Demon’s Mirror is a rogue-like card battler, by developer Be-Rad Entertainment and publisher Good Shepherd Entertainment, with procedurally generated campaigns that are not so easily completed. I certainly tried to get to the end, but I failed. Failure, however, built me up and trained me to be a more skilled pathfinder and pattern identifier. Demon’s Mirror is an engaging card battler, and it turned out to be more than I expected.
There is not much of a story to explore right out of the box. We are lured to the mystery surrounding these mysterious ornate mirrors in the woods. They say that these mirrors are dangerous and otherworldly, not to mention demonic. We know better, but one day we approach one such mirror and behold our very own warped reflection. Taken in by this novelty, our demon-self grabs us and thrusts us into a new world. We don’t know where we are, but we instinctively do know that there is a castle at the end of our path; we need to get there. And so, our story begins.
We opt to play as our wolf-demon variant at the beginning of the game. There are three types of demons we can choose from once we unlock them. Each has their own flavor and utility of cards to be drawn and delt. The three variants are: the wolf-like creature with massive claws, a lizard wizard, and a steam punkish technophilic axolotl with a bow and arrow (my personal favorite). The first screen we come across pertains to the procedural path that we need to navigate, similar to many other rogue-likes. Players need to anticipate both the rewards and challenges for each branching road. There are encounters, such as a “random encounter” that may result in a reward or unforeseen punishment from a narrative choice. You may encounter shops to buy trinkets, scrolls, and cards. You may also encounter mobs of enemies, both low tier and boss tier.
Card battles may often time feel as though it is more about luck than skill. Soon enough, you realize it is a little bit of both. You are generally the first character to act in any given encounter, but you are limited each round to number of action points. Your action points dictate which cards you may deal with and are also spent when interacting with the tiles on the right side of the stage. This is not very ideal to me; however, it may mean the difference between a narrow loss and a pyrrhic victory.
You need to connect the tiles; try to connect as many as possible to maximize the output of that tile type. Types include damage dealing, shielding, crystals, and energy. If you collect 10 crystals, then you unlock three potential prizes. It can vary, like granting a +6 shield, afflicting all enemies with a debuff, etc. If you collect energy, then that may reduce the cost of action points afforded to you and enhance the effectiveness of your cards. At random points in the battle, there may be a universal tile placed onto the screen with two numbers labeled on it: one for the amount of damage it will do to you and another for how many turns you have in order to do something about it. You essentially need to connect a lot of tiles (with a path including the universal tile) to combat this threat. As the game gets more difficult, the more annoying these challenges will become, often having to deal with multiple universal tiles.
In my opinion, tiles take away attention from the cards. Though, this may be the intention. Cards are mostly generic blocks and strikes until more are found, bought, or unlocked during each playthrough. I like that each demon has its own cards and special abilities. The axolotl for example can utilize his own tile type, a sort of machinery, that can be interacted with. One card allows the player to sacrifice his tile to raise a +9 shield. In other cases, players can use cards to buff themselves and debuff their enemies. The idea is to utilize both the cards and tiles effectively in order to win each encounter.
Demon’s Mirror is more than I expected from a card battler. These titles are generally not my bag, but I found myself enjoying the pain of almost making it to the end on three occasions. I strongly dislike the gameplay with the tiles, namely when the damage inbound is very high, and chances are I can’t mitigate it in time. The weird part is that I will have been scrapping with an insignificant enemy, like a dog, but the sword of Damocles is intimidating me from afar, waiting to wreck my day. In spite of that feature, I would give Demon’s Mirror a recommendation. I think a fair rating for this title is an 8.5 out of 10.
Demon’s Mirror is available for PC via Steam for $19.99.
Related: Reviews by John Pruitt
I like to think of myself as the average Joe who grew up alongside video games. I have fun playing strategy games, RPGs, shooters, sandboxes, the whole shebang! Every game provides an experience whether it strikes you as profound, mundane, or someplace in between. I'd like to weigh in my two cents before you spend a single penny.
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