Slay the Spire 2

I started playing on Friday night, hyperfocused like crazy, played the game whole weekend without doing anything else with 4 hours of sleeping per day and 15 minutes ago I've just beaten A10 with ironclad. There aren't many things in life bringing this much satisfaction. I want to brag about it, I want to knock on the door of my neighbor at 4AM to tell them I just beat A10 with ironclad.

Personally, this is already an upgrade of StS 1 in most aspects. Better animations, better graphics, better events, better variability. Multiplayer looks fun (but unbalanced which is also fun), but I haven't tried it yet. But yes, it is still early access. With some issues. I expected them and I am fine with buying and playing the game to support devs, before they fix it, but yeah, review is a good place to mention them. So..what are current problems/unfinished parts? - Balance is iffy for now. Some cards are utterly broken, some are unplayable. But that is the main reason for EA - There will be multiple acts variations in the future (For now, only ACT 1 has it) and there will be Act 4. - Some elites and bosses are not that fleshed out. Most of them are great, but some of them are just boring big bodies that simply hit hard. All of these issues are EA issues. And for me, StS 2 shows that it will be a great successor and improvement of the original game. So yeah, I recommend this game for sure.

After a week of playing the game and almost reaching Ascension 10 with each of the characters I can finally give out a review. First of all, I have 450+ hours on the first game plus a lot of hours on mobile version, so I know my Spire and how it works. Since this is the first version of the Early Access, game is nowhere close to being finished. There are of course few balance problems as expected, but this doesn't mean everything is free or easy to win. You still need a lot of thinking and properly build your deck to win. The newly added characters feel strong but still a lot of fun to play. I didn't enjoy playing The Watcher the first game as much, she was my least favorite. She was strong but not fun for me. However, The Regent and The Necrobinder are both strong and fun in this game. Keep in mind that balance changes will definitely happen. This game already has a lot of content compared to the first game, even in its Early Access state; events, enemies, lore, 5 characters 2 of them are being new, 2 versions of act 1 (meaning more to come for act 2 and 3) and we still don't have the final confrontation (Act 4). Instead of boss relics we have something called "Ancients". They offer 3 options for you to choose from at the end of each Act, which adds much more gameplay variety compared to simply gaining 1 energy with a downside like in the first game. I won't spoil them you need to experience and see them yourselves. Every Ancient got 10 choices in total (Darv got 12) and you choose 1 out of 3 randomly offered options. There are 8 Ancients in total including Neow (Neow got 20 different choices). Basically in total you have 92 different options to choose from the Ancients, so that's A LOT OF variety and content and I believe they'll add even more. Old 3 characters (The Ironclad, The Silent, The Defect) still have some of their previous cards and relics with new mechanics and additional cards added to them. So it still feels refreshing to play and more mechanics, synergies to experience and learn. Some old relics have returned, along with many new ones. Visually its such a huge upgrade to animations and enemy looks. Gameplay is just as fun as the first game, if not more. The lore looks great so far. You unlock Epochs by playing the game with different characters, which unlocks relics, potions, cards, events and lore. Events are stronger and more impactful compared to the first game, so you don't feel bad dodging fights and losing an opportunity to get a card reward/money. Events now mostly make up to it by offering strong and fun options. It feels more interactive. And the biggest part of this game in my opinion is it's CO-OP. You can play with up to 4 people and Slay the Spire Two-gether!(ba-dum-tss). There are cards for co-op only to aid your friends with blocking for them, giving them energy, drawing card for them and bunch more! It still feels like I’m at home. It’s the same Spire I know and love, with the same core mechanics with a bunch of fun and great additions. It feels like a huuuuge expansion to the first game in a very good way. The game didn’t disappoint. If you can’t decide whether to buy it or not, if you want a fully polished perfectly balanced game you should probably wait a year or 2. But if you are a fan of the first game and want more of it, you'll definitely enjoy Slay the Spire 2. And if you are new to the Spire, I can still recommend buying the bundle with both games. It is incredibly fun though it may need some time to get used to it but it's absolutely worth it in the end. Also if you want something to play with your friends, co-op is extremely fun. TL:DR Game is great even in its first Early Access version. Some balance changes needed, but it's neither broken nor unfun. There’s a lot of new content, new synergies, and new mechanics, new cards, new relics, new characters, new events built on the same core mechanic. Got lore, 5 characters 2 of them are new, Also it's co-op! If you have the money, I highly recommend it.