Developer: Clever-Plays
Publisher: Clever-Plays
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Leap of Fate – Preview
There’s a new rogue-like in town! Leap of Fate has hit Early Access a while ago and blends hack-and-slash, cyberpunk and card mechanics together into one action packed game. Confront the tarot cards, grow your magic and become the most powerful mage alive.
In Leap of Fate, you play as a mage who was recruited by the Cabal. Now, you have to undergo the “Test” like all other mages. Once you’ve complete the Test, you will be accepted into the society. Currently, there are two playable characters that each have their own story and 6 different endings which can be unlocked by replaying the game with the same character.
Graphics wise Leap of Fate looks okay for a small game like this. Each stage features a different environment, enemies and setting which corresponds to the fear you’re in. Most of the game is also pretty smooth, but sometimes it feels like the enemies are lagging a bit when moving around while the character you play runs around fine. It also runs in a 4:3 aspect ratio, meaning black bars for widescreen users.
The goal of the game is to get through each of the 6 stages which each represent a different fear. In order to progress through the levels, the game uses the Deck of Fate, a series of cards that is shuffled and then laid out in a pyramid. You have to start at the top card and make your way down to the boss, simple! Most levels require you to simply clear it of monsters and then open a treasure chest, but there are special levels as well like treasure levels, shops and of course the boss level. Some cards are also locked and these usually have big treasures, but you’ll have to obtain keys from other levels to open them. Sometimes you’ll also have to face a challenge or another modifier on the level, which can be rewarding and annoying at the same time. For example, you have a modifier where everything has 1 health, but so do you! Another one is where the floor is made of ice, which is not that fun…
Some cards also hide upgrade opportunities. The game features vast talent trees which allow you to upgrade passive bonuses or improve your weapon skills as you go. Other upgrades include mobility and glyphs, but of course all upgrades must be paid for and in this game you pay with Mana. Mana can be picked up by opening chests or killing enemies with your glyph or Shadow Walk. Glyphs and Shadow Walk are basically your special attacks in Leap of Fate. The Shadow Walk is mostly focused on agility and movement while your glyph is an offensive attack. You’ll always have the same Shadow Walk which you can upgrade later in the game, but you can have different and upgraded glyphs.
At the moment, you can play as Aeon the shadow mage or Big Mo, a cyborg technomancer. Each of them has their own unique play style and differs drastically. Aeon starts with a basic attack of magic projectiles, a Shadow Walk that teleports him to the target with a burst of speed and damaging everyone in his path and a starting glyph that helps you snipe from a long distance. Big Mo on the other hand starts with an energy beam (that can overheat!), his Shadow Walk teleports him and makes him invisible, leaving a decoy and as a glyph he uses grenades.
Of course, your character has a limited amount of health which can be increased over time and you can regenerate it by picking up globes or using your “extra Deck of Fate” cards, which can be unlocked with rare keys. These cards allow you to unlock a glyph, upgrade skills or get some health. Once you run out of health, it’s game over and you have to start over from scratch. However, as you play you’ll start to rack up Karma points which can be used to shop but you can also resurrect yourself once every playthrough, so use it wisely.
The game also features a lot of achievements which can be unlocked, some of them require skill but others are pure luck. Unlocking achievements grants karma but can also give your character permanent boosts for the next time you play with him.
Currently, the game depends on diversity with level generation, but that doesn’t seem like it’s enough to keep someone playing. Sure, you have achievements you can unlock but that’s pretty much all there is to the game right now. It’s fun to play but it needs to be spiced up a little with more (interesting) talents, more glyphs, more stages, more characters, so much more. Most of these things are already promised by the developer, so let’s hope there will be a lot more diversity later on.
Conclusion
Right now, Leap of Fate is a pretty good state for an early access game. It features a moderate amount of content, it’s a lot of fun to play and the promises by the development team look nice. However, it seems a bit hard to justify the price they’re charging for the amount of game you get. Hopefully there will be a lot more things added and fixed later in the development phase to make this game stand out from the rest.
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