This review contains spoilers
Frankly, I wish I didn't have to put the spoiler warning on this review as this game is difficult to review correctly without directly addressing the story, less because of the details of the story (which I will talk about) but more so how progression through the story affects gameplay in ways I frankly think are to the games detriment.
The game is divided into 3 Acts, Act 1 in Leshy's Cabin, Act 2 in the "real" Inscryption world and Act 3 in PO-3's world.
Act 1 is when the game is at its strongest all around, the roguelike gameplay of building your deck as you progress towards bigger challenges, unlocking secrets and hidden items around the cabin, unraveling this mysterious plot involving the talking animal cards, all while this darkened figure addresses you like some twisted mix between friend and prey. The atmosphere is so strong here, it blended a card game based around sacrifice and brutality with this "escape room" type scenario.
I found this part of the game to be the most addicting to play, The mechanics had a fair amount of depth to them which I made building my deck and finding the most abusable combination of cards really exciting! I think one of the best parts is how the scales health system really encouraged you to think on your feet. A good player will not only know when to not play a card, take a hit, and counter on the backswing, but also how to put the opponent to the lowest health possible in order to maximize overkill damage to profit.
The ending to this Act really excited me, Taking Leshy's picture was cool and all but I didnt know who these animals were, I didnt know what the main character, Luke, was getting himself into. as soon as the game forced me to exit out and the "new game" option opened up, I was really excited to see what would happen next.
Act 2 was a lot less atmospheric compared to Act 1, but it expanded the lore a lot more as well as the possible depth to the gameplay. Learning Leshy was only 1 of 4 Scrybes in a power struggle made me really interested to see what would happen next, would I be taking the other 3 on in a similar room scenario? Meeting these new personalities and finding ways to out play them? I had a lot of questions that I was excited to find answers to, there was this realization of "Holy shit, something big is coming up, the game is really going whole hog on me now". In a word, Act 2 gave the game "Potential". Potential to expand in ways I was excited to see, and the gameplay was a mirror to this.
Gameplay was no longer 3d but it played like a 2d JRPG in terms of moving around the map, gameplay was still the same, but with a few new core mechanics. Now some cards didn't require sacrifices or bones, but Energy or Mox (the former system playing alot like Hearthstones Mana system and the latter being a direct reference to MTG, something this game does is reference actual card game mechanics and names/phrases in alot of places. Its a homage, I wont mark it up or down on it, I will say that it doesn't force them down your throat which is good). The card pool had expanded monstrously, combining different card mechanics with new and interesting ways to play the game, it felt like I had been hit with 3 new expansions and the possibilities could be endless.
But I will admit, this huge assortment of cards doesnt really mean that I took a ton of advantage of them, mostly because they got dumped on me all at once and in my haste to see what happened next, I didnt get enough time to delve into all these new cards as much as I wanted to. My deck was basically the Magic starter deck with a few Mantis God's tossed in (Always choose Mantis God). This is a major detriment to this part of the game because while giving me all of these options is nice, you don't really get a lot of places to genuinely experiment with them. And now, Training dummy doesn't count, that isn't engaging gameplay when there is no risk of losing.
Act 2 wraps up in a big twist where P0-3 betrays the sages and uses the games Mcguffin to take the world over similar to what happened with Leshy. This happens at a point where you barely had time to appreciate all the new mechanics and potential the game tosses at you and as a result, leads to one of the weakest parts of the game.
Act 3 basically says "I hope all of that cool shit was fun, because we are just focusing on the Robot energy mechanic now"
This isnt bad per se, if anything I actually had alot of fun playing through this part, some people say its long and I can get that, I think its mostly because the pace of the Energy-based gameplay combined with the map taking more time to explore makes it all seem like more of a chore. Act 1 you didnt explore the game map as much and Act 2 the map was really small, so the difference is noticeable.
The atmosphere of P0-3's lab was actually really cool, I liked finding stuff in the lab and discovering its secrets, I liked how it was the same but different from Leshy's cabin. my thought process was "Oh, I guess we do this 2 more times and get 2 more big bads to defeat, that would be really cool"
Gameplay wise it does feel kind of a slog at some parts, because the main mechanic of playing creatures is more deterministic and less snowbally as earlier, cards that could end the fight really fast are costed high and it forces you to play a more slow and defensive game to reach your big late game plays. The game uses a few new mechanics to spice up deck building but frankly, I assumed at this point that experimenting wouldn't be too useful if I knew that the core mechanics were just about to change next Act anyway. I did experiment with the gem cards a bit, but I still felt there was less a need to get too big-brain on the game when it was all going to change anyway right? Why struggle with the pressure of trying all the new mechanics when they are just going to change, right?
Right?
The bosses of this part are really cool to play against aswell, I would say this part of the game has the best bosses in terms of crazy shit they make you do, from deleting files on your PC to letting you beat the boss for free if you send someone else playing at the time a card that helps them win that same boss.
The culmination of events at the end of Act 3 excited me, learning that the other 3 Scrybes had plans to intervene the plans of P0-3 made me excited to see which one I would be forced to fight next, I was ready to see what the game had in store for me after this.
