I went into this Astera with a very specific concern, one that was alleviated within ten minutes of playing. It's with great relief that I can say, the dice are not just dice.
If you have spent any substantial time with Slay the Spire, this game is an easy day one purchase. I was initially worried that the game would have the same issue that Dicey Dungeons had, where manipulation of the dice was the end all, be all and the dice themselves were just boring d6s. All the characters have a varied pool of dice drafted throughout the game that not only sufficiently delivers a level of interesting decision making and "build around" opportunities, the way they're upgraded and the sense of risk/reward actually surpasses that of StS. There are dice you will find in this game that will kill you on the spot unless you properly build around them to take advantage of their powerful effects. The risk taking elements of the game are coupled with so many ways to mitigate that risk, that getting dice screwed is rare and doesn't feel nearly as bad as some dud hands from StS. A die might have a powerful effect on half the sides, and the other half might actively damage you. You don't have to take that die at all, if you'd prefer a safer option at drafting, but if you do there's enough re-rolls and damage mitigation to where stepping on the gas is encouraged. It doesn't feel like drafting "Take your entire max health's worth of damage to draw 2" is a bad idea, it's an opportunity.
There are also party members/pets called "Sentinels" that also feel like a meaningful iteration on the deckbuidling rougelike formula. At worst, they increase your raw number total and make some turn sequences handle smoother. At best, they're another outlet for the player to build and draft around. Most are easy to slot into runs, because they don't clog up your deck and most have generically beneficial effects. And, like the dice, there's opportunities to improve and customize them further. The way damage is handled through the purification system gives the game a solid identity of its own and allows for even more ways to bend the game through drafting. As good of a game mechanic as it is, I think thematically it's more interesting. I really appreciated that there was an attempt at a nonviolent, or at least less hostile approach to conflict resolution in a deckbuilder compared to bonking a goblin over the head with a sword.
The presentation of the game is also killer, totally blindsided by how nice this looks and sounds for an indie title. Obviously, the character designs look great and the visual direction of the game helps it stand out from its peers, but the soundtrack deserves a special mention. For these types of games, I might do one run with the soundtrack just to see what it's like and then put on my own music/a podcast after. I actively avoided that through my playthroughs of this game. If you like the Final Fantasy XIII soundtrack, Rafael Langoni's gonna take you places.
I doubt that further playthroughs are going to sour my opinion of the game unless there's just a total lack of endgame. There is meta-progression, but the "here's more ways to interact with the game" type, not the "you have to fail 20 runs until you get the stats to make the game not a slog" type, and that's been going well enough after I unlocked the rest of the cast.
God, I hope this game blows up and the devs get the credit they deserve. Nothing feels better than being blindsided by a really good game.
If you have spent any substantial time with Slay the Spire, this game is an easy day one purchase. I was initially worried that the game would have the same issue that Dicey Dungeons had, where manipulation of the dice was the end all, be all and the dice themselves were just boring d6s. All the characters have a varied pool of dice drafted throughout the game that not only sufficiently delivers a level of interesting decision making and "build around" opportunities, the way they're upgraded and the sense of risk/reward actually surpasses that of StS. There are dice you will find in this game that will kill you on the spot unless you properly build around them to take advantage of their powerful effects. The risk taking elements of the game are coupled with so many ways to mitigate that risk, that getting dice screwed is rare and doesn't feel nearly as bad as some dud hands from StS. A die might have a powerful effect on half the sides, and the other half might actively damage you. You don't have to take that die at all, if you'd prefer a safer option at drafting, but if you do there's enough re-rolls and damage mitigation to where stepping on the gas is encouraged. It doesn't feel like drafting "Take your entire max health's worth of damage to draw 2" is a bad idea, it's an opportunity.
There are also party members/pets called "Sentinels" that also feel like a meaningful iteration on the deckbuidling rougelike formula. At worst, they increase your raw number total and make some turn sequences handle smoother. At best, they're another outlet for the player to build and draft around. Most are easy to slot into runs, because they don't clog up your deck and most have generically beneficial effects. And, like the dice, there's opportunities to improve and customize them further. The way damage is handled through the purification system gives the game a solid identity of its own and allows for even more ways to bend the game through drafting. As good of a game mechanic as it is, I think thematically it's more interesting. I really appreciated that there was an attempt at a nonviolent, or at least less hostile approach to conflict resolution in a deckbuilder compared to bonking a goblin over the head with a sword.
The presentation of the game is also killer, totally blindsided by how nice this looks and sounds for an indie title. Obviously, the character designs look great and the visual direction of the game helps it stand out from its peers, but the soundtrack deserves a special mention. For these types of games, I might do one run with the soundtrack just to see what it's like and then put on my own music/a podcast after. I actively avoided that through my playthroughs of this game. If you like the Final Fantasy XIII soundtrack, Rafael Langoni's gonna take you places.
I doubt that further playthroughs are going to sour my opinion of the game unless there's just a total lack of endgame. There is meta-progression, but the "here's more ways to interact with the game" type, not the "you have to fail 20 runs until you get the stats to make the game not a slog" type, and that's been going well enough after I unlocked the rest of the cast.
God, I hope this game blows up and the devs get the credit they deserve. Nothing feels better than being blindsided by a really good game.