Beneath Oresa

81%
Game Brain Score Based on 918 reviews
  • gameplay
  • graphics
  • story
Beneath Oresa Game Cover
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"Beneath Oresa" is a fast-paced roguelike deckbuilder set in the city of Oresa. Choose your hero and companion, each with unique abilities, and dive into tactical arenas to face various perils. With a variety of cards, upgrades, artifacts, and factions, each playthrough offers a unique experience as you turn your enemies' positioning to your advantage. Your chosen duo and playstyle will be key to navigating the challenging depths of Oresa.

  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Steam Deck
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

81%
Audience ScoreBased on 918 reviews
gameplay108 positive mentions
grinding14 negative mentions
  • The game features stunning graphics and animations, making combat visually engaging and satisfying.
  • The unique mechanics, such as the companion system and the near/far zone combat, add depth and strategy to the gameplay.
  • The game offers a variety of characters and cards, allowing for different playstyles and strategies.
  • The game can be very difficult, with some players feeling that the difficulty spikes are unfair and not well-balanced.
  • There is a lack of meta-progression, which may deter players looking for long-term rewards and character growth.
  • The tutorial and explanations for game mechanics are insufficient, leading to confusion about certain terms and card effects.
  • gameplay328 mentions

    The gameplay of this deckbuilder is praised for its engaging mechanics, beautiful visuals, and a challenging difficulty that sets it apart from others in the genre. However, players have noted issues with balance, particularly regarding character abilities and the clarity of mechanics, which can lead to frustration. Overall, while the game offers a unique experience with a variety of characters and strategies, it also requires further refinement and clearer tutorials to enhance player understanding and enjoyment.

    • “It is an absolute blast to play because of the music, the atmosphere, and most especially the wonderful mechanics I don't think I've seen in other deckbuilders.”
    • “It's exactly my kind of deckbuilder: gorgeous cell-shaded graphics and animations, dynamic combat, challenging enough with a nice learning curve and a lot of different playable characters/mechanics.”
    • “The gameplay is fun and challenging and the visual style is just *chef's kiss*.”
    • “It's really an issue of characters' core mechanics and their companion abilities that are just wildly unbalanced.”
    • “The gun-wielding class is just very flawed as they essentially have a straight-up negative mechanic (ammo) and their offensive cards aren't generally good enough to make up for it.”
    • “Ultimately, being forced to take a card every fight, the 'limited' card mechanic, getting all ranged enemies in combats, not being able to target who you want to block with your faction mechanic, etc., the game ends up being extreme levels of RNG and not very fun.”
  • graphics242 mentions

    The graphics of the game have received widespread acclaim for their stunning art style and fluid animations, often compared to the aesthetics of Borderlands and comic book visuals. Players appreciate the unique and immersive design, which enhances the overall gameplay experience, making combat feel dynamic and satisfying. Despite some minor performance issues, the visuals are considered a standout feature that elevates the game within the deckbuilding genre.

    • “It's exactly my kind of deckbuilder: gorgeous cel-shaded graphics and animations, dynamic combat, challenging enough with a nice learning curve and a lot of different playable characters and mechanics.”
    • “The art style and animation are fluid and wonderful to look at.”
    • “The graphics are high-quality, and I find the style retro and creative.”
    • “I would love to be able to recommend this game because it is fun and the graphical style is cool; however, sadly I can't unless they fix all the crashing.”
    • “In summary, Beneath Oresa may have flashy graphics, but its gameplay is plodding and underwhelming, hampered by balance issues and an apparent fear of the player getting to do the cool, broken things that are a fundamental draw of the genre.”
    • “Very fun game, but not optimized for low spec setups (no graphic card/internal GPU user, netbooks).”
  • story72 mentions

    The game's story is largely criticized for being minimal to non-existent, with many players expressing a desire for more narrative depth and character development. While some appreciate the implied lore and world-building, they feel that the lack of direct storytelling and engaging plot elements detracts from the overall experience. Overall, the consensus is that the game would benefit significantly from additional story content, such as cutscenes, dialogue, and character interactions.

    • “The game doesn't tell me a ton of story, but there is a lot of world-building and implied story that I really enjoy.”
    • “I think the lore, story, and setting are really cool.”
    • “Adding some flavor text to the cards and some cutscenes or dialogue would improve the game story and lore a lot.”
    • “The story elements are present but not expanded upon in a way that invests the player, which is unfortunate.”
    • “There is absolutely no story, no dialogue or lore or plot or anything.”
    • “To begin, there doesn't seem to be a story at all. Even a brief cutscene to get you into why you are delving would be enough; just a little bit of story.”
  • music40 mentions

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising its atmospheric quality and thematic fit, while others find certain tracks dreary or annoying. Overall, the soundtrack contributes significantly to the game's immersive experience, complemented by excellent art and animations. However, some users noted technical issues and a lack of variety in the music, which can detract from the overall enjoyment.

