Crown Gambit

A very fun deckbuilder RPG with cool lore, fun (if somewhat simple) tactical gameplay, and gorgeous art. Recommended Update: The game dragged on in the latter half. The final act especially was full of combat filler and I was relieved to finish the game. I wish it leaned much harder on the choose-your-adventure style choices and less on the combat which grew stale as the tactics were the same for everything but the last boss. I'd still recommend it but with more reservations.

(If steam had neutral reviews, that would be one. Unfortunately I have to choose between positive & negative, and I think the good still outweighs the bad) A pretty good game, but a bit too ambitious. I enjoyed it, but I have some criticism. The art is amazing, the game is REALLY pretty. The card game part is great and fun, though you can really abuse the enemy's action economy, which makes the game kinda easy (I played on the second difficulty out of four, in hindsight, probably should have played on difficulty 3 or 4 to not autopilot most fights). I never had a character succumb to ancestral influence, because fights were not that hard so I never needed the last resort option. Also not a fan of the gameplay around the fights. The narrative part is not as good. The scenario is interesting but a bit unfocused, if that makes sense ? The game introduces dozens of characters and bosses, which usually just want to kill you. And they are kinda forgettable. There are so many characters that I couldn't care about the 50th mean noble. Towards the end, the game introduces a lot of bosses which I cannot remember (I finished the game 30 minutes ago). Also, in the end I chose what felt like the only good end, probably because all the other options felt terrible. Most of the potential next sovereigns are uncomplicated ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Fortunately, the 3 playable characters are great, they are full of personality and really endearing. It kinda feels like a dnd campaign, with a great concept and pretty fun gameplay, but the DM spent too much time creating their custom world instead of preparing how the game is played. The main core gameplay is good, but all the fluff around feels unpolished and not that interesting. Overall, fun game, but has serious flaws. I would probably have enjoyed it more as a roguelike, but that's because I love roguelikes. I'm really hyped for the devs' next game, Sovereign Tower !

This game has amazing vibes. The visuals are striking, the writing is intriguing and encourages multiple playthroughs. The mechanics are tough (maybe I'm just dumb but almost too tough on highest difficulty?) and fun. One quibble is the text on steam deck is a bit difficult to read and the menus can act up a bit if you make the text bigger than a certain threshold but it's not a deal breaker IMO.