Spoiler warning: if you have not played the game yet, do yourself a favour and stop reading this post, don’t look up anything about the game, and give it a go. You will not regret it.
Last warning. For real. :D
I tried the game out a couple of years ago when it was free on PS+ Extra and liked it a lot. Didn’t end up playing all too much and once my Extra subscription ran out, I lost access to the game. I still wanted to keep playing it so I bought the game on sale for I think 10€? Still didn’t keep playing the game further than Act 2 because I wanted my SO to play the game with me and experience all the twists and turns of this awesome game. We haven’t played it further together still, and what better way to try out my new PC than with Inscryption. :)
I had watched a playthrough by Northernlion back when the game dropped and was amazed by the depth and complexity of the game but also of all the kinds of different genres that were blended into tight package. Act 2 distilled the already basic premise of the game down to its core and introduced all the different mechanics the rest of the game would be showing. The inclusions of the ARG component made the game even more special.
The ending when Grimora deletes the game and all the bosses reappear for a final battle was amazingly done, and I even teared up a little when Leshy showed up for the final time for another battle. It just felt so heartfelt when he even went so far as ignore the health points just so we could play a little longer before everything vanishes.
The ending was a little open-ended, I feel like. Luke is killed by an agent of GameFuna, but ultimately, the video game equivalent of the physical card game Inscryption still exists, so maybe a sequel would make sense to tie up the few loose ends? Then again, maybe it would invalidate the experience as a whole if a sequel is shoehorned into existence.
I havent’t really thought about what to write exactly - just wanted gush about the game a little and maybe inspire some people to give it a try too if they haven’t yet.
How did you like the game? Did you enjoy the different genres mixed into it? Any act that you especially liked? Act 3 is probably my favourite gameplay-wise.
Absolutely loved the first act, but I was really not a fan of the 2nd act. Prefered the third to the second, but for me the real fun was at the beggining. So glad they added Kaycee’s mod, I’m glad I have a way of replaying the first act over and over without having to start a new save.
2nd act was my favorite! I liked all the different mechanics
It is such a great game! And the post-game is one of the strongest I’ve seen in recent memory. I always recommend it. It’s also a great game to play on planes, since you don’t need a mouse.
Incredible game. Absolutely mind blowing experience overall. Agree that the ARG element was a super interesting twist. I think there was even more real-world stuff to it but it’s been a while since I played and got into the lore, so I don’t remember any details (and well could be misremembering).
I’m surprised to see so many people have played this. I loved it but never met anyone who had heard of it.
It’s relatively famous, it was a big hit the year it came out. Of course amond the more curoius people, you don’t go FIFA -> CoD -> Inscryption.
I loved act 1. I really enjoyed the horror elements. Using the pliers and the knife for the first time was brutal. The meta puzzles were just right for me and I enjoyed finding out about more of the layers and the characters.
Act two was interesting, I enjoyed meeting the other characters there was just enough puzzles and challenge and change up to be interesting.
Act 3 I found frustrating, the robot world game and the away from the table elements I found dull it didn’t do anything different particularly with the game mechanics. And whilst I enjoyed the real world aspects it irritated me that I had to watch 40 minutes of YouTube to find out the “true” ending which was really quite underwhelming. I kinda wish I hadn’t bothered and just left it with the goodbye boss fights.
I really don’t know how I feel about the game as a whole. I enjoyed parts, the first act was one of the best games I’ve ever played. The rest dragged on a bit.
I’m 90% with you. I think it would have been goat material if it could have really branched into 4 other worlds equally deep. The promise of such a thing, and its asyncronous narrative depth, were really good but the wonder wore off sooner than expected.
Yeah if the other acts were as interesting as the first it would be one of my favourite games ever. As it stands it is just really good.
If you want to know more about the ARG elements and the full story of the game, check out this video which does a deep dive into it. There were some VERY buried secrets in this game, and the full story is absolutely insane.
Shhhh 🤪
Really great game. The worst part is finishing it and trying to find a similar experience. The closest itch I got to it was through some Lucas Pope games like Papers Please and the Return of Obra Din.
Im not sure I’ll ever find another game that hits me like that. For me it came on gamepass and that was the first id heard of it. I had no idea what it was going to do.
I did doki doki literature club a long time ago, but it was famous for doing a thing. Everyone was talking about it. They wouldn’t tell you what the thing was oh no iykyk lol bro u just gotta play it bro. It was great but I went into it knowing that something was coming, so when it did I just went “huh neat.”
Ive been told the
guydev team that made inscryption also did other things that are also hella cool, but im refusing to pay attention to any of it. For these things to hit right, they need to be stumbled into by accident. Its not an incredible surprise if you go into it knowing.I thought Pony Island by the same dev was pretty good.
Act 3 is probably my favourite gameplay-wise.
It was my least favorite actually. I know it’s meant to be lifeless and robotic but it dragged on imo. And my 60/60 ouroboros ran right through every encounter anyway
I loved the first act. Acts 2 and 3 took a bit of a nosedive mechanically, I thought. It was very easy to break the game and just have some game-busting card combo that carried you through all the fights. I don’t think I lost a single encounter in the third act. Still, it was super cool overall. Lots of interesting ideas.
I loved it and recommend it to anyone with a passing interest in card games. The core gameplay loop was fun and the plot resolved before I got tired of the gameplay loop.
