Inscryption (2021)

*** This will be spoiler free! ***

The intrigue I had for this game going in was met with a first act filled with addictive card game mechanics, a rogue-lite that scratches the "just one more turn itch" and a spooky cabin that as creepy as it is claustrophobic. The gameplay loop that was losing to a strange shadow wearing a mask to exploring and finding secrets around the figures cabin was both satisfying and rewarding. Finding items to shift the card game in your or creepy little nuggets of lore giving you a touch more insight as to what exactly is going on. I do not wish to give away too much, but absolutely loved ACT 1 and anyone considering giving it a try should stop considering and just jump right in.

The same can't be said for the next two acts of the game. I found my interest what was going on went out the cabin window - along with our character. The change in visuals, while is most games am I a fan, just didn't sit well with me here. The pixel art was a little lacking and I found it particularly difficult to comprehend the very same card game I had been playing all ACT 1. There are some next little puzzle here too, but the spectacular game play loop found in the beginning is long game, and won't be coming back. There were some interesting lore bits to discover here, but how I longed to have another crack at the our shadow-y antagonists creepy adventure.

ACT 3 was no better. I found the energy mechanic in this newer version of the card game to be endlessly infuriating. As well as power ups always coming at a cost that would more often than not have me skipping right by them rather than seeing what boon I would be offered. As for the story it also had some neat moments here and there but I struggled to find the highs I flew in ACT 1.

All in all, I do think the first act is well worth a play through. It is - simply put - fun. Definitely more of an enjoy the journey and worry about the destination later situation. And sometimes that's all you really need.

This one is really hard to review. I liked it, I trully did, but I have a lot of qualms about it at the same time. and I disliked more than what I liked. But what I enjoyed I trully, trully enjoyed.

Is also hard to review because of spoilers, so I will try my hardest to avoid spoilers.

The game is a card game in the similar veins of Magic The Gathering, or any other collectible card game. You get cards, you make combos, you feel good, you win. Now add roguelike elements, now some boardgame elements where you can go in certain spaces in the board to upgrade cards, get more cards, get rid of cards, etc...

If you like TCGs you will love this! Now add a very mysterious cabin with a mysterious captor and with escape the room elements and wow, this game is hitting all of my obsessions!

Then add a very nice presentation, art, mystery, music, theme. You will love this game! And this is not just for show, the card game mechanics are very solid, there is a lot of strategies you could try, a lot of janky decks you can try, its awesome!

But then as you are savoring this, you get a bitter taste... The game decides to throw this all out of the window and focus on other aspects, I can't recall how soon this happens but it felt just before the mid point of the game. And the rest of the game felt mostly like a chore. I contemplated quitting several times because I just wanted it to end. The game becomes repetitive and not as exciting as when you started. The mechanics are not as clean and not as fun anymore.

And the story, what a letdown. it start really mysterious, a magical world where anything could happen, who is this guy, who is that other guy, what does he look like? And then right at the same point when it decides to throw everything i have loved so far about the game out the window, it tries to tell a "better story", "answer questions" about these mysteries. In my opinion, it is not a very good story and doesn't answer anything in a manner that is satisfactory. So i lost all interest in this mysterious world, I lost the parts about the game that I loved, and I ended up playing a game that overstayed its welcome and I just wanted it to end.

I would have preferred for the game to finish right at that sweet spot, leave that nice after taste of a sweet sweet gaming experience, leave things unanswered if need be and let the players imagination run a wild.

That part of the game is a solid 5/5, the rest of the game is a 2/5 for me.

But hey, given that things change the other parts might be a better fit for you

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…