Interesting card mechanic stuck in a very generic and bad platformer.
You are tossed directly in, so there is no story. The main character resembles a rogue and possesses all of the abilities of classic platforming heroes. He can move quickly by jumping, attacking, and dashing. However, he can also cast cards, which is the game's distinguishing characteristic.
When you defeat an enemy, it will drop a ball, which when gathered becomes a card. It does not say what the card is, but you quickly notice that the same enemy always drops the same card. So the first two enemies, for example, will always drop a healing and an attack-boosting card.
Your deck contains all of the cards you have acquired. Because it is so easy to grind for a certain card or collect a large number of those you do not want, you can discard the undesirable ones by resting near a bonfire. This also heals you while respawning all enemies. If you die before saving at a fire, you will lose all cards earned since your last save point.
Cards cannot be used freely. First, you must replenish your energy by attacking. This is simple, and you can fill the entire bar with a few attacks. The entire bar holds ten units, and you need two to draw a card from the deck. Although the card is random, it makes no difference if your deck holds only the ones you want. Furthermore, there is enough room for ten cards, allowing you to continue drawing and scrolling between them.
Cards have a number under their title. This shows how much energy is required to use it. However, cards include a second number that indicates the energy level at which they can be used. Your energy bar has three levels, which you may upgrade by filling it up and hitting a button. Each level allows you to save more energy. Of course, energy may drop if you do not attack for a time.
While the card mechanic is interesting, albeit quite simple, the platforming is poor. The first issue is that the world is not exciting. It is simply made up of uninteresting paths and moving platforms that always lead to more of the same textures. You can also dash forward to the next fire and ignore all enemies. The game tries to prevent this with arena fights, but they're easy if you pay attention.
The second issue is that your character and the setting do not mesh nicely. This is obvious when jumping; if you come too close to a wall or edge, the jump won't be as high. However, the most annoying thing is constant tearing of the screen. It drops frames constantly and makes even simple jumps impossible. You can even kill an enemy and still get hurt when touching it.
