Recent reviews by CHARM3R

One of the best action RPGs ever created.

I love Artifact. Yes, even now I'm still playing and enjoying it. The issues with the game are all (in my opinion) solvable with time. While I understand that most people aren't patient enough to wait for things to get sorted out, I'm still actually enjoying the game and that is enough for me.

Do you like Final Fantasy Tactics? Do you like Collectibe Card Games? Do you like Twitch integration? Then this game is for you! I don't think I have the time spent yet to give it a full review, but I am enjoying my time playing it and I keep coming back to the game.

I've been playing this game since closed beta, so the hours listed at the time of posting this review are not accurate. Where to begin? This game is a Collectible Card Game, and it features an incrementing resource (Magicka), and creature combat in which the attacker chooses targets. If that sounds familiar, it's because that is the same core concepts behind Hearthstone. If you think this is a "Hearthstone clone" or a "re-skin," you are sadly mistaken. This game offers several different mechanics that cause the games to play much differently.

First, this game features two separate lanes for combat. There is a Field Lane and a Shadow Lane, with different rules for each. Creatures can only attack other creatures within the same lane, which means lane positioning is very important. Second, each player has five "runes" associated with their health. When a player takes enough damage to break a rune, they get to draw a card. This gives the defending player more resources to try and recover. Taking this "come back" mechanic one step further is the presence of cards with "Prophecy" that can be played for free, during the opponents turn, if they are drawn from a rune breaking. This drastically impacts the strategies for this game.

Deck building is wildly different from Hearthstone as well. There are five attributes that contains certain themes, and decks can be made from any two attributes. This makes deck building more about mixing cards with synergy, and less about whatever template that a "class" has. There are also no hero powers, and decks are fifty cards in size. This adds some extra variance, making each game feel similar but different. Don't confuse variance with straight RNG, however, as there is much less of that in this game. (It's not non-existent, but it has certainly been toned down).

The free-to-play model is pretty excellent for this game, and numerous people have proven that you can hit Legend rank in competitive play on budget decks. There are also some solo game modes that many enjoy, including a solo arena. The story modes are fun if you like the feel of The Elder Scrolls universe.

Overall, this game is wildly enjoyable. I play a large number of card games, but I've been coming back to this one over and over for the last ten months. I think that says a lot.