Review friv game of Deck of Ashes – Tome of Dimensions

On April 21, the card RPG Deck of Ashes from the Russian Friv2Online debuted on the consoles of the past and current generations - before that, the game had been exclusive to the PC for almost two years. In honor of the release on new platforms, the developers have prepared the Tome of Dimensions plot add-on, which I will talk about in this review.

A review of the base game of the game was already written by my colleague, and in conclusion he noted the greatest similarity between this card-based RPG and the popular Slay the Spire. I will not start the description from scratch, focusing only on the DLC, but for you, if you accidentally looked at this page and are not familiar with Deck of Ashes, I recommend that you first read the material at the link above.

Let me remind you that Deck of Ashes tells the story of four criminals in a fictional fantasy world: the gang accidentally provoked the apocalypse and throughout the friv game they are trying to correct this mistake.

The Tome of Dimensions adds a fifth member, the Sibyl, to the anti-hero team and tells her little story. The people of the elf mysteriously disappeared before the appearance of people, and his search was unsuccessful. After the events that marked the beginning of the story of Deck of Ashes, there is no time at all - now, together with the master of Ashes, we have to help her.

Despite the fact that the expansion requires the original game, it is standalone - the story of the Sybil is not connected in any way with the adventures of the base four. You can go through it at least at the very beginning, even after the epilogue. The only thread with the main plot was the master of Ashes, and then he simply directs the heroine.

To open a portal to the world where the people of the Sibyl live, she will need to collect four stones, and then defeat the main boss. The DLC adds a new map with four dungeons, where, you might guess, strong opponents guard plot items.

The Tome of Dimensions only adds content, it doesn't change the gameplay - we also have to explore the map and stumble upon random events, battles and chests. In the camp, you can still relax, buy consumables, upgrade cards from the blacksmith. Even if you are unfamiliar with the original, it will not be difficult to figure it out.

Sibyl is the local "dark elf". Like the members of the gang, she is not a positive character and keeps her skeletons in the closet, which is not difficult to understand from the plot sketches in comic book style. She wields a magic bow, but her necromancer abilities are much more interesting.

Addition, according to the developers, adds a hundred cards associated with the new heroine. In fact, there are no more than 30 of them.

Sibyl is able to summon skeletons, which she encountered more than once in the original adventures, impose negative effects on enemies and finish them off with a volley of arrows or accurate single shots. The summoned creatures greatly facilitate the adventure, because they serve as a human shield for the heroine, and if you are lucky to summon a strong skeleton, it also hits hard, depriving the player of the need to do anything at all.

Perhaps the heroine turned out to be too strong, because in the passage of the add-on, I had almost no problems, despite the friv game belonging to the rogue-lite genre. Only 2.5 hours separate from the beginning to the final credits, and somewhere after clearing the second dungeon, the game starts to get boring - you just run around the points, overcome unremarkable opponents and collect quest items.

Enemies do not cause problems, and even the main boss, for which, in my opinion, unfairly, increased HP by 50-100 times compared to ordinary opponents, was defeated on the second attempt. The first failed due to a bug - the so-called "sacrificial" cards that recharge the deck stopped falling out, and the heroine was forced to dutifully take damage. Fortunately, I chose the medium difficulty level and “saved” at the base, but on hardcore, where there is no chance for a mistake, it would be a shame.

I also note that for some reason there is no pumping for the Sibyl in terms of skills, and in the amount of resources received, I will emphasize the imbalance - after the first half you run around with a ton of gold in one pocket and dozens of chest keys in the other, and there is nowhere to use them.

As a result, the Tome of Dimensions is such an addition that does not continue the story, but simply invites you to stay in the world of Deck of Ashes a little longer. I liked the new heroine - the story of the bandit is as muddy as that of the members of the original team, and her abilities are delightful and make you feel omnipotent. Supplement, although it starts to get bored closer to the finale, but ends on time.