Banners of Ruin Review – Furry Fantasy Combat with Cards

Although there may be more than just Roguelikes and the world is full of excellent building battle games, there are not many decent RPG featuring anthropomorphic characters in a bad mood (Finally, there are some, but play the game). I had great hopes for biomutant, and look where it led me: hopes disappointed. So I was very happy to meet Banners of Ruin, which not only does intelligent things with very familiar genres, but also with an engaging distribution of animal characters at war.

Banners of Ruin is a bit like the political struggles and the wild plot of Game of Thrones in a salad alongside Monster Train or Slay The Spire. You play blackfoot clan agents, whose goal is to overthrow the home Ender to power and bring order to the city of Dawn's Point. The story is intriguing and well written, even if somewhat eclipsed by the fight of the game. At first, you only have access to a few agent characters, but your group will eventually extend to six potential recruits, each of 'A different animal race, especially mice, beavers, bears, weasels, wolves and hares. As you explore the city and start every new handle, you choose one of the three dating cards, and all do not imply a fight. Sometimes they will allow you to visit a trader, or to recruit new agents, or simply to obtain information. Your initial dating card choice starts a cascade of events that will allow you to move until the end of the game, or to overcome and start again from the beginning. Fortunately, even missed races are rewarding the player with experience points and the ability to develop his capabilities.

Combat meetings take place in a manner similar to many bridge battle games, with some intelligent variants. Each agent has a set of statistics that will determine the types of cards they can play most efficiently, and each also has specific armor and weapon cards. What Banners of Ruin adds to the type of construction of Deck is an additional layer of complexity and sophistication. It takes almost all the repetitions of the experiment because there are so many combinations of characters, cards and capabilities that it is difficult to end up in a rut. Add to that enemy the enemy more than decent, and you have an accessible challenge that takes a little time to understand but which is ultimately rewarding and fun. In general, the game user interface during the fight is excellent and gives the player information more than sufficient on future enemy tactics, as well as tips and reminders on overflight tools. Although the tutorial is a little sudden and maybe even the intimidating game initially, everything is fine once the story starts and you see the fight in action.

It's hard not to appreciate the artistic style painted by the game, especially the rich details on the cards themselves. The different animal characters really capture the essence of each clan. If there is an aesthetic disappointment, it is that animations and combat scenes are a little ho-hum and could be one of the lowest aspects of a package otherwise visually attractive. The music of the game is Dan Farley and has orchestral samples mixed with subtle electronics. In general, music is an element of replacement but effective and the sound design overall is quite minimal.

Despite some bugs (unfortunately, not a playable race but the kind of crash of the game) and a feeling of complexity that can be relabbing at first, Banners of Ruin is a smart and creative approach of two very familiar genres. With a world, a story and characters who depart from the usual tropics of dark fantasy and an engaging and addictive gameplay, the biggest blow against this could be the potential reluctance of players to dive into another Deck / Roguelike manufacturer . It would be a shame, and anyone who gets tired of the genre could be pleasantly surprised by Banners of Ruin.