Aside from the new additions like new enemies and modes, how will Monster Train 2 up the ante from its predecessor?

Monster Train 2 (MT2) is all about improving on every aspect of the first game. In addition to five new clans – each with new gameplay mechanics and strategic possibilities – one of our major new features is customizable Pyre Hearts. The heart of the Pyre powers your train and is what you must keep safe to survive to the end of a run. In MT2, there are over 10 different Pyre Hearts to unlock, each with different stats and gameplay mechanics to add more strategic depth to runs.

"Monster Train 2 is all about improving on every aspect of the first game."

What are some examples of how the new card types will interact with each other?

MT2 adds two new card types: Equipment and Room cards. Equipment cards are applied directly to your units and empowers them with various abilities. Room cards enhance a specific room in the train for the duration of the current battle. Both types of cards can be used in parallel because they affect different parts of game – units and rooms – but only one Equipment card can be equipped on a unit and only one Room card can be installed in a room.

How exactly will Endless Mode work in Monster Train 2? What kind of difficulty scaling can we expect to see?

We see Endless Mode as a dessert on top of the main course (runs). The player can enter Endless Mode if they win the run, continuing into a series of infinite battles, creating an opportunity to see just how far your deck can go. Enemies start at a challenge level around matching the end of a run and scale up from there as you make forward progress. Between each battle the player must pick a positive boon and a negative one to keep things interesting. We keep track of your best Endless Mode statistics in our Logbook so you can continue to try to improve on your records!

How have other similar card games affected the design process for Monster Train 2?

The development team are big fans of non-digital CCGs like Magic: The Gathering, which obviously uses a mix of spells and units as its core combat mechanics, as well as Hearthstone‘s PvE draft modes which feature a rapid rate of deck drafting. Of course, there’s also Slay the Spire which demonstrated that there was an audience for this sort of game and has the idea of passive items that give bonuses, as well the first breakout digital drafting roguelike, Dream Quest – which had our lead designer hooked over a long Christmas break.

"Of course, there’s also Slay the Spire which demonstrated that there was an audience for this sort of game"

How will the new clans in Monster Train 2 differentiate themselves from what we saw in the original Monster Train?

Each of the new clans has new mechanics not seen in the first game, both in terms of the types of status effects they employ and their utilization of Equipment and Room cards. As an example, the Banished clan feature in our demo can grant units a way to fly to any position in the train. This works via another new feature, Unit Abilities, where individual units have activated abilities with a cooldown.

Are there any plans for post-launch content for Monster Train 2 in the form of expansions?

The honest answer is that it is going to depend on how well the game sells, but we have a lot of ideas and hope to be able to support the game post-launch with content updates.

Can you give us an example of what we can expect from the new random events in Monster Train 2?

MT2 features a wide variety of new random events that can occur at “Celestial Alcoves” during runs. Many of them have new mechanics and choices to consider in terms of positive benefits and periodic negative trade-offs. Some of our events include some surprise characters from other games that the dev team are fans of. While I can’t announce specifically what those are at this time, I think they are really cool additions to Monster Train.

Are there any plans to potentially bring some kind of multiplayer mode to Monster Train 2 down the line?

Monster Train 2 has asynchronous leaderboard based multiplayer modes, like the Daily Challenge, where you can try to score higher than other players. We have no plans for any synchronous multiplayer modes currently.

"Monster Train 2 has asynchronous leaderboard based multiplayer modes"

What kind of release window are you looking at for Monster Train 2?

Very soon! Monster Train 2 will release May 21, 2025 on PC, PlayStation 5, Switch, and Xbox Series S|X. We’re very excited for everyone to play it.

As a developer, what are your thoughts on the PS5 Pro? How does boost in GPU help in developing your game compared to the base PS5?

Overall, new tech is always interesting to me, so I think it’s great that Sony has brought new capabilities to developers and customers. Monster Train 2 isn’t a particularly graphics-intensive game in terms of compute demand (though it looks good I think!) so the PS5 Pro’s enhanced GPU capabilities don’t make a significant impact on this game. However, for games that can utilize it, I think it’s great.

