Progression

[Depaskala]

Let's see if I get it right.

You attempt a run. You select a base deck, you gain XP no matter what, you may gain health and more cards (unrelated to the chosen starting deck ?) and you may upgrade your cards. And you get some general enhancements. Then you die (or abandon a run - or finish a run, I'm not there yet).

Now. The XP you've received levels you up. You unlock new decks, and unlock new cards (unrelated to the Decks ?). But you lose : the enhancement, the increased health, the cards upgrades ? And you start with a deck that has been reset from all upgrades ?

So the ameliorations that you get after a run are only :

- new cards having a (smaller and smaller individual) chance of appearing
- the increase choice of base starting decks (up to six unlocked)

And once you have unlocked the six decks, once you have unlocked all the possible cards, you gain no more advantage from levelling. Your runs don't benefit subsequent runs.

Is this correct, or did I miss an aspect through which the runs make your base character or base decks stronger at the start of the next runs ?

[Twelvefield]

You're taking the long way around, but in short all you earn are XP, more cards, deck unlocks if you don't have them, and STEAM Achievements. I won't spoil the ending if you haven't seen it, but I will say that FiTS is far more about the journey than it is the destination.

[Derpykat5]

You didn't miss anything. That's usually how roguelikes work.

[Twelvefield]

It's not that the Agent gets better with each progression, it's that you do. Or at least you should.

There are roguelikes where after you die your character keeps some skill or has the chance to recover the items lost in the previous run. In this game, you are the one that picks up the skill. When XP unlocks more decks and more cards, you will need that skill to discover how best to use them. There are more synergies, but also more bricks.

I have a few hundred hours into this game, I think I am good at it now, and I'm still learning. Could be I'm a slow learner, though. Duh, what's a card again?

[HandyVac]

Think of it this way:
- You have a restricted sub-set of cards available for your first few runs, so that new players aren't overwhelmed by complexity.
- As you play for more hours, and get a hang of the basics, more cards unlock. (win or lose doesn't really matter, you get xp for playtime)
- Eventually you have the whole deck to play with, and you are now good enough at playing that you aren't confused by the complicated cards.

I know there are some (badly designed) rouguelikes out there where it's technically impossible to win the first time round, because you don't have high enough stats, and so you have to "grind" multiple losing runs to earn permanent stat increases until you finally have a chance at victory.
This isn't one of those games. The xp system here is not an artificial barrier to stop you winning, it's training wheels that gradually come off until you're playing the whole game.

[Depaskala]

Okay. Yes, the question was indeed "is it a game where the character gets better with each run or is it a game where the player gets better with each run". I have no preference between both. I like the chill feel that even playing badly is productive and leads you to eventually steamroll the game, which is kinda standard nowadays, but I also like the old school chess-like or coin-up-like games with no RPG progression, where it's just your starting ship versus the space invaders.

I just like to have a clear grasp of which mindset to have (and of whether, at a given point, I was supposed to fail or not)... So thanks for these clarifications.