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video game reviews

My Impressions of Roulette Hero: Try the Demo Now

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Disclaimer

I was sent the Roulette Hero demo for my blog. I understand the game is not finished yet, and will be a bit more lenient with my review. That said, these will be my honest impressions.

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What is Roulette Hero

Roulette Hero is a deck building roguelike with a more randomized twist coming to Steam. Make sure you sigh up for the playtest.

Build your army of formidable heroes and build a unique roulette table that will take you to victory. Each turn, players will add choose between a random assortment of heroes, all animals, and place them on a square on the table. The player pulls for the roulette to spin to activate a random ability [whatever space the square lands on].

Players can upgrade the units they summon by stacking multiples of the same unit, and they can be sold for gold as well. Each unit has an attack that does damage to the boss, and some have special abilities that either activate when chosen or activate on a trigger. For example, there is a card that heals the player every time they spin the roulette. The demo offers a good amount of combos and strategy, and the RNG means you are not building the same deck twice. The round ends when the player drops to zero, or they defeat the boss.

Impressions

Roulette Hero is very fun, and I recommend everyone to try the demo. It offers a unique twist to the genre, and the slot machine like gameplay will make you addicted to gambling in the best way. I love that I never built the same deck twice, although cats seem very broken [I am very biased]. I also enjoyed how much strategy is involved for a game that feels very random. That said, I can easily sink too many hours into this game because it is a very enjoyable loop.

If you haven’t done so, go check out Roulette Hero. I will be trying very hard to get a full version. The demo works very well, but I am sure the full version will have a bunch of fun new cards for a very good ammount of replayabilty. Roulette Hero offers a unique twists on a familiar genre and it looks cool doing it. I can’t wait to see more.

Make sure you sign up for the playtest, and don’t forget to add it to your wishlist!

video game reviews

I was wrong about Krzyżacy: The Knights of the Cross, the game was rather disappointing

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I was sent Krzyżacy – The Knights of the Cross as a review code. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I will not let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review.

Krzyżacy – The Knights of the Cross is a pixel art deck builder based on a book of the same name. Unfortunately, the English localization is bad. I stopped reading the story early on because the effort isn’t worth it. The source material might be worth reading, but this adaptation isn’t. With only gameplay left, there wasn’t much reason for me to keep playing once the novelty wore off. Krzyżacy – The Knights of the Cross becomes a boring grind with cute pixel art, but you can find a better game elsewhere.  

Like most deck builders, you start the game with a basic deck and slowly build a stronger one as you progress through the campaign. What makes this deck builder unique is that you can recruit units to help you in battles. These units will perform actions based on the combination of cards you play during a turn. This creates an interesting dynamic where you are trying to create combos from your hand that synergizes with your companions. The problem I have with this system is that if you don’t meet the basic requirements for an action, the unit sits idle. This game is not forgiving when it comes to the action economy, and wasted turns result in more unnecessary grind. 

I recommend you look up guides or build toward a two-color deck early on to make sure you play efficiently. The amount of gold and xp you earn and the global healing you can do is limited. These limits are standard in the genre. The problem is that you can get stuck in the campaign if you haven’t been using your gold wisely. Most deck builders let you easily redo the run, but Krzyżacy forces you to sit through the cut scenes and restart from zero. This is great if you are good at these games and love the strategy, but bad for the casual players. There are global perks you can earn by playing the game that alleviate some of this grind, but it stops being worth the trouble. The game is short enough that the reset isn’t a huge issue, but I couldn’t find the motivation for a second one.

Don’t get me wrong. I like that this game offers difficult choices to its players and rewards efficiency, but I wish the story was better and it was easier to reset the run. I kept hitting a point where I didn’t have money to buy companions, cards, or heals, and my deck wasn’t strong enough to get through the story, and I couldn’t justify going through the grind. 

If you are looking for a fun deck builder, there are better options. The art is cool and it introduces interesting mechanics, but as is, this game isn’t worth buying into. The localization of the story isn’t good, and the gameplay isn’t fun enough to justify the price. You can get it on Steam for $14.99, but I suggest you hold off for a sale or some major updates. 

video game reviews

Tamarak Trail: The Roguelike Deck-builder You Didn’t Know You Needed

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Tamarak Trail is an interesting rogue-like deck builder coming to all major consoles and PC that looks like it will redefine the genre. A corruption is spreading across the Canadian Shield, and it is up to you to find the cause and put an end to it. The journey won’t be easy, and you won’t make it on your first try. Do you have what it takes to be the hero, or will you buckle under the weight of the mysterious corruption?

Players can choose from three classes: the tracker, magician, and detective. Each class has its unique sets of skills and abilities. What makes this game unique is its deck-building mechanic. Instead of decks, you customize dice that you roll to cast abilities. You can fully customize each dice to fit your play style, although the RNG might be a limiting factor. The devs have published an informative walkthrough video that best explains the game’s mechanics. I recommend you watch it and become as excited as I am for this title.

 Tamarak Trail is looking really cool. The mechanics look like a lot of fun, and the art is beautiful. I love deck-builders, so there might be a bit of bias in my excitement. Regardless, I think this unique game deserves some love and attention. I’ll definitely be trying to get a copy to review. 

Tamarak Trail is coming to PS4, Xbox, Switch, and PC via Steam and GoG. Don’t forget to add it to your Wishlist. There is also an official wiki you should bookmark that I am sure will have lots of useful tips and tricks at launch. Make sure you join the game’s Discord and follow the official Twitter to stay up to date on all the news.

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