What if I told you that Magic: The Gathering influenced Roguebook? At first, I wouldn’t believe it as well but the moment you realize that Richard Garfield has been contacted by the developers of Roguebook, makes you wonder what kind of job they had for him. For those, who haven’t heard of Richard… Well, he’s the creator of the popular Magic The Gathering and I must say, his input can be felt during your journey within the book of dangers…
The setting of the game is quite straightforward. You open your eyes as the character who’s named Sharra and you’re being welcomed by the stranger Naddim. Naddim tells you that you’ve been sleeping for quite some time and he makes you realize that you’ve been locked away inside the book, alongside the legends of Faeria. It’s strange for a person to be locked in a book full of adventures but it’s even stranger that the book has a mind of its own. Naddim is one of those characters who fought continuously trying to find his way out. Of Course, you might be stuck for eternity within the book but that doesn’t mean you’ll live an eternal life as well. In other words, Naddim has tried over and over again but his energy is at a low peak at the moment. He stopped his inner battle and wants to give the torch to Sharra.
“Now, this quest might sound simple and straightforward but it won’t be that easy.”
Your quest is simple, you’ll have to clear the way throughout the adventure by killing bosses that guard the entrances of different worlds. Clearing out these bosses will definitely take some time but it will give you a better understanding of the book’s work. Now, this quest might sound simple and straightforward but it won’t be that easy. During your journey, you will find out that your surroundings need to be drawn again before you can actually travel over the pages. Defeating enemies, buying items, or even exploring revealed areas, will let you find different kinds of brushes that will make the way ahead a lot more visible.
The pages you’re walking on, have the form of a hexagon. By using different brushes, the hexagons will reveal themselves as obstacles or pathways on the page. These brushes can reveal the near surroundings around your character you can use different brushes to clear out a straightforward path. There will also be different towers that help clear out the way, even without the use of a certain brush. Clearing out the way and making the path ahead visible will lead you to different spoils of war and of course bosses.
“Your main character can become a better version of itself by exploring and gaining experiences.”
This simple adventure cuts both ways of course. The path to the boss will be made very clear and visible, the moment you enter a page. In other words, the game allows you to head for the end boss, however, this will be a disastrous defeat. Don’t forget, you’re in a deckbuilding game. You need to collect more cards (attacks or defenses) that can be added to your tactical combat deck before you can challenge the boss ahead. Without improving your deck, you’ll get nowhere and you’ll have to start over again. This is the game, the developers are trying to create. Your main character can become a better version of itself by exploring and gaining experiences. Without this growth, the boss in the end will be impossible to finish.
Along the way, you’ll find comrades that can join your party in the quest for redemption. These characters will also gain different cards with different abilities that can help your hero to see this difficult journey through. Naddim might be burned out but he still wants to get rid of the collection that he’s gathered along the way. Naddim won’t leave you empty-handed during your journey. He will offer his support by selling his found collection throughout the ages. With the collected coins, you can visit Nadim and buy different cards that might be needed to optimize your deck or even buy artifacts that’ll definitely boost your fighting experience.
“Don’t forget that you’re playing a roguelike game…”
The combat system is very simple and intuitive to use. You’ll be confronted with different enemies and your party members will line up in front of the enemy’s squad. You’ll have a certain amount of action points that can be spent on offensive or defensive combat cards. Offensive cards will deal damage, strengthen your next attack or even blast all of your enemies aside. Defensive cards are cards that will help you survive the battle. Don’t forget that you’re playing a roguelike game… This means that you’ll earn progress along the way but some of this progression can be lost, especially when your heroes are downed and can’t be revived. Each battle can give you damage and there isn’t an option to replenish your health to full health without the use of potions. Potions can be found along the way, but chances are high that you might not find health potions before you’re heading towards the boss.
The combat system also allows you to end your turn with defensive ability. If this ability is being used, your party member will stand in front of the enemy’s party to take the hit. If this hit damages your hero into a downed state, it’s up to the other party member to play cards accordingly to revive the downed hero. If all of the heroes die, you lose the game and your progression. You’ll have to start over and try to re-build your deck or even try to find better cards that can make your deck a lot more dangerous. You’ll also have to keep in mind that exploration is a must to heighten your chances of survival but once the brushes are used and there are no more brushes in your arsenal, you’ll have to face the boss whether you like it or not. In other words, there’s a lot to win here but there’s a lot you can just take for granted.
“Choose the reward that you think will help strengthen your deck.”
You’ll also be put in certain situations where you’ll have to make a choice between a couple of options before you can progress. Don’t worry, Roguebook doesn’t have situations where you’ll have to choose between moral options in order for you to get the good or the bad ending. It’s just a choice that you have to make in order to get a certain reward that can help your adventure tremendously or just by a bit. Choose the reward that you think will help strengthen your deck.
The game is a roguelike deckbuilding game which means that the death of your party will reset a big part of your progression to zero. I do would like to mention that the game might feel repetitive at some point but the random area creation helps to get you through the same chapter over and over again. The game also tries to give you a little more options, the further you go. At some point, you’ll be able to choose another member to add to your party but the question remains, who is the better one in a specific situation? This was something the developers tried to implement but I feel that they could have done it a little bit better in my opinion. It’s good to see some variation in your party, but it is very limited. I also tend to take the same party members over and over again because their special actions are giving me a lot more than the other ones. In other words, the cards need some balancing before you can truly speak about different tactics.
“With each new level, a new character-specific card will be added to the deck.”
Now dying isn’t fun, but it can actually help you with the game. Upon death, your cards and artifacts might disappear but the pages you’ve collected can enhance your gameplay experience as well as it will update your book in different ways. Pages can be used to get more health potions or money and these changes are permanent. Dying will also let your character level up. With each new level, a new character-specific card will be added to the deck.
Roguebook is also a beautifully styled game. A lot of colors are being used to make the characters and environments vivid. Not only do the colors make the game more visually stunning, but it will also help with the details of the game’s elements. All of the enemies are looking unique and have their own animation style. The sound design is also decent enough to not break the immersion.
Conclusion:
Roguebook doesn’t do a lot of things fairly new but it does make existing features decent enough to keep playing. The game looks visually stunning and goes hand-in-hand with the sound design game. Both of these elements live up to their expectations and make up for a vivid good-looking game that will definitely stand out visually. The combat feels fluid and fast but it does not feel balanced at all. Some characters have a better set of cards and the end bosses hit very hard. A boss can easily do 40 damage and a character can be between 40 and 70 HP. A bit of tweaking would do the game well. The use of the hexagons, decision-making situations, and explorable areas makes up for a game that’s worth replaying from time to time.
