly underwhelmed.