Inscryption from Devolver Digital and Daniel Mullins Games is a must-play card-based experience on PlayStation 5. Learn more in our Inscryption review!
Inscryption from Devolver Digital and Daniel Mullins Games is a must-play card-based experience on PlayStation 5. It’s a very interesting experience presented as a roguelike card-based deckbuilding experience in which you’re dealt a hand of cards with woodland creatures that you must use to defeat your opponent. You’ll also collect items that can be used at any time during your turn – using all of them one after the other if you feel like it – to help you gain extra cards or resources.
You’ll draw cards from a deck and then play them from your hand onto the board. You’ll do this by selecting a card with the left analog stick or the D-Pad and pressing the X button. Some cards might have a special cost and said cost must be paid to bring them into play. Say you play a squirrel card from your hand and then want to play a stoat. To bring the stoat onto the board, you’ll first have to sacrifice the squirrel since the stoat requires one blood. Cards on the board will then battle it out once you press the R2 button to ring the bell. Cards will have values for attack and health. They will deal damage to enemies each turn until one of the cards is defeated. If a card is unopposed, it will directly deal damage to your opponent. This damage will be added to the scale on the left. If you manage to tip the scale all the way down on your opponent’s side, you’ll win the match.
During your turn, you can draw a card from your deck, or you can draw a squirrel. Squirrels always make for excellent sacrifices, and the certainty of knowing you’ll have a squirrel in your hand is an important resource. But sometimes, you need to take a chance and draw a random card from your deck so that you can tip the scales in your favor before it’s too late. You will also run into cards that require a cost to be paid not in blood but in bones. Bones will be obtained whenever one of your creatures perishes for any reason. That also includes sacrificing it, so you could, say, sacrifice a squirrel and gain one blood and one bone!
Inscryption makes great use of most of the features for the DualSense controller. Thanks to the controller’s haptic feedback, You will feel every hit, sense when cards are being shuffled, and experience every special action in a very interesting way. The sound that plays from the controller’s speaker, the way the light for the DualSense changes depending on the region you’re exploring or what is going on, it all makes for a very immersive experience on PlayStation 5.
Trophy-wise, this is a Cross-Buy title that will give you the PS4 and PS5 versions of the game with your purchase, and each one will have its own trophy list with a Platinum trophy to work on. The list includes a ton of trophies, with 25 Bronze trophies, 12 Silver trophies, and 3 Gold trophies. There will be trophies that pop when you defeat the game’s bosses or for completing miscellaneous objects, such as winning a battle with damage from squirrels or being defeated for the first time.
Inscryption is a clever card-based experience with roguelike elements that will remind you of, say, games such as Slay the Spire or the colorful Roguebook while also having some interesting twists to the formula, as well as some unexpected elements that will make this a memorable experience. That’s all I can say about the game without ruining your time with it, but rest assured that it’s one you have to add to your PlayStation collection. And once you beat the game, you’ll find a pleasant surprise that will keep you coming back for more. Inscryption is available as a Cross-Buy title with a $19.99 asking price, so you’ll get both the PS4 and PS5 versions with your purchase, each one with its own trophy list.
Disclaimer
This Inscryption review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by Devolver Digital.
