Inscryption is a rougelike deckbuilder by the Pony Island dev in which the Pony Island dev asks themself "What if I made a rougelike deckbuilder by the Pony Island dev". And yeah, the most concise way to summarize it is that it's a singleplayer deckbuilder by the Pony Island dev. Did I forget rougelike in that last sentence? No, but the game does indeed contain a rougelike deckbuilder tho, just don't go into it if that's all that you're expecting.
The "game by the Pony Island dev"ness is definitely as cheesy as ever, and some of it's antics are definitely like "Really, this shit now?", tho the game does start off with a pretty foreboding atmosphere for a bit. The game is a bit easy but engaging enough (took 5 runs to beat the rougelike), new mechanics are introduced and re-contextualized as you go through. But overall what I'm trying to say with all this is that you know what you're getting into. I thought it was cute, and that's about all it had to be. It's not much more, and it's not much less.
The "game by the Pony Island dev"ness is definitely as cheesy as ever, and some of it's antics are definitely like "Really, this shit now?", tho the game does start off with a pretty foreboding atmosphere for a bit. The game is a bit easy but engaging enough (took 5 runs to beat the rougelike), new mechanics are introduced and re-contextualized as you go through. But overall what I'm trying to say with all this is that you know what you're getting into. I thought it was cute, and that's about all it had to be. It's not much more, and it's not much less.
This sure was a trip.
It starts off as a card game with roguelike elements, with an eerie and fascinating atmosphere. This is what is shown in all the promotional material for the game, and is by far the best part of the game. The card mechanics are well thought out, and they are introduced in a digestible manner. After a few runs of hardship and defeats, you learn all the ins and outs, and you are more than capable of constructing a decent deck. On every death, you also get an opportunity to design a card (an OP card, if you're smart about it), which you can then find in subsequent runs.
You play against a creepy, all-knowing being, who acts sort of like a DnD dungeon master. The atmosphere is thick, creepy, visceral. Your "damage points" are teeth that get put on an old-fashioned scale that determines who is winning each match, you get the opportunity to pull out one of your own teeth to tip the scale in your advantage, you have to sacrifice your weaker cards in order to play stronger ones, while your soon-to-be sacrificial victims quiver in fear. This is brilliant!
On top of that, you are free to leave the game board and walk around this being's cabin, that has some puzzles (old-school resident evil-like puzzles) sprinkled around. These puzzles give you new cards and clues on how to escape the "prison" of the game loop.
Then you finally do, and defeat the boss. Had the game stopped here, it would have been a nice, polished gem of a game.
Unfortunately it doesn't end here. After this point, the game goes meta. I can't say too much without spoiling, but just know that there is much more to this game than just this first part. And the rest of the game is nowhere near as fun and balanced. Card combat starts to feel like a afterthought, and difficulty plummets to almost zero.
Partly, this is intentional (at least, I assume). You are more compelled to get to the bottom of the great mistery behind the game, so difficult and engaging combat would probably feel like a drag. But, counter-intuitively, this "second part" is also where the game dumps a boatload of new, imbalanced and half-baked card mechanics, that you can basically just ignore as you steamroll your enemy.
I was pretty engaged by the overarching "big intrigue" that permeates the whole game, with the exception of a few parts where I felt that the game tries too much to be clever and "meta".
Had difficulty and mechanics remained consistent throughout the experience, I would have adored this game. As it stands, it still gets a good grade for its incredible ideas and narrative, that are unfortunately held back by questionable game design decisions in the second half.
If you like metacommentary, card gaming, and creepypastas, this is the game for you!
It starts off as a card game with roguelike elements, with an eerie and fascinating atmosphere. This is what is shown in all the promotional material for the game, and is by far the best part of the game. The card mechanics are well thought out, and they are introduced in a digestible manner. After a few runs of hardship and defeats, you learn all the ins and outs, and you are more than capable of constructing a decent deck. On every death, you also get an opportunity to design a card (an OP card, if you're smart about it), which you can then find in subsequent runs.
You play against a creepy, all-knowing being, who acts sort of like a DnD dungeon master. The atmosphere is thick, creepy, visceral. Your "damage points" are teeth that get put on an old-fashioned scale that determines who is winning each match, you get the opportunity to pull out one of your own teeth to tip the scale in your advantage, you have to sacrifice your weaker cards in order to play stronger ones, while your soon-to-be sacrificial victims quiver in fear. This is brilliant!
On top of that, you are free to leave the game board and walk around this being's cabin, that has some puzzles (old-school resident evil-like puzzles) sprinkled around. These puzzles give you new cards and clues on how to escape the "prison" of the game loop.
Then you finally do, and defeat the boss. Had the game stopped here, it would have been a nice, polished gem of a game.
Unfortunately it doesn't end here. After this point, the game goes meta. I can't say too much without spoiling, but just know that there is much more to this game than just this first part. And the rest of the game is nowhere near as fun and balanced. Card combat starts to feel like a afterthought, and difficulty plummets to almost zero.
Partly, this is intentional (at least, I assume). You are more compelled to get to the bottom of the great mistery behind the game, so difficult and engaging combat would probably feel like a drag. But, counter-intuitively, this "second part" is also where the game dumps a boatload of new, imbalanced and half-baked card mechanics, that you can basically just ignore as you steamroll your enemy.
I was pretty engaged by the overarching "big intrigue" that permeates the whole game, with the exception of a few parts where I felt that the game tries too much to be clever and "meta".
Had difficulty and mechanics remained consistent throughout the experience, I would have adored this game. As it stands, it still gets a good grade for its incredible ideas and narrative, that are unfortunately held back by questionable game design decisions in the second half.
If you like metacommentary, card gaming, and creepypastas, this is the game for you!
