Ruina is simultaneously one of the best and worst games I've ever played. I love it a ton and the first half of the game should be heralded as a masterclass of interesting worldbuilding and fair challenge. But that's the first half of the game, and unluckily enough the second half of the game isn't very good

Up until what the game calls "Star of The City" a.k.a the halfway point is a game based in a dystopian city with loveable characters and a banging soundtrack, however the gameplay is pretty lacking and most of the time an absolute chore to slog through, but it's bearable because the fights are usually short and you're constantly meeting new foes with little to no repetition, then you get to Star and it all goes downhill from there.

From this point on the game puts more of an emphasis on gameplay rather than story and since the gameplay is already unfun they do so through artificial difficulty, a.k.a absolutely jacking the opponents stats through the roof requiring extreme patience and multiple attempts just to pray to RNJesus that they don't clobber your team 7 rounds in. It is not a casual player's game and requires a fair bit of outside research or someone looking over your shoulder if you're relatively unexperienced in card games. The story also takes a nosedive in the final few chapters as they disregard all character progression just in case one player didn't do the """Side"""" content which isn't """Side""" content because you need to do it to progress so it makes no sense why the characters can't just learn.

Dialogue is relatively drawn out and despite the main character stating that she "hates when people talk in roundabout ways" she then takes 3 minutes to get to the statement "City Bad" after every single fight. I once saw a review that said Project Moon should focus on Visual Novels and not bother with gameplay and I fully agree, This world is fantastic and I adore the city and I really REALLY want more people to enjoy it, I have bought it for friends and I have a damn youtube channel built around the series but there is more harm than good.

TL;DR: The first half of the game is flawless, the second half feels mismanaged and badly constructed ultimately bringing the whole experience down

Ruina is simultaneously one of the best and worst games I've ever played. I love it a ton and the first half of the game should be heralded as a masterclass of interesting worldbuilding and fair challenge. But that's the first half of the game, and unluckily enough the second half of the game isn't very good Up until what the game calls "Star of The City" a.k.a the halfway point is a game based in a dystopian city with loveable characters and a banging soundtrack, however the gameplay is pretty lacking and most of the time an absolute chore to slog through, but it's bearable because the fights are usually short and you're constantly meeting new foes with little to no repetition, then you get to Star and it all goes downhill from there. From this point on the game puts more of an emphasis on gameplay rather than story and since the gameplay is already unfun they do so through artificial difficulty, a.k.a absolutely jacking the opponents stats through the roof requiring extreme patience and multiple attempts just to pray to RNJesus that they don't clobber your team 7 rounds in. It is not a casual player's game and requires a fair bit of outside research or someone looking over your shoulder if you're relatively unexperienced in card games. The story also takes a nosedive in the final few chapters as they disregard all character progression just in case one player didn't do the """Side"""" content which isn't """Side""" content because you need to do it to progress so it makes no sense why the characters can't just learn. Dialogue is relatively drawn out and despite the main character stating that she "hates when people talk in roundabout ways" she then takes 3 minutes to get to the statement "City Bad" after every single fight. I once saw a review that said Project Moon should focus on Visual Novels and not bother with gameplay and I fully agree, This world is fantastic and I adore the city and I really REALLY want more people to enjoy it, I have bought it for friends and I have a damn youtube channel built around the series but there is more harm than good. TL;DR: The first half of the game is flawless, the second half feels mismanaged and badly constructed ultimately bringing the whole experience down