Inscryption (2021)

I love psychological horror games that scare you with unusual stories, not like where it's quiet... quiet... and then BOOOO, but with really scary things for the mind that make you FEEL uncomfortable for a long time, not making your adrenaline jump for a minute.

I don't know what to say about the game, again, it is a very complex, albeit sometimes strange work...

Another semi-random find/pick on Game Pass. I'd seen the game in passing, likely when it came out and was making its buzz back then. I saw "from the creator of Pony Island and The Hex" and having played Pony Island, that was a pretty good selling point.

I don't know anything about The Hex and am so rusty on my memories of Pony Island, I still really didn't know what to expect, but it did end up stylistically familiar in some ways I think I do remember.

The game starts as a rogue-like deckbuilder. You start with a few cards, gain more along the way. Gain modifications to get stronger and get further down the game-map. Eventually you lose, hopefully have gained some skills or carry-over items along the way and loop.

It slowly introduces new mechanics at what felt like a reasonable pace. It feels a little unfair at moments as it won't let you really do that well, forcing you into a loss to lead you elsewhere to continue building the rest of the story.

All I can really say I guess is try not to like it too much for what it is and be open to what else you might encounter as you get further into the game. Hard to talk about much more without starting to give too much away, but not all is as it seems.

The story in the game is relatively self-contained, and by the time you've beaten it, it's told you enough of what you need to know to feel like you've reached the end, but there are a lot of external factors related to the story as well. Getting the whole story takes some work, probably most easily digested via YouTube videos these days.

The creator's previous games are related/in the same universe, but I'm not sure yet to what extent, but that's interesting. There was a pretty big ARG that went alongside the release of the game. There is quite a bit more story hidden in these extra bits. There is a bonus mode in this game that helps flesh some out, but even that only goes so far, and is locked behind what looks like some pretty brutal difficulty to get it all.

I think I like the story. It gets a little out there, but I think I like it. I don't know if I have the brainpower or patience to keep digging right now, but I might come back for The Hex before too long and see how that goes.

I've always heard good things about this game, then I tried it one night and I thought the main mechanic was kinda cool (like a Balatro-esque feeling but creepier). However, I started feeling the game was way too hard and almost dropped it. Luckily I had one more run and things went well for me and I was amazed to discover what was hidden behind what I thought was the end of a simple and fun game.

I liked it so much that I searched actual Inscryption cards and booster packs to buy online. Amazing game.

The beginning of the game is stellar. I like card games, I like horror, I like mystery and to a lesser extent I enjoy adventure games. Daniel Mullins managed to combine all of the genres in a wonderfully creative and original mix. I was utterly absorbed by the first part of the game and intrigued by the setup. I was also amazed by the way the game continued to reinvent itself match after match. You can easily exploit some of the mechanics, so the fact that it keeps changing the rules is a good thing. There are also some light adventure mechanics, but nothing too deep. Still, it's nice to just take a break and literally get up from the table and just explore around the environment a bit.

Without going into spoilers too much, the game continues to reinvent itself in dramatic ways, making it so that the end bears little resemblance to the game you started playing. My problem with the game is that after the first act the game lost that special feeling for me. It was still a great game, and I am glad I played it all the way through, but something about the beginning was lost and the game never managed to capture the same vibe for me again.

I am not normally a fan of using real life footage for cutscenes, but the story is good, and from what I have read, it's got many, many layers if you're intersted in finding out the stuff between the lines, but I have no idea how I was supposed to figure some things out on my own, like changing the screen aspect ratio to see a hidden message.

Overall, it is a great and unique game to play, which I definitely recommend to everyone. Considering the way it continues to subvert expectations, even non-fans of card games might like this one.

It was true all the things they were saying about this game. IT IS GREAT!

Inscryption is —above all things— a solid, fun, deep and enganging card game. Yes, the metagame, metametagame and metametametagame make this something really special, but that wouldn't work if this wasn't a fun game to play and it absolutely is.

You can read my full review of the Switch version in spanish for GamerFocus. I didn't included any narrative or mechanical spoilers and the pictures only belong to the act 1 of the game.

My problems with it are that it loses inmersion by not being in PC (I could explain, but that will be an spoiler), the lack of touch controls and a couple of mechanics in the late game that aren't that fun. Besides that, this is a must-have.

Having finished the game, I don't think it deserves 10th the praise it receives.

What most players will experience is a strange mix of "Five Nights at Freddy's" and a primitive card game on top of roguelike mechanics. As a card game, it’s not very enjoyable. Each player has just 7 HP. Since your opponent doesn’t play by your rules, he can field a 3-blood 3-damage card on the first turn. You need 3 turns to do the same, so unless you are lucky to have removal, you are dead.
For me, part of the fun of boss fights in Hearthstone was building decks to beat them. Here, you need to build a single deck to beat 4 very different bosses, without much control what you put in it. Sometimes, you would just get bad options, and you can’t do anything about it. When I finally beat the 3rd boss Trapper&Trader, I didn’t feel good about it. I just felt I got lucky. And as far as the 4th boss is concerned, I'm just glad I read the guide and knew what I should expect. Otherwise, I would have probably dropped the game.
The problem of course is that if you die on a boss, you need to repeat all the previous bosses again. And you may get some unlucky rolls again.
Once you beat Act I, the game gets better, though. That's why I don't want to give it 1-start. Act II is a Pokemon-inspired adventure, where you have 4 "classes" instead of just one. And you don't loose any progress. And you can edit your deck freely, at any point. Act III is a mix. You can't edit your deck, but at least you get checkpoints quite often. So I didn't find it to be as infuriating as Act I. Then the ending is good. It has a lot of character to it, and it has improved my impression of the game as well. Made me even smile.