Great deckbuilding game, great atmosphere, great music + great story team up together to beat up the weak third act before the finale, and that's pretty much all I can say without spoilers, but nothing in this game is what it seems and it's just a lovely way of breaking the fourth wall
Leshy did nothing wrong
Leshy did nothing wrong
I came into this game blind, knowing absolutely nothing about it and I'm blown away. I'm not the biggest fan of roguelikes, but a deckbuilding game felt like the perfect mix.
This game was so addicting and I could not put it down. I found the first act of this game amazing and it really pulled me in but the later acts definitely weren't as strong or compelling as the first. That's not to say they were necessarily bad, they just pale in comparison to how great the initial gameplay loop was.
It's hard to talk about this game without diving into spoiler territory, but my expectations were consistently being broken and the amount of twists and turns this game took me through was INSANE. Everyone should experience this game like me, knowing absolutely NOTHING. Play this game.
This game was so addicting and I could not put it down. I found the first act of this game amazing and it really pulled me in but the later acts definitely weren't as strong or compelling as the first. That's not to say they were necessarily bad, they just pale in comparison to how great the initial gameplay loop was.
It's hard to talk about this game without diving into spoiler territory, but my expectations were consistently being broken and the amount of twists and turns this game took me through was INSANE. Everyone should experience this game like me, knowing absolutely NOTHING. Play this game.
Despite being a combination of two things I hate in video games, roguelikes and cards, my Eternal Optimist (Dumbass) status led me to giving this a shot. It looks pretty cool, actually! People say it "goes places"!
The problem is, when a game "goes places," those Places should be better than where you're Going From.
The first part of the game, like pretty much all games of this type, comes down to trial-and-error, and hoping to get a random loadout that breaks the game and allows you to overcome the enemy player's horseshit. Get a high-damage card with the 3-attack sigil and it's ogre for the bad guy. Then, you get to the second part of the game, which consists of the card game from the first part, but with a very boring art style, meant to evoke the Pokemon TCG game boy game.
At this point I lost interest, and the plot about creepypasta haunted games or whatever the fuck wasn't interesting to me, either. I love when games insert random FMV segments (you know I'm looking forward to Alan Wake 2), but this wasn't even a particularly good implementation of it. And from what I've heard, the third part of the game is even worse. I will never know.
4/10 - One third of the game is alright, and one bonus point for neat integration of DualSense features in the PS5 version.
The problem is, when a game "goes places," those Places should be better than where you're Going From.
The first part of the game, like pretty much all games of this type, comes down to trial-and-error, and hoping to get a random loadout that breaks the game and allows you to overcome the enemy player's horseshit. Get a high-damage card with the 3-attack sigil and it's ogre for the bad guy. Then, you get to the second part of the game, which consists of the card game from the first part, but with a very boring art style, meant to evoke the Pokemon TCG game boy game.
At this point I lost interest, and the plot about creepypasta haunted games or whatever the fuck wasn't interesting to me, either. I love when games insert random FMV segments (you know I'm looking forward to Alan Wake 2), but this wasn't even a particularly good implementation of it. And from what I've heard, the third part of the game is even worse. I will never know.
4/10 - One third of the game is alright, and one bonus point for neat integration of DualSense features in the PS5 version.
🔥
Inscryption goes through so much effort to present the argument between flavorful design and mechanical purity, and does an exceptionally good job at convincing you that the former has more soul, is more compelling, and often leads to better mechanical design in the first place. After all, the first third which stands in for flavor, pomp, and presentation also ends up having the most satisfying and rewarding mechanics.
The middle third is a bit of a slog as it contains the most rigid and low-powered tcg gameplay, but I have a hard time even holding that against the game. When something impacts you deep enough, in-the-moment flaws like that become irrelevant. I think Leshy understood that.
I think Inscryption is the highest effort defense of the Kamigawa block I've ever seen.
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Played on Linux through Proton. Will keep posting this until there's an option to choose.
The middle third is a bit of a slog as it contains the most rigid and low-powered tcg gameplay, but I have a hard time even holding that against the game. When something impacts you deep enough, in-the-moment flaws like that become irrelevant. I think Leshy understood that.
I think Inscryption is the highest effort defense of the Kamigawa block I've ever seen.
-
Played on Linux through Proton. Will keep posting this until there's an option to choose.
Having played Pony Island, I knew very well that this game was gonna be far more that it seemed, and even tho it didn't surprise me as much as the former, it's by far a more fun and interesting experience. The game feels alive in a sense, almos like you are playing a ARG made videogame or one of those games that would be on a creepypasta, which may be the feeling that the develover was going for, and my god, it delivers.
The atmosphere, the dialogue, the mistery, even the gameplay, combaning a really complex and fun card system with a puzzle and escape room aspect that makes it stand out, and me want to keep coming back till I beat it.
I loved my time with Inscryption, I recommend it to everyone, even those not fun of card games, and I hope that the surprises that it holds will make you love this game as much as I did.
The atmosphere, the dialogue, the mistery, even the gameplay, combaning a really complex and fun card system with a puzzle and escape room aspect that makes it stand out, and me want to keep coming back till I beat it.
I loved my time with Inscryption, I recommend it to everyone, even those not fun of card games, and I hope that the surprises that it holds will make you love this game as much as I did.
It’s rare that I come across a game that puts me at such unease, makes me so uncomfortable in my own chair, that I simply lose the will to stop playing. Doki Doki Literature Club is one such game that caught me like this, as well as Daniel Mullins’ previous outing, Pony Island. I have a soft spot for horror that follows you out of the game once you turn it off, and on that note Inscryption absolutely delivers.
In this psychological horror meets roguelike card game, you’ll wake to find yourself trapped in a pitch black cabin across the table from a demonic figure, shrouded in darkness. It beckons you to draw from a deck of cards. You do so. You have entered the game, and you will play until you die.
