Good start, thanks for the update - with games like this (most recently Tainted Grail for example), for me at least if I can get 15-25 hours before I put the game way to come back to (which I would, eventually, with indie rogue games such as this, most of the time) I’m pretty content with my purchase. I mean, I loved Crown Trick (something I recently showcased in the Game Frame thread) and when I think back on it it’s with fond memories but I only put 7 hours into it. These kinds of games are fun, but I don’t consider them replacements for bigger budget, Triple-A experiences. I just don’t want to drop $25 and find out it’s not fun, though I guess I could always refund it.
I’ll catch some videos and get a better feel for what the game is about and that will decide me. Has anyone watched any good videos/reviews they would recommend?
Okay, offering you a lazy-man but potentially useful input. I enjoy all the following, and enjoy Roguebook. If you also enjoy several of these, you will probably enjoy Roguebook too . . .
Monster Slayers
Slay the Spire
Blood Card
Tainted Grail
Monster Train
Griftlands
Banners of Ruin
Fate Hunters
Pirates Outlaws
My estimation is that it will be a 20 hour + game, same as all those others. I cannot quite figure out yet whether it can be a 100 hour + game, like Slay the Spire & Monster Train. That feels hugely dependent on the variety, challenge & gameplay loop enjoyment that I am still just getting a feel for.
The meta progression looks like it will easily take up 20 hours + of gameplay. Do you find meta-progression to be enough of a hook to keep interest?
To be honest Meta progression is what I like least about Rogue games. Stuff like Brogue or Spelunky 1/2 is super cool to me just because you don’t have it/need it. When a game has Meta progression, the balance tends to center around investing in your meta so you can eventually succeed and I prefer something like Slay the Spire or to a lesser extend Tainted Grail’s approach - there are some unlocks, and some progression (StS is the king of this) but you can actually win your first run if you are lucky and clever and the major unlocks such as cards/classes don’t take very long. I love that. Most games with a meta are unwinnable in the early hours because you haven’t unlocked the tools you need, and that grind isn’t really usually something I welcome. An example of two games with a strong meta progression system that I just stopped having fun with before I got anywhere near doing well in are Rogue Legacy and Dead Cell. The latter was probably just me not being good at Dead Cell, admittedly.
That said, a game with some meta (like Tainted Grail) is interesting when I’m enjoying the gameplay loop enough I don’t care about “winning” (which is most of the time with games like this, I just like to know I could win if I was better at this stuff). If you can unlock everything in 20 hours that’s pretty good - I’m 22 hours into Tainted Grail and nowhere near unlocking most of the stuff one can to make runs easier (like extra card draws or better starting stats) - hell I still have a damned vendor I have yet to unlock in the town.
But the game itself seems fun, I’m watching Quill18 play it at the moment. One concern I have that I’ll ask here - are there more than these two characters in the game? Or are these the two characters every run starts with and you expand your decks from there?
I have not, but only because it looks more like a multiplayer type of deal, ala MtG Arena, and I’m more into the PvE rogue type card builders. I do love the look of it though. In fact, I just noticed I own it! EDIT: I see I did play for .4 hours, so I guess I did play it back in June 2018, but not for very long.
I have 3 unlocked so far. You just pick the pair to bring into battle at the start of a run. I believe (not sure) there is one more you can unlock later.
Okay, very cool, that’s what I hoped - I like the idea of (Monster Train style) having two decks to combine and bring into the run. This seems worth checking out for sure from what I’ve seen and read here, thanks everyone. There should be (iirc) a Steam sale here this week - this wouldn’t drop on sale I would assume at this point, since it only just came out? Any takes on that? Should one wait until the 24th maybe?
This is probably the closest to a AAA deckbuilder we have seen. It’s very pretty. I think Lykurgos has the right of it here. I’m not at all sure this is a 100s of hours sort of game, but 20-25 should be pretty easy, imo.
The progression system is reminiscent of the mirror and heat systems of Hades. So you will get more resources, but also add additional challenges to your runs.
As for gameplay, I’ve been watching Rhapsody (and also been watching him play Tainted Grail). You can absolutely win your first run. Unless you have the misfortune to run into a boss that directly counters your deck…
Aha, I have played this! …or watched jorbs play it on twitch, perhaps… or both! Perhaps reminds me most of playing the 4th class in StS, with the different stances you need to manage.
Not sure what you mean. The game is not broken and it came out last week. If you mean that the release was rushed, I believe there was an issue with funding at some point. But I seem to remember Abrakam secured additional funding. So, all in all, I’m not sure how exactly the game is broken and there are no funds to fix it.
It actually does have a metric ton of single player content, from campaigns to puzzles and challenges. I’ve had a lot of fun with it and I’ve never set foot in PvP. It’s also got an entire campaign built for co-op against AI, if that’s of interest.
Wait, what now? Shit, better go check. Do you know where you heard that, and how it’s nominally broken?
Edit: Most recent update seems to have been in August, I’ve played some SP since then without issue. Wonder what the problem is supposed to be?
Offering another ‘hook’, or what makes this game special, if not unique.
Co-designer Richard Garfield talked about how, for Roguebook, he aimed to make ‘fat decks’ viable, contrasting to the many similar games in which slim decks were almost always superior for consistency, predictability, control. He wanted to make fat decks both viable and fun, and really make it so that you could enjoy adding things, rather than taking away.
It may be worth it to see how well you think it is delivered. After a few incomplete runs, I spot a few of the key features. Anyone else spot more?
Hero talent trees progressed within each run have an unlock trigger for each new level of the number of cards in your deck
There are multiple cards that have a value based on the number of cards in your deck
Within the meta-progression and in-game, there are multiple ways to gain extra faeria / action points and extra draw, which makes playing through a fat deck more feasible
I keep forgetting to bring this up, but I think it is one of the really cool things this game does differently. The perks you unlock from increasing deck size are really strong. Really clever, imo.
I started my first run over my lunch break and I beat the first chapter boss on my first try. This is a really fun game - it looks excellent and the items are cool (the gear that grants passives) and the cards are immediately interesting/easty to grok. I had several “combo” cards that are cheaper if the other character plays a card - including a powerful 25 damage attack card for 2 that I put a Gem in to Combo that also moves the character to the front (where I want him) and an item upgrade that gives him +5 block when he’s in the front, and other boons that proc when he plays 2 cost cards (like extra block).
It looks like I unlocked my first character already as well! Strong start.
I noticed this right away in the video I was watching and I saw what they were doing and I love it - I get a little annoyed that every deck builder is better for leaning your deck and removing cards being a powerful (sometimes the only correct) strategy. This seems a lot more interesting, and it actually lines up with how my play group approaches Magic in paper format.
