Banners of Ruin

Despite some bugs (unfortunately, not a playable race but the game crashing kind) and a feeling of complexity that might be off-putting at first, Banners of Ruin is a smart and creative take on two very familiar genres. With a world, story, and characters that are a refreshing departure from the usual dark fantasy tropes, and gameplay that is engaging and addicting, the biggest knock against it might be players’ potential reticence to dive into yet another deck builder/roguelike. That would be a shame, and anyone who has grown weary of the genre might be pleasantly surprised by Banners of Ruin.

Banners of Ruin does a lot of things right, but its combat quickly grows stale as you progress further into the game. Enemies become tanks capable of dealing massive damage and the game’s difficulty becomes largely artificial, no longer rewarding strategic moves as you become overwhelmed by the enemies’ numbers, stats and passives. The game is really fun in the first few hours, but once you have learned the ins and outs, you realize it has already played its hand.

Even if it can feel like the deck-builder roguelike genre is getting a bit oversaturated, Banners of Ruin is definitely one to check out. With its generous and frequent unlocks, as well as its complex-yet-mostly-well-explained combat mechanics, it is easy to pick up and enjoyable to master. While it is not as challenging as some of its roguelike cousins, I personally found its user-friendliness a positive quality. If you are looking for another deck-builder roguelike to play, you should definitely add Banners of Ruin to your deck.

Having originally checked this out in Early Access on PC, and being impressed by many facets of the game from its look to its roguelike sensibilities, I was thrilled to see it arriving on Switch...