Sights & Sounds
- The character portraits are pretty rudimentary but nice in their own way. The backdrops are pretty, though
- I would have liked a little more variety in the enemy designs. The bosses are pretty well done, at least
- The music is an interesting blend of folk songs. I like how you can actually collect music as you progress through the story
- The English voice acting is a bit amateurish and inconsistent, but that's okay. I just wish the pronunciation of various words and names was consistent across the board
Story & Vibes
- The basic thrust of the story is simple and sad. Your lover has died, and you're trying to become a witch so you can make a bargain with the devil to bring him back to life
- In order to do so, you have to use the titular Black Book to unlock a set of seals and proceed to hell to make your wish
- All along the way, you'll learn a lot about eastern European folklore and the ways in which it interacted with Christianity. There's some fairly interesting cultural education in this game
Playability & Replayability
- It's a card battler RPG that eschews the usual rogue-like trappings of so many similar games. I have to be honest, that makes it a little refreshing
- Unfortunately, that leads you to lean on maybe one or two different deck constructions for the whole game unless you hit a boss that requires you to switch things up. I just ran a curse deck for about 3/4 of the game that trivialized most encounters
- When you are forced to switch things up, you better hope you have some money on hand. You'll probably need to buy cards while you're at your home base or from a vendor to switch to something more viable at some point
- Although it is indeed not a rogue-like, you'll often have mini-events in different areas you travel to that kinda feel similar to games in that genre. You'll have options to fight, try to weasel your way out of conflict, gain information, run away, etc.
Overall Impressions & Performance
- Although an interesting concept that taught me a bit about a world folklore that I didn't know much about, I never really found myself having fun. Maybe card games aren't for me
- Worked well on the Steam Deck. It's an easy game to pick up and put down
Final Verdict
- 6/10. If you love card games but want a cohesive story, this is a decent game to try. The card battles don't do anything innovative or fancy. A solid if unimpressive game
- The character portraits are pretty rudimentary but nice in their own way. The backdrops are pretty, though
- I would have liked a little more variety in the enemy designs. The bosses are pretty well done, at least
- The music is an interesting blend of folk songs. I like how you can actually collect music as you progress through the story
- The English voice acting is a bit amateurish and inconsistent, but that's okay. I just wish the pronunciation of various words and names was consistent across the board
Story & Vibes
- The basic thrust of the story is simple and sad. Your lover has died, and you're trying to become a witch so you can make a bargain with the devil to bring him back to life
- In order to do so, you have to use the titular Black Book to unlock a set of seals and proceed to hell to make your wish
- All along the way, you'll learn a lot about eastern European folklore and the ways in which it interacted with Christianity. There's some fairly interesting cultural education in this game
Playability & Replayability
- It's a card battler RPG that eschews the usual rogue-like trappings of so many similar games. I have to be honest, that makes it a little refreshing
- Unfortunately, that leads you to lean on maybe one or two different deck constructions for the whole game unless you hit a boss that requires you to switch things up. I just ran a curse deck for about 3/4 of the game that trivialized most encounters
- When you are forced to switch things up, you better hope you have some money on hand. You'll probably need to buy cards while you're at your home base or from a vendor to switch to something more viable at some point
- Although it is indeed not a rogue-like, you'll often have mini-events in different areas you travel to that kinda feel similar to games in that genre. You'll have options to fight, try to weasel your way out of conflict, gain information, run away, etc.
Overall Impressions & Performance
- Although an interesting concept that taught me a bit about a world folklore that I didn't know much about, I never really found myself having fun. Maybe card games aren't for me
- Worked well on the Steam Deck. It's an easy game to pick up and put down
Final Verdict
- 6/10. If you love card games but want a cohesive story, this is a decent game to try. The card battles don't do anything innovative or fancy. A solid if unimpressive game