What are your thoughts on PSSR? What kind of opportunities will this open for the game?

It looks like an interesting technology to help improve framerates in games that are really pushing the GPU to the limits. It won’t benefit Monster Train 2, which is not a demanding game on the GPU.

What resolution and frame rates will the game target on the Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PS5 Pro?

I may sound like a broken record here, but as a strategy game without significant demands on the GPU, we haven’t put a lot of time into thinking about this. The game runs at the native resolution of the device it is plugged into and aims to run at the refresh rate supported by the device.

Do you have any plans to launch the game on the Switch 2?

We have nothing to announce regarding Switch 2 currently.

Featuring five new clans, players embark on a journey to take back Heaven from the Titans and prevent the world’s destruction. Each has unique playstyles, and you’ll once again have to space out units across three train floors to succeed. There are new Room and Equipment Cards, with the former providing boosts and the latter granting bonuses to units.

A new hub, the Covenant Outpost, also awaits while players can equip Pyre Hearts to mix up the gameplay. Those hoping for more can complete challenges and activate Mutators to earn new cosmetics. If that wasn’t enough, there are Daily Challenges, the Celestial Alcoves with random events, and Endless Mode.

Monster Train 2 doesn’t have a release date, but you can try out the demo on PC via Steam.

Helldivers 2 PSN account backtrack

Sony came within a hair’s breadth of tanking their runaway success of the year with the perplexing requirement for PC users to link a PSN account to Steam to play Helldivers 2. If you didn’t already own a PSN account it’d be mandatory to make one to carry on playing. Sony’s act of self-sabotage caused widespread discontent, of course, but was also set to lock players from the 177 countries without PSN access out of the game. Fortunately, Sony put their collective heads together and reversed the decision, review bombing was ceased with sales – now eclipsing 12 million – continuing. 

]]> 606227 https://gamingbolt.com/inkbound-review-kwill-rain Mon, 15 Apr 2024 10:35:24 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=584090 Rogue-like deck-builders are a dime a dozen – creative and distinct, sure, but overwhelmingly prevalent. The sheer creative freedom has resulted in some incredible games, especially for fans who want more. Now Shiny Shoe is back with Inkbound, this time embracing a 3D role-playing approach with turn-based combat. An initial glance may not make it seem like much – roguelike turn-based titles aren’t exactly unique either – but it puts a twist on things and executes them well. You also have different classes, each with fun play styles and abilities to upgrade and ascend in multiple different ways. Also, various passives can enable certain builds, or provide other benefits. There’s also a story that progresses between runs and when completing objectives.

It’s a lot to take in, but that’s one of the beauties of Inkbound. The complexity is the appeal, unraveling naturally and non-threateningly but pushing you to adapt and respond as the difficulty ramps further.

You start as a Needless, emerging from the sea of Ink with little more than a shape and even less of a purpose. After encountering the mysterious beings, Bin and Nib, you gain an Aspect, which serves as a class with unique abilities and defines your overall look. Defeating a Guardian of the Void brings you to the Atheneum, a massive junction of books and stories you can venture into. It turns out that the Blight is slowly engulfing and corrupting the worlds within the books, and the Inkbound, the so-called hero, has shut themselves in to find a solution.

Along with other Needless, it’s your job to venture into the stories and wipe out the Unravelled forming from the Blight, gathering the Ink necessary to keep the Bindery going. There are several questions to answer, like why the collected Ink doesn’t seem enough, why the Inkbound doesn’t venture outside of their study, and, of course, what is causing the Blight.

"Upon entering the void, you can choose from one of three books, each with a different world, characters, enemies and bosses to interact with…"

It’s all intriguing without getting too meta, and each character has an interesting story to tell, whether it’s the Counselor and how easily awkward she is with the Needless, or the happy-go-lucky Spooler and their brother, the serious Tinkerer (both mysteriously never in the same spot at the same time). You also have mysterious figures like the Carver, who left the Atheneum and now plies his trade selling Augments, Bindings and Vestiges. As you get to know them and fulfill their requests, their collective history is revealed – alongside unlocking new items and Aspects that can aid the player through runs.