It's one of those games where everything about the presentation is done right. The graphic style is unique, where pixel art and 3D blended very well. The way the characters talk, the sound effects, and also the lack of music, mixed with fast camera movements make an eerie atmosphere. Thankfully there's no jump scare or anything. The attention to detail is top-notch. I'd say this game is on "Hotline Miami" level, atmosphere-wise, maybe even better.

I'm no expert on card games and have never been good with strategy games honestly, so I can't say if the core gameplay is amazing or not. But I guess it's easy enough to win if you keep trying. For instance, I suck at "Slay the Spire" but Inscryption wasn't really hard for me.

After the amazing first act, I was really disappointed to see the "Gameboy/NES demake" version. Because this is where the game becomes a real trading card game, but the primitive graphic style makes an unenjoyable experience and hurt my eyes when I tried to figure out card sigils and abilities. So I've used "auto-complete" almost all the time and didn't bother with creating a deck. Thankfully the third act returns to the amazing style of the first act, only with a different Scrybe and setting. I might say that it wasn't as charming and surprising as the first time seeing it, still, it was very good. This time the level itself is longer but also more forgiving, so you don't have to go all the way back to the beginning every time you lose. Encounters with the other 2 Scrybes are very short, still, they also have their own unique level designs. Which made me think, maybe the game was originally intended to be longer, with longer fights with every Scrybe? Anyway, I think it has just the right amount of completion time in its current state. Among many interesting things in the game, there's a section where your Steam friends betray you, while huge files in your actual hard drive that you wish you can get rid off save your ass. And there's the "found footage" flavor on top.

There are still many puzzles that I probably missed, so I might play again sometime later.

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Inscryption is a card game that presents such an innovative system that allows you to play with your own creations from the beginning of the game -within the limits imposed, of course-. Its greatest strength lies in not separating itself from this genre and mixing it with others such as scape room, 8 bits, puzzles, adventure, horror.

When it started to break the fourth wall I considered that it involved the story with us as the main player, but it doesn't do it until the real end of the game (Act 3. Not everyone gets to it as it requires will and more than 10 hours of gameplay). At this point, you realize that few games have left you with the feeling of being more real than metaphysical.

Its intense cryptographic universe that transcends the screen reminded me of 'Gravity falls' (animated series), in which fans spent years searching websites, videos, texts, etc. to gather explanatory information of what was happening. It pleases me deeply to know that the fans have already finished most of the work with Inscryption and found notorious connections with the creations of 'Daniel Mullins' (Pony Island, The Hex and the one that is not out yet). I can't say enough about the tremendous effort of the creative team. Finally, I recommend the game only for lovers of the genre because there will be many encounters to lose and win.

I have no regrets.

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Inscryption es un juegos de cartas que nos presenta un sistema tan innovador que permite jugar con tus propias creaciones desde el principio del juego - dentro de los limites impuestos, claro-. Su mayor fortaleza radica en no separarse de este genero y la mezcla con otro como son scape room, 8 bits, puzzles, aventura, terror.

Cuando comenzó a romper la cuarta pared consideré que involucraba la historia con nosotros como jugador principal, pero no lo hace hasta el verdadero final del juego (Acto 3. No cualquiera llega hasta él pues se requiere voluntad y más de 10 horas de juego). En este punto, compruebas que pocos juegos te han dejado la sensacion de ser algo más real que metafísico.

Su intenso universo criptográfico que transciende de la pantalla me recordó a 'Gravity falls' (serie animada), en la que fans estuvieron años buscando en paginas webs, videos, textos, etc. para recopilar información explicativa de lo que sucedia. Es de mi profundo agrado saber que los fans ya finalizaron la mayor parte del trabajo con Inscryption y encontraron notorias conexiones con las creaciones de 'Daniel Mullins' (Pony Island, The Hex y el que aún no ha salido). No tengo palabras para describir el tremendo esfuerzo del equipo creativo. Por último, recomiendo el juego solo para amantes del género porque habrán muchos encuentros para perder y ganar.

No me arrepiento de nada.

I just played this for the entire afternoon and am about to go play more after dinner, so that kinda says it all.

Spoilery discussion:

I’ve kinda figured out up until a “thing” where I have gotten this film reel and have to beat the dude to use his camera. I made it to that battle and lost… oh well, this game is more fun for me to play than the average roguelike game so I don’t mind running through again until I get it. Didn’t enjoy even a card-based one like Slay the Spire nearly this much. There are some really powerful combos of things in the card part of this game that feel fun to use, my favorite being the totem making squirrels unkillable to summon tons of units and accumulate bones as well. Of course this is not even taking into account all the stuff outside the card game which I have enjoyed poking around in quite a bit. I wonder why you can’t select “new game” in the menu… very curious…

Edit: Ok now I know why and I am not sure how I feel about that…