    • “Magnificent atmosphere, excellent animations and music, mysterious universe explorable by the card description and sound/visual construction gives a fantastic immersion experience.”
    • “Great artwork together with superb music and sound effects all combined with the top notch 3D scenarios/animations, well designed UI and in-game tutorial make for an enjoyable game.”
    • “The music is also really good, and the animation is one of a kind for a card game.”
    • “The music is a little dreary at times, some of the animations are cheesy, it's probably not as well-balanced and polished as, say, Slay the Spire, and I'm not yet sure whether the setting is well-done or skin-deep. So far I haven't really found a character I really like, the runs are too linear, it's not quite as difficult as people say but still pretty hard, there are no keyboard controls for playing cards, some UI animations take too long...”
    • “Sluggish, boring music, generic card mechanics but good looking and with a lot of depth. I really need good pacing or I just get bored.”
    • “Music is, in my opinion, a mixed bag with some tracks being borderline annoying and some tracks being really nice.”
  • replayability34 mentions

    The game offers significant replayability through its diverse character roster, unique card combinations, and a companion system that keeps each run feeling fresh. However, some players feel that the lack of variety in gameplay and limited activities can hinder long-term engagement, suggesting that additional content and unlockables would enhance replay value. Overall, while many appreciate the potential for varied experiences, opinions are mixed on whether it truly delivers on its promise of "infinite" replayability.

    • “The diversity in characters and different bosses you encounter make it very replayable.”
    • “The randomization in cards on offer is why these games are so infinitely replayable.”
    • “The companion system and wealth of characters makes gameplay run to run feel varied and gives a lot of replay value.”
    • “Each run feels similar and the lack of variety hinders replayability immensely.”
    • “Awesome game that lacks replayability.”
    • “The devs mention it has 'infinite' replayability due to the RNG nature and ability to pick different combinations of heroes, but for what it has now, unless you are very determined to get through the game with a particular combination, there's no good motivation to keep going and that feels bad in the modern era of roguelikes and roguelite games.”
  • optimization22 mentions

    Overall, the game's optimization has seen significant improvements since its initial release, particularly after the v0.3.0 patch, which resolved many crashing and performance issues. However, players still report occasional graphical hiccups and suboptimal performance on low-spec setups, with some experiencing severe frame rate drops and sound issues when alt-tabbing. While it runs smoothly on devices like the Steam Deck, the coding quality remains a concern, leading to inconsistent performance across different hardware configurations.

    • “They've added so many new characters to the game since I last played and the performance/stability issues are gone.”
    • “Okay, so this is a recommendation for Steam Deck; it runs smoothly on Steam Deck and has much fewer crashes (none so far) on Steam Deck than on my PC (Intel chipset).”
    • “Performance is good after the v0.3.0 patch; it runs smoothly on Linux/Proton with my GTX 1050 Ti (below minimum requirement).”
    • “Noticed a few optimization issues whenever you would alt+tab; soundtracks would either freeze, duplicate, and some sound effects buffer, queue, and play all at once with amplified pitch.”
    • “Very fun game, but not optimized for low-spec setups (no graphic card/internal GPU user, netbooks).”
    • “The coding is also not up to par with the rest of the game; with very little optimization and bad code, you can expect it to run a fair bit worse than you'd expect and to crash more than is honestly acceptable.”
  • atmosphere20 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its vibrant and immersive environments, beautifully designed cards, and engaging soundtrack, which together create a rich and enjoyable experience. Players appreciate the combination of stylish animations and a mysterious universe that enhances immersion, while some suggest that a deeper narrative could further enrich the atmosphere. Overall, the game's atmosphere is considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to its appeal.

    • “The beautifully designed cards and vibrant, immersive environments add a rich layer of atmosphere to the gameplay.”
    • “Magnificent atmosphere, excellent animations and music, mysterious universe explorable by the card description and sound/visual construction gives a fantastic immersion experience.”
    • “Simple & fun card game with really cool combat animations and atmosphere.”
  • grinding16 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and exhausting, particularly due to slow meta progression and limited deck diversity per character. While some appreciate the art style and mechanics, many express frustration with the need to grind for character tiers and the overall lack of engaging content, leading to a sense of burnout. Overall, the grinding experience detracts from the enjoyment of the game, with hopes for future improvements.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “Even said, the meta progression is so slow and grindy that I'm exhausted playing this starter character and am going to hang up this game for the next hot Slay the Spire homage.”
    • “There's a great game under here if the balance for the third floor is fixed; right now it's just laughably tedious.”
  • stability12 mentions

    The game currently suffers from significant stability issues, including crashes, freezes, and bugs related to card mechanics, which can disrupt gameplay. While these problems are prevalent, players note that no data loss occurs, and the game remains enjoyable despite its early development stage. With ongoing improvements from the developers, there is potential for the game to evolve into a solid deckbuilding experience.

    • “Crashes, freezes, hangs, etc. would forfeit runs.”
    • “I've not played a game this buggy in the past 15 years.”
    • “Tl:dr: the game is buggy and lacking a lot of content, but is still very fun, and if they build upon what they've already made keeping the structure intact, it should shape up to be an excellent deckbuilding single player game.”
  • character development10 mentions

    Character development in the game is visually stunning, featuring top-tier animations and unique character designs that enhance the gameplay experience. While players appreciate the polished aesthetics and the distinctiveness of each class, some express disappointment over the lack of a compelling backstory or overarching goals, which detracts from emotional engagement. Overall, the character design and animations are highly praised, making the game visually appealing despite its narrative shortcomings.

    • “Looks amazing visually; the animations translating the action are top-tier; the character design is cool; every class and its own gimmick felt unique and interesting to discover/learn; the whole 'duet' system is a nice feature; every single aspect of the game felt polished and cared for.”
    • “Character design, animations, and card art all look nice.”
    • “The most gorgeous games of the genre, with the man man Hectos having one of my favorite character designs ever.”
  • emotional2 mentions

    Players consistently highlight that the game's smooth animations evoke a strong positive emotional response, enhancing their overall experience.

    • “When you do that in this game, the animation looks smooth and gives a very positive emotional response.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

18hMedian play time
34hAverage play time
8-27hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 24 analyzed playthroughs

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