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I’m a game journalist, so it’s safe to assume that I’ve plowed many, many hours into Slay the Spire. The seminal roguelike deckbuilder’s influence is evident across countless games, from indie sensation Balatro to Hooded Horse’s 9 Kings. Thanks to StS, the genre has swelled, and it now feels like I can’t go 24 hours without a new roguelike deckbuilder hitting my inbox. Malys, however, is one of the few that caught my attention, partly because it’s the brainchild of Dragon Age legend David Gaider, but also because its dark fantasy setting reminded me of my beloved Vampire: The Masquerade.
On paper, Malys sounds a lot like the games you’ll find on our best roguelikes list. Pick a deck of cards, then choose your path through an eerie, neo-dystopian city teeming with demons. Tearing through the abandoned streets on your trusty motorbike, your job is to locate Malys, an entity of immense power that’s intent on ravaging everything in its wake. You’ll fight your way through its minions in card-based duels, and picking the correct route is the difference between life and certain death.
In the game’s opening chapter, I’m immediately introduced to the gorgeous Angel, a Celestial we’re warned speaks in riddles. After suffering their taunting, I’m presented with a map of The Lower Stacks and sent on my merry way – nothing I haven’t seen before.
I find myself in an abandoned building whose occupants have been torn asunder. As the stench of rotting flesh fills my nose – brought to sickening life by beautifully written prose at the side of the screen – I’m informed that an elderly man, seemingly undead or possessed, is happily munching away on the corpses. His eyes meet mine, and he lunges. Combat ensues.
It’s worth noting that Malys’ style is impeccable. The Lower Stacks’ battle arena feels like you’ve walked straight into hell itself, and the demons themselves are grizzled and horrific. Your victim is levitating above a chair in the center of it all, bent backwards at an angle that doesn’t look particularly comfortable.
You’re given quite a wide hand of cards (five per round), but to play them, you have to burn some to generate candlelight. This adds an extra layer of strategy: the monster is defending this turn, so yeet those shield spells and go all out. If it’s attacking, throw out some of your attack cards to try and weather the storm. I begin by summoning my three-cost priest minion, who deals one point of damage anytime I use a one-cost spell. Initially, the priest felt like a big sink, but given how well it synergizes with my early cards, it quickly becomes a game-changer.
Every time you cast a spell, Noah, our exorcist protagonist, lets out a cry, appealing to the victim he’s trying to free: think positive thoughts, remember who you are. It’s a welcome change from the traditional ‘bonk, end turn, bonk’ that you see in other roguelikes, making the narrative and the wider setting feel a lot more cohesive.
Beastie felled, I then move to my next room, which, unfortunately, is word-for-word the same as the initial sequence. While the boss battle itself is different, I wanted to see a little more of Malys’ world, so the immediate repetition let me down a little. Either way, I whiled away many hours in The Lower Stacks, despite the odd protestations of my GPU, which spiked hard while playing. Maybe it’s a demon in disguise – it was certainly hot as hell.
When I spoke to Gaider about Malys during its Kickstarter run, he described it as being the videogame equivalent of Constantine, the 2005 film starring everyone’s fave, Keanu Reeves. I’d argue that Malys achieves that, perfectly capturing the high gothic, noir feel of every good vampire movie. I’m excited to play more of it and uncover its secrets, and, thankfully, I won’t be waiting long.
Malys has just dropped in Steam Early Access. It costs $9.99, with the price set to increase when 1.0 rolls around. If you’re looking to hack up some demons and send them back to whence they came, you can try it out here.
In the meantime, we have a list of all the best horror games if you, like me, are obsessed with the dark and eerie. Alternatively, if you’re looking for something a little more Slay the Spire, we have a rundown of all the best card games.
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