I was very excited for this game, especially because of the high review scores and comparisons to great rogue-likes, like FTL or Dead Cells. Overall, I think it’s worth buying, but it does have a few kinks that need to be worked out. Unfortunately, while the game does have some great mechanics and combat, these mechanics are often obfuscated or simply unexplained at all. Enemy special attacks, movement range, and abilities are always hidden, making battles as much about trial-and-error and memorization as strategy or planning. Likewise, important facets of the game are vaguely represented, like the daily callout that “enemies are getting stronger”. How are they getting stronger? Higher HP? More damage? More enemies per fight? How much stronger? And then there are the apparent bugs. Missing mercenaries upon reloading a save or entering combat, using a potion with no effect, etc. Last, but not least, there’s no real penalty for taking as much time as you want: I think the game’s time pressure is more smoke than fire.I think this could be a stellar game, but it needs work. For now, it’s 4/5.

I did really like this game but calling it an rpg is incorrect. It has the battle mechanics of like a banner saga ( which I like) but there are no role playing mechanics. The armor/weapons are all the same in terms of how you upgrade, only ability to customize is in gems with different perks. You can’t change how the armor/weapon looks. Also your main character is always a warrior, you can change some of his abilities but you can’t make him an archer or mage. You have to choose which companion is good at which task despite the companions never talk or interact with you so I have no idea how you would know one is good at singing and one is good at chess besides googling. The companions don’t talk to you and have no interaction. All the other “choices” are search the cave/hut or whatever for 9 hours and get more stuff or search the cave for 2 hours and get less stuff. Normal is too hard for relaxing play, which is what I want in a phone game. If I want something stressful/intense I’ll play a fully fledged PC game. But easy is too easy to be rewarding. It’s that ridiculous easy let’s you skip end of level bosses. Normal should be hard and there should be an actual normal difficulty level. Lastly, when I finally finished the game on normal ( which is harder than it sounds because of permadeath and items/XP not transferring to new character) the game cut out so I didn’t even get to see the ending, and not enough people play so I could easily find spoilers about ending online :(

When I read "quirky" to describe an app's attributes, I think of Tweak from FC5. This is a game where I am able to use that word and positively. Like real life, money sometimes talks (and so do items). Gameplay on normal, at least when starting out, often relies on a single item to break through enemies. I don't know if enemy strength accumulates through all stages over time, but instead of bribing I tried to keep the experience coming and my party of three got flattened by a train of several logarithmically buffed heavily armored guards. Strangely, I see this as a lesson learned. I don't want the gameplay changed; I took time to gather extra resources and that was the result. However it would be nice to see visited areas marked visually (as double checking costs in-game time) and at least have a peek at upcoming unit strengths so I could plan. I'll check the in-game jester-wiki if those features are there. Great hybrid game for jaded veterans!Update: The game blooms like a rose after 3-4 characters unlocked, and it’s hilarious tactical fun once fully upgraded characters combo with others. I would recommend suffering through normal; getting the first mercenary is so much sweeter once finally achieved. Unless you do everything using measuring tape, you will die huge amounts of times. Hurrying DOES pay off. Mysterious little items and locales keep popping up to liven up the fun. I love how potions normally used in battle can guarantee or enable new results in buildings. End-game runes are great too.P.S. Can you fix saving on iPhone X? You have to exit the app after doing so.