The audio mixing of some characters can feel a bit low at times, but otherwise, the voice acting is good. Overall, the narrative is well-delivered, not quite having the same immediacy after the opening few hours, but picking up again as you bond with each character.

When starting in the Atheneum, you can choose between a regular run and Daily Challenges. Upon entering the void, you can choose from one of three books, each with a different world, characters, enemies and bosses to interact with (not to mention the unique mysteries and Aspects tied to them). They each look aesthetically pleasing, and the bright yet sickly purple of the Blight intertwines with them quite well. Performance is rock solid at almost all times, despite the odd stutter when hitting multiple enemies with a Binding and simultaneously afflicting them with status effects.

Depending on the routes taken, you could happen upon more challenging enemy encounters (which provide more rewards), rifts with multiple choices to bolster your run (like copying Vestiges or receiving Augments for your Bindings) and breaking down Vestiges for set bonuses. You have a choice at almost every turn and can opt to tone down the challenge if your health is low or you need globules for purchasing Augments and Bindings instead of the more common Kwillings.

"The Aspects themselves are all well-designed and facilitate different kinds of builds and play styles."

When combat starts, you can spend Will to activate different abilities. Orbs will also spawn, granting Will if scooped up while reducing ability cooldowns. After ending your turn, enemies execute their actions simultaneously and so on. The twist is that you can move around in a limited space on your turn, letting you effectively dodge some enemy attacks or reduce damage from those that hit the entire arena. It’s also necessary to avoid the Blight that creeps in from the outer edges, which deals damage if you step in it.

Orbs also grant some movement, but you must judge whether they’re worth collecting immediately to reduce the cooldown on some abilities or later for potential dodging. Though encounters start simply enough, more varied enemies – like those who will prioritize attacking players who hit them first or amplify their teammates – push you to change up some tactics, which further plays into the different Aspect roles.

For instance, maybe you want to get the attention of certain enemies and redirect their attacks towards you when playing as the Obelisk since it can gain Shields with its basic attack, stack Spikes to inflict damage back on enemies and so on.

The Aspects themselves are all well-designed and facilitate different kinds of builds and play styles. The Magma Miner can bonk enemies and leap around to deal damage in an area, building up Heat stacks for more damage, but must end turns with attacks, lest they lose all stacks. The Weaver attaches threads to enemies to gain shielding and Threaded for enhancing their abilities, and distribute damage to all connected foes or pull them towards a point.

"Further adding to this are the Vestiges, which grant passive abilities and bonuses, like gaining additional Will under certain circumstances or reducing the cooldown on your Bindings when picking up Orbs."

Of course, this is a rogue-like, which means you can upgrade Bindings with different Augments over a run, whether it’s inflicting Dazed to reduce an enemy’s damage or reducing their Will cost and cooldown. Bindings also have Ascensions, completely changing how they function and allowing you to specialise further in different play styles.

You can also acquire other Bindings outside the starting three for each Aspect, like Blink for teleporting or Afterimage, which grants a stack of Blur (thus reducing damage by 1 for that turn) and a Critical Charge for a random ability. There’s plenty of variety here, whether you’re playing as an Obelisk that goes all in on spikes and shielding or a Mosscloak that stacks status effects to further aid in burst damage with their shurikens. The opportunity for interplay with other Aspects in multiplayer is also pretty good, which we’ll get to. However, solo play is equally as enthralling, even if some Bindings and Augments are clearly the better options at higher difficulties.

Further adding to this are the Vestiges, which grant passive abilities and bonuses, like gaining additional Will under certain circumstances or reducing the cooldown on your Bindings when picking up Orbs. If you collect Vestiges of a specific set, you get set bonuses for added physical damage, extra health after battles and more. They can even avail additional effects, like spike damage inflicting Pincushion, causing enemies to take 10 percent more damage till the turn ends.

