Shattered Heaven

For a few years now, deck building games have been all the rage. People enjoy the art of powering themselves and their teams up using card as opposed to just spamming the same abilities. However, deck building has gotten out of hand in some ways – many games are just tacking on the idea of a deck because it feels ‘cool’ – but in Shattered Heaven, the latest release from Leonardo Production, this might be different.

This is a single-player deck builder that brings in some intriguing RPG features. Unlike most deck builders, this has an actual story and narrative but, yes, it is a roguelike type game. Promising replay value and procedural content that does not get dull, can this upcoming April 2023 release live up to expectation?

An ambitious idea, but can it deliver?

Currently in Early Access, what is available of Shattered Heaven looks pretty good. The combat itself can be compared to something like an odd blend between Slay The Spire and Darkest Dungeon. While it lacks the appeal of either game, it does offer a simple enough progression system that should keep you coming back for more.

The art style is quite interesting, and it will definitely remind you of something like Darkest Dungeon. The 2D cartoon style allows the developers to get quite stylish, though, with impressive animations and a flow to combat that is very smooth. The player progresses through levels in a Slay the Spire style layout, wining battles and moving on to the next challenge in a bid to create that ‘just one more fight’ feel.

With a branching narrative based on your choices and the combination of dungeon crawling elements for loot, there is much to like about Shattered Heaven. The only problem is that we have no idea how well this works after the demo/early access period; what we have now is excellent, but does it last?

The foundations of an excellent game lie here (7.5/10)

The main thing to say about Shattered Heaven so far is that it definitely has the core features to be an addictive, enjoyable experience. What is present in the Early Access period is very impressive, and the fact that your decisions do have some bearing on the story being told is quite intriguing. However, one thing to note is that so far we have no real certainty about how well it works in the long-term.

Procedural generation has a habit of falling short after a few runs, and while Shattered Heaven does not showcase this in the demo it could be an issue in the full release. What we can play just now has that wonderful Lovecraftian feel to it, and a gameplay loop that is very satisfying indeed. What it is lacking, though, is any proof that the gameplay can be extended into a full game.

Pros

• Impressive art style that flows well and suits the theme of the game well
• Combination of RPG elements and deck building feels like a great combination
• Interesting enough procedural generation, though this remains to be seen in terms of longevity

Cons

• Not sure how much content there will be to keep players engaged beyond what is already present