Игрок 6935·Рекомендует·14 ч в игре

Shards of Order enters a busy marketplace of excellent deck builders, and on the front of it; one could be forgiven for thinking this is just another clone of an idea that's already starting to get old.But go just a little past the surface; and you'll find that Shards of Order is a real gem of a game. The art style alone is gorgeous and the story that it paints really helps it stand out. Unlike many other deckbuilders, there's a single narrative that you're embarking on as you attempts to restore a world gone mad. I personally really liked that there was a subtle meta-narrative going on in the background that made my choices feel like they had weight. Beyond the art, story, and music; the real draw for Shards of Order is the actual mechanics of the game. Unlike other tactical deck builders, there's an incredible puzzle behind when you use your cards, and when you re-draw your hand. That change alone makes your cards feel far more impactful as you realize you could potentially use everything in your hand... but do you really want to? So many other deck builders over-value 0-cost cards, and I found Shards made a compelling case for building your deck differently. The last boss in particular has a really fun bit of expectation subversion which I won't spoil, but I will say that it's a very satisfying fight and I really enjoyed the little twists the game presents beyond 'hey, use your cards to just beat up everyone you meet'. Additionally; a real kudos goes to the team for making re-speccing and the actual building of the deck so malleable. I really loved that the game encouraged you to try different builds on the fly, rather than putting you in the analysis paralysis of 'do you take this card? It might be crap and you'll be stuck with it for the rest of the run'. Albeit, I feel like you may not get that many playthroughs of Shards; but I don't think that it's point. It tells a great story, gives you some really interesting mechanical puzzles with how you build your deck and items, and then leaves before it wears out it's welcome. In the interest of fairness; there are a few gripes I have. For one; I really think the UI could've been better. There are some tool tips to tell you what an enemy plans on doing, but there's a difference between 'this enemy plans to give you a minor health debuff' and 'this enemy plans to completely wreck your mechanics'. Both of these effects shouldn't fall under the term 'debuff' and there's definitely something to be said about other deckbuilders (slay the spire for instance) that could be learned from in regards to UI. Additionally; I found the way the game interacted with health to be a little odd. I certainly felt like I was doing well when I'd finish a fight with a minimum of damage sustained, but if my characters took enough of a beating before they could get to another campfire; then the quickest thing for me to do was generally just march into the next fight and surrender so I could respawn at full health. It didn't feel like there was a penalty to just falling on my proverbial sword, so... Maybe just let me get back to full health if I'm not doing an iron-man run? Props to those who are looking for that experience but for those who just wanted to play through to the end of the story; it felt like unnecessary busy work when I knew I didn't have the health to punch through. Those gripes aside though; Shards of Order is a must buy for anyone who enjoys their deck builders, but isn't looking for a game they'll play until they turn grey. It's a tight story, with great art, and a really neat mechanic that sets it apart from other combat deck builders.

Игрок 1489·Рекомендует·21 ч в игре

A card game with an ending. Most deckbuilders hand you runs instead, and you stop playing when you get bored rather than when you finish. Shards of Order looks like every roguelike deckbuilder on the store page and isn't one. Nothing resets when you die, and your experience carries. Twenty hours in, the credits rolled and I was done, which is not something I get to say about this genre. If you've bounced off deckbuilders because you have no appetite for a game that never resolves, start here. Combat runs on time instead of turns. Every enemy has its own counter, and every card you play winds all of them down together. One clock, everything on it. So the question stops being which card does the most damage and becomes which card does enough without handing three enemies their turn at once. Redrawing costs time too, unless you've played enough cards first. It took me a few fights to stop reaching for cheap cards out of habit. Three heroes share a single deck, which turns party building into one puzzle instead of three. Gear injects cards straight into that shared pile, so equipping a new weapon changes what you're drawing for as long as you carry it. Respec is free and available from the start, and I used it constantly. I'd build wide for a room full of enemies, then pull it apart before a boss and rebuild for single target damage. Changing back afterwards costs nothing. Most RPGs make you live with a skill tree you committed to while half asleep. The second half is where it slips. Upgrade materials for the lower tiers dry up right when better gear starts appearing, so I finished the game unable to improve the equipment I most wanted to use. Late skill options stopped supporting the build I had and started bolting on new mechanics instead. I picked the least useless option more than once. The story is fine and fairly predictable, and what's there would fill a much shorter game. One thing that isn't on the store page and should be. You can pause mid-fight for as long as you want, and nothing here runs on a real clock. What you can't do is leave. Save and Exit puts you back at the start of that fight when you return, with your cards back in the deck and the damage undone. Fights run ten to twenty minutes, longer if a boss takes a few attempts. If you play in short evening sessions, know that going in. Ten dollars for twenty hours that end when the game is finished. Easy recommendation at that price.

