The game was pretty great in the beginning. The way of exploring the map/types of potions using different paths created by various types of ingredients felt refreshing and fun. Running a small potion shop and fulfilling various requests of the people was relaxing and satisfying. But then the map opened up, and exploration and discovery became difficult in an annoying way. The gameplay loop became a grind fest with barely any significant upgrades to help with any of that. I reached the first milestone and finished the Nigredo which again felt useless and unsatisfying.

I feel like the concept is solid and this game could have been amazing with some minor changes to the loop, a decent narrative, and some quality-of-life improvements.

I'd recommend trying out the game for yourself if you get it on a sale.

I got to ante 8 on my first 2 runs and lost it at the bosses. I got to ante 8 again on my 4th run. But then I got tired of the randomness of the cards and the whole game loop. I still kept going in the hope that I'd get some good power-up that would drag me back into the game. Well, it didn't happen. The game is really good but I guess it's just not for me.

All that aside, the game has a very addictive loop. It's an excellent twist/addition over classical poker. I highly recommend trying it out.