Deepest Chamber
- July 21, 2021
- Balcony Softworks
Deepest Chamber is a single-player horror turn-based strategy game with masterful mechanics and compelling visuals. As a roguelite strategic deck builder, it challenges you to descend into the depths of a dying city with three heroes, each having class-specific cards, abilities, and equipment. With an easy-to-learn, hard-to-master campaign, vast customization options, and a hero party system, Deepest Chamber offers high replayability and a balanced, synergistic experience.
PC
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- The card boosting mechanic adds depth and strategy to the gameplay, making it a unique experience compared to other card games.
- The game has undergone significant improvements with recent updates, enhancing the overall experience and introducing new mechanics.
- The art style and atmosphere are well-crafted, contributing to an engaging and immersive environment.
- The game currently lacks sufficient content, leading to repetitive gameplay and a feeling of hitting a 'content wall' after a few hours.
- Many cards do not synergize well, resulting in unsatisfying builds and a lack of meaningful strategy during runs.
- The difficulty scaling can be frustrating, with some enemies being overly punishing and the healing mechanics feeling limited.
- gameplay25 mentions
- 52 % positive mentions
- 36 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by unique mechanics like "card boosting" and various strategic elements that set it apart from traditional card games, offering a fresh and engaging experience. However, some players find that the card pool and synergy can become stale over time, and there are concerns about the balance of certain mechanics, such as buffs. Overall, while the game features tight design and interesting innovations, it may require further community feedback to enhance long-term engagement and depth.
“The unique mechanic 'card boosting' is a really good feature that makes you play differently than other card games.”
“Nice tight gameplay design, with some interesting new mechanics.”
“Fast-paced, smooth gameplay makes it a pleasure to play, with enough of a twist on the standard deckbuilder format to feel fresh and immersive.”
“Afterwards, the card pool, synergy, or even just the hand mechanics get stale.”
“In its current state, if you intend to use buffs as a mechanic to beat the final boss, you're going to have to luck or cheese your way through chambers.”
“Gameplay is extremely shallow as there's not really a reason to keep playing beyond your first couple of runs.”
- graphics15 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the beautiful art style and atmosphere, while others find them lacking compared to other titles in the genre. While the visuals are often described as nice and polished, there are criticisms regarding the overall execution and the need for more content and balance. Overall, the game's aesthetic has potential, but it may not stand out against its competitors.
“Nice graphics, nice music, nice atmosphere.”
“It has balance issues but still a fantastic game with a beautiful art style.”
“Great dark art style and atmosphere coupled with solid deckbuilding.”
“Graphics are meh compared to other games of this genre; sound design is meh, the game is just meh.”
“There currently isn't any reason to have 3 characters in your party - it basically feels like you are controlling one as there is little difference between physical and magical attacks outside of the graphics.”
“It has a decent aesthetic but fails on core mechanics being interesting, let alone fun.”
- atmosphere5 mentions
- 80 % positive mentions
- -40 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is consistently praised for its grimdark aesthetic, drawing comparisons to titles like Dark Souls and medieval films. Reviewers highlight the impressive graphics, music, and art style, all of which contribute to a captivating and immersive experience. Overall, the combination of a dark theme with engaging deckbuilding mechanics enhances the game's appeal.
“Great grimdark atmosphere, looking forward to the full release.”
“A super interesting take on digital deckbuilders, with a dark medieval atmosphere that reminds me of Dark Souls or movies such as The King.”
“Great dark art style and atmosphere coupled with solid deckbuilding.”
“The atmosphere feels flat and uninspired, lacking the depth needed to immerse players in the game world.”
“Despite the dark medieval setting, the atmosphere fails to evoke any real sense of tension or excitement.”
“The game tries to create a moody atmosphere, but it ends up feeling more like a dull backdrop than an engaging environment.”
- story4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the game features a wealth of unlockable content that enhances gameplay variety through different playstyles, enemies, and quests. However, players suggest that quest runs could be more rewarding and advocate for the inclusion of metaprogression to alleviate the game's punishing difficulty. Overall, the narrative experience is stable and free from significant bugs, which is commendable for an early access title.
“The story is rich and engaging, with a lot of unlockable content that offers a large variety of playstyles, enemies, and quests to explore.”
“The narrative is compelling, and I appreciate the depth of the quests and the characters involved.”
“I enjoyed the short story segments that added depth to the overall experience.”
“If I can make a suggestion, I would recommend making quest runs more rewarding or adding some kind of metaprogression to the game, since right now there are ways of making the game more difficult but nothing that makes the game less punishing.”
“There is a lot of unlockable content giving you a large variety of playstyles, enemies, and quests to try out.”
“Watched short story.”
- music3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally well-received, contributing positively to the overall atmosphere and experience, with players noting it as "nice" and complementing it alongside the graphics and opening screen.
“Nice graphics, nice music, nice atmosphere.”
“Started the game... nice music and opening screen.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is generally praised, with smooth performance reported on high-end systems, though some users note occasional stutters.
“Performance-wise, it runs amazingly, with only the occasional stutter. But I have a monster PC, so I'd be worried if it didn't.”
“The optimization is top-notch, allowing for smooth gameplay even on lower-end systems.”
“I appreciate how well the game is optimized; it maintains a steady frame rate and loads quickly.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Users report a high level of stability, noting the absence of errors or buggy quests, which is often expected in early access games.
“No stability errors or buggy quests as I've come to expect in this type of early access game.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players find that grinding can become tedious, especially when learning game mechanics and facing new enemy buffs and actions, which can significantly hinder success without adequate means to counter or recover.
“But when you are still learning the game mechanics, adding new buffs and actions from enemies, it seriously hinders your success rate without any means to counter or recover, making the experience extremely tedious.”
“The grinding feels endless and repetitive, often leading to burnout rather than enjoyment.”
“I find myself spending hours on tasks that feel more like a chore than a fun part of the game.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players appreciate the humor in the game, particularly through clever card combinations and the ability to manipulate enemies into harming each other, which adds a comedic twist to gameplay. The inventive mechanics contribute to a lighthearted and entertaining experience.
“I love seeing the different card combinations I've gotten and the potions/trinkets thus far. Being able to change an enemy's intent so they end up attacking their buddy instead of me is both genius and hilarious!”
“The humor in this game is top-notch! The witty dialogue and funny character interactions always keep me laughing.”
“Every time I encounter a quirky event or a pun-filled item description, I can't help but chuckle. The developers really nailed the comedic elements!”