Игрок 8081·Рекомендует·25 ч в игре

How is this game so well made and such an outstanding price? It's like reading a book but having to play a game like Slay the Spire while I do it. I also love the different choices you can make. I'm gonna keep this short and sweet, if you like card games/roguelike games like me then this is an auto purchase. When does Shards of Order 2 come out? lol

Игрок 1406·Рекомендует·18 ч в игре

This is a game with a great idea and battle system. However, it is a bit short and it seems a bit unfinished at some specific bits. Still, I would recommend playing it it if it is not too expensive.

Игрок 8960·Рекомендует·20 ч в игре

The world desperately needs single playthrough, non-rougelike deckbuilders, and Shards of Order provides. It's very well contained both in mechanics and progression, with plenty of freedom for builds while playing through its story. Every encounter is pre-defined, you cannot farm XP, but you can adjust your deck and retry your next fight as many times as you want if you fail. The gameplay is party based - you have to include cards from your three heroes to form a card pool, that can synergize with each other to some extent, but each card mostly builds own character's mechanic. You unlock more cards, as well as equipment as you progress the game - some upgrades are, well, upgrades, but suprisingly many of them (both cards and equipments) are sidegrades, for different playstyles and engaging theorycrafting. The combat itself is very reminiscent of Wildfrost - cards cost turns to play: play a high cost card and enemies will act sooner. There is some positioning choices in there, as you can move around your characters to tank hits aimed for positions, although opposed to Wildfrost there is no "queue" mechanic (that your character in first place would get hit necessarily.) Interestingly enough, this was one of the few deckbuilders where the difficult curve seemed just right - in most battles I felt I made it out just barely, that with some misplays could've gone for worse. There is a downed mechanic that adds onto it, as having a character killed you can still bring them back with major drawbacks for that fight, adding to the urgency to clutch it out. This all is wrapped in a story, for which I frankly did not care much for, although I appreciated the effort from the devs. As I played it on both PC and the Steam Deck, mouse plays seems to be preferred, however it's perfectly viable to play with a controller (with some minor bugs.) My playtime says 19 hours, although I was AFK for some time, the total length is probably around 10-15 hours. All in all, a very well put together, contained experience that doesn't overstay its welcome. I hope to see more from this developer (and this genre in total.)

Игрок 5650·Рекомендует·29 ч в игре

A nice linear romp for almost 30 hours. The second card battler I have encountered that is not a rogue-like, but a linear story. The first game I played that was a linear story/card battlers was Death Howl (which was another fantastic game). The game play/challenge is making dialogue decisions, choices, deciding how you re-spec your skills(cards), what armor, trinkets, weapons, and cards you take into battle. You could own up to 50 cards or even more, and you can take all of these into battle. Or you can decide to take the minimum of 18 (6 per character) into battle. Re-spec-ing your deck is mandatory in this game as each boss and mob presents its own set of challenges. I look forward to the dev creating a rogue-like deckbuilder, based on this game's universe, having more dlc for this game, or coming out with a sequel. It has been a fun 30 hours with this game!

Игрок 3969·Рекомендует·88 ч в игре

This is by far the coolest and most unique deck builder I've ever played. I just finished the story and can't wait to play it again making different choices and deck combinations

Игрок 9609·Рекомендует·44 ч в игре

Welch ein Spaß :) Ich spiele eigentlich nie ein Spiel bis zum Ende durch, aber dieses hatte den nötigen Schwierigkeits- und Frustrationsgrad. Wer auf Deckbuilding mit etwas RPG-Elementen steht, sollte zugreifen. Allerdings ist das Spiel sehr geradlinig.