Cool game. I really love the aesthetic, vibe and overall presentation. However, after the novelty wore off I felt that runs are far too samey. As long as you get a decent setup at the beginning and figure out what works you go for the same strategy every time. I really like deck-builders that have you try to make the best with what the game gives you but in Balatro, some items are great while others are completely useless or extremely unreliable.
The difficulty levels that are the stakes are just not any fun and only serve to make the game more RNG dependent and frustrating. With the notable exception being the Eternal Jokers. They are the only interesting addition to the gameplay that these stakes offer. The later stakes are way too RNG dependent and just not fun to play. Orange and Gold stake are especially annoying.
In the higher difficulty levels, you will be restarting runs over and over again until you get a decent start and then you'll have to be lucky that you won't get screwed over by any of the boss blinds. As they can sometimes completely counter your strategy and oftentimes you can't really properly prepare for them.
Then there are the different decks which actually aren't all that different and they basically all play out the same. Some are just more annoying to get going.
These problems became more and more apparent as I spent more time with the game. When I first booted up Balatro I had a blast though and I was hooked right from the start. And while that enjoyment started to turn to frustration as time went on I never lost that initial feeling of fascination with this game. It's strangely addictive.
I am more than done with this game now though after getting gold stake on one deck (Blue) and getting 100% of the collection. I don't feel like beating any of the challenges or to beat every deck on gold stake as that's just a giant RNG-fest and that would just feel like a chore to me.
The difficulty levels that are the stakes are just not any fun and only serve to make the game more RNG dependent and frustrating. With the notable exception being the Eternal Jokers. They are the only interesting addition to the gameplay that these stakes offer. The later stakes are way too RNG dependent and just not fun to play. Orange and Gold stake are especially annoying.
In the higher difficulty levels, you will be restarting runs over and over again until you get a decent start and then you'll have to be lucky that you won't get screwed over by any of the boss blinds. As they can sometimes completely counter your strategy and oftentimes you can't really properly prepare for them.
Then there are the different decks which actually aren't all that different and they basically all play out the same. Some are just more annoying to get going.
These problems became more and more apparent as I spent more time with the game. When I first booted up Balatro I had a blast though and I was hooked right from the start. And while that enjoyment started to turn to frustration as time went on I never lost that initial feeling of fascination with this game. It's strangely addictive.
I am more than done with this game now though after getting gold stake on one deck (Blue) and getting 100% of the collection. I don't feel like beating any of the challenges or to beat every deck on gold stake as that's just a giant RNG-fest and that would just feel like a chore to me.