Gaming: Turns Out The Best Way To Succeed In This New Mech Vs Kaiju...

At first Mechborn seems like just Slay the Spire in a robot costume, but there's more to it than meets the eye.

At this stage of my life it's starting to feel like I've played pretty much anything you can imagine in the form of a roguelike deckbuilder. Spaceship battles? Played it. Stock trading? Played it. Throwing dogs into a big pit? You better believe I've played it.

So when one comes along with a genuinely novel idea, my ears do tend to prick up. Mechborn is definitely that, inserting cards and turn-based fights into a world of giant mechs battling kaiju.

It's a great concept, and the chunky visuals and hi-tech UI sell it well. With music that has more than a touch of the Pacific Rim theme to it, and surreal monsters right out of a '90s anime, it wears its influences on its sleeve—but it does them justice.

A roguelike deckbuilder lives or dies on its mechanics, however, and heading into a run with an early build of the game, I was at first worried Mechborn might be style over substance. The very easy early battles make the game seem formulaic—faced with a deck full of 5 value attacks and shield cards, a choice of a starting item that grants a passive bonus, and very familiar buffs (strength adds to my damage, you say?), it can feel like Slay the Spire in a robot costume.

But as I forged on, I started to see more and more unique personality in the way a Mechborn run plays out.

For one, it turns the path to the boss into its own strategic challenge. Rather than simply progressing along a track and meeting the occasional fork in the road, Mechborn sets me loose across an entire country map. I can move freely into any region adjacent to a region I've already visited, allowing me to roam around in search of shops, healing, lucrative fights, and other perks.

Getting the most out of my journey to the boss is all about clever resource management. Visiting new regions chips away at my store of fuel, while harder battles deplete my HP, and most of the goodies I can go after have a cost in credits.

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Is it worth fighting my way to that refueling station to extend my journey as long as possible, or should I make a beeline for that upgrade station to improve my deck? Do I need to seek out more battles for their card rewards, or is my deck already where it needs to be? They're really interesting choices, where in most roguelikes I'm simply sleepwalking between

Source: PC Gamer