Seifer is just one of the many fascinating designs in Roguebook even the cards you collect all feature their own gorgeous individual art! Everything has a nice level of detail to it, with my personal favourite being the first recruitable character, Seifer an anthropomorphic rat clad in heavy steel armour, wielding two swords and with a glowing red, demonic-looking, right arm. The world of Roguebook is awash with colour, and exudes charm from the uniqueness of each character or enemy, to the gorgeous-looking backgrounds in combat and flashy animations seen when a card is played. It was fun to experiment with which two I wanted to try and tackle each run with, and all of them were varied enough that they all felt like worthy members of my party.Įach world is randomised, but don't expect much of a change of scenery Speaking of characters, along the way you’ll come across another two party members, bringing the total number of playable heroes to four (or five if you drop some money on the extra character DLC), each with their own unique deck of cards and abilities. It’s worth noting that as someone who has never played Faeria, I definitely didn’t get the sense that I was missing out on some crucial lore or important character backstories it simply isn’t that sort of meaningful adventure. However, there is just enough here to keep players wanting to push forward, and fans of Abrakam’s first game Faeria will recognise the characters, as Roguebook is based within the same universe. With Roguebook being a deckbuilder, the story is far from deep and engrossing. After a brief tutorial battle, Naddim tells us that to finish the story, creatures that guard portals to other worlds must be defeated, in the hopes that one of the portals will let them escape. Revealing more of the map, we find the half-ogre Sorocco, who joins Sharra in attempting to escape the Roguebook. Our furry friend gives Sharra a paintbrush that, when used, uses magical ink to fill in the surrounding spaces. The pages of the book are blank and our heroes are unable to venture outside of the small hexagonal spaces they stand on. We start with our first player character Sharra awakening in a world unbeknownst to her, alongside a mysterious cat-like humanoid named Naddim, who explains that they are trapped within the Roguebook. Whilst the game may seem daunting at first, with enough cards, enemies, and loot to overwhelm players, is this (rogue) book a page turner that’s hard to put down, or is it destined to get lost in the shuffle?Įach hero plays differently and brings their own advantages Enter Roguebook, the second game from developers Abrakam, who have this time partnered with the legendary Richard Garfield (prolific game designer and inventor of Magic: The Gathering!) to create a roguelike deckbuilder that isn’t afraid to try new ideas. With games such as Griftlands and Slay the Spire already providing perfect experiences of the genre, it can be very difficult for new ones to leave a lasting impression.

“Roguelike”, “deckbuilder”, and “card battler” are hardly exciting buzz words when describing a newly released videogame. Reviews // 10th Mar 2022 - 6 months ago // By Mike Crewe Roguebook Review

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