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Griftlands - Klei's sci-fi deck-building roguelite

Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
2,323
Location
Illinois
Game's releasing on June 1st. Played a game of it a few days ago, does feel like they've cleaned it up a smidge but I'm honestly a bit at a loss what the fuck they've been doing all this time. They do have the third character in there now (And final part of his story launching with the game) but I dunno. Despite my bitching about the game I do still enjoy it however, the combination of the light roleplaying and deck building mesh together reasonably well with your actions/behaviors giving cards/perks that influence how things pan out. Getting a reputation for violence making your negotiation deck favor hostile arguments, etc. The reputation system still doesn't seem all that notable but eh. For a Klei game it feels remarkably sloppy but at the same time it's still good, it's an odd duck.
 

tripedal

Savant
Joined
Feb 22, 2015
Messages
401
Location
Ultima Thule
Tried it out for a few hours, really fucking slow and basic. Maybe some more interesting stuff unlocks later but the pacing is totally off.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
2,323
Location
Illinois
Tried it out for a few hours, really fucking slow and basic. Maybe some more interesting stuff unlocks later but the pacing is totally off.
Unfortunately they've got a progression-boner so you need to play to unlock higher difficulties and play to unlock more interesting cards/mechanics. The deckbuilding side still doesn't get up to Slay the Spire-snuff but they do have a lot of the toys gated behind progression for whatever reason.
 

Infinitum

Scholar
Joined
Apr 30, 2016
Messages
700
It's not like rogue, thats for sure. It's ok though. Finished the first two campaigns. There seems to be a decent amount of content there, but game is on the easy side overall compared to say, slay the spire. 2-4 hours per campaign for a playthorugh. There are unlocks and whatnot, but the character doesn't get dramatically stronger from them from the looks of it (and the game is beatable without them). Game looks good as long asyou like Klei's artstyle, and the writings decent. The veterans campaign in particular is pretty amusing what with the chronic backstabbing.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
2,323
Location
Illinois
It's not like rogue, thats for sure. It's ok though. Finished the first two campaigns. There seems to be a decent amount of content there, but game is on the easy side overall compared to say, slay the spire. 2-4 hours per campaign for a playthorugh. There are unlocks and whatnot, but the character doesn't get dramatically stronger from them from the looks of it (and the game is beatable without them). Game looks good as long asyou like Klei's artstyle, and the writings decent. The veterans campaign in particular is pretty amusing what with the chronic backstabbing.
It does seem like Smith (The third campaign) is a bit harder than the other two. I actually had my first campaign loss with my first run with him. Admittedly I was playing him balls to the wall and pissing everyone off but with no extra cards unlocked his archetypes didn't really feel like they were popping off. He's got a few cool wrinkles but it absolutely feels like he needs more cards to leverage them.
 

Infinitum

Scholar
Joined
Apr 30, 2016
Messages
700
Jut finished his campaign actually; second try. Biggest issue was that I could talk my way out of pretty much anyhting and didn't get to develop my combat deck much before the midgame. Still had an unimproved defense card at the end even. He's more complicated than the other two characeters what with the Moxy and Drink system, but in practice only needs a little bit of quality before his passive/active heals outdoes damage input. Also arguably has the best perusasion deck since it can easily go infinite with the free card draw and passive effects (and the green paths has a pretty self-explanatory reputation build), but until that point he lacks the easy street free attacks of green Sal / red Rook.

Game's fine. The rpg/story mode doesn't exactly mesh well with the ironman gameplay, but both parts in themselves feel above par. Not sure how I'd feel about it if it was as hard as StS without unlocks the first half dozen runs though. Certainly don't feel like replaying it the way I did StS.
 
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Harthwain

Magister
Joined
Dec 13, 2019
Messages
4,688
It does seem like Smith (The third campaign) is a bit harder than the other two. I actually had my first campaign loss with my first run with him. Admittedly I was playing him balls to the wall and pissing everyone off but with no extra cards unlocked his archetypes didn't really feel like they were popping off. He's got a few cool wrinkles but it absolutely feels like he needs more cards to leverage them.
Smith may be harder, because his mechanics are more complicated than the other two protagonists. In the end it all comes down to managing to get together a deck that works, which comes down to being able to get or buy the right cards.

Right now I am doing really well in negotiations with Domination-oriented deck. My combat deck needs more work though. I am moving in the direction of drinking, adrenaline and multiple attacks, but I am just not offered cards I want to make this deck go as smoothly as my negotiation one. Still have time to do that (I am at the start of the second day, I think), so I may be able pull through.

I guess Smith could be also the easiest character to do battles with, because he can regenerate damage, meaning you have way more lasting power in battles.
 

Infinitum

Scholar
Joined
Apr 30, 2016
Messages
700
Tip? You barely need to draft any cards. It's better to improve your decks average quality by removing cards than adding new ones. Since there's no checks on cycling through your deck optimal deck size is pretty much [(free) draws per turn + whatever sustains you got]. So 6 cards by the endgame, plus whatever free cyclers you got. This gets especially pronounced with, say, Smith's negotiation deck since you can pretty much get by with one aggressive card, one blocking card and the rest free carddraws forever. Or no attacks, no blocks and one of those passive perks or cards that causes damage when drawing cards/shuffling.

