This review contains spoilers
It's a neat card game that, with the gift of hindsight, I now know to be something I was never going to love because A. it devolves into that tired combination of meta-ARG-creepypasta nonsense, which I generally find uninteresting, and b. it really is just card games all the way down, and I was already reaching my limit halfway through as someone who isn't a "fan of the genre".
Had a good time with it initially, with the mystery and aesthetics doing a lot to push me through to learn and get good at the core mechanics. But then came the first big turning point, and as someone who has never been into card games, I almost lost my patience with it that I was seriously considering dropping the game entirely. I just didn't want to learn even more card game mechanics for a gameplay experience I was at times just tolerating.
Still, I soldiered on just to see where it was going. I did learn, and the last third of the game recovered some of the focus that I enjoyed from the first third to make the rest of my playtime smooth enough for me to finish the whole thing. But while there were some cool visuals and fun little mechanical twists, I was disappointed in the direction the narrative took. The more charitable approach here would be to extract some interesting commentary on worldbuilding and its importance to game design, but the storytelling methods the game employs as well as the plot points it hits and hints at lead me to believe that it's way more interested in and fully bought into its own puzzle box bullshit.
Overall, I still enjoyed it, but I wish it had gone in either two directions: stick to its initial premise and cut the rest, or just get way weirder than 4th wall breaking and found footage stuff.
Still, I have to admire the swings it takes, at least with its mechanics, and the vibes for the first third of the game really are immaculate. Would have been an easy recommend if it stayed that way.
If you're into card games, mysteries, and ~twists~, you'll probably enjoy Inscryption. If you're like me and only have a passing interest in card games, you can drop it after the first act and just look up what happens. If you have zero interest in card games or actively dislike the genre, don't bother. You will not have a good time, and honestly, the story as a whole ain't all that it's cracked up to be.
Had a good time with it initially, with the mystery and aesthetics doing a lot to push me through to learn and get good at the core mechanics. But then came the first big turning point, and as someone who has never been into card games, I almost lost my patience with it that I was seriously considering dropping the game entirely. I just didn't want to learn even more card game mechanics for a gameplay experience I was at times just tolerating.
Still, I soldiered on just to see where it was going. I did learn, and the last third of the game recovered some of the focus that I enjoyed from the first third to make the rest of my playtime smooth enough for me to finish the whole thing. But while there were some cool visuals and fun little mechanical twists, I was disappointed in the direction the narrative took. The more charitable approach here would be to extract some interesting commentary on worldbuilding and its importance to game design, but the storytelling methods the game employs as well as the plot points it hits and hints at lead me to believe that it's way more interested in and fully bought into its own puzzle box bullshit.
Overall, I still enjoyed it, but I wish it had gone in either two directions: stick to its initial premise and cut the rest, or just get way weirder than 4th wall breaking and found footage stuff.
Still, I have to admire the swings it takes, at least with its mechanics, and the vibes for the first third of the game really are immaculate. Would have been an easy recommend if it stayed that way.
If you're into card games, mysteries, and ~twists~, you'll probably enjoy Inscryption. If you're like me and only have a passing interest in card games, you can drop it after the first act and just look up what happens. If you have zero interest in card games or actively dislike the genre, don't bother. You will not have a good time, and honestly, the story as a whole ain't all that it's cracked up to be.