Trulon: The Shadow Engine is a turn-based card battle RPG on PlayStation 4. Check our Trulon: The Shadow Engine review to see why this is a fun one to play!
You play as Gladia, a young woman who is following in her father’s footsteps as a monster hunter. She is on a quest to hunt down monsters as she tries to save her homeland from a disease that is ravaging her village. Gladia is regularly hired by the local Mayor to kill various monsters, but lately the monster activity has increased with her workload considerably increasing as well. Gladia also gets involved in a political dispute between the kingdoms of Tripudia and Maelon, which could turn nasty unless Gladia finds a peaceful solution!
During Gladia’s adventures she will meet others who will become valuable members of her party since they have a shared common goal of working together to help find a cure for the disease while bringing peace to the land. Gladia is an Archer which means she excels in the use of a bow and arrow weapons. Roth is a Tank class and wields oversized blades. Ferra is a Wizard making magic a great asset, and then there is Violetta who is a Rogue class, and a mysterious character!
The game walks you through the card battle mechanics step by step so that you can learn the basics in a few minutes. At first you only have cards for attacking and defending, but as your deck grows you’ll be able to equip cards you can use under the tactics section – this is a must since as the game progresses enemies become more cunning and deadly.
You will also acquire cards that can cast a variety of spells such as fire, regeneration, healing and more. The same goes for attack and defense boosts. Your party members and your enemies will take in turns choosing the best cards to deal each other damage, with the basic goal being “defeat the opposing party group before they defeat you.” After each battle you are awarded EXP and sometimes new battle cards, and you can also find new cards in treasure chests. Since you cannot choose your hand at the start of each battle there is a bit of luck involved for winning battles, but as long as you level up you shouldn’t have an issue during regular battles.
The more you level up the more powerful you become, but you can’t end up grinding to over level, which is a clever way for devs to keep things interesting! There are no difficulty settings for this one, so the game will ramp up in difficulty on its own, and once you’re a few hours in, you should expect to die from time to time due to the randomness of each hand you draw.
The one issue I had was with the in-game text which is sooooo tiny and pretty much unreadable, which is a big no-no for a console release. Other than that, the game is a joy to play, with colorful and vibrant graphics and a solid battle system that will keep you busy as you try to find the best strategy for each conflict.
Trulon: The Shadow Engine is a short game, and there’s one trophy in particular that asks that you complete the game in less than five hours, which is doable but probably best that you do it during your second run. On the plus side, this one has a Platinum trophy and several Gold and Silver trophies for your time, so do keep that in mind! If you’re looking for a turn-based RPG with a twist, then be sure to check this one out!
Disclaimer
This Trulon: The Shadow Engine review is based on a PS4 copy provided by Headup Games.
