Satisfying synergy
It's something when a deck building game can grab your attention as much as Slay the Spire did for me. I think it comes from a want more than a need: Wanting a turn based rogue-lite/like that prioritized classes and different abilities that gave the pick up and play format that I appreciated from the rogue-like/lite genre. Darkest Dungeon technically filled this niche but runs became too long to stay invested for when I prefer just doing a quick max of an hour run before moving onto single player experiences once more. An intermission before starting a new journey so to speak into the boundless video games I have yet to play.
Slay the Spire's narrative element isn't really apparent from playing the game itself but there's a few puzzle pieces you can put together. The spire is your enemy, the cause of your rebirths is a whale ancient called Neow as you go through three acts and areas to do the titular duty: Slay the Spire. It's here just as set up for the meat of the game which is exploring the said locations itself.
The most satisfying element of playing is finding out combinations, making the most of what you can and truly deciding your own path without any real filler in between. Changing, removing, transforming and altering yourself is how you'll eventually get your first clear as you progress through several challenging floors of enemies, elites and bosses. Finding each classes has dedicated builds and synergies that work extremely well and feel extremely rewarding when you can pull the off and the sheer variety of cards and their actions really let you go in depth with how you want to act. Playing a big deck with constantly drawing cards or playing a small deck that relies on luck less but getting that perfect card at the perfect time? It's all possible in a run. There's a lot of variables and factors you can grab and address to go through each time that it never feels easy or monotonous but the fun is making do with what you can get since truly trying to strive for each build might actually harm you in the long run since you're relying on card drops at that point. I think it's best to not play with any guides and figure out your own combinations until the higher ascensions (difficulties) when you truly want to do everything the game has to offer. Average runs of Slay the Spire can take up to forty minutes to an hour from my experience which is just barely long enough to fill that pick up and play situation I'm looking for in games like these.
The art of the game is alright but there's a few things that leave a bit to be desired like some of the card art being first drafts still and the models but it's really hard to care much since I feel like the gameplay does so much to elevate the experience anyway. The soundtrack is good with boss tracks raising the tension pretty well and area themes feeling like you're in a D&D session of sorts which fits.
A lot of popular rogue-lites/likes from my experience are purely action oriented and as much as some of them are fun, I do wish there was something like this where you can take your time a bit and properly plan things out and Slay the Spire fills that niche perfectly for me. If you take the time to think things through and find out some clever combinations yourself, you can get a clear no problem and it's all about doing it your own way. The game always keeps its hand close to its chest but you're playing with a full deck. Use it.
It's something when a deck building game can grab your attention as much as Slay the Spire did for me. I think it comes from a want more than a need: Wanting a turn based rogue-lite/like that prioritized classes and different abilities that gave the pick up and play format that I appreciated from the rogue-like/lite genre. Darkest Dungeon technically filled this niche but runs became too long to stay invested for when I prefer just doing a quick max of an hour run before moving onto single player experiences once more. An intermission before starting a new journey so to speak into the boundless video games I have yet to play.
Slay the Spire's narrative element isn't really apparent from playing the game itself but there's a few puzzle pieces you can put together. The spire is your enemy, the cause of your rebirths is a whale ancient called Neow as you go through three acts and areas to do the titular duty: Slay the Spire. It's here just as set up for the meat of the game which is exploring the said locations itself.
The most satisfying element of playing is finding out combinations, making the most of what you can and truly deciding your own path without any real filler in between. Changing, removing, transforming and altering yourself is how you'll eventually get your first clear as you progress through several challenging floors of enemies, elites and bosses. Finding each classes has dedicated builds and synergies that work extremely well and feel extremely rewarding when you can pull the off and the sheer variety of cards and their actions really let you go in depth with how you want to act. Playing a big deck with constantly drawing cards or playing a small deck that relies on luck less but getting that perfect card at the perfect time? It's all possible in a run. There's a lot of variables and factors you can grab and address to go through each time that it never feels easy or monotonous but the fun is making do with what you can get since truly trying to strive for each build might actually harm you in the long run since you're relying on card drops at that point. I think it's best to not play with any guides and figure out your own combinations until the higher ascensions (difficulties) when you truly want to do everything the game has to offer. Average runs of Slay the Spire can take up to forty minutes to an hour from my experience which is just barely long enough to fill that pick up and play situation I'm looking for in games like these.
The art of the game is alright but there's a few things that leave a bit to be desired like some of the card art being first drafts still and the models but it's really hard to care much since I feel like the gameplay does so much to elevate the experience anyway. The soundtrack is good with boss tracks raising the tension pretty well and area themes feeling like you're in a D&D session of sorts which fits.
A lot of popular rogue-lites/likes from my experience are purely action oriented and as much as some of them are fun, I do wish there was something like this where you can take your time a bit and properly plan things out and Slay the Spire fills that niche perfectly for me. If you take the time to think things through and find out some clever combinations yourself, you can get a clear no problem and it's all about doing it your own way. The game always keeps its hand close to its chest but you're playing with a full deck. Use it.
6 Comments
I know it didn't resonate with other people as much as Slay the Spire because of various reasons (some of which are a bit superficial), but if you enjoyed the feel of this game, you might get some real mileage out of Neoverse. For me, an absolute gem of a game.
I'll give Neoverse a shot sometime. Thanks for the recommendation. I was wondering about the various titles that kind of spawned from this game afterwards like Monster Train and the ilk.
Absolutely give Monster Train a try sometime, that one was my goty for 2020 lol. I'll have to give Neoverse a go, I believe I have it from a humble monthly....
Yeah I heard great things from Monster Train too. I'll probably give both of them a shot eventually since you guys are giving them high recommendations right now.
I'll say that I did enjoy Monster Train a lot. I'm no adept when it comes to roguelike card battlers, as most of them are more "miss" than "hit" for me, but Neoverse and Monster Train are probably the two that worked best in this genre. Well, I would also nominate Inscryption, since it's such a unique game (and from the same dev as Pony Island!)...if you haven't played it, go in blind and you might have quite a fun time.
RedTheFunnyLad
1 year ago