Shadowveil: Legend of The Five Rings

Oh, this is a bad game lmao. The art and music are fine. The sound effects are a little weird and intrusive---lots of crispy crackly and little pings at odd times, fully apart from the traditional instruments in the soundtrack. The writing is okay, although dragged down by the supremely mid voice directing. But none of these are the actual problem with Shadowveil, because Shadowveil is both boring and grindy. And by grindy, I don't mean in a fun brain off way. I mean I spent two hours retrying the first mission and that is a standard gameplay experience. Shadowveil is a dumb as rocks autobattler that feels like it was designed to be a gacha, then awkwardly pivoted into single player on the way out the door. You drop some units on the field, they run at and rng swing on the nearest enemy mob, often they find the most innovative ways to pathfind into death zones and spots where they can be useless. You can speed up combat, but there's still lots of little waits built into the UI which sucks because these would be fine in a more deliberate and reflective game but here you just wanna grind five hundred goblins to see if you can finally get past the starting boss. The game also does a miserable job communicating this. The UI is stiff and the tooltips you kind of have to coax into popping up. It feels buggy, even if they mostly got rid of the last wave of bugs in their "I'm done with this game forever" patch. Shadowveil does not tell you that you need to sandbag a bunch of runs to get your two supporting characters levelled, nor do most substats and values that you need to calculate actually have an explanation for what they do. Energy does.. something. It's probably important, but Shadowveil shuts up when you ask. Progression is slow and meager and you can screw it up, and this isn't even getting into the basebuilding. In regular roguelites, you get some currency to build your base between runs. But Shadowveil REALLY wants you to clear the first chapter before it'll let you touch any of that, and in order to clear the first chapter you have to sandbag for over two hours. I think there's a playable jankslop title under all of this, but it's just not worth the effort to monotonously grind a game that doesn't feel fun to play and isn't offering any hope that it'll get better. Just play Mahokenshi. It's the same type of thing but you can schmoove, it's tutorialized well, and it's actually fun to play. Edit: Oh, you can super brick yourself in a lot of easy to miss ways. Such as, if you spend political capital on an upgrade, you lock yourself out of getting any more political capital ever (pending a very rare rng drop). I'm assuming there are issues like this in the game because the playtesters kept screaming and climbing out of the building rather than be forced to play it.

Really enjoy the lore aspect of the game and deck building. It is very similar to Inscryption so if you enjoy games like that with the lore of LoTFR then I highly suggest trying this game. There is quite a bit of voice acting in the game so it isnt just some odd noises or walls of text to read. Right now the game is still in early design and as such has a decent amount of content ,but I do not suggest binging on it as you can burn thru both storylines fast. I really think it has a solid start and hope they full expand on more stories plus clans as I think the base of the game is pretty fun and worth playing. I would like to include that it seems many negative reviews are focused on a misunderstanding of the combat cycle. This is a deck builder with tactical placement again like games like Inscryption although you do not have to worry about random draws during the fight as much as RNG rewards where you equip the cards on the hero characters that auto fire during combat phases. I will point out that it takes getting use to placing guys on the grid to try and get the AI to focus attacks where you want them too. Think of Balloon defense games like placing a barrier to for enemy on traps or your own guys to funnel toward a specific target. There is more tactics than I think some give credit for with placement of your army.

This game is very good. I've played L5R RPG table for many years with my friends, and it is a blast having to play this game now. A few points to consider, that could make the game even better: 1 - The watchtower have little improvements 2 - It is sad to only have the crab to choose from on the main game (I know that fighting the shadow lands is their thing, however, many other clans send Samurais to the wall and with that said, could be a nice storytelling opening for other characters) 3 - Having just 2 main characters is lackluster 4 - A few conversations would make no sense in the kingdom of Rokugan due to Honor 5 - Would be nice to have more into play, it could be even more close to what is a RPG player sheet

As a casual player who has only spend a very limited amount of time trying deck building strategy games and who enjoyed auto-battler like TFT, I have to say this game is pretty fun and I beat the game in 15 hours. Beating the game caught me by surprise as I have a lot of things(I would say more than half of the buffs, and I haven't unlocked anything beyond the basic cards for each class). The only real issue(BUG) I had was in one of the Boss round (which you will encounter a few times), the boss blocked one of the battle flag (maybe because the boss collision fully covers the flag) and the flag just happen to by default spawn behind the boss and I can't grab the flag to place it where I want which is crucial to the tactic strategy but I was still able to beat the game fairly easy and quickly. The classes and cards are all pretty fun and I wish I unlocked the classes earlier too since they really have cool card and combos. In my opinion this game did well of introducing each class and game mechanism in a not overwhelming way and keep the new player hooked to keep playing, the repetitiveness wasn't to bad but I do think there is lack of content in the campaign and basically no end game. I bought this game on discount so I enjoyed it a lot. I probably wouldn't suggest buy it at the full price and I am looking forward to new updates or even DLC!

