NOTE: only played the demo

i think the choice to merge a turnbased hexgrid map exploration system with a card battle/navigation system was unique, and the aesthetics are nice, but i don't really see much potential for longevity here.

the characters are nothing more than themed decks, whereas the story is simple enough to the point at which it might as well be absent.

the gameplay feels limited, the map-dependent victory conditions feel redundant, the maps themselves are bland, and the addition of upgrade trees makes the game's scope feel tangibly restricted.

i just don't get the sense that the creators knew what they wanted to make with this.

I got through most of the game, though I did not quite complete it. The game mixes Civ-like unit movement with Slay the Spire-like deck building. Each of the four characters has a radically different way of playing, which is nice (though I generally avoided the fourth character that used ranged magic). The game has a limited scope, which is to its benefit. Even at its current length, I felt I had sufficient experience with it that I was okay putting it down. At the beginning of the game, figuring out which card combos work best was fun. There was still mystery in choosing. As I got closer to the end though, I found that there were game-breaking card combos that you could reliably get on most characters. These combos trivialize the game. I would say to avoid them, but they are hard to avoid because they allow you to meet all of the game's goals.
I would say this game would serve as an interesting entrance into the genre, but there is not enough polish or content there to stick with it long term.

The fundamentals of Mahōkenshi are great. Combining the Slay the Spire-esque roguelike deckbuilder with a tiled tactics board is a tall order, but this game nails it. Using energy for movement, adding landscape features that affect that movement, and giving each class access to different ways of subverting that movement economy through their card pool is brilliant. Giving enemies alert and chase radiuses so that they can guard treasures and give the player a choice between fighting, darting in and out, or avoiding the risk altogether is inspired. Bonus challenges recontextualize each mission and provide replay value even in the absence of a true procedural-generation mode. You could make an absolutely crackerjack game with this foundation.

Unfortunately, Mahōkenshi is just a fine game with that foundation. The balance is consistently, awkwardly off. Unlike the best Slay the Spire-alikes, synergy is not really the name of the game. A huge amount of the power of each class is just in the raw value of its best cards, so while the classes are themselves distinctive each one tends to converge on a single optimal play style rather than providing a buffet of options. And the upgrades you unlock for completing bonus challenges are so crushingly powerful that, if you get them all, the end of the game is just laughably easy.

As a design experiment, this game is fascinating. As a game to actually play, it's middling. As a bunch of French people's takes on what's most badass about Japanese mythology, it's pretty cringe. Make of that what you will.