The Final Ascent

Alright, where to start with this one... First, I received the product for free during beta from my friend (the creator). We have known each other a long time and he is VERY familiar with how stubborn I am, especially when it comes to what games I want to play (still won't touch his FPS of choice). I have never even liked this genre very much, despite dabbling from time to time, one hour was my peak. This game, The Final Ascent, has been done differently. I feel like my brain has been hacked by subterfuge. He gave me the code, as a good friend I was obligated to give it a try. So I did... TEN STRAIGHT HOURS LATER I found myself building my deck and attempting to maintain the highest completion time of the Trickster class. It started slow, inviting, I grabbed a cup of coffee and began my ASCENT! Several hours in I realized I was out of Mt. Dew AND Coffee. The game sped up, limited by only myself. I went from Larz yelling at me for wasting turns and cards I should have used to min-maxing everything I could to beat the other Trickster on our closed beta leaderboards (I don't even know the other player as I write this). For someone who has 13 hours in this game currently, and can say without a doubt I believe in the genre now more than ever, here is what I would give as an expectation. 1. It'll start slow, curious, and might feel overwhelming as the climb becomes aggressively difficult. 2. Difficulty, failure and mistakes lead to faster climbs. You will plunder your way through where you already have conquered and move right back into the areas of difficulty. 3. You'll have fun building your deck differently, be it the starter setup of your choice or how you intake cards along the way. Trying different builds early is crazy fun but expect different limitations as you explore builds. 4. You will cuss at the screen. That's ok, it means it's working. You got your $4.99 worth once the first adult word is formed betwixt your lips. 5. Figuring out a powerful build that you also enjoy, you will by then have collected enough high level cards to win for the first time. The first successful climb to floor 100 is finished! Congrats! 6. The game is conquered, you beat the final boss, found your favorite deck build...Now it begins. The leaderboard calls like a siren. I thought I escaped the arcade days of old, until I spent all day at work thinking about how the other Trickster was probably in the middle of beating my time...I have only played the one class as of writing this review, I love it so much that I still have not had my fill of it. To think there are currently three other classes I have yet to venture! "The Leaderboard whisper..."