Emberward
- June 25, 2024
- ReficGames
- 19h median play time
Get on Steam"Emberward" is a single-player game with exceptional visuals and beautiful mechanics, offering splendid replayability on every run. Assemble mazes with block cards, then enhance towers with runes for strategic advantage. Choose from various tower types, from poison to D20-based, with quirky features like drone tracking and critical failure. Each run promises unique challenges and fire sources to master.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Innovative blend of tower defense, Tetris-style maze building, and roguelike elements, providing a unique gameplay experience.
- Polished graphics and sound design, creating an engaging and visually appealing atmosphere.
- High replayability due to randomized towers, relics, and maze configurations, allowing for diverse strategies in each run.
- Currently lacks content, with only a few maps and towers available, leading to repetitive gameplay after a few hours.
- Difficulty balance issues, where normal mode can feel too easy while heroic mode may be overly challenging for some players.
- Limited tower upgrades, with only one upgrade path per tower, reducing strategic depth in tower selection.
- gameplay203 mentions
- 47 % positive mentions
- 51 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Emberward is highly praised for its innovative blend of tower defense, maze-building, and roguelike mechanics, creating a unique and engaging experience. Players appreciate the strategic depth offered by the Tetris-like block placement, which enhances replayability and keeps each run fresh. While the game is still in early access and may require further content and balance adjustments, the core mechanics are well-executed and provide a satisfying gameplay loop that appeals to both tower defense enthusiasts and newcomers alike.
“Emberward is a captivating roguelite tower defense game that blends strategic depth with addictive gameplay.”
“The gameplay loop is entertaining, engaging, and varied around the wide selection of towers and Tetris block combinations.”
“The core gameplay revolves around placing various towers along your own maze of blocks.”
“The game is clearly inspired by Tetris, but lacks the fast-paced gameplay that made Tetris a timeless classic.”
“Although, there is a slight downside to this game, and sadly, this is based in the nature of roguelike games; it can become quite repetitive after a while due to the gameplay loop being the same on every run.”
“My only criticism is that it needs more content and harder gameplay.”
- replayability72 mentions
- 46 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The game boasts high replayability, primarily due to its roguelite elements, which ensure that each run presents unique challenges and opportunities for experimentation. Players appreciate the variety of characters, relics, and mechanics that contribute to a fresh experience every time, although some reviews note that the current content may limit replayability for more seasoned players. Overall, the game is recognized for its engaging gameplay and potential for endless replay value, especially with future updates.
“The roguelite elements ensure endless replayability, with each run offering a new challenge.”
“Amazing gameplay, simple design, virtually limitless replayability.”
“There's many creative ways to approach each level given the blocks, towers, talents, relics, and characters you choose for a ton of replayability.”
“Emberward is an extremely fun game, but it lacks replayability in its current state.”
“Agree with others that there's not much replayability at the moment.”
“Very fun tower-defense rogue-like; but does not offer a lot of replayability at the moment.”
- graphics54 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The game's graphics are widely praised for their vibrant and charming art style, which enhances the immersive experience alongside engaging sound design. Players appreciate the polished visuals, smooth animations, and creative use of mechanics, although some note minor issues like brightness in certain maps and occasional comparisons to lower-quality games. Overall, the graphics contribute significantly to the game's appeal, making it a standout in the tower defense genre.
“For an early access game, it is incredibly polished with beautiful graphics, lovely music, and no bugs or lag so far.”
“The graphics are immaculate and friendly to the eyes, the gameplay is enticing and relatively difficult without being overwhelming, and to be frank, the game is very fun.”
“This game features colorful and polished graphics matched with catchy music and sound effects.”
“The worst part of this game by far is the art, in both visuals and music.”
“It's definitely missing out on a lot of planned features due to early access, but during several runs I ran into absolutely no bugs or even graphical glitches.”
“Compared to most early access games, it's extremely polished, with smooth animations and graphics.”
- story19 mentions
- 16 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 16 % negative mentions
The reviews indicate a significant lack of narrative depth in the game, with many players expressing a desire for a cohesive story or character development to enhance the experience. While the gameplay and mission variety are praised, the absence of a compelling storyline leaves some feeling that the game could benefit from additional narrative elements to create a more engaging campaign. Overall, the game excels in mechanics but falls short in storytelling.
“Maybe a cute little story and/or character development making us come back for more for each character.”
“Needs a cute little story with it but other than that great tower defense game!”
