The Abyss Within

I don't often write reviews. I think it is natural to compare lot of deck builders to Slay the spire (STS), this isn't a STS clone. It adds some interesting dimensions to formula stats, equipment and dynamic deck give it a distinctive feel. I picked up at half price, though I definitely got my value for money. The are still some deck ideas / mechanics I haven't tried yet. I enjoyed discovering how this game worked and completing the achievements. When I came across a bug it was fixed by the next day. I am not sure how much long term replay ability this game might offer but given it's price I don't think it really needs to offer it, I got plenty of hours out of it. I also believe it is something that could be addressed if it became the focus of the developer. Been very impressive with developers responses and patching the game. In its current state it is a cool roguelike deck builder with rpg mechanics and worth the money.

In short: This game is good, possibly great for beginners or less involved deckbuilder players. I recommend anyone who plays StS on 5+ ascensions or the like to avoid it. Why is it great for less experienced gamers: - You can pull off a full shift in your deck focus mid-run if you notice it doesn't work out. This is helpful and more forgiving. - The enemies are incredibly straigt-forward most of the times, but they sometimes reward you for having back-up plans. It feels good to "one-up" the game. - If you get a good main plan, it will more likely than not work out. The plan can be simple, which makes it a chill game. - It is over-all rather fair to beat, and will feel very challenging if you're not familiar with this type of game. Why i would avoid it as an experienced player: - Recognizing abusable strategies doesn't take you long? Well the run does. The game seriously lacks power-used features (why are all the cards being filled in your hand slowly one by one? In my head the turn is already done). The game is incredibly lengthy with the same checks for your deck over and over (final act needs some off-the-main-plan damage sources) - You'll get to twenty hand cards each turn eas…

A relaxing game to pass the time. Simple mechanics that can become more complex and more challenging. The different classes are well defined. Great job ^_^

Fun

+Player choice -Looks terrible, doesn't sound that good either -Poorish UX/UI -The balance felt so off = Neutral review, but since I wouldn't recommend such game for myself, I won't do it to you either. ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨⬛ ⬛🟨⬛🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧⬛🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧🟧⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜🟧🟧🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜🟧🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧⬜⬜⬜⬛⬛⬛⬜⬜⬜⬛🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧🟧⬛⬛⬛🟧🟧⬜⬜⬜⬛🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧🟧🟧🟧⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬛⬛🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧🟧🟧🟧⬜⬜⬜⬛⬛⬛🟧🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧⬛⬛⬛🟧🟧🟧🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧🟧🟧🟧⬜⬜⬜🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧🟧🟧🟧⬜⬜⬜⬛🟧🟧🟧🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧⬛⬛⬛🟧🟧🟧🟧🟨⬛ ⬛🟨⬛🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧⬛🟨⬛ ⬛🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

I got this key from a giveaway so props to the developer for being generous. Interesting deckbuilder, but sadly a genre I don't have much experience with or affinity for so I can't speak to it intelligently. The mix of metaprogression perks, in-run stats, and a deck you can modify on the fly leads to a lot of synergies and builds. Unfortunately, the building blocks of those synergies are very poorly explained with many mechanics having no tooltip, many cards having unlisted effects, and an overall lack of clarity into what's going on. The art and music are also fairly basic, even for an indie game of this caliber. Still, not an unpleasant time and were it in a genre that was more my speed I could definitely see myself exploring it more.