Slay the Spire December poll/Requested Review

Introduction
In this review we are going to look at a card deck-building game called Slay the Spire, there is barely any story but there is lore to be found for the keen people among us. This is not a game for people that do not like to start over all the time, as you will die many times and will have to restart from the beginning. There are four available characters and they all have a different combat style in this game, you can fight by choosing which card to play but be careful you are only able to play three cards in one turn unless you find relics that upgrade your turns or using other cards that will increase your energy.

After each run, you will gain experience points for the character that you have been using, when a character levels up you will gain new cards and relics for in the loot pool. Health points are very important in each game but with a game that barely has any healing spells or no rest sites to fully heal you, you will need to be extra careful. Even if you have a good deck you can still fail by using a wrong card, or simply just pushing the wrong button by accident thus ending your turn, it might be wise to watch out for pets that like to sit on your keyboard. There is no real story in Slay the Spire but many theories are abroad on the internet.

What did I think of Slay the Spire before playing?
Before playing Slay the Spire I was not very much into card deck-building games and I have not played these types of games much before, I was very excited to see what Slay the Spire holds.
It was due to my wife that this game popped up on my radar, my wife wanted to play Slay the Spire but she had not started the game yet. We decided to put Slay the Spire in the December poll.
Slay the Spire sadly did not win the December poll. Slay the Spire did get the second spot in the December poll, Unai also requested Slay the Spire. After Bloodstained Ritual of the Night, it is time for Slay the Spire to shine.
When I saw trailers of the game it reminded me a bit of Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, I remember loving that game to bits way back on the Gameboy Advance, also the remastered version on the PS4!
I did not know what to expect exactly since I am not home in this genre of games but nonetheless, I am a reviewer and I love new adventures.
Most of the people that told me about Slay the Spire seemed very excited, my wife and I started this journey together as we learned that you can only access the first character in the beginning.

I rate the Slay the Spire with an 8.0 before playing.
I did not know exactly what to expect when starting this game but I was very interested in what Slay the Spire has to offer.

Gameplay
In Slay the Spire you start with only the Ironclad class unlocked but you can unlock more classes, there is a total of four classes. When starting a new run a giant whale called Neow who most likely resurrected you and gives you a small blessing. When you get to the map you can see the roads that you can travel, there are three roads to choose from but they intersect down the line. You can move one step at a time, depending on where you land at there will either be a fight, an event, or many other possible outcomes. There is a total of three acts (a secret fourth act is also available but not needed for completing your run) that you need to complete. If you manage to complete the first act you will unlock the second character called the Silent. The third character can be unlocked by completing act 1 with the Silent class. For the fourth character, you will need to complete act 3 at least once with one of the three characters.

When you complete a run with one character you will be granted one ascension level, this will make the game more difficult, ascension level 20 is the maximum. When you end a run, your character will gain experience points, when you level up there will be new cards and items added to the loot pool. When in combat there are many strategies that you can use but it will mostly depend on what cards you get from battles. After every battle you will gain one card, you can choose from three cards but you can also skip the cards if there is nothing for your build. It is wiser to make a build around the cards that you receive from battle. You can also obtain relics in Slay the Spire, these can have various effects and there are many for you to collect. There are also potions that you can use to win difficult battles, if you find a cultist potion, I advise you to keep it for the act 3 boss!

When in battle, you need to use math to defeat your enemies, you can see beforehand what the enemy intends to do. Is the enemy going to cast a spell? You can launch a full-scale assault on the enemy but if the enemy is going to attack, you will need to use blocking cards to minimalize the incoming damage. Some block cards can also deal damage while giving you block. There are also many special cards but some of them are unique to a certain class, the Silent class can use poison to defeat enemies, these poison cards gave me the first win on Act 4! The Defect can use orbs to take down their enemies and there are many different orbs! The Ironclad can barricade himself in insane amounts of block and use that to take down enemies. The watcher can change stances to deal more damage or reduce incoming damage. There are many different builds, when you level up there will be more builds for you to try out.

I rate Slay the Spire with a 7.5 for gameplay.
Slay the Spire was fun to play but I had the feeling that you needed specific builds to win, I felt like there were many builds that will doom you. I also think that the game was to luck based, I had a lot of fun while trying out new builds but there were only a few builds that can complete the whole game. Some of the bosses punish builds that you have built. If you have a zero-cost card deck to spam many cards at once and you see the time-eater logo in act 3, you will know things are not going to end well.

Sound and Graphics
The graphics are fun to look at and there are different enemies, the events are text-based which felt like a nod to text-based games.
The art that you see on the cards are great, it seems like it would cost a lot of time to make for the developers.

The soundtrack is pretty bad it seems like that there is only one or that they all sound very similar.

I rate the sound and graphics in Slay the Spire with a 6.5.

What did I think of Slay the Spire after playing?
I had a lot of fun while playing Slay the Spire, testing out many different builds was great but there was only one build that could really carry me through the game.
I always try to make a poison build with the silence in the hope of making a catalyst burst at the secret boss. I did manage to reach the secret boss with other characters but my deck always got countered.
There are many different relics and some of them are very strong but others are practically useless, I like the Tori gate and the tungsten rod relics, these are perfect for handling the secret boss.
My wife enjoyed using the Silent class as well but she did not enjoy the gameplay of the watcher class very much, it all depends on your playstyle and there are many different cards for you to choose from.
I liked the game so much that I also put a new deck-building game in the next poll, I wonder how fun Monster Train will be and how much it will differ in gameplay.
In the custom mode of Slay the Spire you can change many things to suit the game completely to your style!
I will continue to play Slay the Spire to try and beat higher ascension levels, Currently, I am working on testing out some builds with a Snecko Eye!

I rate Slay the Spire with an 8.2 after playing.
It does seem that the game is more based on luck rather than skill but nonetheless, I am having fun while playing Slay the Spire!

Personal Rating
I don’t have much to add for my personal rating, it was fun to try out a genre that I am not accustomed to.

My personal rating for Slay the Spire is a 7.5

Pros
– Slay the Spire has many different builds for you to try out.
– There is a custom mode to play around with but I am missing a few options relating to the secret act.
– Slay the Spire is basically a time loop like Groundhog Day.
– The art displayed on the cards looks great.

Cons
– The soundtrack is very repetitive and it is better to turn off your sound.
– Experimenting with builds can be difficult to use since most of them cannot beat the secret act.
– It seems like you need a way to much luck in Slay the Spire despite this problem, the game is still very fun.


I had a lot of fun with Slay the Spire even though there were some flaws and no story to enjoy this time around. Even though this game ignited my spark for more deck-building games, Monster Train you are going in the January 2020 poll and I wonder if you can win this poll!
The final rating for Slay the Spire is…Drumroll…

7.5

Let me know what you think about this game!
I hope that you liked reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!