Recent reviews by Brikkun

Reading the rest of the reviews I was a bit hesitant to play this game which has been in my library for years. For me, the game has been running perfectly, no crashing, no bugs, no issues whatsoever. If you like Slay the Spire, you should love Mahokenshi! Very similar play pattern, build paths, classes, but each mission has a different goal rather than just "kill boss." I'm a big fan of how the movement system works, and the different terrain benefits, it's very rewarding to learn all the different mechanics.

Finally, a REAL deck-builder

It's a fun game, no two ways about it. Expect the usual mind-numbing vampire survivors gameplay. What it does add is more chaos, more upgrades, more drops, more levels, more guns. At times it feels like it was made for kids with fried dopamine receptors, but it's generally not an overload.

The upgrades leave a lot to be desired. The impact of the weapons isn't felt; I don't know why I'm doing well, or why I'm not. The synergy system is also very arbitrary. Variety is also nowhere to be found.

Although I do enjoy playing it, I hope that throughout early access the devs make it a bit more rewarding to actually think about the build. Or, at the very least, make it feel like I am being rewarded for thinking about the build.

Made me reinstall the original Darkest Dungeon so I get to remember how a beautiful AND fair game feels like to play

I don't think I can, in good faith, recommend this game. In it's current state, the balancing needs much more improvement. Most levels are relatively easy if you know what you're doing, but at a point you hit an entire wall where every run I try gets me no progress, no matter the class or build. Another flagrant offender which contributes to this is that the main stat carry over upgrades increase very slightly with every increment. I should say that I enjoyed the in-game upgrade system and the overall play pattern is promising, but until the balancing is address I'm afraid this game has been largely frustrating, which is a shame because I adored the original DRG experience and flavour. Knowing the team, I'm confident my experience will improve.

Maybe this seems like a skill issue, but I've played and completed countless so-called vampire survivors clones and only rarely have I had this issue to this extent.

EDIT: After playing the actual release version for 10 hours, the addressed most of my complaints. More significant upgrades, loads more mission variety, smoother progression etc. My only issue now is that there just seems like an overwhelming amount of missions to do, but that's more of a personal preference so I won't fault them for it.

made me sad
10/10

A lot of the times you will lose because of terrible RNG, some of the time you will lose because you misplayed a combat, but only rarely will you lose because of unfair game mechanics. In any case, Hand of Fate is a gem of a game that I was surprised not to have heard of before.

Banners of Ruin is a great game as it does most things right: aesthetic, animation, atmosphere, balanced combat, fair mechanics with creative solutions, a diverse roster of playable characters (even without the DLC) and I can go on.

It does have one glaring issue when it comes to pricing and replayability. Whereas I played games like Slay the Spire for hours upon hours, I finished Banners of Ruin in a few hours and got the remaining achievements a couple hours later. There are some interesting combos and builds you can go for, but nothing so innovative that made me want to start another run. So keep this in mind when considering purchasing, I'd recommend buying it at a decent sale.

Gracie can fix me.

The combat and the cover system feels a bit clunky and definitely needs some getting used to, but there's a challenging immersive experience in there if you're able to overcome that. If you like roguelikes, darkest dungeon, and being an edgy spooky dead cowboy, chances are you'll enjoy West of Dead.