Elemental Exiles Review
It’s Elementary My Dear Exile
Deckbuilders often implement outlandish ideas to hook players into trying them, like unique settings or new gameplay elements to keep things fresh. The latter is attempted in Final Game Studio’s Elemental Exiles, with mixed results. The gameplay elements added are definitely the highlight, but with nothing special in the presentation it just makes for a title lacking that spark to keep players returning.
Elemental Exiles gives player a choice of four characters, with eight more available to unlock. Rudimentary starting quests provide backgrounds such as betrayal or revenge to propel players through the story. There’s little to these quests; the landmass they take place on isn’t even named and just provides unchanging locations as spaces for encounters to occur. If the chosen hero is able to beat all four of their bosses then the game can end, turning the unused encounters into a playground players can choose to dive into. While a few campaigns add a bit of comedy, such as a Grim Reaper that is desperately trying to retire, most are just background noise for the far more entertaining combat encounters.
Building a deck is relatively simple overall. There are attack, defense, and skill cards to choose from in non-elemental, fire, nature, or water variants. Some cards also add light or dark affinity to a player’s turn, which acts as a type of combat currency that other cards use for additional beneficial effects. The durability cost for cards means that players will generally want to select a new card for their combat reward, but players can pick to add a small amount of gold instead if healing at an inn or making a purchase is more important at the time. There are potions available for use that are collected along the way to help get out of tight spots, particularly when card draws don’t go their way. Players can purchase or find powerful blessings and curses that last multiple combat encounters, which are expensive but as powerful as characters’ innate abilities.
This Reaper was just one day away from retirement too.
Each of the heroes of Elemental Exiles has a unique perk that dictates how players might go about building their deck. These traits are simple blessings that are easily compatible with many cards, making it easy to build an effective deck. One adds two dark points every turn for a boon to cards with that trait, while another just doubles the gold the player receives making it easier to purchase items and cards. Players can find good synergy between the cards, and every one of them is useful to at least one of the heroes. It will take players at least a few playthroughs to come across the majority of cards that can be obtained, so there’s always something new to tinker with.
Players can purchase new cards from inns for currency, obtain them in trades or as rewards from narrative encounters, or win them through fighting. Combat encounters end with a choice of three random cards, dependent on the enemy; for example, facing off against an aquatic enemy will result in three water cards. Only boss encounters are fixed; regular combat encounters fluctuate each playthrough, which limits route planning when aiming to obtain specific types of cards. Unwanted cards can be dropped with a payment penalty, but a lot of the cards tie in for mini-combos, such as nature cards that do extra damage when played after a fire card, making them at least tangentially helpful.
Every hero starts their adventure with a deck of ten cards. During combat, they draw a hand of five cards each turn and are given five points of energy to spend using them. One of the twists is each card has a durability counter so players can’t just work with a small yet potent deck. Generally, the stronger and more complex cards have lower durability, and a few of the campaigns start players with a deck of partly used cards. Attack cards are depleted the quickest, with defense cards lasting longer since enemies don’t always attack the hero. Every turn, each enemy combatant shows whether they will be attacking, defending, or buffing/debuffing. Some enemy actions can be disrupted with a set number of attacks, symbolized by a broken yellow wheel, which causes them to do nothing instead. There is strategy to these disruptions, since there are cards that gain additional benefits when interrupting enemies.
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Combat also makes use of defensive cards that only last a single turn. Default defensive values are displayed on each card, but there’s an elemental triangle at play as well. For example a water shield is twice as effective against fire attacks, but only half as much against nature abilities. This adds an additional layer of strategy to deckbuilding as sometimes being too reliant on one element can make some foes harder to succeed against.
On top of being affected by debuffs, players can also be hindered by wound cards. These wounds stay in the deck until they are used, which either causes damage or debuffs to the player. This adds an interesting layer of strategy where players may find it beneficial to prolong combat in order to deal with wounds. Wound cards can also be traded during narrative encounters, but these situations are rare and shouldn’t be expected often.
Narrative encounters can vary quite a bit from playthrough to playthrough, but will begin to repeat after a few runs. Some offer percentage chances of something beneficial happening, such as a large cave potentially holding treasure, a combat encounter, or nothing at all. Certain encounters are just set up to frustrate, like pushy merchants that steal gold if nothing is bought at outlandish prices, or an imp forcing the player to take a card that clashes with their deck building. This element of luck adds a certain risk to narrative encounters. However, it is beneficial to enter every inn on the map. There’s nothing free at an inn, but it is the most reliable source of health restoration and offers a random selection of cards, blessings, and items for purchase.
A boss-sized debuff that can be disrupted on this turn.
Due to luck of the draw, it is likely that more than one run will be needed to clear a campaign. With an identical map on every playthrough, there are only a few different available routes to reach each campaign’s goals. Some story-specific bosses may be guarded by lots of minor combat encounters, while others await behind several bosses. Due to the constant map, tactical-minded players will be able to plot an optimal route to replenish lost cards and reach certain bosses. However, encounters can still be brutal with bad draws or non-optimal replacement cards after better ones have been used up.
While a lot of thoughtfulness was put into how Elemental Exiles‘s cards and events interact with each other, the presentation doesn’t come together as well. Combat has stiff arm-raising movements that result in unremarkable impact spots that only change depending on the element of the card used. Monster designs are varied and pleasing enough that that they stand out the most visually. Narrative events are restricted to just a few lines of dialogue and a related image. Music is played quietly and does little to stand out. This does help emphasize the sound effects, but nothing feels impressive. The star of the game is the combat and everything else is just window dressing.
Elemental Exiles tries to put a spin on the traditional deckbuilder. It is somewhat novel to see an identical map in use for each playthrough, as it makes the easiest routes more obvious. The biggest additions are the durability system and how elemental damage affects shielding. Despite being simple, these ideas create a whole new way of deckbuilding to dig into. However, there’s minimal story, encounters repeat after a few quick runs, and there’s nothing enticing about the presentation. This leads to a pedestrian execution of an otherwise solid concept. It is enjoyable in short bursts due to the variety, but the interest quickly drops off when things start to repeat.
Disclosure: This review is based on a free copy of the game provided by the publisher.
The element damage triangle makes for interesting strategic options
Every card has at least a little usefulness to it
Presentation gets lost behind the game mechanics
Becomes stale after experiencing everything once
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