Ember Strike

Awesome game with Free-2-Play Baggage! Pros: + Funtastic gameplay! Match 3 + PVP + RPG + skill shots = WOW! + Great art style & graphics! + Rich themed music! Cons: - RNG on summoning new monsters - RNG on summoning new monsters - RNG on summoning new monsters Although I don't recommend this "early access" game, I want this game to be a wild success and hopefully the devs at Reentry Games will read this review. I know I only have 5 hours into the game and at only level 35 w/all my monsters are level 12, I stopped playing PVP when I got to rank 20 because I can already see how RNG will kill this game. If you could implement a system like League of Legends where everytime you win a PVP match you get some sort of in-game currency to save up for a monster of your choice. Right now, it is all luck of the draw. I could put $50 into the game and still end up with 2-star cards. That's no fun. Yea yea, I can keep playing story mode to level 40 to test my RNG (and probably get another 1-star card), then keep playing PVP to grind gold so I can get to level 60 to test my RNG again (and probably get another 2-star card). Ember Strike has another form of currency called "essense" where you can actually pick which monster you want. I think this is Reentry Games way of getting rid of the RNG, but it actually promotes it. You achieve essense at the end of PVP season or when you get duplicates of the same monster. The higher rank in PVP you are, the more essense you get. So if you have good monsters from the get-go, you will be racking up essense no problem. Snowball effect. As for getting duplicates, RNG is also a killing blow here. If you're lucky, you'll get a new card. If you're unlucky, you'll get a duplicate of one of your many 1-2 star cards. Then the vicious cycle repeats. You stay ranked low in PVP arena, get miniscule essense, grind PVP to get gold to level up your monsters to get 100 summoning stones in story mode. Get another crappy monster or duplicate, repeat. The gameplay in this Ember Strike is so unique. I hope Reentry Games can find a new way to gain cash to make this game a wild success!