And then it ended.
Cool.
...
This is why Act 3 fails for me. I understand that Inscryption wants to tell this meta story with Luke and this mysterious dead game dev girl and the ARG and all of that. I wont knock an artist for wanting to tell their story, even if that story locks pieces behind another random game I never heard of but I digress.
The end of P-03 and the deletion of the game marks the end of the game. I had gotten 15 hours of playtime at this point, while I didn't buy the game and a friend did on sale, the price was still well worth it for what I got in terms of hours of fun-to-dollar ratio.
But what about all that potential?, What about the 2 other Scrybes I barely got to know that well. What about the fact that I am supposed to feel something when Magnificus and Grimora both die and my gut reaction is "There could of been game here". There could of been something more interesting going on but no, we had to stop because our story demanded it. I felt no real emotion to these characters dying besides disappointment at wasted potential.
And on the flip side, the part with Leshy is jammed between Grimora and Magnificus's cutscenes and its the one that made me actually feel something. I felt bad for Leshy, he didnt have any real machinations besides his love of his game. I felt like I actually knew the guy because I was given a lot of exposure to him, time for him to really grow on me. Leshy's end was the payoff of not just the gameplay he provided, or the atmosphere he came with, but the combination of them to create the character of Leshy. He was the result of excellent use of his potential.
This is the real problem with Inscryption, the part that makes it really hard to make a good and proper review for without spoiling the admittedly cool story to people (even if it does heavily resemble old video game creepy pastas like Ben Drowned and things like that). The gameplay of Inscryption is greatly affected by the pace of the story and where it does and doesn't want to go, it leaves a lot to be desired, a lot of "what could of been" to be imagined. And frankly, I give the game this score because its really hard to give it much more when it squanders its gameplay potential the way it does.
Inscryption is a good game, a really good game at some spots, but the only way I can reccomend it to someone without talking about the story directly in an accurate way would be "The first part is good, but the story railroads a lot of the potential towards the end"
And does that sound like a good review to you?
UPDATE: Kaycees Mod
Kaycees mod adds new content to the game in the form of an actual roguelike mode based on part one, in addition to new cards and mechanics being explored, the player is now able to choose between challenge modes and starter decks. The play also receives lore in the form of "developer logs" as they complete challenges, though I understand none of it is truly new lore and are just around to bridge the gap between people who just played the game and people who were into the ARG.
I am adding another star to the review, this is pretty much exactly what I wanted from Inscryption. I am also going to be pouring more time as I try to complete all the additional challenges I am sure to come across on my quest to 100% the game. Frankly, I hope we see more additions to the game, but I can understand if the developer is ready to walk away from this one.
The game is divided into 3 Acts, Act 1 in Leshy's Cabin, Act 2 in the "real" Inscryption world and Act 3 in PO-3's world.
Act 1 is when the game is at its strongest all around, the roguelike gameplay of building your deck as you progress towards bigger challenges, unlocking secrets and hidden items around the cabin, unraveling this mysterious plot involving the talking animal cards, all while this darkened figure addresses you like some twisted mix between friend and prey. The atmosphere is so strong here, it blended a card game based around sacrifice and brutality with this "escape room" type scenario.
I found this part of the game to be the most addicting to play, The mechanics had a fair amount of depth to them which I made building my deck and finding the most abusable combination of cards really exciting! I think one of the best parts is how the scales health system really encouraged you to think on your feet. A good player will not only know when to not play a card, take a hit, and counter on the backswing, but also how to put the opponent to the lowest health possible in order to maximize overkill damage to profit.
The ending to this Act really excited me, Taking Leshy's picture was cool and all but I didnt know who these animals were, I didnt know what the main character, Luke, was getting himself into. as soon as the game forced me to exit out and the "new game" option opened up, I was really excited to see what would happen next.
Act 2 was a lot less atmospheric compared to Act 1, but it expanded the lore a lot more as well as the possible depth to the gameplay. Learning Leshy was only 1 of 4 Scrybes in a power struggle made me really interested to see what would happen next, would I be taking the other 3 on in a similar room scenario? Meeting these new personalities and finding ways to out play them? I had a lot of questions that I was excited to find answers to, there was this realization of "Holy shit, something big is coming up, the game is really going whole hog on me now". In a word, Act 2 gave the game "Potential". Potential to expand in ways I was excited to see, and the gameplay was a mirror to this.
Gameplay was no longer 3d but it played like a 2d JRPG in terms of moving around the map, gameplay was still the same, but with a few new core mechanics. Now some cards didn't require sacrifices or bones, but Energy or Mox (the former system playing alot like Hearthstones Mana system and the latter being a direct reference to MTG, something this game does is reference actual card game mechanics and names/phrases in alot of places. Its a homage, I wont mark it up or down on it, I will say that it doesn't force them down your throat which is good). The card pool had expanded monstrously, combining different card mechanics with new and interesting ways to play the game, it felt like I had been hit with 3 new expansions and the possibilities could be endless.
