Duelyst: Blitz

I beta tested the OG like, over 10 years ago and played for years. People look at the OG with rosey red glasses and don't remember the meta being "solved" within a week of a patch. That being said, this is the classic version without the power creep that happened, and limiting mana to 6 and lowering the General's health to 20 did SO much for the game. The tempo is quicker, the decisions are more palpable. Shout out to this dev because they loved this game and are doing a very faithful job.

Combat pacing is nice, and most of the card rebalancing towards lower mana curve is ok for casual play, which I enjoy. However, the spirit orbs (getting new cards) progression is downright awful. I understand that dev wants to earn money, though very little thought was put into basic retention loop. If I need to play like 3 months every day just to have 1 competitive deck for 1 faction, there is no chance I will do it. There are options with low cost decks, and I used them (got S rank 1, as most of opponents feels like bot lobby), but when you run into those who paid money there is very low chance of winning. There is nothing fun about playing your low tier decks against opponents who have legendary grade cards which downright stronger or a better response that anything you could have in half a year as f2p player, focusing on just one deck on one faction. This is kinda sad, I really like duelyst 2 draw meta since the release.

It uses AI generated assets in the "new expansion"

It's a bit ♥♥♥♥ to not even let me unlock all my cards, or finish all the tutorial challenges, before you drop me into my very first match against someone two full tiers above me and using a meta deck! (to be clear, the challenges are gated behind playing x number of online games). So, I guess it's probably no more "pay to win and get your face smashed in by grognards" than any other collectable cardgame, including IRL ones, but it's made a terrible first impression! This PC version is also lacking. There's an option menu across the top of the screen that doesn't do anything useful (presumably it's the tool they're using to run this mobile port on PC). Right mouse button is treated just like left mouse button, so you'll go to cancel an action (out of muscle memory) only to misplay. Tooltips often open the wrong way such that the edge is cut off. Minor annoyances, but the main thing is it is, apparently, "shell out for the correct cards or be prepared to do nothing but lose for a while".

Duelyst: Blitz failed to repeat the success of Duelyst 1. Duelyst: Blitz also lags and runs slowly. It's difficult and takes a long time to obtain useful cards in the early period. The game mechanism isn't fun because it keeps a new player losing.

Great game made by a dedicated developer. It's clear a lot of effort and care went into the design.

The Blitz system is a great update to the classic formula of Duelyst and I enjoy it a lot. The lucky gold acquisition is fairly generous, but a bit of RNG. The game is as fun as in the old days. I would like more people play Gauntlet mode. New players should also get a bit of upfront card packs to get going.

good game!