Eventually, one of your cards moves. The stoat motions to you not to react, and tells the player that there is indeed a way out. There are two other living cards in the cabin, and after you and the stoat find them you can make your grand escape attempt. Or at least, that’s the plan. At the beginning the stoat serves as the player companion, providing commentary and clues about the cabin and the demon that you continue to play cards with. After an hour he will be the only thing tethering you to sanity as you witness unexplainable horrors unfold.
What makes the setup so damn interesting is that you are fighting only one opponent, the demon, Leshy, for the entire duration of Act 1. As you continuously build and improve your deck during each run, it will improve and change its deck as well. Inscryption is a tabletop role playing game taking place in a locked cabin, with Leshy serving as both the game master and the only other player. Every NPC you meet along the way is Leshy, every opponent is leshy, every wicked event to befall your poor player is Leshy. In act 2 things change a little, but no spoilers.
There is something cryptically stressful about watching a real demon lead a tabletop game in which it role-plays as many different demons, obviously working hard to make sure the game is fair for the player. Between every encounter round, depending on how the RNG rolls, you’ll be able to either add a new card, power one up you already have, or pick an item to keep. You can keep three items with you at a time. The items range from helpful to horrifying to both, and you’ll likely need to stock them up for the exceedingly difficult boss battles. Which are, again, just Leshy wearing a different hat and doing a different voice. And it is freaky beyond description.
The meta-horror elements of Inscryption are what make it a must-play for me, but the card game itself is extremely innovative and addictive. Each card is a monster with HP, power, a cost, and usually a sigil. Sigils are special effects that add a layer of unpredictability to gameplay, since the same cards don’t always have the same sigils. The wings allow a monster to fly high and attack the opponent directly, the dive allows monsters to hide from attacks underwater, etc. Each turn, you begin by drawing either a card from your deck or a squirrel.
The squirrel card is a fascinating mechanic - you always start with one in your hand, and you can draw one every turn if you think it’s the right move. Squirrels have 1 HP and 0 power, so they are quite literally only useful for sacrifices, but it heightens the thrill of the draw. Similar to many games, like Yugioh, a more powerful monster with a blood cost requires a sacrifice of less powerful monsters. Most turns, especially late game, the real question is whether to draw a squirrel and play it safe or draw from your deck and risk getting a card you can’t afford. The real mind game is more often with yourself than the opponent, as you rack your brain about how to win this battle you can’t afford to lose. Acts 2 and 3 offer a very different card game, each one just as intriguing in its own way.
Each run, the player starts with two lives. Every time you deal damage directly to the opponent, that number of teeth drop onto a balanced scale on the table. Whoever’s side hits the table first is the loser. This means that the battle is truly not over until it's over - finding creative ways to stall until you get a better card is not only doable, but necessary. In essence, you don’t need to deal x number of damage points to Leshy to beat it, you just need to deal 7 more damage than it has dealt to you.
Between rounds, Leshy permits you to stand up and walk around the tiny 10x10 cabin and explore. There are puzzles to solve, codes to input, messages to be found, and friends to rescue hidden around strategically. But Leshy will be watching you the entire time, so don’t try any funny business like leaving. Solving these puzzles unlocks new cards to help you in battle. Make sure to get up and stretch your legs a bit, because you’ll need to unlock these things to progress the narrative. Standing up and walking around with its eyes on your back is viscerally frightening.
Now, you may be thinking “well I don’t much like card games or roguelikes. “ I’ve got good news for you. Inscryption is a total deconstruction of both of these genres, finding the most twisted and uncomfortable ways to alter their structures and tropes to make sure you’re constantly on edge. One of my favorite things about Hades was that the deaths were canonical, and every time you failed you made a bit of progress and moved the story along. The same is true of Inscryption, but perhaps in a much more frightening way.
When your player character dies (and they will die, a lot) and the run ends, Leshy gives you the last-rights honor of creating a death card out of the deck you gathered along the way. You pull the power and HP from one card, the cost from another, the sigil from another, and give it a name. Leshy then pulls an old-timey camera out to take a picture of your dying face for the card and finishes your run there. The player wakes up at the table again as a new character. Yes, each failed run means death for your character, and Leshy brings in another unlucky person to serve as his plaything. This cycle will repeat until the end of eternity… or until you can stop him.
Luckily, the one glimmer of hope is that your powerful death cards will appear in random selections to your future players. Your dying grasp is sad, yes, but not surrender. A piece of that character will travel forward to aid someone else, and so on and so forth, after your death. There’s a strange, sad power in that mechanic. We all fight not to escape, but so that one day the nightmare will end long after we are gone.
My biggest complaint with Inscryption is that I am not at all a fan of the art style. I understand it is meant to make players uneasy, but I believe this can be done without using this ragged 3D-pixel style that just looks flat out bad. Act 2 and 3 change up the art style, but it’s still just kind of unappealing to me. The cards look great, though, and I love the style of the monsters.
Additionally, I didn’t enjoy the actual puzzles around the cabin, nor around the other later areas, and after a long while I brute forced my way through them without figuring out how they were meant to be solved. My second complaint, without giving things away, is that Act 2 is a lot less fun than Act 1. I enjoyed the narrative, but the actual gameplay fell a little flatter for me. Act 3 was a bit more interesting, but I felt it dragged on a bit. Although a lot of the dragging on was my inability to play card games well and my being new to the genre.
Inscryption is introspective in all the best ways, asking players to make unspeakable sacrifices and decisions throughout its roughly 15 hour narrative. As you struggle to escape with your card-confined comrades from the cabin and unravel the mystery of who and what Leshy is, you’ll be treated to a wildly addictive card game that has you fighting yourself just as often as the opponent. The boss battles are tough as nails, adding extra layers and conditions upon the rules of the card game, and you won’t be able to stop playing for fear that the demon might just be behind your desk chair.
