This review contains spoilers
Warning: I love Act 3 and think it's the best part of the game.
Inscryption is a pretty great game. Mixing found footage into a video game is a pretty novel concept, and I think this game pulls it off exelently. The countless twists and turns you go on are really great too. Act 1 is unbeatable in atmosphere and writing. Chipping away further each run, learning more about the game and what cards to use is a very fun process. I also really like being able to stand up and solve mini puzzles around the cabin. The photo mechanic is also a great way to hint at the later metaness of the game. I think my sole problem with this part is that I don't think the game realized how good it was. Most players went in with the expectation that THIS was the game, myself included, and to see it get rugpulled would be disappointing (not to me though). Act 2 is more boring but it's a great introduction of what's to come. I like that you're thrown a bunch of different mechanics and have to form a team around them, whether it be min maxing one specific mechanic or going for a mix of each to be an all around team. The music can also be surprisingly good (shout out to Magnificus' battle theme, so fucking good). Overall though, this part of the game is generally unnotable.
Act 3 is my favorite part. It was a close competition between it and 1 though. First, there's P03. I do not know why but I love this dumbass. They are one of my favorite characters of all time now. Idk why I just like this silly robot. The gameplay isn't as good as Act 1 but I think people are a little harsh on it. P03 does just as much roleplay as Leshy does, though he's obviously not as good at it. The card upgrades were fun too and being able to customize my team when and how I wanted was really cool.
However, the best part about this Act is so easily the bosses. Each have an incredibly clever gimmick, most of them being meta. My favorite has to be the Archivist. This boss requires you to go through the files on your PC and find the biggest ones to deal more damage. This gimmick is really clever, and I had a lot of fun thinking about my computer and where I stored my largest files. However, it gets even better at the second phase. This time, they ask you to choose a file that you hold sentimental value for. I won't say what it is, but I chose a file with genuine emotional value to me. The game then says that if you lose the card, it'll be deleted. Permanently. And it's not joking. And guess what? I didn't have a back up for this file. So this phase was genuinely incredibly stressful since I did NOT want to lose this image. Thankfully, the second phase is really easy, but still, I fucking loved the actual stakes here.
I liked the ending of Act 3 too. While P03 didn't get a proper goodbye like he 100% deserved to, his little speech at the end was very nice. I would've given this game a higher score if you got to handshake him. I'm not joking. The rest of the finale is great too, and very impressive. I didn't care for Grimora much beforehand, but I got an attachment to this afterwards. I would've loved a full act for them. Saying goodbye to Leshy was fantastically done and genuinely emotional. You can tell that, despite all the theatrics, Leshy was a good person who wanted to put on a good show and play a fun game together (even if he killed his friends and trapped them within cards to do so). Fuck Magnificus though, the second I saw him paint over the goo painting I lost any ounce of respect for that asshole. I gave this game a higher rating because you don't handshake him and he doesn't even get to start his game.
Overall, Inscryption is a fun time. It's not long at all and can easily be beaten in a weekend. There's plenty of secrets to discover and it was great discovering everything. The new Kaycee's mod game mode is a lot of fun too, and I think Act 1 fans will be satisfied by it.
Inscryption is a pretty great game. Mixing found footage into a video game is a pretty novel concept, and I think this game pulls it off exelently. The countless twists and turns you go on are really great too. Act 1 is unbeatable in atmosphere and writing. Chipping away further each run, learning more about the game and what cards to use is a very fun process. I also really like being able to stand up and solve mini puzzles around the cabin. The photo mechanic is also a great way to hint at the later metaness of the game. I think my sole problem with this part is that I don't think the game realized how good it was. Most players went in with the expectation that THIS was the game, myself included, and to see it get rugpulled would be disappointing (not to me though). Act 2 is more boring but it's a great introduction of what's to come. I like that you're thrown a bunch of different mechanics and have to form a team around them, whether it be min maxing one specific mechanic or going for a mix of each to be an all around team. The music can also be surprisingly good (shout out to Magnificus' battle theme, so fucking good). Overall though, this part of the game is generally unnotable.
Act 3 is my favorite part. It was a close competition between it and 1 though. First, there's P03. I do not know why but I love this dumbass. They are one of my favorite characters of all time now. Idk why I just like this silly robot. The gameplay isn't as good as Act 1 but I think people are a little harsh on it. P03 does just as much roleplay as Leshy does, though he's obviously not as good at it. The card upgrades were fun too and being able to customize my team when and how I wanted was really cool.
However, the best part about this Act is so easily the bosses. Each have an incredibly clever gimmick, most of them being meta. My favorite has to be the Archivist. This boss requires you to go through the files on your PC and find the biggest ones to deal more damage. This gimmick is really clever, and I had a lot of fun thinking about my computer and where I stored my largest files. However, it gets even better at the second phase. This time, they ask you to choose a file that you hold sentimental value for. I won't say what it is, but I chose a file with genuine emotional value to me. The game then says that if you lose the card, it'll be deleted. Permanently. And it's not joking. And guess what? I didn't have a back up for this file. So this phase was genuinely incredibly stressful since I did NOT want to lose this image. Thankfully, the second phase is really easy, but still, I fucking loved the actual stakes here.
I liked the ending of Act 3 too. While P03 didn't get a proper goodbye like he 100% deserved to, his little speech at the end was very nice. I would've given this game a higher score if you got to handshake him. I'm not joking. The rest of the finale is great too, and very impressive. I didn't care for Grimora much beforehand, but I got an attachment to this afterwards. I would've loved a full act for them. Saying goodbye to Leshy was fantastically done and genuinely emotional. You can tell that, despite all the theatrics, Leshy was a good person who wanted to put on a good show and play a fun game together (even if he killed his friends and trapped them within cards to do so). Fuck Magnificus though, the second I saw him paint over the goo painting I lost any ounce of respect for that asshole. I gave this game a higher rating because you don't handshake him and he doesn't even get to start his game.
Overall, Inscryption is a fun time. It's not long at all and can easily be beaten in a weekend. There's plenty of secrets to discover and it was great discovering everything. The new Kaycee's mod game mode is a lot of fun too, and I think Act 1 fans will be satisfied by it.