I like this game but it has too many flaws. The atmosphere is dark and broody, the characters have lots of charm, the theme is cohesive and well put together. For an autobattler, it has a decent foundation to work off but falls flat for a number of reasons. Going through some easy reasons, there are graphical bugs. For example, there are times you will be offered a reward, switch to your inventory to evaluate your options, and shift back to your rewards and find that everything is blurry and hard to read. There are also screens mid-run which will show your character's HP but they are simply too small to make out despite sitting in front of a computer screen. Moving away from graphical complaints, this game has very poor gameplay mechanics that do not respect your time. For one, lots of upgrades cost resources from your runs. Your runs have some resources which are abundant and other resources which you may never randomly pick-up during your run, such as a resource called "Political Capital". This is important because you will be locked out of ~12 upgrades until you obtain ~24 political capital which must be randomly obtained during a random run. Mind you, by selecting political capital as a resource reward, you will also be shorting yourself manpower, thus, ending your run in the near future... Did I mention this game is grindy and doesn't respect your time? Yes? Well, unlike most roguelikes, Shadowveil uses stat based mechanics. This is important because friendly units and enemies will have their own stats as well, such as Health Points, Defense, Attack, etc. This is important because as you progress through the game, your characters will encounter stronger enemies, which have higher stats, and you will lose, simply because you don't have enough upgrades and enough stats. You will have to grind run after run, after run, after run, ad nauseum, and reducing the difficulty by 30% just to start making some progress while slowly leveling up your characters. I have also run into some bugs such as my one unit disappearing at the beginning of a fight, costing me a loss, and my synergy bonus (a moveable flag that gives buffs), getting stuck behind a big boss. Ultimately, I did like this game, some what. But there is just so much wrong with this game that I dislike it even more and cannot recommend it to other players.

I really like the game. The music and gameplay suits my taste. But the bugs that come with it done me in. The first and most important bug is if you have just pick the game up, just remember to do side quests for each act before finishing the act. Else, the perma buffs are lost forever. The visual bug make me unable to choose the rewards after fights. And finally the hitbox for using skills/items in prep phase are so bad it discourage me from continue.

A casual rogue-like. You equip and level your characters, and gradually build your expeditions resources during a run. Combats you set your characters initial positioning, choose what abilities are equipped...but the auto-attacking and moving after combat starts is all automatic. Between fights you'll tweak the setups, possibly deal with weird events or shops, etc before your next combat. On its own this is a satisfactory game, as there are few casual rogue-likes that have semi-idle combat (which is rather chill) But chances are very good if you are looking at this game because its set in the world of 5 rings. If you enjoy that, you'll enjoy this. If you have no idea what the world of five rings is, come on in, its a good introduction to the Crab Clan. I cleared the game in about 20 hours, which was great. I got all the content and there wasn't a needless grind so the game didn't overstay it's welcome.

One of the most addictive games in the genre. Familiarity with the L5R world isn't necessary, but it is enriching.

