I loved the Hammer of Doom weapon in the early game, but spears, hammers, and axes all are different in their attack patterns. When looking at a new weapon dropped, it will describe the buffs it has and are uniquely named. The normal fighting combat is quite fun when equipped with a decent weapon and using the area to your advantage. Most of the skills have levels so can be upgraded to earn more rewards while playing or have extra upgradeable skills. The banker vendor allows the player to retain at least 500 gold from an unsuccessful run and also saves a very small percentage of soul crystals (Currency for upgrades). There is also another really good beginning skill for each of the other merchants making gameplay easier. Being able to upgrade our Elixirs to two per run is a huge aid in playing. This means the more you play and save others from enemies, the more options of upgrades will be available in-between runs. In order to unlock the vendor, they must be saved from a locked cage from within one of the levels. At the hub is where we can find vendors located around the corners, but aren’t handed to the player. If at any point in the game the player reaches 0 HP they will die and respawn back at the hub, The Hall of Reincarnation. There is a level select, but the player must clear a level entirely before moving on. There are roughly 30 familiars in the game and will randomly spawn as Elle progresses down floor by floor. Using the RT once a second Familiar has been defeated allows the player to switch skills. Being able to teleport can remove Elle from fatal damage since the enemies can cast attacks surrounding the player. Crown also gave us the power to be able to teleport (Blink) a limited number of times before having to recharge. Using a Familiars’ skill will drain our Mana points, but refills fully after clearing a room of all the enemies. The Familiars are like mini bosses and once defeated can then be equipped to use. Each grid, or space, will matter as we unlock skills by defeating Familiars or find a new weapon with a different attack pattern. Elle can attack to advance time or click the Right stick to skip a turn. So, the game essentially works off of grids in each room and time only moves when Elle moves. The perspective is isometric meaning it’s in full 3D but does have a fixed camera. During the tutorial we come across our first chest with a spear inside and are quickly taught by Crown that traps and enemies move only when Elle is moving to a new space. The tutorial is the only part of the game where certain items will spawn consistently and are set up to help teach combat to the player. After hearing Crown’s opening story filled with information, they journey off together. There are other creatures lurking about that wish to harm her. Elle is not alone and Crown explains that she is trapped in a Dream Realm, also known as, the Nightmare Realm. Crown is a snippy character that likes to push others away and typically can come off as condescending towards humans for being ‘primitive’. Her name is Elle, a young girl around the age of 8 to 12, and seems to be gifted with harnessing magic that was imbued upon her by our Crown friend. His name is simply put, Crown, and informs our playable character of where she is. As we gain control, we explore a locked room with a sentient golden crown sitting in a chair. The story is delivered by text pop ups and there is no narration for any of the characters. Let’s talk about the story before I delve into the combat system. The goal of surviving each floor as it progressively gets harder is not so easy as the player first begins, but feels just as rewarding as any gamer would want. We play as a young girl trapped in the Nightmare Realm fighting from room to room against randomly generated enemies. This game was developed by NExT Studios and published by Team17 Software and truly does outshine some of the other games I’ve reviewed more recently. It plays as a strategy, turn based game with rogue-like features. Crown Trick is a delightful indie title that debuted on Xbox on September 7 th and also released onto Game Pass day one.
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