In this psychological horror meets roguelike card game, you’ll wake to find yourself trapped in a pitch black cabin across the table from a demonic figure, shrouded in darkness. It beckons you to draw from a deck of cards. You do so. You have entered the game, and you will play until you die.
Eventually, one of your cards moves. The stoat motions to you not to react, and tells the player that there is indeed a way out. There are two other living cards in the cabin, and after you and the stoat find them you can make your grand escape attempt. Or at least, that’s the plan. At the beginning the stoat serves as the player companion, providing commentary and clues about the cabin and the demon that you continue to play cards with. After an hour he will be the only thing tethering you to sanity as you witness unexplainable horrors unfold.
What makes the setup so damn interesting is that you are fighting only one opponent, the demon, Leshy, for the entire duration of Act 1. As you continuously build and improve your deck during each run, it will improve and change its deck as well. Inscryption is a tabletop role playing game taking place in a locked cabin, with Leshy serving as both the game master and the only other player. Every NPC you meet along the way is Leshy, every opponent is leshy, every wicked event to befall your poor player is Leshy. In act 2 things change a little, but no spoilers.
There is something cryptically stressful about watching a real demon lead a tabletop game in which it role-plays as many different demons, obviously working hard to make sure the game is fair for the player. Between every encounter round, depending on how the RNG rolls, you’ll be able to either add a new card, power one up you already have, or pick an item to keep. You can keep three items with you at a time. The items range from helpful to horrifying to both, and you’ll likely need to stock them up for the exceedingly difficult boss battles. Which are, again, just Leshy wearing a different hat and doing a different voice. And it is freaky beyond description.
The meta-horror elements of Inscryption are what make it a must-play for me, but the card game itself is extremely innovative and addictive. Each card is a monster with HP, power, a cost, and usually a sigil. Sigils are special effects that add a layer of unpredictability to gameplay, since the same cards don’t always have the same sigils. The wings allow a monster to fly high and attack the opponent directly, the dive allows monsters to hide from attacks underwater, etc. Each turn, you begin by drawing either a card from your deck or a squirrel.
The squirrel card is a fascinating mechanic - you always start with one in your hand, and you can draw one every turn if you think it’s the right move. Squirrels have 1 HP and 0 power, so they are quite literally only useful for sacrifices, but it heightens the thrill of the draw. Similar to many games, like Yugioh, a more powerful monster with a blood cost requires a sacrifice of less powerful monsters. Most turns, especially late game, the real question is whether to draw a squirrel and play it safe or draw from your deck and risk getting a card you can’t afford. The real mind game is more often with yourself than the opponent, as you rack your brain about how to win this battle you can’t afford to lose. Acts 2 and 3 offer a very different card game, each one just as intriguing in its own way.
Each run, the player starts with two lives. Every time you deal damage directly to the opponent, that number of teeth drop onto a balanced scale on the table. Whoever’s side hits the table first is the loser. This means that the battle is truly not over until it's over - finding creative ways to stall until you get a better card is not only doable, but necessary. In essence, you don’t need to deal x number of damage points to Leshy to beat it, you just need to deal 7 more damage than it has dealt to you.
Between rounds, Leshy permits you to stand up and walk around the tiny 10x10 cabin and explore. There are puzzles to solve, codes to input, messages to be found, and friends to rescue hidden around strategically. But Leshy will be watching you the entire time, so don’t try any funny business like leaving. Solving these puzzles unlocks new cards to help you in battle. Make sure to get up and stretch your legs a bit, because you’ll need to unlock these things to progress the narrative. Standing up and walking around with its eyes on your back is viscerally frightening.
Now, you may be thinking “well I don’t much like card games or roguelikes. “ I’ve got good news for you. Inscryption is a total deconstruction of both of these genres, finding the most twisted and uncomfortable ways to alter their structures and tropes to make sure you’re constantly on edge. One of my favorite things about Hades was that the deaths were canonical, and every time you failed you made a bit of progress and moved the story along. The same is true of Inscryption, but perhaps in a much more frightening way.
When your player character dies (and they will die, a lot) and the run ends, Leshy gives you the last-rights honor of creating a death card out of the deck you gathered along the way. You pull the power and HP from one card, the cost from another, the sigil from another, and give it a name. Leshy then pulls an old-timey camera out to take a picture of your dying face for the card and finishes your run there. The player wakes up at the table again as a new character. Yes, each failed run means death for your character, and Leshy brings in another unlucky person to serve as his plaything. This cycle will repeat until the end of eternity… or until you can stop him.
Luckily, the one glimmer of hope is that your powerful death cards will appear in random selections to your future players. Your dying grasp is sad, yes, but not surrender. A piece of that character will travel forward to aid someone else, and so on and so forth, after your death. There’s a strange, sad power in that mechanic. We all fight not to escape, but so that one day the nightmare will end long after we are gone.
My biggest complaint with Inscryption is that I am not at all a fan of the art style. I understand it is meant to make players uneasy, but I believe this can be done without using this ragged 3D-pixel style that just looks flat out bad. Act 2 and 3 change up the art style, but it’s still just kind of unappealing to me. The cards look great, though, and I love the style of the monsters.
Additionally, I didn’t enjoy the actual puzzles around the cabin, nor around the other later areas, and after a long while I brute forced my way through them without figuring out how they were meant to be solved. My second complaint, without giving things away, is that Act 2 is a lot less fun than Act 1. I enjoyed the narrative, but the actual gameplay fell a little flatter for me. Act 3 was a bit more interesting, but I felt it dragged on a bit. Although a lot of the dragging on was my inability to play card games well and my being new to the genre.
