Inscryption Review – Engraved Secrets

A darkened cabin awaits you, with a broken table and chains holding it shut. The room is occupied by a strange man sitting on the other end. Although you can’t see his face in the dark, his eyes are sharp and shine through. As he offers you a game of card, something under your stomach screams. Although the rules are simple, summoning creatures can help you take down your opponent’s army. This will allow you to easily win the first few hand. Still, you can’t shake the anxiety of what might happen if – no – when you lose. While you play, your stomach slowly burns from the fear of what might happen if the tables are turned.

Inscryption, a fantastic tone piece, taps into horror themes and tells a compelling story that is constantly evolving. Although the horror themes are essential to the plot, they serve only as background. I loved Inscryption’s moody atmosphere, but I also appreciate that it doesn’t force any jump scares on the player, making it a fairly approachable horror experience.

A robust card combat system allows for you to summon creatures onto a battlefield. Your creatures do damage to the creatures on their opposing sides and ultimately to your opponent. The basics of the game should be familiar to players who have played Hearthstone, Magic: The Gathering and other similar games. But Inscryption brings a few fun twists to the equation that keep me coming back. To enter combat, certain creatures will require you to sacrifice. To summon powerful creatures like bears, you will need to eliminate other beasts on the battlefield. The push/pull aspect of trying to bring your most powerful creatures into the fray while not thinning your ranks was what I enjoyed.

Inscryption’s deck-building system can be more complicated than you think. You can summon some creatures into battle only if your bones have been acquired from fallen allies. This enabled me to make my defeats win; even though all of my creatures were gone, I felt that I could still tap into another strategy or had an ace to my name to change the tide.

As you continue to take down opponents, you move along a gameboard and encounter random events à la titles like Slay The Spire. You may be able to get new cards or buff your existing cards. Other encounters grant you additional tools for combat such as the ability to allow your creatures to fly above their opponents’ heads. There are also options to attach sigils to cards to give them unique abilities, like the ability to change into stronger creatures or to attack multiple lanes simultaneously. These are the unique elements that give Inscryption’s cards system their flavor. It was fun to experiment with my deck, creating new card combos and new cards that nearly felt powerful.

 

You have the option to stand from your table and walk around your cabin between card battles. There are many locked drawers, as well as other puzzle boxes in this area. These puzzle boxes and drawers are reminiscent of adventure games. You will earn new cards for solving these mysteries, which can help you get closer to unlocking Inscryption’s deeper mysteries. You will eventually discover who and why you were trapped in the cabin. But I won’t say much about them. Inscryption was able to defy my expectations many times before the trip ended. I can’t wait for its final chapter.

Inscryption may be an unusuality, but it is a good thing. You won’t be scared by it. You will also find a creative card system that plays with the conventions of video games. Inscryption emerged like a lightning bolt and became quickly one of my favorites games.

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