Slay the Spire is a rogue-lite game wherein the player progresses through a series of fights, treasure rooms, quest rooms, all in the goal of building a stronger deck, to take on the next foe. Those of you who have played Hearthstone’s single-player content, specifically the dungeon runs, will be very familiar with the gameplay of Slay the Spire.
It’s a deck builder, really. It’s got a charming art-style, and the nature of gameplay can be very addicting. Each run can differ from the last, and you should get a little stronger each time. But, how does that game stuck up against other deck-builders, and other rogue-lite games. Well, stick around and you’ll see.
As always our MGN Impressions are broken down into four different but equal parts:
Story – Is there are story? Some rogue-lite game forgo this in lieu of a more gameplay focused experience. Is Slay the Spire in that group? If there is a story, is it engaging and interesting enough to keep us around? Is it told well, and is it well written?
Sound – Is there voice acting? If so, how is it? How are the sound effects? How is the soundtrack? Do all of these sound elements fit well together, and hit the ear right?
Gameplay – How to that game feel to play? Are mechanics introduced well? Does it get boring or repetitive? Is the deck building intricate, and does it require enough strategy? Are the rogue-lite elements executed well? Do runs feel different? Do you feel like you’re making progress?
X-Factor – This will be different from game to game, and review to review. Slay the Spire’s is Cost. Is it worth the money. Is what you get out of the experience in terms of fun, and time, worth the price of admission?
You want to found out the answers to all these questions and more? Stick around, you will.
2:26 Story – 3/10
What’s disappointing about the Slay the Spire experience is that there simply isn’t much story to go off. What is there is written well, and the characters are likeable and interesting, but there’s just no depth or content story wise. You have a game were the player takes control of four very different heroes, and there’s an opportunity for personality and interest there, but none is given.
This is a shame because clearly the writing staff have ability and a good sense of humour, with of the buffing aids that at the beginning of the game is a giant, non-water-dependant whale. But it’s just not put to good use. You can see the outline of something there when you run into a non-encounter room and get some dialogue, but the overarching goal of Slay the Spire feels missing. I’m not advancing myself overall or progressing a story, so it can make the experience feel a bit pointless.
3/10 for having good writing for what’s there, but simply not having enough of it.
3:28 Sound – 4/10
The soundtrack is nothing special. I will start with that. The regular gameplay feels pretty uninspiring soundtrack wise. The inception doesn’t make you feel like you’re about to embark on a treacherous adventure, so be sure to bring your wits. It just makes you feel .. nothing. It’s a background feature, something you can play without having the sound, and lose no impact.
If you have something playing in the background whilst you play Slay the Spire, you aren’t missing out on much. Like I said, that soundtrack is lacklustre, and the sound effects when using skills don’t make them feel impactful.
Your character is mute the entirety of the run, and I’d like to see some banter or some kind of player interaction. So, where’s my voice acting for that? What’s left just makes the game feel very empty, and dead.
Why haven’t I given it a lower rating than 4? The boss soundtracks are epic. Do yourself a favour and look them up, and you will get the sense of an epic battle ensuing. The problem is, it doesn’t really translate to the rest of the game.
I understand perhaps this was with the vision of having everything building, sound-wise, to the boss music crescendo, but it isn’t executed well enough – 4/10.
4:51 Gameplay – 8/10
This is what has won Slay the Spire such interesting and prestige within the genre. It feels good to play, and it’s super addictive, with a lot of replay value. Each run feels different from the last, and it would take many an hour for the game to start feeling repetitive. There’s enough different between what you can build a single character with from run to run, but you’re given four! That’s a lot of diversity.
The runs themselves are genuinely fun. You can get out of a run exactly what you put in. If you’re not thinking ahead, or planning, you get punished. In this genre, that’s a good thing. We want there to be a need for strategy, and forethought, to enhance the depth of the game – and it’s there. It’s accessible to newer players of the genre, whilst being deep enough so that experience doesn’t grow boredom. That’s something a lot of studios attempt, but rarely pull off well, but Slay the Spire gets it right.
It’s not flawless. I would like to see more cards in the game, at the point where you have unlocked everything to be unlocked care wise, you do feel a little disappointed. Perhaps this is where an update would be good. Some more characters, some more cards for existing characters, it just feels a little light-on considering we’re playing a deck-builder.
But the core gameplay is there, and it’s great, so 8/10.
6:19 X-Factor: Cost – 6/10
The rough review length of time for Steam players is around 40-60 hours, and the game is currently sitting at $35.95AUD. That’s a pretty fair ratio. Some AAA have a much lower life expectancy, and are asking full price. However, on the inverse there are games very similar to Slay the Spire, asking for much less. So, where does it fit?
Judging alone on my own personal expectancy, and amount of fun and joy I get from a game, in comparison to the cost, I would say that Slay the Spire fits somewhere in the middle. It’s good, not great. Priced okay for what you’re getting. I’ve had worse, but I’ve had better – it fits very much in the middle the ground there.
If you’re looking for bang for your buck strictly, I would first ensure that you’ve gotten your hands on things like ‘Curse of the Dead Gods’, or even ‘Hades’ if you’re one of the few people who hasn’t tried that. But, if you’ve played those to death, and you can get Slay the Spire on special, then sure, pick it up – 6/10.
Closing Thoughts
That’s going to wrap things up for our Impressions of Slay the Spire. Make sure that you’re keeping an eye out on the MGN Website for more guides, news, reviews on everything that is good or bad in the gaming world. We’re constantly putting out content on our YouTube also, so make sure you’re subbed there, but we’ll see you online.
Next:
Jeff Kaplan leaves – What is going on at Blizzard?
Credits
| Program | Founding Writers |
| Author | Luke Cowling |
| YouTuber | Luke Cowling |
| Publisher | MGN |
| Game | Slay the Spire |