Inscryption is introspective in all the best ways, asking players to make unspeakable sacrifices and decisions throughout its roughly 15 hour narrative. As you struggle to escape with your card-confined comrades from the cabin and unravel the mystery of who and what Leshy is, you’ll be treated to a wildly addictive card game that has you fighting yourself just as often as the opponent. The boss battles are tough as nails, adding extra layers and conditions upon the rules of the card game, and you won’t be able to stop playing for fear that the demon might just be behind your desk chair.
If you are even slightly interested in card games, I recommend you play this. Don't watch any trailers, just go in blind. I'm sure you will love it and find it a lot more surprising than you initially thought.
Mechanically Inscryption is a fun deck builder (even as someone who doesn't like deck building games!). But if you're reading this review on this website then you're at least vaguely aware that this game does Things. I like the story it's telling, but it wasn't super impactful. There are two big challenges with the story the game is trying to tell.
1) I got the game off of steam and it's pretty well regarded - I know it's not some random piece of shareware.
2) This game came out after Undertale and I have no idea how you tell a meta video game story in a post Undertale-world. I'd like to see something more ambitious and weird if you're going to go down that route.
All that being said, Inscryption at the very least is entertaining and doesn't overstay its welcome.
1) I got the game off of steam and it's pretty well regarded - I know it's not some random piece of shareware.
2) This game came out after Undertale and I have no idea how you tell a meta video game story in a post Undertale-world. I'd like to see something more ambitious and weird if you're going to go down that route.
All that being said, Inscryption at the very least is entertaining and doesn't overstay its welcome.
O começo desse jogo é maravilhoso, pode até se dizer que é um jogo a parte (entendedores entenderam), depois disso o bagulho transcende com uma história cheia de bons plot twists.
Porém o que pesa sobre a experiência, é que uma grande parte do enredo, se encontra fora do game ou é uma incógnita ainda não respondida de um quebra cabeça extremamente complexo e que as vezes precisa que o criador do game se manifeste para ajudar a responder.
Peguei pra jogar, pois a proposta inicial Ă© muito tentadora e o suspense que o game proporciona Ă© um dos mais incrĂveis que eu já presenciei. Ainda com um card game muito divertido, foi esse jogo que me fez querer experimentar outros jogos de cartas, que ainda nĂŁo joguei, mas em breve vou.
Porém o que pesa sobre a experiência, é que uma grande parte do enredo, se encontra fora do game ou é uma incógnita ainda não respondida de um quebra cabeça extremamente complexo e que as vezes precisa que o criador do game se manifeste para ajudar a responder.
Peguei pra jogar, pois a proposta inicial Ă© muito tentadora e o suspense que o game proporciona Ă© um dos mais incrĂveis que eu já presenciei. Ainda com um card game muito divertido, foi esse jogo que me fez querer experimentar outros jogos de cartas, que ainda nĂŁo joguei, mas em breve vou.
the unspeakable horrors of having to play yugioh at gunpoint
Go play Inscryption as blind as possible. Anything i might share about it might ruin the experience for you but at least be aware that is a card game and you might not like one of those. Fantastic.
minus half a star for the mox cards. what's up with those
this game had beautiful and immersive design, engaging deckbuilding and a million and one individual moments that had me gasping or cackling or straight up giddy. it also had a kind of lackluster follow-through on a plot that initially gets you so invested. it also gives you a duel disk. what a glorious experience
this game had beautiful and immersive design, engaging deckbuilding and a million and one individual moments that had me gasping or cackling or straight up giddy. it also had a kind of lackluster follow-through on a plot that initially gets you so invested. it also gives you a duel disk. what a glorious experience
This review contains spoilers
The first 3-4 hours are incredible...the atmosphere is totally ominous and weird. the characters are small, but still enjoyable and engaging. and the deck/card building gameplay is super fun and addicting, it's simple but builds beautifully upon that. the horror, cabin-aesthetic is awesome, I just wish the whole game was there so badly.
However, once you actually get out of the cabin, the game goes down the drain. it feels like they tried combining too many half-baked ideas to further the runtime causing the last two acts to feel so messy and useless. I appreciate some of the creativity, but I would just rather replay the beginning hours. the sprite/jrpg thing they tried to do felt so undone, there was way too much going on in the battles. robotopia honestly just pissed me off, at that point I was just so done with the game. it completely derails from anything the first act established, almost completely different game really, and not a good one.
The game starts to focus more on this creepypasta-esque horror which, personally, derived any enjoyment and intriguing tone/mood that the first act set. truthfully, it comes off really cringe and pretentious.
Man, I wish the whole game had the vibes and gameplay of the first act, or just concluded there. oh well...
However, once you actually get out of the cabin, the game goes down the drain. it feels like they tried combining too many half-baked ideas to further the runtime causing the last two acts to feel so messy and useless. I appreciate some of the creativity, but I would just rather replay the beginning hours. the sprite/jrpg thing they tried to do felt so undone, there was way too much going on in the battles. robotopia honestly just pissed me off, at that point I was just so done with the game. it completely derails from anything the first act established, almost completely different game really, and not a good one.
The game starts to focus more on this creepypasta-esque horror which, personally, derived any enjoyment and intriguing tone/mood that the first act set. truthfully, it comes off really cringe and pretentious.
Man, I wish the whole game had the vibes and gameplay of the first act, or just concluded there. oh well...
Eu nem sei o que dizer direito.
QUE EXPERIĂŠNCIA!
