Vellum

This is the first review I’ve ever written; I don't usually write reviews, so this is already a sign the game is excellent. At first glance, this game seemed like your average action roguelike, but the more I played, the more I discovered that this game is way more than just that. It has so much to offer, and I’m gonna point out a few things that I think for me make the game really good! I have also only played around 20 hours, and I am far from having completed every piece of content, so some things I say may be imprecise or incomplete. If so, I will modify them as best I can! [b] /!\ Spoilers ahead of some content and gameplay mechanics /!\ [/b] The first thing that really struck me in this game is the attention to detail the studio has put in it. Vellum hides some item in stages that players can look for or randomly stumble upon for some extra power ups along the run. Outside the runs, when you are walking around in the hub, you can find some pages to read that are just up to the player to find and look for if they are curious about the lore. Within the hub there are also some little mini games (gambling included) that will be unlocked throughout the progression of the tomes that you can just do for fun while waiting for a friend or if you feel like taking a break before going for another run! This doesn’t sound like much; these hidden items and mini games aren’t fundamental to the game, but for me, they show that the studio put some extra effort into something that was completely optional to make, and it also shows a sort of love for the world they have created. The second thing I want to address is the build possibilities. You have a large number of possibilities with every different combination of builder, spender and movement abilities paired with the ink (special ability) of your choice. This really lets you pick out your favourite abilities to mix and mash them to create broken or funny builds. (My personal favourite: Foil and Blossom with the red ink) On top of that, you have the pages, which are the upgrades you gather throughout a run which, depending on which ones you pick up can really modify how your build works or can just make your build even stronger! One thing I found really cool with the pages is that, if you have the chance to play this game with a friend or multiple friends, you can obtain pages in a run that will have synergies and or effects from both your inks if you are playing different inks. The third aspect I want to talk about is the content. Oh lord, is there a lot of juicy content. From what I’ve seen, there is a lot of it: you have the tomes which are sort of the “main story”, you have raids which succeed the tomes. These raids contain bosses each having really fun, intricate and unique mechanics. Apart from the tomes and the raids, you also have daily and weekly quests as well as some achievements to acquire for every ink colour. You also have a book club… Yes, a book club, which is a sort of challenge run where your spells and ink colour are pre-determined. All of the above reward you with loads of currencies. Speaking of currencies! If you are into fashion or decorating, you can do so within the hub. You can purchase cosmetics and furniture with the currency you obtain from playing (0 microtransaction!!!) or by completing achievements. I find that this game, for me, has a good amount of replayability, and it really feels like, if you want to, you can easily sink a lot of hours without it feeling repetitive. There is always something different to do, pair that with the many different possibilities and to me it really seems like I can comfortably dump in hours of my time. The last item I wanted to talk about is the quality of life. This game has many small things that, like in the first part, aren’t fundamental to the game but they are amazing to have and feel great overall. So here is a list of the small bits and bobs I love in this game: [list] [*]The build saver. It allows you to save your spells and ink, with your current inscriptions AND the current cosmetics you are using (that last part is very important). [*]DPS dummies, you find them in the hub and along your runs. You test your build’s dps to see how hard you hit, or you can just compete with your friends to see who is carrying the run! [*]Run History. In the hub you can see the last 10 runs you played with every detail, your build, your scrolls, the damage you dealt… [*]And your overall game stats, the damage you dealt in total, the runs you’ve played, etc. [/list] Oh yeah and just to finish, the game is beautiful, the art style is amazing and the effects are so cool. I genuinely hope the dev team has many things planned for this game because it is honestly super fun!