Alina of the Arena

This is a deceptively delightful game that quickly caught my attention shortly after getting into the deckbuilding genre by Slay the Spire. And after recently 100%ing the game after 80 hours it's only fair that I go over what made it stick so much. Pros: -Simple and familiar deckbuilding mechanics, card synergies work in unique ways and no tactic felt like it was particularly more effective than another, leading to a reasonably balanced experience overall. -The hexagonal grid and movement system gives the game an extra layer of considerable depth to combat. Movement is absolutely critical, and is rewarding to achieve by shifting around the battlefield but punishing for staying still and complacent at any moment. -Excellent art direction and sound design, the graphics and UI are tight, the sound effects are crunchy, and the game just overall runs smoothly and feels good to play, even on a controller. -A soundtrack that goes unfathomably hard for an indie game, especially the 2nd act boss fight. -A free demo to try! Cons: -Most runs can take REALLY long, up to 2 hours, and most normal runs can take up to an hour and a half. -Events are portrayed only by text and are lacking illustrations similar to how other games like StS does. -The game doesn't have that much worldbuilding or story beats, and are only really there during the game's ending (What story there is is serviceable enough, though) -The controls can be a bit confusing when you're starting out, especially on a gamepad or steam deck. It's a bit of a hassle just to pick up an item and put it in your inventory sometimes. There are also no warning popups indicating when an attack will strike an empty space, so it's entirely possible to misclick your intended target and swipe at the air. Overall, I'd highly recommend at least checking out the demo to see if it works for you. And if it manages to stick, then I'd say it's worth to go for at full price.