i haven't been so immediately hooked to a game in a long time. if we're still in early access then i'm incredibly excited to see the full release and whatever else the developers have up their sleeve

edit: i just did my first run at the highest mutation level, actually rerolled my mutations and got way worse ones, and still won pretty handily starting at 12 max hp. the people complaining that this game is too difficult should just not play it because i've only lost a handful of runs. that's not to say that it's an easy game, just that it's clearly not meant for those people.

some more notes on why i was so instantly hooked and why this game is so incredibly replayable:

there's so much variety in what works and what doesn't, and i'm still finding new synergies and reasons why that terrible card can be nuts under the right circumstances. the choice of loadout and floor one artifact allows for variety before your first fight.

speaking of which, i've always wanted something like loadouts in card games. having a choice in starting kit allows you to lean into certain archetypes without forcing you in one direction. in a game like slay the spire, the most obvious parallel, you often have to skip over synergies until after you've picked up enough cards to survive early basic fights. here, you can pick up early synergies because you start with your enablers which are also (generally) strong enough to get you past a few early floors.

as you progress in a run, you'll often encounter an artifact or spell modifier that you can lean into. some potential combinations of spells and modifiers are absolutely nuts and can turn what was a boring build into something insanely fun. i had a spell that gave 1 foresight upon depleting and got a modifier for it that gave it +1 charge upon gaining a foresight. i cannot explain how hyped i was that whole run.

i do have some minor balance complaints. loadouts could use some fine tuning, i think. some feel considerably worse than others. it might be me, but a couple hazel loadouts feel incredibly weak in the first handful of floors.

also, the elite in the third act that doesn't allow you to refresh your charges each turn can be nigh unkillable against certain builds, and it's really hard to play around it with flex cards/potions. i've had to skip all elites in the third act because i knew there was no way to get past him. i like the idea, but i wish there were more ways to play around it without just having a build that doesn't care.

i just popped off but i have not enjoyed a game this much since..maybe hearthstone open beta? i've been a big spire fan for a long time but the mechanics of this game have so much more depth and i cannot reiterate enough how excited i am that it's still not even a finished product.

i haven't been so immediately hooked to a game in a long time. if we're still in early access then i'm incredibly excited to see the full release and whatever else the developers have up their sleeve edit: i just did my first run at the highest mutation level, actually rerolled my mutations and got way worse ones, and still won pretty handily starting at 12 max hp. the people complaining that this game is too difficult should just not play it because i've only lost a handful of runs. that's not to say that it's an easy game, just that it's clearly not meant for those people. some more notes on why i was so instantly hooked and why this game is so incredibly replayable: there's so much variety in what works and what doesn't, and i'm still finding new synergies and reasons why that terrible card can be nuts under the right circumstances. the choice of loadout and floor one artifact allows for variety before your first fight. speaking of which, i've always wanted something like loadouts in card games. having a choice in starting kit allows you to lean into certain archetypes without forcing you in one direction. in a game like slay the spire, the most obvious parallel, you often have to skip over synergies until after you've picked up enough cards to survive early basic fights. here, you can pick up early synergies because you start with your enablers which are also (generally) strong enough to get you past a few early floors. as you progress in a run, you'll often encounter an artifact or spell modifier that you can lean into. some potential combinations of spells and modifiers are absolutely nuts and can turn what was a boring build into something insanely fun. i had a spell that gave 1 foresight upon depleting and got a modifier for it that gave it +1 charge upon gaining a foresight. i cannot explain how hyped i was that whole run. i do have some minor balance complaints. loadouts could use some fine tuning, i think. some feel considerably worse than others. it might be me, but a couple hazel loadouts feel incredibly weak in the first handful of floors. also, the elite in the third act that doesn't allow you to refresh your charges each turn can be nigh unkillable against certain builds, and it's really hard to play around it with flex cards/potions. i've had to skip all elites in the third act because i knew there was no way to get past him. i like the idea, but i wish there were more ways to play around it without just having a build that doesn't care. i just popped off but i have not enjoyed a game this much since..maybe hearthstone open beta? i've been a big spire fan for a long time but the mechanics of this game have so much more depth and i cannot reiterate enough how excited i am that it's still not even a finished product.