QUE EXPERIĂŠNCIA!
a combination of two indie game scenes i have next to no interest in (deckbuilders and roguelites), by a guy whos last quirky crazy meta game i thought was Nice but maybe not anything i havent rly seen before, and the result is, if maybe not an all-time favorite, certainly one of those things that just makes me think that maybe video games are the best medium after all. the mechanical unity is rly key to this one's success vs the vignettes of pony island or something similar like frog fractions...no matter what happens, yr always playing a very enjoyable card game that takes advantage of its non-symmetrical pve style to the fullest extent, with enjoyable and surprising iterations throughout. all thats left is for it to deliver an enjoyable creepypasta that speaks at least a few emotional truths about competing creative visions, and maybe creativity in general. the disarming sentimentality that graces moments of the finale is well earned...there is much to be attached to, in the intimacy of learning how to play, and in the desire to give everything a Voice to be heard and understood
Wish I could go back and experience this blind again - a relatively simple premise that gets milked for everything it's worth (in a good way), lots of interconnectivity and trickery.
Strong recommend.
Also has an endless mode which, whilst fun, can be repetitive.
Strong recommend.
Also has an endless mode which, whilst fun, can be repetitive.
Esse jogo tem uma premissa inicial muito bacana, mas ninguém espera o que acontece após derrotar o Leshy. Ele beira a perfeição e foi muito esnobado no ano em que saiu
really enjoyed this but it's gotta make you wonder if there's not a different well for indie horror games to dip into than the haunted majora's mask cartridge one
Inscryption Ă© um jogo de carta inteligentĂssimo, transporta a experiĂŞncia de um TCG e os elementos de deck building magistralmente, tudo amarrado em uma narrativa super inspirada, existe alma por trás desse projeto.
Ainda que exista alguns tropeços no balanceamento (tem partida que você já começa perdendo, e você nem desceu nenhuma carta, o RNG é um canalha), uma performance questionável no ps4 e muito da meta narrativa tenha se perdido por está jogando no console, eu entendo a intencionalidade por trás das decisões.
Esse Ă© o tipo de jogo que sempre achei que ia gostar, mas... uau, tĂł surpreso mesmo assim.
Ainda que exista alguns tropeços no balanceamento (tem partida que você já começa perdendo, e você nem desceu nenhuma carta, o RNG é um canalha), uma performance questionável no ps4 e muito da meta narrativa tenha se perdido por está jogando no console, eu entendo a intencionalidade por trás das decisões.
Esse Ă© o tipo de jogo que sempre achei que ia gostar, mas... uau, tĂł surpreso mesmo assim.
Depois de ter voltado a jogar e finalizado propriamente, o jogo Ă© bem interessante. Criativo e atĂ© metalinguĂstico kkk. As mecânicas das cartas sĂŁo bem interessantes, e eu curto o modo do new game +.
SĂł acho que poderia explorar melhor os sub-gĂŞneros, principalmente no ato 2.
SĂł acho que poderia explorar melhor os sub-gĂŞneros, principalmente no ato 2.
A game for people who have the highest tier of Waypoint membership.
This review contains spoilers
I wish this had just been a normal game.
The game starts out really strong. The first few hours of Inscryption are just a really great roguelike with some neat mechanics about exploring the space you're in tacked on. The sacrifice and bones mechanic is so much cooler than some kind of mana system. There are many viable strategies, and you don't need some broken combo to feel strong. The StS-like map is (as always) much better than in StS, my only complaints about it are that Totem enemies should reward you more and that Bonelord encounters feel kind of pointless. The atmosphere is amazing.
The biggest issue with this Act 1 of Inscryption is that it's a bit too easy, and that is before you unlock totems. Totems just feel like they're designed to break the game for you, because there are so many sigils you can give to your squirrels for a free win. I have honestly no idea how you're even supposed to lose with tutoring squirrels.
Just act 1, with some rebalancing and ascension and all that stuff might have been a great game. I know they’re making a mod for that, maybe I should check it out at some point.
Act 2 is so much worse. There are 2 new cost mechanics. I don't think it's possible to build a good Mox deck, and Energy cards are just way understatted to be any good. So you mostly end up playing the same kind of Sacrifice/Bones deck you've been playing for all of Act 1, only now it's more consistent because it's a CCG instead of a roguelike deckbuilder. I've won so many fights with double Mantis God turn 1. It's mostly trivially easy, especially because there aren't even any consequences for losing, so if you have a bad draw, just concede and retry.
The only encounter in Act 2 that isn’t super easy is the Magnificus fight, and that’s because that fight just throws all the rules out the window and makes up a new game. At least the music is nice.
Then you get to Act 3, and for a moment you’re full of hope that it might at least come close to the greatness of Act 1. The battles are trivially easy and boring, the overworld is ugly and confusing. As you go on, the game keeps throwing random mechanics at you and it feels like none of them matter.
I’d like to give a special dishonorable mention to The Archivist. Ohhhhh, you can show images when I open them, ohhh, only scary programs like Paint can do that (and yet you couldn’t even play the mp4 of the Utena musical). Ohhh now you’re threatening to delete my file ohhh how scary, ohh it isn’t actually deleted who would have thought.
The finale is fine. The bone-focused game seems kinda fun, wish we could play that one properly. The Yu-gi-oh-like with Magnificus is boring but I can’t say it didn’t make me laugh.
I have now written over 500 words without even mentioning the story. That is because the story is absolute garbage, in my opinion. I’m sure the Creepypasta fandom would have really loved this story in 2010. No one is shocked by self-aware video game characters, we’ve all played Undertale. Setting up a mystery and then “redacting” its solution is so cheap. The ending was so hilariously bad, I actually laughed out loud. Also, what was even the point of Grimora deleting the game?
During the finale, it becomes clear that all Leshy ever wanted was to play. This made me kind of sad. I also just wanted to play Leshy’s game, but Inscryption wouldn’t let me.
