Slay the Spire 2 (Early Access) Spiel

by Rian

Slay the Spire, the first game, opened its own genre. I think I’ve seen more StS-like games that tried to deliver the flavor, but ultimately had its shortcomings. Many reviews I’ve read since almost always mentioned how they (the reviewers) returned home, to the original Slay the Spire. Some went so far to say, at the given price point of (the game they were discussing), why not buy the Slay the Spire at discount?

With that in mind, there are some contexts I need to cover. Slay the Spire 2 is still in Early Access. If released as-is, I might suspect it is only targeted towards StS fan base and the players who want another rogue-like deck-builder. It certainly delivers on the gameplay and art department. The story, which did not play a major role in the first game, is an unlockable element in the second game. However, some of the flavor texts and arts are not finished yet. I believe it is a fair assessment to say the core game mechanic is finished, but much work is left ahead of the game.

Before I go into details about the gameplay, I won’t discuss the balancing of each classes and strategies. It is actively seeing updates. What I can comment on is the underlying numbers, some comparisons to the first game. In the first game, there were roughly 380 cards with 4 classes. In the second game, with 5 classes, there are around 400 cards. To no one’s surprise, I hope, the absolute number of cards are fairly limited at the moment. In the actual gameplay, this translates to limited choice of strategy or play style. I was able to build 2 or 3 styles of deck per classes, so it is not the lack of breadth that is the issue — it’s the depth.

There is also the addition of multiplayer in the second game. I haven’t had a chance to test it out extensively. But from what I can gather, the enemies are stronger in multiplayer and there are some multiplayer-exclusive cards. I do wonder how far the developers are willing to take the multiplayer. It could go so far as different style of overworld, or perhaps multiplayer exclusive enemies, and so on. It’s a different avenue for Slay the Spire franchise, and it is something to look out for.

Last, but not least, the developer had been quite open about the second game designed to be more future-proof. I suppose it means the game will be ported to mobile at some point as the first game did. It is something to look out for, whether the game supports cross platform and/or cross play. If I recall correctly, there were also players who wanted a DLC; I think the Slay the Spire 2 is more likely to see future updates, including paid updates.

Conclusions: Solid Sequel for Early Access

One of my complaints against Early Access model is many of the games listed through the program are not exactly playable. And if it is, it drastically changes from since it was released as EA to the 1.0 release. It is not necessarily bad per-se, it could be indicative of the gaming coming to fruition. However, more often than not, it was a sign of game failing to meet the first proposed “hype”. In the case of Slay the Spire 2, the hype is already delivered. The gameplay is solid. It needs more contents, more depth; but it does not negate the fact it has other solid experiences available now. If you want to give the game a shot as a fan of the previous game, I highly recommend it. If this is the first deck-building rogue-like that is StS-like, I think it will be part of the fun to watch the game grow, with each session, the “Spire”, can be finished in one sitting.