But wait, it gets better – by destroying a Vestige, you permanently gain the equivalent of two pieces in the set bonus. So while you won’t benefit from the damage resist and extra Spiked stacks from Swindler’s Getaway if it’s destroyed, you do get the two-piece set bonus for Pincushion and Warden for a permanent +5 Spiked damage and 10 Damage Resist.

"Once you’ve completed a run, gaining XP from quests and unlocking new Vestiges and cosmetics, you can attempt higher difficulties."

Knowing when to destroy a Vestige and gain its effects and strategically planning which ones to pick up for their set bonuses versus their passive effects can impact more challenging runs. Still, it can lead to some pretty broken effects, like gaining absurd amounts of shielding and Spiked damage to insta-gib enemies who hit you.

Further progressing through the story also unlocks Relics, which can be equipped before runs and provide different benefits, like permanently increasing Magic damage for every little bit of Physical damage dealt and vice versa. I wasn’t a fan of all of them – some provide a two-piece set bonus from the start, which is good but not always the most exciting proposition. Still, there is a decent amount of experimentation.

Guardians await at the end of locations, and they can get tough especially if you don’t kill them fast enough to avoid the encroaching pool of Blight. It’s the Villains who are the real challenge – each possesses even more unique mechanics, like having to defeat medium-sized enemies to cleanse the damage over time stacks that Cynder inflicts or taking out the tentacles of Argolath. Each is fun to fight in its own way, though I found the non-Guardian boss before them to be more challenging due to an excessive number of minions and the Blight.

Once you’ve completed a run, gaining XP from quests and unlocking new Vestiges and cosmetics, you can attempt higher difficulties. Each has a modifier that can make the overall run more challenging, and while they may not seem terrible on their own, they stack with previous tiers. There are also Book Modifiers which further add to the challenge, like causing enemies to heal or gain damage resist each turn.

"Perhaps the only downside is that environments are all fundamentally the same in terms of structure and layout."

While you do gain some rewards for opting into the challenge, these provide a slight edge rather than neutralizing any negative modifiers. While Difficulty 1 and 2 felt pretty good, Difficulty 3 felt slightly overtuned with the penultimate boss. Maybe further tuning is required, but it felt like such a baffling contrast, even on lower difficulties, compared to the final Villain.

This is probably where bringing in other players becomes necessary, and Inkbound allows for matchmaking with others pretty seamlessly. Multiplayer also brings a new dimension to combat since you’re considering your teammate’s Aspect and unconsciously coordinating with them but also looking to maximize your positioning and Orbs on the field (which are more in number). Enemies are tankier, which makes sense but makes you wonder how things will fare at higher difficulties. As it stands, Inkbound is a very enjoyable solo experience but shines all the more in multiplayer.

It does tend to get repetitive, which the overall genre can suffer from now and again, but it scratches that feeling of “one more run,” and multiplayer is a great facilitator in that regard. Perhaps the only downside is that environments are all fundamentally the same in terms of structure and layout. The overall flow of Garden’s Edge and Silent Promenade is pretty much the same despite their wildly different atmosphere and settings.

"Inkbound may not immediately grab you, even with its unique premise and gorgeous visuals. It’s when you dive into combat that things start to click."

Outside of meeting specific characters, they don’t have unique rooms or mechanics to consider when progressing. While it’s somewhat understandable to homogenize things, especially for multiplayer, I would have appreciated a little variety to make them stand out from the pack.

The overall progression is more focused on granting new Vestiges that appear in runs and Keys for unlocking new Relics than permanent power increases that persist between runs. Though it originally had monetization in early access, this has been removed in favor of Dust to purchase cosmetics from previous seasons. Character customization is decent – nothing too over-the-top initially, but you get some decent cosmetic pieces for free.

Inkbound may not immediately grab you, even with its unique premise and gorgeous visuals. It’s when you dive into combat that things start to click. There are extensive quests and challenges to complete and leaderboards to compete solo and with a group, so plenty will keep you busy. Despite some quibbles, its build variety and multiplayer make it one of the more solid turn-based rogue-likes available.

This game was reviewed on PC.