The game starts out really strong. The first few hours of Inscryption are just a really great roguelike with some neat mechanics about exploring the space you're in tacked on. The sacrifice and bones mechanic is so much cooler than some kind of mana system. There are many viable strategies, and you don't need some broken combo to feel strong. The StS-like map is (as always) much better than in StS, my only complaints about it are that Totem enemies should reward you more and that Bonelord encounters feel kind of pointless. The atmosphere is amazing.
The biggest issue with this Act 1 of Inscryption is that it's a bit too easy, and that is before you unlock totems. Totems just feel like they're designed to break the game for you, because there are so many sigils you can give to your squirrels for a free win. I have honestly no idea how you're even supposed to lose with tutoring squirrels.
Just act 1, with some rebalancing and ascension and all that stuff might have been a great game. I know they’re making a mod for that, maybe I should check it out at some point.
Act 2 is so much worse. There are 2 new cost mechanics. I don't think it's possible to build a good Mox deck, and Energy cards are just way understatted to be any good. So you mostly end up playing the same kind of Sacrifice/Bones deck you've been playing for all of Act 1, only now it's more consistent because it's a CCG instead of a roguelike deckbuilder. I've won so many fights with double Mantis God turn 1. It's mostly trivially easy, especially because there aren't even any consequences for losing, so if you have a bad draw, just concede and retry.
The only encounter in Act 2 that isn’t super easy is the Magnificus fight, and that’s because that fight just throws all the rules out the window and makes up a new game. At least the music is nice.
Then you get to Act 3, and for a moment you’re full of hope that it might at least come close to the greatness of Act 1. The battles are trivially easy and boring, the overworld is ugly and confusing. As you go on, the game keeps throwing random mechanics at you and it feels like none of them matter.
I’d like to give a special dishonorable mention to The Archivist. Ohhhhh, you can show images when I open them, ohhh, only scary programs like Paint can do that (and yet you couldn’t even play the mp4 of the Utena musical). Ohhh now you’re threatening to delete my file ohhh how scary, ohh it isn’t actually deleted who would have thought.
The finale is fine. The bone-focused game seems kinda fun, wish we could play that one properly. The Yu-gi-oh-like with Magnificus is boring but I can’t say it didn’t make me laugh.
I have now written over 500 words without even mentioning the story. That is because the story is absolute garbage, in my opinion. I’m sure the Creepypasta fandom would have really loved this story in 2010. No one is shocked by self-aware video game characters, we’ve all played Undertale. Setting up a mystery and then “redacting” its solution is so cheap. The ending was so hilariously bad, I actually laughed out loud. Also, what was even the point of Grimora deleting the game?
During the finale, it becomes clear that all Leshy ever wanted was to play. This made me kind of sad. I also just wanted to play Leshy’s game, but Inscryption wouldn’t let me.
Inscryption es una oda a los videojuegos.
Con una mezcla de juego de cartas y Roguelike, este juego se convierte en uno de mis GOTY de la vida gracias a su historia, ambientación, jugabilidad y un mil de etcétera más.
Si me preguntan qué es lo que más me ha gustado y lo que menos solo puedo decir: Juégalo.
Nota: 10.
Con una mezcla de juego de cartas y Roguelike, este juego se convierte en uno de mis GOTY de la vida gracias a su historia, ambientación, jugabilidad y un mil de etcétera más.
Si me preguntan qué es lo que más me ha gustado y lo que menos solo puedo decir: Juégalo.
Nota: 10.
Inscryption is a rogue-like card game that offers a lot of great variety in its three different acts, all based around this card game in this fictional world called Inscryption.
But overall, Inscryption is a game you should know very little about going into it to start off.
The mechanics of it are pretty simple to understand. You place cards on your side based on how many points you use and have to summon that card. While you're trying to also counteract the opponents attack.
Most cards have sigils, special buffs each card has, or different ways to attack. Some could even hinder you, which I find offers great balance in your strategy sometimes. As the game progresses, you get introduced to new sigils as well to strategize with, so the game keeps evolving to keep you thinking of how to win.
However, card games aren't fun if the actual world isn't at least interesting in a way. The world of Inscryption is intriguing because of how much mystery it presents at first. Then of course how much it tells you as you progress. And the areas you're in, can be creepy as all heck, but offers puzzles besides the main card game to keep being engaging outside the actual game.
Each act varies the rules of the game a bit, but the overall theme of the game stays the same throughout each act. Hit a card on the opponent's side to eventually hit the side enough to win.
Deck Building wise is also an interesting strategy as you can have your basic cards become defensive walls, support cards, sacrificial cards all the way, or offensive attackers bit by bit. If you get to a certain area, you would need to trade a card for a possibly better card, but it could cost you more points to summon. It just offers some grand variety into how you want to attack I find.
Overall, I adore Inscryption. It's one of my favorite video games I have played. It's a creepy feeling game, because of how much you don't know, and mixing that with the areas itself. Still a grand time playing the actual card game though! So the journey is grand throughout!
But overall, Inscryption is a game you should know very little about going into it to start off.
The mechanics of it are pretty simple to understand. You place cards on your side based on how many points you use and have to summon that card. While you're trying to also counteract the opponents attack.
Most cards have sigils, special buffs each card has, or different ways to attack. Some could even hinder you, which I find offers great balance in your strategy sometimes. As the game progresses, you get introduced to new sigils as well to strategize with, so the game keeps evolving to keep you thinking of how to win.
However, card games aren't fun if the actual world isn't at least interesting in a way. The world of Inscryption is intriguing because of how much mystery it presents at first. Then of course how much it tells you as you progress. And the areas you're in, can be creepy as all heck, but offers puzzles besides the main card game to keep being engaging outside the actual game.
