Recent reviews by bendotcom

Every screenshot could be the cover of a pulp SciFi novel or a movie poster. While the developers have struggled to build meaningful economies or narratives in the game, the community has invented a rich set of goals and destinations to keep themselves entertained.

VR is a great addition to a game with such stunning visuals.

The combat is heavily inspired *cough* by Slay the Spire. So much so that I suspect a Spire player could play this game despite it being entirely in Chinese. The big difference is that between fights you play in a Rogue-like world where you pick and choose your fights, pick up new cards, find coins, etc. There are a couple of mini-bosses that chase you down based on a timer, but you choose when to confront the island's boss. Finishing an island is a "win" and just unlocks the next island. Play does not continue across islands.

The exploration phase gives you more opportunities to shape your deck before you have to commit to fighting tough enemies. This lets you build your deck without feeling like you have to grab the first few "good" cards and let that dictate your style. There is a predictable amount of card removal (between the shop and enemy rewards). There are 4 ways that you can upgrade cards (represented by the 4 playing card suits) to fine-tune your deck.

The deck building power is offset by relatively powerful enemies. Tough encounters will include enemies with 4-5x your base health, and they hit pretty hard. Enemy variety is a weakness (at least of the first island) which I hope the early access period will address.

The SuperHot time mechanic is fantastic in VR. It reminds me of playing a turn-based RPG, where you have as much time to think about your next move as you want, but when you move, so do your enemies. Each level requires you to solve 3-4 quick scenes in a row, so you will feel like a badass ripping through the first couple as you work out how to solve the final ones.