I’m on the turn, that is, if it’s turn-based and card-building strategies like Neoverse. Decking out one of your leading ladies with a balanced selection of offensive and defensive strategies is on the cards (ha!), as well as mastering the buffs and debuffs.
One of the problematic aspects of card-based games for newcomers is the complexity. Countering an attack with an equal defence, stacking up various buffs and pulling off combos…this Neoverse review didn’t come without a few learning curves, but it’s more accessible than most.
There are three key players in the world for this Neoverse review: Naya, a gun-wielding powerhouse with the fashion sense of Bayonetta. Claire is an almighty paladin who keeps the faith, but bizarrely has a penchant for vampirism. Then there’s Helena, who can summon gryphons and all other sorts of fantastic beasts. She knows where to find them.
There are three modes to pick from:
- Adventure Mode – choose a starting deck, complete a selection of challenges to unlock new cards and bonuses, all the way through 20 odd levels.
- Challenge Mode – much more difficult, and the one I foolishly started with. You can’t use gear that you unlock, and it consumes your trophies (one when completing feats), but the rewards are better.
- Hunter Mode – awards bonuses and costume unlocks the further you progress. Kind of a survival option, and arguably the most appealing.
Playing a card is intuitive, as you drag and drop. Forgive the ignorance, as deck building is still new to me, but this is your loadout. Cards comprise attack, defend, instant, constant and evolved cards. The latter is an easy one – you invest some points into a card to increase its effect.
Mana points represent your number of turns, and you start with five, though they can increase. Each card costs mana, and that cost is displayed at the top of the card. In essence, you can play five cards each with one mana, or if you’re lucky, zero cards that cost nothing.
It looks a little overwhelming, but again, as a card novice, Neoverse was one of the most accessible in terms of getting on with it. Sure, I still don’t get (the shuffle), but that didn’t stop me from enjoying, nor making progress.
Neoverse rewards players with their progress, awarding coins and skill points to spend at your leisure. The data store is the place to be. Here you can select from a range of exclusive cards, items, skill points, or the option to refresh the stock.
There are five tiers to the skill tree, with a legendary set that’s available through progression. You don’t have to follow a set path, and you can stack up as many as you like, as long as you have the points, and they’re all abilities that significantly boost your survival chances.
What frustrated me was not the difficulty or the cards on offer, but the shuffle system. I couldn’t get to grips with it. In some of the more difficult stages (during the Hunter Mode), it would get to the point where there were no attack cards left, or the opponent would stack regeneration cards.
Round after round, Claire (the paladin) would stack her armour, but the only attack was a stamina drain. At full health and tonnes of defence, I was invincible. Still, the match was so ‘epic’, due to the minimal damage going on, and dragged-out action.
No doubt there is a straightforward explanation, as this can’t be a feature where you lose all your attack options in a round. If you’ve played the game, or even if you’re a member of Tino Games, you might be shouting at the screen saying, “You just need to do X, Y and Z”. Maybe you only need X?
Regardless, it was a trying experience that was hard to shake off, marring the battles having got so far only to wait 25 minutes for a debuff to do its work, or restarting the level. Undeterred, repeat plays were not unheard of, and Neoverse is one of the better card games I’ve played.
It’s quite hard to exit Neoverse. The battle system is intuitive, it’s pleasing on the eye with decent visuals and a varied selection of enemies. While the difficulty can be ruthless at times, the rewards pay off, and I’d encourage watching some gameplay, even if you aren’t a fan of deck-building games.
