Trials of Fire

Trials of Fire is yet another rougelike deckbuilder, except this time it has both a battlemap and an overworld map, both made of hexes. You start by choosing 3 out of 9 classes, each with their own deck, passive ability, and unique equipment slots. Some cards are common cards shared between characters, others are specific to the class. There's no real story mode in the main game. You're just plopped onto the map and given an arrow which way the main quest lies. On the way you can complete various smaller encounters, upgrading your deck, getting new equipment, upgrading your equipment, and gathering supplies to rest every now and then.

To me, there's nothing really new here. The map is nearly purely cosmetic, and there are no real decisions to be made regarding where to go. Just selecting one out of three options for the next encounter would have been the same and easier. Equipment giving new cards is interesting, but they seem to focus more on quantity than quality, so the average card is often not even good enough that I'd want them all. Equipment also gives extra temporary HP (once per combat) and opportunities to swap out your hand, so it's usually worth it, but still a bit frustrating at times. The characters don't seem to have a lot of synergy with each other, and not even themselves. Sure, the cards they get thematically fit them, but it never felt very exciting playing any of them or progressing my deck. This is by far the biggest problem this game has, and the largest contributor to the "it doesn't feel fun" issue, I believe. There are also some balance problems. Some cards and tactics are crazy strong while others are garbage. This does extend to the classes as a whole, to a degree.

Overall, it's actually a fine game. I played for a few hours, and time flew by faster than I expected, but looking back at all the other roguelike deckbuilders I've played, this just doesn't measure up, and I don't even hold the others in high regard. Some of it comes down to this clearly being made by a smaller team, and some comes down to bad game design. If you're a fiend for roguelike deckbuilders and want to play all of them that are half-decent, then go ahead. But this game is #54 on the list of roguelike deckbuilders right now, so there's no shortage of selection among supposedly better titles. I wouldn't recommend trying it.