“It would be nice if there was a modicum of story incorporated into the game.”
“The game looks fantastic, the gameplay is great, but everything in this game wants to be put into a campaign with a story.”
“Speaking of cohesion, what is the story?”
- music15 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its charm and catchy quality, while others find it monotone and lacking in variation. Overall, many appreciate the polished presentation and integration of music with gameplay, though some consider it forgettable or in need of more diverse tracks. Despite these criticisms, the soundtrack contributes positively to the overall experience for many players.
“Definitely worth the money if you like sitting back to good music, fun strategy, and roguelite games.”
“The art style, music, and obvious care from the dev team make this a must play.”
“This game features colorful and polished graphics matched with catchy music and sound effects.”
“The music is monotone and with little variation; more tracks and less looping is desirable.”
“The music is completely forgettable, which is terrible for a tower defense game.”
“The soundtrack is... there... I guess.”
- optimization6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is generally well-received, with players noting smooth performance and a pleasant gaming experience, even with numerous effects and enemies on screen. However, some users report GPU lag on lower-end devices, indicating a need for an optimization patch. Overall, the game is praised for its effective implementation of mechanics and charming aesthetics, with minimal bugs reported.
“Because the exact shapes of the tiles in your hand vary, rotating and placing them down becomes a satisfying optimization puzzle that changes every level.”
“Really good tower defense game -- nice implementation of rogue-lite card deck mechanics, charming art style, enjoyable music, and well optimized with no noticeable bugs so far.”
“The game runs smoothly and looks great, even with hundreds of effects and mobs on screen.”
“Also a lot of GPU lag on lower-end devices, so beware until the optimization patch.”
“Overall, the performance and the general gaming experience were very pleasant.”
- stability6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's stability is commendable, with users reporting it runs smoothly and is mostly bug-free, even on Linux. However, as it is still in early access, some players have noted occasional bugs and missing features, but many have experienced no significant issues during gameplay.
“You kind of have to build your own lanes in a Tetris kind of fashion, and in that process, a lot of planning is needed. It's fun, fast-paced, and full of new ideas even for a tower defense game. Thumbs up and get it while it is cheap! As a bonus, it runs great out of the box on Linux!”
“Mostly bug-free, great casual roguelite.”
“For anyone that is a fan of the genre, I highly recommend this game, although be warned, it is still in early access, with a lot of features missing, buggy at times, and clearly a work in progress.”
“It's definitely missing out on a lot of planned features due to early access, but during several runs I ran into absolutely no bugs or even graphical glitches.”
“And for early access there is still a fair amount of content (and 0 bugs or glitches) with more promised soon :)”
- humor5 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by regular updates and the engaging personality of the developers, which enhances the overall experience. Players find comedic elements in gameplay mechanics, such as the amusing sound effects of towers and the absurdity of certain in-game scenarios, leading to both laughter and stress during play. Overall, the game successfully combines humor with its strategic elements, making it enjoyable and entertaining.
“Regular updates, a funny and passionate dev make it all the more worthwhile.”
“Having a huge mob pushed over a wall from the rolling trap, into a shortcut straight to ember; that's on me and a hilarious way to lose a run...”
“Was laughing my ass off, and stressed through the round.”
- grinding4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be overly emphasized, with a lack of skill required, making it feel tedious and time-consuming. Many express that significant time investment is necessary to progress, and caution against spending too much time grinding in the demo, as progress does not carry over.
“There's simply not enough skill involved, so grinding through the meta-progression is basically what this game is about.”
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“Just know progress in the demo does not transfer, so don't spend too much time grinding the demo.”
- character development2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is noted for its engaging storytelling that encourages players to return for more, despite the lack of distinct character designs. The focus seems to be on the narrative rather than traditional character development, which some players appreciate.
“Maybe a cute little story and character development that makes us come back for more for each character.”
“Maybe a cute little story and/or character development would make us come back for more for each character.”
“I really like how this game looks, but it doesn't really have characters or any real character designs, so to speak, and it isn't really supposed to.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is enhanced by its engaging visuals and dynamic sound design, which together create a vibrant and immersive experience for players.
“The game's vibrant art style and dynamic sound effects create an immersive atmosphere.”
“The haunting soundtrack perfectly complements the eerie visuals, drawing players deeper into the game's world.”
“Every detail, from the lighting to the ambient sounds, contributes to a captivating atmosphere that keeps you on edge.”
