No thread for this gem yet is a travesty. Let’s correct that. The demo (beta?) for this came out earlier this year, and all I remember of it was I really liked it but I couldn’t recall exactly what it was about or why. I wrote this about it back in April:
I got invited into a beta for a cool little rogue-like I forgot I signed up for, it’s called Crown Trick and the story is you, a young lady, are pulled into a nightmare realm to repair the damage an evil villain has caused. A sentient crown is your condescending guide and mentor and invests its power into you so you can run through the dungeon and defeat the evil badguy. Along the way, you’ll find cool relics, potions, weapons, and other goodies and even be able to defeat and tame Familiars that let you use their powers! Also, it’s a really, really nice looking game
The premise is pretty simple and it runs you into a quick tutorial that explains the basics of classic Roguelike gameplay (this plays to me more like a “like” and not a “lite” Rogue experience, with classic turns and limited resources in many ways, though I’m sure there is a debate to be had here, as ever) from waiting to let enemies come to you to “equipping” familiars to gain access to special skills.
It’s also just gorgeous, and it’s available on the Switch!
There is a meta game element to unlock blue prints which can be turned in at shops and create items potentially available in future runs, and when I defeated the first boss at the end of level 2 I unlocked Pistol and Staff weapons which will now potentially spawn. I rescued a few characters in the dungeon that then were waiting back at the “hub” for me so I could upgrade a few things for future runs. I admit that games with a strong Meta to them, requiring many runs to unlock features that seem critical for a runs success (for example, I upgraded my health elixir so I have an extra use of it each floor) bother me, but the gameplay and the meta structure seems really well done here so far, so I’ll reserve judgement.
A look at my character sheet towards the end of my first (and only) run:
There are some really cool mechanics here, from Relics you can find and equip to weapons that vastly change how you play but also how every time you select a Relic or a Weapon you are given an option of 3 so you can really tailor a play experience as you go, and I think that’s going to be key in the long run. Otherwise it’s a bit like “Brogue” in that you start with just a blank slate and any given run could feature long ranged combat, melee spec, or some sort of mage build that takes full advantage of powerful Familiar abilities.
I’m only a few hours in but I am going back in for more here in a bit, and I wanted to get my impressions and thoughts on the game down now. It’s 10% off on Steam, it’s even cheaper (and for me, tax free) on GreenManGaming (I paid just over $15 there) right now, and I believe it’s worth every penny.
I know this one has been discussed in a few other threads, so if anyone has any tips or suggestions for someone just getting into it, let’s pool our knowledge.