Book of Demons

Book of Demons is a more traditional take on the rogue-like genre that incorporates ideas from card games like Slay the Spire.
 
I initially evaluated Book of Demons as being way more ambitious a title than it actually was. I saw "Rogue-like" and "Dungeon Crawler" and didn't think twice about its $25 price tag. When I actually started playing, it was far less than what I had hoped for, but still engaging enough to get me through the main part of the game.

I played the game in Rogue-like mode, which usually means that death is permanent. In Book of Demons, it simply means you have to pay an exponentially increasing fee after each death in order to continue playing. Two other difficulties are available at the start (Normal and Hard), and a few more challenging modes unlock sometime after beating the game. There's 3 classes to choose from: Warrior, Mage, and Ranger. Each of them have their own unique set of skills and equipment to unlock (represented by cards). You can only equip 3 cards at first, but that number increases to 10 by the end of the game. Your equip load is also limited by the amount of mana you have available. Each piece of equipment forces you to reserve a portion of your mana, making it unavailable for spellcasting. Each card can be enhanced twice, and each also has magical and legendary variants. You can synergize between some skills and equipment, but the paths to do so are a little too straightforward and obvious.
 
The gameplay itself ranges from shallow and boring one moment to hectic and engaging the next. It's all about counterplaying whatever type of defensive bonus each enemy has (you'll have elemental attacks/weapons/items that do just that). The fun part, for me, was managing my resources. In Rogue-like mode, you can't purchase potions and must find them randomly throughout the dungeons. Using my consumables like bombs and antidote at the right time was more engaging than the combat itself (lots of kiting clicking on the same enemy over and over). Some might call the game "on rails" because you have to stay on the dungeon's path as you play, but the path branches a lot and you can move forward and backward on it freely.

 I want to mention a few features Book of Demons incorporated that made it worth mentioning. First, Book of Demons is the first of a compendium of titles that will all share a common universe, or "Paperverse", as the developer Thing Tank likes to call it. The presentation of this idea (each game being a different "Book") is very well done. It looks like the games will share a common launcher, achievements/profile, and more. Second, the variable game length. During each session, you tell the game how long you would like to play (anywhere from five minutes to an hour). The "flexiscope" then creates a game for you that it thinks will last about that long. The system gets more accurate the more you play. Third, the "superhot" option. When on, this option makes the game freeze whenever you aren't moving/attacking/using an item. It might make the game easier, but it also makes the game way more tactical than it might have been otherwise.

The best things about Book of Demons are the features that allow the player to tailor the experience to their liking to an extreme degree. The difference between story-mode regular 45-minute games and Rogue-like Superhot 5-minute games is striking, but the gameplay doesn't really suffer for it. Would recommend for fans of Rogue-likes or experimental games. The game is probably too easy on any other difficulty to justify its dry gameplay. Take in short bursts, as it can get a bit repetitive.

Early Access Review What is this Game about? As Warriors, Villains or Magicians, we come to the Village of our Childhood, which is threatened by dark Forces. At the test hand, we take our Weapon at Hand and work ourselves level by plane deeper through the Dungeon that is in and under a Cathedral. Of Course, the Opponents are becoming more and more dangerous. Starting from cute Sekelettes until you finally face the King of all Demons in person, who is not at all pleased with the sudden Visit. We only carry our Basic Equipment (Weapon, Armor) around with us, And upgrade this Piece by piece with Cards. Cards with special Abilities that provide our Armor Or weapon with Elementary Damage, effects, Healing Powers, and so on. And these Cards can then be upgraded-choose between different Of the same kind and since you can't equip all the cards once, you have to choose a meaningful Combination. Potions and a portal roll to the Village are also available. If you feel reminded of Diablo, you won't be far right next to it. In fact, the Game has quite a lot of Paralella and humorous Allusions to Diablo (and other Games), but has significantly less Story. After All, it is kept to a Minimum. There are a few Dialogues, but that was it. There's a Daredevil mode here, too. While you're allowed to die in normal Mode, you're dead in Daredevilmodus As soon as you actually die, but will enter the Hall of Fame for it. What I personally find very cool and well done is the Possibility to determine the Dungeon size for yourself (with The exception of the big Three bosses) and thus determine how much Time you want to invest for the next Level. You don't lose anything as a result. It is always the same Distance from the next more difficult Level and you can only decide how many Bites you want to divide the Path into. With each Level Rise, you can choose either Mana or Life. The Other is given with Ingredients that we find in the Dungeon to our Childhood Friend, the Landlady, who cheerfully cooks a Soup from it, which we are allowed to eat for Money with her. But Beware: Let's Die, then the Prices disappear (not life or Mana). The longer we wait, the better the Prices get and the more often we scoop out the Soup, the more expensive it becomes and can become a damn expensive Soup. In other words: You have to be able to estimate a little how long you last. The Final Opponent is relatively simple in Normal Mode and in fact, the Beginning without the good Cards is, in my View, heavier than the later Levels with good Equipment. If you know how to use your Deck. The Graphic shows us a paper folding art style. Which seems quite charming. Whether you like the Way the Dungeon is built up (you can't leave the fixed Paths), everyone needs to know for themselves. I think it's okay. The Controls are broadly good. With the Controller occasionally a little tricky. Especially if you want to get the Cards right again after a Chair or select a special Monster from a Pulk. Conclusion to the Game: Nothing new, very nicely done and worth its Money. It's Fun and in Daredevil Mode it's also a Challenge. Check it out! Ah, yes... The Game is practically the "1st Book" to an Archive of 7 books-in other words, there will probably be 6 Games to follow. My personal Highlight: I like the Squeaky!