Again Friv2Online Studio, again a contender for an outstanding game in the indie segment - this time on the review I had a creepy psychological horror CCG that breaks the fourth wall. I wouldn't be surprised if at the end of the year this creation deserves a lot of awards.
Studio Daniel Mullins Games has already been noted for a psychological game that also plays with the gamer and pushes for non-standard solutions - we are talking about Pony Island. If you haven't played it, try it. She has 95% "highly positive" reviews and even several awards.
But back to Inscryption, it's an escalating horror game with TCG roguelike gameplay that will force us to play a game to the death with Leshy in his tiny hut. You can replay the monster, or you can “rebel” and try to figure out what is happening here on your own. I tried, and I hasten to share my impressions.
The classic horror plot brings us to the gameplay of Inscryption - we play as a traveler who got lost in the forest and came across a hut in the forest, which turned out to be the dwelling of the mythological monster Leshy. He makes you play a card game, victory in which gives freedom, and defeat - death. According to the rules of the bagel, of course, they will give us the second, and the third, and any attempt, because a new one will take the place of the previous traveler, but we want to get out of this place as soon as possible.
The friv game skillfully juggles several genres - psychological horror, CCG roguelike and quest room-style puzzle. The basis of the gameplay is a game of cards with an invisible opponent, which uses the classic rules of the TCG and adds unique details to match the described idea.
So, on the table we have a 4 by 4 field - on each cell of this you can place an attacking or defensive card. They depict not heroes from Slavic mythology, but ordinary animals - a squirrel, a praying mantis, a bear, a wolf and other representatives of the fauna that are well known to us. Each has health stats, attacks, and special effects that allow them to kill an enemy with one hit, attack in the air, change their position on the field, and so on.
Perhaps this is where the similarities with typical CCIs of Inscryption end, and the features begin. As scary as it may sound, but in order to put an animal on the table, one of two “resources” is required - sacrifice and bones. For the first, squirrels are usually used - you will have to kill as many of them as the other animal requires blood. The second resource drops from dead characters. It's frustrating to have to sacrifice others, but there's a unique tactical element to it.
Leshy has no health points, just like us - instead, we will literally knock out our opponent's teeth. Each unit of damage gives us one tooth, which we place on the scales - if it outweighs in the direction of the enemy, then he lost. However, we can also lose teeth, and lose in the same way. Another amazing tactical detail of Inscryption, which allows you to take a fresh look at card duels.
The game does not consist only of battles - other events are also waiting for us, located on an interactive map with various forks. First, we will walk through a gloomy forest, then we will find ourselves in swamps, on a snow-covered peak... This does not affect the gameplay in any way, but thanks to Leshy's forcing accompaniment, you feel the atmosphere of a gloomy journey.
Events, by the way, are also creepy - here is a camp of other travelers, by the fire of which you can warm your animal and get a bonus to its characteristics. But the travelers are running wild on the road, they haven't eaten for a long time, and there is a risk that they won't return the card. And here are the ritual plates on which you can cross your pets to the detriment of one of them. In general, everything here creates the feeling that we were in the movie "Ritual" and other similar horror films.
On the table, in addition to maps and scales, there are various things that are designed to help the traveler. These are bottles that copy the effects of cards, and ordinary items such as pliers, a fan, a hook, a ritual knife, and others. There are harmless ones - with the same hook you can steal an enemy card.
And there are, to put it mildly, unpleasant things - taking pliers in hand, our traveler will pull out his tooth and put it on the scales so that you can slightly improve your situation. And I don’t want to tell and remember what he will do with the knife, but the scene is comparable to the horror that the authors of Dead Space 2 showed us on the operating table with Isaac.
Do you think these are all Inscryption chips? Haha. We're just getting to the fun stuff.
When playing cards, you involuntarily notice that something is not right here. Some of them start talking to you and tell you about the owner, about his weaknesses, and also give other clues. Yes, cards can talk.
During the game, you can take a break and wander around the hut, examining its creepy interior and noteworthy puzzle-like items. So it is - in this mode, Inscryption turns into a "quest room" and offers to solve a number of riddles that will help you find Leshy's weak point and escape from this place. The riddles are not the most difficult, but the answers to them are not on the surface - some are hidden in the interior, others in the clues, and still others will have to be obtained in the friv game of cards.
Thus, Inscryption breaks the fourth wall - the user is hinted that everything is not so rosy here, and that Leshy is not the most honest player. You will have to get to the bottom of the truth on your own, sacrificing more than one traveler for this. After many hours of passage, I am sure that I have not solved all the mysteries of this horror.
And the death here turned out to be such that you don’t want to lose - for execution, the monster defiantly drags us into another room. Finally, he will offer to create his own unique card, crossing those that were in the last deck - you can choose the price, effects, characteristics. Then come up with a unique name for it, and then Leshy will take a photo and place this image on the card. This is where the path of the lost ends, and a new game begins.
Speaking of hardcore - here the developers have found a fine line between "it's too easy" and "fuck it all to hell." Despite the abundance of CCG features, it is not difficult to understand them, the games do not last long, and the solved puzzles are saved from attempt to attempt. Unique maps created at the death of a traveler help a lot. Goblin, on the other hand, does not bend the stick and can sometimes give up himself, even if the situation on the field is not in your favor. Playing Inscryption is interesting even after a dozen deaths, and you don’t want to quit it at all.
No matter how hard I try, it’s impossible to accurately convey that excellent atmosphere of a horror movie, and that feeling from the gameplay, in which the mechanics of several genres are intertwined at once - you definitely need to play Inscryption yourself. This TCG managed to bring me back to the time when I got the true, "childish" pleasure of playing games - and this feeling is priceless.