But I will admit, this huge assortment of cards doesnt really mean that I took a ton of advantage of them, mostly because they got dumped on me all at once and in my haste to see what happened next, I didnt get enough time to delve into all these new cards as much as I wanted to. My deck was basically the Magic starter deck with a few Mantis God's tossed in (Always choose Mantis God). This is a major detriment to this part of the game because while giving me all of these options is nice, you don't really get a lot of places to genuinely experiment with them. And now, Training dummy doesn't count, that isn't engaging gameplay when there is no risk of losing.
Act 2 wraps up in a big twist where P0-3 betrays the sages and uses the games Mcguffin to take the world over similar to what happened with Leshy. This happens at a point where you barely had time to appreciate all the new mechanics and potential the game tosses at you and as a result, leads to one of the weakest parts of the game.
Act 3 basically says "I hope all of that cool shit was fun, because we are just focusing on the Robot energy mechanic now"
This isnt bad per se, if anything I actually had alot of fun playing through this part, some people say its long and I can get that, I think its mostly because the pace of the Energy-based gameplay combined with the map taking more time to explore makes it all seem like more of a chore. Act 1 you didnt explore the game map as much and Act 2 the map was really small, so the difference is noticeable.
The atmosphere of P0-3's lab was actually really cool, I liked finding stuff in the lab and discovering its secrets, I liked how it was the same but different from Leshy's cabin. my thought process was "Oh, I guess we do this 2 more times and get 2 more big bads to defeat, that would be really cool"
Gameplay wise it does feel kind of a slog at some parts, because the main mechanic of playing creatures is more deterministic and less snowbally as earlier, cards that could end the fight really fast are costed high and it forces you to play a more slow and defensive game to reach your big late game plays. The game uses a few new mechanics to spice up deck building but frankly, I assumed at this point that experimenting wouldn't be too useful if I knew that the core mechanics were just about to change next Act anyway. I did experiment with the gem cards a bit, but I still felt there was less a need to get too big-brain on the game when it was all going to change anyway right? Why struggle with the pressure of trying all the new mechanics when they are just going to change, right?
Right?
The bosses of this part are really cool to play against aswell, I would say this part of the game has the best bosses in terms of crazy shit they make you do, from deleting files on your PC to letting you beat the boss for free if you send someone else playing at the time a card that helps them win that same boss.
The culmination of events at the end of Act 3 excited me, learning that the other 3 Scrybes had plans to intervene the plans of P0-3 made me excited to see which one I would be forced to fight next, I was ready to see what the game had in store for me after this.
And then it ended.
Cool.
...
This is why Act 3 fails for me. I understand that Inscryption wants to tell this meta story with Luke and this mysterious dead game dev girl and the ARG and all of that. I wont knock an artist for wanting to tell their story, even if that story locks pieces behind another random game I never heard of but I digress.
The end of P-03 and the deletion of the game marks the end of the game. I had gotten 15 hours of playtime at this point, while I didn't buy the game and a friend did on sale, the price was still well worth it for what I got in terms of hours of fun-to-dollar ratio.
But what about all that potential?, What about the 2 other Scrybes I barely got to know that well. What about the fact that I am supposed to feel something when Magnificus and Grimora both die and my gut reaction is "There could of been game here". There could of been something more interesting going on but no, we had to stop because our story demanded it. I felt no real emotion to these characters dying besides disappointment at wasted potential.
And on the flip side, the part with Leshy is jammed between Grimora and Magnificus's cutscenes and its the one that made me actually feel something. I felt bad for Leshy, he didnt have any real machinations besides his love of his game. I felt like I actually knew the guy because I was given a lot of exposure to him, time for him to really grow on me. Leshy's end was the payoff of not just the gameplay he provided, or the atmosphere he came with, but the combination of them to create the character of Leshy. He was the result of excellent use of his potential.
This is the real problem with Inscryption, the part that makes it really hard to make a good and proper review for without spoiling the admittedly cool story to people (even if it does heavily resemble old video game creepy pastas like Ben Drowned and things like that). The gameplay of Inscryption is greatly affected by the pace of the story and where it does and doesn't want to go, it leaves a lot to be desired, a lot of "what could of been" to be imagined. And frankly, I give the game this score because its really hard to give it much more when it squanders its gameplay potential the way it does.
Inscryption is a good game, a really good game at some spots, but the only way I can reccomend it to someone without talking about the story directly in an accurate way would be "The first part is good, but the story railroads a lot of the potential towards the end"
And does that sound like a good review to you?
UPDATE: Kaycees Mod
Kaycees mod adds new content to the game in the form of an actual roguelike mode based on part one, in addition to new cards and mechanics being explored, the player is now able to choose between challenge modes and starter decks. The play also receives lore in the form of "developer logs" as they complete challenges, though I understand none of it is truly new lore and are just around to bridge the gap between people who just played the game and people who were into the ARG.
I am adding another star to the review, this is pretty much exactly what I wanted from Inscryption. I am also going to be pouring more time as I try to complete all the additional challenges I am sure to come across on my quest to 100% the game. Frankly, I hope we see more additions to the game, but I can understand if the developer is ready to walk away from this one.