Book of Demons - clicker diablo wannabe

[Metro]

If you got one of those 66% off coupons it might stack with whatever discount it gets in the Winter Sale. Is the game worth $5ish? Maybe. Probably better off getting it in a bundle. Someone gifted it to me. To elaborate on my last post, the 'combat' is entirely unsatisfying and plays like a phone game but the card/upgrade system is interesting. With proper arpg combat it would have been really good.

 

[Shackleton]

I have no clue how this has got to 93% positive reviews on Steam, it boggles the mind. I've put 5 hours into it and just can't stomach anymore. They've succeeded in making the mindless clicker gameplay of these sorts of games even more mindless. The card system is ok, but because the movement is on rails there's zero exploration aspect, almost zero dodging and thus almost zero skill. I'm playing with gamepad to save on the carpal tunnel and it's just holding down the right trigger, pressing the occasional B to break shield and spamming Y to break pots/ open chests. Throw in an X from time to time when things get a bit more hectic, then return to town between floors to heal and refill healing card charges. It's hypnotically dull.

Maybe it gets better later, but I feel 5 hours is a fair crack of the whip. They've tried to distill this sort of game into its basic form and they've succeeded. The only problem is without the freedom of movement, the meaty impact of attacks and the loot, it's so goddamn boring. Maybe if you're the kind of player who likes these 'idle' games, (I assume these people exist), you might enjoy this little step up from those, but not for me.

Glad I got the 66% off voucher, barely worth it at that price imo.

 

[Lurker47]

Does it even utilize the card shtick?

It seems like half the games that have that gimmick don't even realize the point of having them be cards in the first place.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Does it even utilize the card shtick?

Not really, no. There isn't anything card-like about the skills or items really, other than they both use the same slots to equip. IIRC in the non-roguelike difficulties the drops aren't even fully random either so you tend to get stuff that's well suited to those enemies. Basically no reason to think of them as cards.

 

[Mebrilia the Viera Queen]

walking animations?

 

[thesheeep]

Maybe if you're the kind of player who likes these 'idle' games, (I assume these people exist), you might enjoy this little step up from those

I think that is what they were aiming for.
At least I hope so. I would have no logical explanation for how you would end up with this game if you tried your hand at a Diablo clone.

This game clones some of the music and atmosphere from Diablo, but nothing from its gameplay.

I don't think the game is bad, but you should really know beforehand what you're getting into, because if you expect a proper hack & slay, you'll be sorely disappointed.
It is a clicker game that manages to get challenging later on - but only because you cannot move properly (while the enemies can).

 

[Syl]

I have a -75% coupon for this game on Steam if anyone is interested.


Coupon expires in 20 hours from now.

 

[Rahdulan]

New standalone game set in the same setting and changing the pace from a carpal tunnel inducing loot clicker.

Hellcard is a cooperative roguelike deckbuilder that can be played in both Singleplayer and Multiplayer modes. The game takes place in the paper dungeons known from Book of Demons, but its main mechanics revolve around deckbuilding and fast-paced tactical turn-based card battles.

What makes HELLCARD unique and different from games such as Slay the Spire is that monster placement actually matters and can be used to your advantage.

In HELLCARD we’re planning to support co-op battles with up to three heroes facing Archdemon’s hordes. You’ll be able to descend into the dungeons solo, recruit computer-controlled companions or join your friends or strangers in their battles against the hordes of hell.

If the above features get you excited, be sure to wishlist the game now on Steam. Otherwise consider wishlisting anyway - who knows, maybe we will get you excited along the way!

 

[Grauken]

Played this a little bit, up to hell level now.

Very odd game, very reminiscent of Diablo 1 (sounds, level style, the general mood), with the adage that you move on rails (as Shackleton mentioned), but can attack monster from afar, even if you have a melee attacker. Monsters are not bound by being on rails and can move freely around you, but can only either attack in melee if they close the distance, or if they have ranged attacks. Keep your finger on the shift-key to make your character stop when enemies are close by, as your character is prone to run towards the enemy when you don't want them to.

Some monsters stand around and move towards you when they see you, these are easy ones, but the game likes to put you into situations where monsters spawn behind you, so if you try to escape you might run into a worse mob, or spawn behind and in front of you and you just have to duke it out.

The card gimmick is basically all your spells and items rolled into one plus various passive buffs. You start with three card slots, you can unlock a couple more and then put item/spell/bonus card into them. So far playing with a fighter I found the passive once the best, except plus the healing potion card. Higher level enemies also have different types of hearts, fire or frost ones (stone and poison ones as well). Most of them explode into clouds of various effects (poison, frost, fire) of which as usual poison is the most annoying, but frost can be annoying too when a mob has surrounded you.

Oh yeah, the only character-building aspect is, apart from card-based builds and the class selection at the beginning of the game (fighter, bow-user and mage, the later 2 have to be unlocked by playing fighter up to level 10 or so), that on a level up you can chose to put a point in either HP or MP. MP works both as spell points as well as how many cards you can use (besides the slots available, cards also requite a certain base stat of MP and stack, so even if you have enough slots, if you don't have enough MPs for all the cards you want to use, you have to be selective).

I'm not sure if I would recommend the game. It certainly has some of the addictive quality of your usual Diablo-clicker, but at times the gameplay feels just so fake in how its restriction works and you realize you probably would have a better time if you either played Diablo directly or any of its better imitators. That said, if you want something very close to Diablo, but not Diablo, then it's ok.

 

[index.php]

It's free on GOG for the next 70 hours.

https://af.gog.com/game/book_of_demons?as=1649904300