Wraith of the Cards

Definitely rough around the edges in many ways, but so clearly made with passion that it's hard not to love in spite of that. Music is punching above it's weight so much it's kind of absurd. It's excellent. Getting the soundtrack for free with the game purchase is really generous, too. Balatro style RPG combat is solid, interesting enough for the games short runtime. If the game was any longer, the extremely luck based aspects, linear nature of card unlocks, and the lack of deck building would be more disqualifying. The puzzle platformer aspects are really janky, needing to jump to use abilities is baffling to me. I find the art charming most of the time, but the quality between assets clash pretty severely, particularly with regards to UI elements. Story is bit of a mixed bag, the plot felt way too generic and predictable, but was accentuated with some good moments and animations. I can appreciate the attempt at something relatively ambitious, even if it's a little hit or miss.