The dev’s other games are fantastic too, so definitely check them out.
I think Act 3 was my favorite, but I ended up looking up a guide by that point for some of the puzzles, but that was because I wanted to advance the plot faster. Act 2 was my least favorite, but it was still quite good.
Oh dude this game is beyond cool. If it were a real card game it would smash. I’d go way too far trying to recreate the experience of Leshy’s shack. I even love act 2, as jarring as it is, because learning all the new mechanics opened the game up so much. The final pointless play for playings sake (not to mention Magnificus’s hilarious gimmick) …like come on bro, how SICK can you make a card game?
Eh, I thought Slay the Spire had a better card game and Inscryption’s was just okay. But I prefer Inscryption because the story adds so much depth to the experience, and I wouldn’t change a thing about it.
Not sure why you got the down arrow treatment there, its exactly right. StS is the undisputed king of this arena, but nonetheless Inscryption delivered one of the best experiences in gaming I’ve ever had.
Its up there with Bioshocks big twist, landing on Halo, and the Sith planet on KOTOR.
Yeah, Inscryption is one of my favorite games, I just think the card game aspect is a bit basic. It seems to be designed to service the plot, not offer a ton of replayability, and I think it does that job well. If you want a replayable card game, there are tons of options, like Slay the Spire and Balatro, but none are as satisfying overall as Inscryption. I’m not saying the gameolay is bad, I’m I value storytelling very highly and if someone is only after the card game, there are better options.
I played through Pony Island and partway through The Hex, and I really enjoyed both (will probably finish The Hex at some point) and have the same feedback: the gameplay is just okay, but they both have gripping storytelling, similar to Inscryption.
I don’t play Daniel Mullins’ games for the gameplay, I play them for the overall experience, and that’s fantastic.
I love this game so much. All of the Daniel Mullins games are great honestly. I put a ton of hours into the game including doing all the Kaycee’s mod stuff. I can’t wait for Pony Island 2.
I swear nobody has played The Hex and it’s my favorite of his. I went in completely blind, having seen maybe two screenshots of the beginning, and the weird graphics made sense almost immediately. I have recommended it to so many people and only one friend has played it. Aaaaaaaaaa
I have played The Hex, but unfortunately it’s behind Pony Island and Inscryption for me. I still enjoyed the game, but of those 3 games, it’s the only one that I didn’t 100%. It’s a vary diverse game. Maybe it had too much change in style and gameplay throughout to suck me in like Inscryption did. I have been thinking about revisiting The Hex though.
I haven’t read the body of your post (don’t want any spoilers), but I’ve always had a very tough time getting into this game. I think it’s the strategy of how to play the cards because I always get my ass handed to me. I’ve solved some of the puzzles around the room, but some of them I just selected random things and the drawer opened.
I’ll have to sit down and give it a serious go at some point. I love roguelike games, but only for so many deaths which will start to annoy me.
I go in blind as possible with every game I play, but this is a tough cookie to not look up spoilers due to how bad I am at this game.
How you modify cards is important. High blood costs are hard to play and need to be worth it. It’s been a while since I played but I found most success with keeping blood costs down, cards that return to hand when destroyed, and attacking multiple lanes. Stinky is also surprisingly useful at times.
My first successful run was as a result of creating a card that cost 0 and returned to my hand when killed. You definitely need to play a couple runs to build up a strategy and create some cards that go in the deck.
Mantis God all the way. And OP death cards are fun too. I had a 1 mana 7/7 with flying and double strike the other run, I think, which was pretty nuts
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keep going there’s more - or youtube it ^*
Am I missing something? I’m pretty sure that’s all there is…
yea there’s more - some of it extends to real life, there was a scavenger hunt for physical disks, don’t wanna ruin it. there’s an excellent documentary on it on youtube
I‘m gonna try to avoid reading any of this or the comments cause I have it in lib unplayed and don‘t wanna spoil myself…
BUT I have a question: I‘m really bad at handling horror games, Alan Wake had me uncomfortably tense with enemies being able to sneak up on me and it’s arguably not even much of a horror game. Is this game playable for me?
It’s more of a thriller than horror. No jump scares or anything.
Its a bit psychologically tense, but the “classically-scariest” thing is when you lose a game and he reaches out to grab you.
It gets a bit conceptually intense, but theres no super-scary monsters or jumpscares or anything. Nothing ever comes up right behind you while the violins intensify.
You should be fine. It’s a card game first and foremost, so no enemies sneaking up on you per se. There are some creepy things happening and, without going too much into detail, a lot of fourth-wall breaks - you’ll know when you see. That can take you by surprise a little, but if you’re fine dealing with that, you should be ok.
There can be some minor body horror involved that can be a little gross. There is one action you need to take to progress the game eventually.
Overall, it’s not full of jumpscares - it’s just scary atmosphere and creepy vibes. I myself am usually rather easily scared by video games, but I’ve been fine throughout. Give the first hour or so a try to get a good feel for it. The rest of the creepiness will unfold itself later on
Been a while since I played it, but I don’t think there’s any jumpscares, and definitely no deadly things that follow you around. It’ll get tense, but it won’t screamer you. It’s the overall vibe that’s scary, very existential, much dread.
I just want to add that I found it pretty tame as well.
If you’ve tried Doki Doki Literature Club, it has a similar vibe and is arguably much less tense. If you haven’t tried that game, I recommend it if you like Inscryption.