EDIT: What's this now, perks? That explains why Mettle was so middling..
 
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Infinitum

Scholar
Joined
Apr 30, 2016
Messages
700
Oh, just finished my first Brawl. It's pretty much functionally identical to StS. I like it.
 

Infinitum

Scholar
Joined
Apr 30, 2016
Messages
700
Getting some replayability from this, actually. Did manage to go infinite with all decks (sans Grafts) except Smith's combat deck thus far, will start grinding his Brawls tomorrow maybe.
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,228
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https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/griftlands-review/

GRIFTLANDS REVIEW
Play your cards right and you'll enjoy a great story.

Games have always been looking for ways to make conversations as compelling as the combat. Why can't a tense negotiation feel as gripping as a tough-as-nails boss fight? That’s the question Griftlands seeks to answer. It makes for a compelling roguelike, thanks to great writing and characters, but doesn't quite live up to the promise of its chatty deck-building systems.

The titular Griftlands are a chaotic place where corrupt law enforcement and criminal syndicates run things against a backdrop of sci-fi and fantasy. Brutal it may be, but it sure is pretty. I love the scratchy, hand-drawn touch to everything. There's a smart economy to where the embellishments are made, which ensures the game can deliver on its scope without any rough edges. Character sprites have lovely gestures and expressions that compliment the writing, while the overworld map is simply littered with tidy icons.

Griftlands’ factions are written in broad caricature, in line with the game's cartoonish look—but there is always a serious undercurrent of skepticism about the status quo. Criminal gangs prove virtuous, while the local police prove to be the most ruthless of all. In this way, developer Klei paints a strong picture of the world you step into as a ‘grifter’, the game's shorthand for a smooth-talking mercenary. There are three to play as, each with their own story, but only one is unlocked to start with—Sal, a once-indentured slave now on the hunt for the woman who sold her.

Revenge is hardly a novel motivation, but Griftlands shines thanks to fast-paced dialogue that fleshes out its characters effortlessly. What a relief it is to play an RPG that doesn't involve scrolling through paragraph after paragraph of guff that happened 1,000 years ago. There's an immediacy to Griftlands, in both the world-building and the stakes: Life's short, only what's in front of you really matters.

Even the smallest of characters get a chance to make an impression, as you collect an arsenal of subplots en route to your overarching goal. The writing can be damned funny too, the humour emerging from Sal being just a tad smarter than most of the other thugs she encounters (but not that much smarter). There's a charm to these cutthroats, who are often acting out of sheer desperation rather than any kind of malice. It's a world of opportunists, as you'd expect, but there are surprising moments of loyalty and kindness too. For me, the allure of Griftland's story was far greater than that of its expanding deck-building.

There are two modes of play: battles and negotiations. Battles are turn-based affairs where you draw cards for attacks and abilities, and can earn or hire party members. Overall, they’re fun but conventional. The negotiations are far more interesting. There, your cards are used for building arguments against your opponent. You're constantly looking to chip away at your enemy’s smaller points, while piling damage onto their core argument. I really felt like I was juggling a lot of plates, in the best way—the pressure always on to make the most of each turn.

As an abstraction, it's captivating—but Griftlands never quite bridges the space between the actual dialogue and the card game in which debates take place. Compared with something like Signs of the Sojourner, which much more cleverly uses its mechanics to shape and fuel character interactions, Griftlands feels a little awkward. Negotiations are disconnected in a way that turns every interaction into a simple binary of success or failure. I wish I could see the impact of my chosen cards on my relationships or the story.

Worse, committing to negotiation decks will punish you during the game’s handful of inescapable combat encounters. There are side activities to help but in general, focusing on combat decks is the easier path through the game.

Griftlands does make good on far-reaching consequences. Recurring NPCs pop up in unexpected places, leading to tough spots where you might have to contemplate a double cross to achieve your goals. These are also randomised for subsequent runs, to an impressively varied degree—ensuring new runs feel reasonably fresh and that softens the blow when you do die.

You can get a boost on your next run, too—but there's only so much of the sting it can take away, and despite the convincing way side missions are generated, the main story remains the same. Failing close to the finish line is never not going to take the wind out of your sails. There is a Story Mode setting for those who want to focus purely on the writing, but it feels like a band-aid on some harsh difficulty spikes. I was coasting through the game for the first two days, and then out of nowhere comes a fight several orders of magnitude tougher than anything preceding it. It might make narrative sense, but it's not very interesting to keep restarting and bumping into walls like these.

Shortcomings aside, Griftlands is another slice of low-key brilliance from developers Klei. Is there a genre they can't do? The balance of narrative and deck-building made for a much more engaging experience than I often have with card-based titles, even if it feels like more could be done to connect those systems and bolster the storytelling. Still, I'm going to remember my adventures with Sal and the little moments of friendship and betrayal throughout each run. I like playing as a grifter; it ain't much but it's a living.

THE VERDICT
80

GRIFTLANDS
Charm and good storytelling overcome limited, experimental deck-building.
 

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