RAVE: Inscryption

 

I want to open this RAVE with a spoiler warning. This RAVE will come in 3 parts. The first part will be short and succinct. The second part will be a deep dive into why 'Inscryption' is my favorite game I played of 2023. However to do a deep dive into 'Inscryption' will give away some of the mystic and spoil a lot of a 'game' that I feel you should go in spoiler free. The second part is why this RAVE has taken a bit longer than I desired to write because I had to find a way to make sure the spoiler section of this RAVE had to stay hidden unless the person desires to read it. The third part is well... you will see.

PART ONE: It Wrinkles My Brain.

I had heard of 'Inscryption' the moment the game dropped. I saw some reviews and like this one, they were very guarded about spoilers. After I played it I understood why. 'Inscryption' is a game like no other and you'll be blown away how deep this rabbit hole goes. At it's core, it is a roguelite deck builder which I knew I would already get into based on my love for this particular sub-genre of the roguelite genre. However baked into it is a escape room where each piece of the puzzle you solve unlocks another piece until you are finally 'free'. That however it the most I want to give you in part one. 

If you watch the trailer, or see images of the game you'll get a feel for the mood of it. It's art style is very stylized and the dark atmosphere suits it so well. If this interests you than I will say you need to play it at least once, the rules which seem complex at first are actually not that hard to grasp and once you are hooked, you'll be hooked literally. There is a reason why this game is my game of 2023 and the fact that I have invested a lot of hours into it (estimate 150) within the span of 2 and a half months should show how much I enjoyed it. On that note; play it, preferably without spoilers and allow yourself to be taken. Now if you want to know more we are about to hit the spoiler territory.

PART TWO: This Changes Everything.

wtf. Never has a game made my jaw drop so continuously and messed with my expectations in ways I never knew it could. The marketing for 'Inscryption' is genius, they played us so well, we went expecting a dark fantasy card building version of 'Slay the Spire' or other games similar to it. We saw being able to pick cards for our deck, multiple paths to choose from with battles or rewards and a mission to escape a cabin we are stuck in. However sometimes just did not seem right, like why are certain cards talking to me. Why does the antagonist, keep asking you to make 'death cards' when you are defeated and why when you boot up the game, the new game option is always faded out and we can only continue. This pervading mystery draws us in deeper and soon you are solving puzzles in the small cabin we can not leave and in between card battles, we are getting closer to the truth. There is more to meets the eye and after you first defeat of the antagonist and at your moment of triumph, you are thrown into a 'real world' scenario and you meet Luke Carder. Luke is just your regular guy who found a game called 'Inscrpytion' and is some how drawn into it just like we are. Just when Luke's quest get serious, we are back inside our game and we are able to claim our prize. We beaten the game... right... right?

No, this is when the beauty of 'Inscryption' reveals itself, hidden inside the game we just completed is a completely different game. Still similar rules with some new twists and new enemies but the core is the same. It is just everything else is different. The first time I was at the title screen and the new game option lit up, I was like what is going on? and it only got weirder from there. The game goes from a dark fantasy told from the first person perspective to a third person RPG from the Genesis/ SNES era. The mood is even a bit lighter and all the major players from Act 1 are still here in Act 2. They are all now antagonist and interspersed into battle against them we see our friend Luke again and his continued quest to unravel the enigma that is 'Inscryption'.

Once I had beaten all the bosses in Act 2 and fought a 'final' battle against the true enemy the game messed with me again and BOOM it takes on a new look.  Welcome to Act 3. We are back to the first person escape room but the aesthetics have changed complete and just like before some of the rules have changed but it is still same core. When this happened again I was shocked again and the game continued to play with me, a sub-boss that examines your real hard-drive, a sub-boss connected to the internet that summons people to either help or hinder me and even more wild mechanics that keep me on my toes. We kept getting more info about Luke as well and what his investigation into 'Inscryption' had lead him too (psst its not nice). After taking down my final opponent, I expect another twist but it ended and once the credits rolled I immediately started another new game. This time I flew through it, knowing how to unlock all the secrets in the cabin from previous trial and error, building a broken card in Act 2 which would sustain in my Act 3 and I beat the game for the second time... and I started another playthrough. This is the beauty and the madness of 'Inscryption' that even after beating the game multiple times now, I could still go back in and do another full story run (more on runs in a bit). On average I can beat the story mode (depending on my deck) within 5-6 hours now which is wild cause the first time I believe it took me 7-9 hrs but I kept on playing it until I finally had my fill. The fun however did not stop there.

PART THREE: When It Becomes a Addiction

So during my second or third playthrough I heard rumblings of a bonus mode the game had to offer. I had even unlocked it after beating the game the first time, it was a endlessly re-playable Act 1 called 'Kaycee's Mod'. I was interested and after exhausting the story mode, I dive right into the pure Roguelite mod and boy was I in for a shock. This mod adds new cards, mixes up the 3 main maps, adds new events and so much more. Added to the mix were 'starter' decks which you can unlock and challenges who actually make the game a lot more challenging. From automatically losing 1 point of health at the beginning, restricting the items you have all the way to the infamous wall of Grizzly bears boss battle. This was the mode were I spent most of the remaining 100 hrs plus as I unlocked more secrets and with every victory even more story lore which was pretty cool. The first couple runs were super hard due to a very moderate deck option but once you unlocked some of the stronger starter decks, you really get going.

Kaycee's Mod is also self aware, with the antagonist even recognizing some of the games normal elements has been changed (the first stage needing an intro when it shows up as the third stage for example) and some of the really 'broken' card combos have been toned down (tho OP cards still exist thankfully or the mod would not be beatable). This mod made it more inline with what people thought they were going to get with original game and whilst it is an amazing addition I am happy we still actually got the story and the progression of the game changing concept of the 'real' game. That is what made 'Inscryption' memorable to me and why I believe it to be my favorite game of 2023. No other game had taken my expectations and threw them out the window and I LOVED them for it.

Also the fact that this game is purely the brain child of one man, Daniel Mullin has really made me sit up and notice his games. He already has a new game on the horizon; Pony Island 2 which is a sequel to another crazy game he made and from the previews it already looks like more of the insanity we got in 'Inscryption'. Speaking of, I'll definitely be looking into the original Pony Island and his other 'game' The Hex because if they are as trippy as 'Inscryption' is, I know I am in for a treat.

So without a doubt, this is a RAVE and I say without hyperbole, you should play 'Inscryption' and be blown away.

AV

AV