Developer: Lunarch Studios
Publisher: Lunarch Studios
Platform: PC, Mac
Tested on: Mac
Prismata – Review
It’s almost normal these days, young developers try to get their funds for their project on the famous Kickstarter platform. Lunarch Studios, which was founded in 2010 by five professional game enthusiasts, launched their project called ‘Prismata’ on the 22th of November 2014 as a Kickstarter project and tried to convince the audience for the needed support to successfully release the game. After 4 years of development the developpers added lots of content and gameplay changes to the game. Gathering resources and building your army are the basics but the way of controlling and managing your units give that special, interesting touch. During the test period of this review, on the 26th September 2018 Lunarch Studios announced that the base game finally reached the golden status and is free to play for everyone.
Story
In Prismata the world doesn’t need human or manned vehicles anymore to protect itself from harm. Robotic entities are now common to do the work of the humans in the factories and serving as protectors of the city. These entities are controlled and managed by a Swarmwielder. A swarmwielder is responsible for the economy, development and security of the city.
The story puts you in the shoes of a swarmwielder called Swade. Assisted by Logan, the head scientist and Giselle, his personal robot, Swade is responsible for the development and security of the desert city Centauri. When Logan receives an emergency call from the robotic factory, Swade goes to the factory toinvestigate the problem. There you’ll encounter some robots that have gone rogue for an unknown reason. These robots notice your presence and start to attack you without a warning. This battle will explain more of the basics of the battle system.
After the intro mission the main story unfolds itself with text-based conversations between the characters. When a new character introduces itself, a staff card appears that gives background information about this character. Despite the absence of real-time cutscenes, Prismata brings a well-told story to keeps you interested.
Graphics
As a card game relies mostly on the gameplay aspect, Lunarch Studios didn’t forget the presentation. The conversations between the characters are text-based with decent detailed and crisp 2D presentations. The battles are played on the prismatic slate, a futuristic tablet that delivers a clean battlefield on which the cards will appear. The card animations are basic and simple but they get the job done.
The menu backgrounds are detailed and they add some fine details like waving sand, bubbles from the equipment in the laboratories, … to make it more lively and immersive. Those touches drag your more into the story and the sci-fi setting. The used colour schemes are raw with dark edges but add a nice effect to the futuristic theme.
Sound
The background soundtrack is very futuristic with spacy tunes. It’s versatile and very entertaining while playing. While the conversations are taking place, you’ll hear an adaptive sound to the situation like an alarm, closing doors, terminals in use, etc. . When battling, the background music changes to a darker theme that gives a tense atmosphere.
Gameplay
Prismata is a turn-based card game with real-time strategy elements. You play different types of cards to develop an economy and generate technology to create a dangerous army. While playing you’ll need to make the necessary decisions to produce the best army in order to overpower your opponent.
The first battles are informative and you’ll be assisted how you have to gather resources and building units. As you progress in the main story you’ll unlock more units and buildings that can be used in battle. The concept is simple: Gather resources, building your army and attack your opponent. At the beginning of every game you have your base set and random extra units that will be chosen by the computer to make every battle different.
With the resources you can build units, buildings, shields, … to increase your strength and presence on the battlefield. The attack and defence points of both armies are displayed as numbers presented with a sword and a shield. This way you can decide if you produce more attack units or go for a combined production.
Every card has its own build requirements, bonuses and effects that affect your strategy. For example a drone produces gold but can also be used as a shield when the gold is not harvested. At the end of the turn every resource except gold will reset. Thanks to this reset, you need to manage your resources properly. Before ending your turn you can attack your opponents with the gathered points that you receive from your attack units.
Another notable feature in Prismata is the attacking phase. When your attack number is not higher than your opponents defence, your opponent will control your attack, meaning that they can choose on which units your attack will strike. When your attack number is higher, you can choose your own targets.
Next to the campaign, Prismata offers enough content like online multiplayer, puzzle challenges, custom matches against AI and Combat Scenarios. You can spectate live online battles and watch replays from the begin menu. The online leaderboards and ranking systems are fluently implemented with easy access. The online matchmaking is solid so switching between opponents and playing your matches goes smooth.
After every battle you’ll receive experience that will raise the level of your swarmwielder. When levelling up, you’ll be given new cards to use in your battles. Almost every card has different skins that you can apply and use in battle. Your gamercard can also be edited with skins, medals and avatars that can be unlocked by completing campaign missions and online objectives.
As for new players it’s advised to play the campaign to learn most of the units and movements. Even on the normal difficulty the AI can be ferocious and unforgivable if you give them the opportunity.
Conclusion
Prismata offers a quality card game with expansive mechanics and strategic elements, which are very addictive and rewarding. The management of resources and planning your strategy are key elements to win your battles. The game can be overwhelming and complex at times but that doesn’t affect the overall good experience.
Prismata - Review,
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