Each act varies the rules of the game a bit, but the overall theme of the game stays the same throughout each act. Hit a card on the opponent's side to eventually hit the side enough to win.
Deck Building wise is also an interesting strategy as you can have your basic cards become defensive walls, support cards, sacrificial cards all the way, or offensive attackers bit by bit. If you get to a certain area, you would need to trade a card for a possibly better card, but it could cost you more points to summon. It just offers some grand variety into how you want to attack I find.
Overall, I adore Inscryption. It's one of my favorite video games I have played. It's a creepy feeling game, because of how much you don't know, and mixing that with the areas itself. Still a grand time playing the actual card game though! So the journey is grand throughout!
as pessoas acham que eu sou pc master race pra jogar com o gráfico no talo mas na verdade é pra jogar rpg maker e coisas tipo inscryption
inscryption Ă© um jogo muito interessante que me deixou em dĂşvida sobre o quanto eu gostei ou nĂŁo da experiĂŞncia como um todo, mas que apesar disso vale muito a pena ser experimentado sabendo o mĂnimo possĂvel. eu respeito o que ele tenta fazer e atĂ© admiro algumas coisas que ele conseguiu, e tem um roguelite de construir decks de carta bem engajante como a sua base, o que por si sĂł já recebe uma recomendação minha.
a partir daqui eu vou falar sobre aspectos que sĂŁo leves spoilers (na maior parte sobre gameplay, mas comentando um detalhe narrativo revelado no segundo ato da trama) caso queira jogar sem saber NADA mesmo.
acho que a coisa que me frustrou um pouco na maneira que o jogo vai entrando na rota metalinguĂstica Ă© que os outros sistemas de cartas usados nĂŁo sĂŁo fortes o bastante quanto o do primeiro ato. nenhum dos 2 atos seguintes atinge a elegância presente nas mecânicas usadas no começo do jogo, que envolve a formação de decks com a necessidade de constante sacrĂficio de cartas junto de diversas variedades complementares. a Ăşnica coisa que os sistemas seguintes herdam Ă© a relativa facilidade em criar um deck quebrado, algo que Ă© interessante quando aplicado no começo, quando o jogo deixa claro que as regras estĂŁo constantemente te colocando em desvantagem, mas que conforme os aspectos roguelites vĂŁo sendo deixados de lado para dar enfase na histĂłria (que eu atĂ© gostei, apesar de ser um pouco ARG demais pro meu gosto), acaba trivializando um pouco demais as batalhas. no segundo ato eu pude me grudar em um deck que eu fiz relativamente cedo e completei a seção inteira com ele sem mudar quase nada. o sistema do terceiro ato nĂŁo sofre tanto desse problema mas tambĂ©m nĂŁo atinge a engenhosidade do primeiro, tanto que a gimmick do chefe mais interessante dessa parte quase nĂŁo envolve as cartas utilizadas.
em conclusão, inscryption é um jogo que eu meio que gosto, apesar de ter me frustrado um pouco após abandonar sua mecânica mais interessante. mas eu não detesto o resto do jogo. como mencionei anteriormente, eu não sou tão chegada em pesquisar sobre ARGs para poder entender detalhes da história mas esse jogo até que esconde informações interessantes nesse método, que acabam não sendo supérfluas e que trazem um contexto interessante para a narrativa. eu gosto também dos puzzles do segundo ato e dos chefes do terceiro ato. a trilha sonora também vende muito bem o tom que o jogo segue.
acho que Ă© isso mesmo.
a partir daqui eu vou falar sobre aspectos que sĂŁo leves spoilers (na maior parte sobre gameplay, mas comentando um detalhe narrativo revelado no segundo ato da trama) caso queira jogar sem saber NADA mesmo.
acho que a coisa que me frustrou um pouco na maneira que o jogo vai entrando na rota metalinguĂstica Ă© que os outros sistemas de cartas usados nĂŁo sĂŁo fortes o bastante quanto o do primeiro ato. nenhum dos 2 atos seguintes atinge a elegância presente nas mecânicas usadas no começo do jogo, que envolve a formação de decks com a necessidade de constante sacrĂficio de cartas junto de diversas variedades complementares. a Ăşnica coisa que os sistemas seguintes herdam Ă© a relativa facilidade em criar um deck quebrado, algo que Ă© interessante quando aplicado no começo, quando o jogo deixa claro que as regras estĂŁo constantemente te colocando em desvantagem, mas que conforme os aspectos roguelites vĂŁo sendo deixados de lado para dar enfase na histĂłria (que eu atĂ© gostei, apesar de ser um pouco ARG demais pro meu gosto), acaba trivializando um pouco demais as batalhas. no segundo ato eu pude me grudar em um deck que eu fiz relativamente cedo e completei a seção inteira com ele sem mudar quase nada. o sistema do terceiro ato nĂŁo sofre tanto desse problema mas tambĂ©m nĂŁo atinge a engenhosidade do primeiro, tanto que a gimmick do chefe mais interessante dessa parte quase nĂŁo envolve as cartas utilizadas.
em conclusão, inscryption é um jogo que eu meio que gosto, apesar de ter me frustrado um pouco após abandonar sua mecânica mais interessante. mas eu não detesto o resto do jogo. como mencionei anteriormente, eu não sou tão chegada em pesquisar sobre ARGs para poder entender detalhes da história mas esse jogo até que esconde informações interessantes nesse método, que acabam não sendo supérfluas e que trazem um contexto interessante para a narrativa. eu gosto também dos puzzles do segundo ato e dos chefes do terceiro ato. a trilha sonora também vende muito bem o tom que o jogo segue.
acho que Ă© isso mesmo.
Holy. Shit. I bought this thinking it was just going to be a very well made roguelike. I did NOT sign up for this ride, but I still held on for dear life.