Shadowveil: Legend of The Five Rings is a roguelite strategy game that successfully combines autobattler mechanics, tactical squad management, RPG progression, and deckbuilding-inspired systems into a surprisingly layered experience. Developed by Palindrome Interactive and published by Palindrome Interactive, Amplifier Studios, and THQ Nordic, the game takes place within the long-running Legend of the Five Rings universe and focuses on the Crab Clan’s desperate struggle against the horrors emerging from the Shadowlands. While the idea of mixing autobattling with tactical RPG mechanics may initially sound overly complicated, Shadowveil manages to blend its systems together in a way that feels rewarding, strategic, and highly replayable once players fully understand how everything connects. The gameplay revolves around leading a squad of warriors through dangerous expeditions into corrupted territory while gradually improving the group through cards, abilities, upgrades, equipment, and new recruits. Battles unfold automatically once combat begins, but nearly every important decision happens before the fight starts. Players must carefully position units across hexagonal battlefields, assign abilities, manage synergies between classes, and prepare formations capable of surviving increasingly dangerous encounters. This emphasis on preparation gives the game a very different rhythm compared to traditional action-focused roguelites because victories are determined more by planning and strategic understanding than by fast reflexes. One of the game’s strongest features is its tactical positioning system. Terrain bonuses, chokepoints, elevation, and unit placement all have a major impact on how battles unfold. Some units perform best on the front lines absorbing pressure, while others rely on positioning advantages to maximize ranged attacks, support skills, or area control abilities. Watching a carefully constructed formation execute a successful strategy automatically can be incredibly satisfying because every successful encounter feels like the result of thoughtful preparation rather than random luck. The autobattler mechanics work well precisely because the game gives players meaningful control over strategic setup before combat begins. The class variety adds another layer of depth to squad building. Different warrior types specialize in completely different combat roles, ranging from aggressive berserkers and heavily armored defenders to tacticians, scouts, support specialists, and supernatural hunters. Combining these units effectively becomes one of the game’s central challenges. Some squad compositions focus on overwhelming enemies quickly through aggressive offense, while others prioritize survival, crowd control, status effects, or trap-based tactics. Experimenting with different formations and synergies remains consistently engaging because even small adjustments to squad composition can dramatically affect the outcome of difficult encounters. The roguelite structure complements the strategy systems extremely well. During expeditions, players collect cards, passive bonuses, equipment upgrades, and new abilities that gradually transform their squad into a far more capable fighting force. Failed runs still reward progression resources that unlock additional units, upgrades, and long-term improvements back at the watchtower hub. This creates a satisfying balance between immediate run-based progression and broader long-term advancement. Every failed expedition still feels meaningful because players usually leave with stronger options and a better understanding of how different mechanics interact. One of the most impressive aspects of Shadowveil is its worldbuilding. Even players unfamiliar with the Legend of the Five Rings setting can quickly appreciate the game’s dark feudal Japanese-inspired fantasy atmosphere. The Shadowlands feel genuinely dangerous and corrupted, filled with grotesque creatures, ruined landscapes, and supernatural threats constantly pressuring the Crab Clan’s defenses. Dialogue and character interactions help establish a strong sense of duty, sacrifice, and military discipline that reinforces the game’s tone. The setting feels more grounded and culturally distinct than many generic fantasy roguelites, giving the game a memorable identity beyond its mechanical systems. Visually, the game adopts a stylized watercolor-inspired art direction combined with expressive character portraits and detailed environments. The presentation has a slightly painterly quality that helps the world feel atmospheric and mythological without sacrificing battlefield readability. Enemy designs are varied and unsettling, while the battlefield effects and animations make combat visually engaging despite the lack of direct player control during fights. The art style may initially seem understated compared to more flashy strategy games, but it gradually becomes one of the game’s strongest aesthetic features. The soundtrack and sound design also contribute heavily to the atmosphere. Traditional-inspired music blends well with darker orchestral elements, creating a constant sense of tension and looming danger throughout expeditions. Voice acting helps give the main characters personality, and quieter moments between battles reinforce the feeling that the Crab Clan is fighting a desperate war against overwhelming corruption. The game does an excellent job of maintaining mood and immersion even during slower management sections. However, Shadowveil is not without flaws. The autobattler mechanics will likely divide players more than any other aspect of the game. Since units act automatically once combat begins, players occasionally have to watch carefully planned strategies collapse because of questionable AI decisions or poor target prioritization. Some battles feel frustrating not because the strategy itself was flawed, but because units behaved unpredictably during critical moments. Players who strongly prefer direct tactical control may struggle to fully enjoy the game’s automated combat structure. The learning curve is another issue. Shadowveil introduces numerous interconnected systems involving cards, positioning, formations, classes, upgrades, masteries, and resources, but the tutorials do not always explain these mechanics clearly enough. Early defeats can feel punishing until players fully understand how positioning and squad synergy influence combat outcomes. The amount of information players must manage simultaneously may overwhelm newcomers during the first several hours. Balance and pacing occasionally become inconsistent as well. Certain unit combinations and upgrade paths are dramatically more effective than others, making some strategies noticeably dominant once discovered. Enemy variety also begins to feel repetitive during longer play sessions, especially once players settle into optimized squad compositions. Some runs become far easier or harder depending on early rewards and upgrade opportunities, which occasionally creates uneven difficulty progression. The interface also has rough edges. Roster management, menu navigation, and squad organization can sometimes feel clunky, especially during extended sessions where players constantly swap units and compare upgrades. Technical issues such as long loading times and occasional bugs further contribute to the feeling that the game could use additional polish in certain areas. For fans of strategy roguelites, squad-based combat, and fantasy settings inspired by samurai mythology, Shadowveil offers a strong blend of replayability, tactical experimentation, and immersive atmosphere. It may occasionally struggle with balance and interface polish, but its strategic depth and unique setting help it stand out as one of the more interesting hybrid strategy games released in recent years. Rating: 7/10