Slay the Spire II – Video Game Review

TL;DR – A profoundly absorbing game, each run crafts a different narrative, making you want to take another spin, over and over again.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I was gifted a copy of this game.

Disclosure – This game was in Early Access when reviewed.

Slay the Spire II title card.

Slay the Spire II Review Introduction

In the pre-times, a number of my friends got hooked on this deck-building turn-based roguelike game that sort of came out of nowhere. I often struggle with deck-builders, so it passed me by, but I was always advised that I had missed a gem. Well, fast-forward several years, and the next game in the series dropped at the same time that a bunch of birthdays happened in my friends’ circle, and funny enough, we all ended up with a copy, and it has absorbed our lives since. So, it is time to dive into the world of Slay the Spire II or Slay the Spire 2 if you prefer Arabic numerals.

So, to set the scene, in a far-off, distant land, there exists a Spire, full of wonders and dangers. At the bottom of the Spire lives Neow, the Mother of Resurrection, sending wave after wave of adventurers up its many floors to defeat the Architect. You play as one of the many characters fighting your way past Monsters, Elites, and Bosses using your deck of cards to apply actions. You have limited energy each turn, so you need to work out how best to use your blocks, attacks, and special cards to take down the enemies before they come for you.

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Hades – Video Game Review

TL;DR – A game where the mechanics, story, music, and design all pulls you in, so you keep trying to escape your captivity run after run after run

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the game

Hades. Image Credit: Supergiant Games

Hades Review –

At the start of this year, I thought I would take some time to catch up on some of the things I might have missed last year, and I also wanted a bit of an escape from the current world around. With this in mind, several people I respect had Hades on their ‘Best Video Game of 2020’ lists so I thought that might be an excellent place to dive in and I was right.

So to set the scene, you are Zagreus (Darren Korb) the son of Hades (Logan Cunningham) and Prince of the Underworld.  However, a prince he may be, but in reality, he is trapped, a prisoner to his father’s wishes and demands. When he discovers that Nyx (Jamie Landrum) The God of Night is not his birth mother, Zagreus takes on himself to escape from the Underworld, even if that means fighting his way through Tartarus, Asphodel, and Elysium to get there.

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