Mahokenshi
- January 23, 2023
- Game Source Studio
- 14h median play time
A beautiful, stylized world that really hits on the mythology and hooks you in.
Get on SteamMahokenshi is a single-player, fantasy turn-based strategy game with an engaging story and outstanding visuals. As a Mahokenshi, protect the Celestial Islands by building your card deck and defeating corruptive forces. Choose from four different houses, each with unique elemental strengths, and discover over 200 illustrated cards to evolve your playstyle and strategy throughout the game.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Unique blend of deckbuilding and tactical gameplay on a hex-based map, allowing for dynamic encounters and strategic movement.
- Beautiful artwork and atmospheric music enhance the overall experience, making it visually appealing.
- Each character offers distinct playstyles and abilities, providing variety and encouraging experimentation with different strategies.
- The game is relatively short, with a campaign that can be completed in around 10-20 hours, leading to limited replayability.
- Many players encounter game-breaking bugs and issues with saving progress, which can significantly hinder the experience.
- The deck resets after each mission, which can feel repetitive and limit the depth of deckbuilding compared to other games in the genre.
- story368 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- 86 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The story in "Mahokenshi" is generally considered shallow and unremarkable, with a focus on a series of distinct missions rather than a cohesive narrative. Players engage in short, timed missions that reset their progress after each run, which limits the depth of character development and overall story engagement. While the game features interesting themes rooted in Japanese mythology, the lack of a rich storyline and limited replayability detracts from the overall experience.
“The story of the game is broken up into different missions and the addition of the map adds another layer that you don't usually get in these kinds of games.”
“The missions, as well as the optional tasks, are well designed and make you think to accomplish them.”
“Pros: excellent theming (Japanese mythology), satisfying deck combos, feeling of getting stronger/progression as you move on to the later missions.”
“The game has next to no replay value; once you've done a mission, you've usually solved the puzzle of the objectives and replaying it has little to offer.”
“The game is a bit too short, even more so if you only do the main story missions and I don't think the replayability factor is there once you are done.”
“Don't play this for the story, it's very simple.”
- gameplay104 mentions
- 37 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The gameplay is generally praised for its engaging mechanics and enjoyable loop, particularly for fans of deck-building games, with unique character abilities and a strategic map that adds depth. However, some players express concerns about balance issues, limited content, and certain mechanics that detract from the overall experience, leading to a loss of challenge over time. While the game offers a fresh take on traditional deck-building, it may not satisfy those seeking a more conventional approach.
“For the most part, this results in a pretty enjoyable gameplay loop.”
“Deckbuilding mechanics are smartly integrated, and you can tailor your deck to the given mission.”
“Solid card mechanics combined with tactical gameplay that lets you dart across the map as you figure out how to get the best use of your cards.”
“My only complaint is it doesn't feel like it provides enough content/individual map complexity to have the same longevity, despite the better mechanics.”
“The flaw here is that a design oversight prompted the developers to gimp the core mechanic of the game that you need to utilize to do anything other than basic movement.”
“In a game where you have limited energy and mapping out the way you will navigate each map is key, losing any control of strategizing and balancing these elements leaves me entirely dissatisfied and is a negative gameplay experience.”
- graphics56 mentions
- 54 % positive mentions
- 41 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their beauty and artistic quality, with many reviewers highlighting the stunning artwork, solid animations, and effective sound design. However, some users noted issues with optimization, leading to crashes and performance problems, despite the game not being graphics-intensive. Overall, while the visuals are appealing, there are calls for improvements in character graphics and better optimization settings.
“The graphics are beautiful and the presentation is really spot on.”
“A fantastic card-based adventure game, stunning art and visuals and effects and an excellent eastern setting.”
“This game is a very good value for money: beautiful graphics, animations, and characters.”
“Only thing I wish for is for the heroes' avatars to have better graphics; and maybe higher speed of actions around the map.”
“- very bad optimization with zero graphics settings.”
“This is not a graphics intensive game but causes blue screens and crashes fairly often due to overloading your graphics card.”
- replayability34 mentions
- 9 % positive mentions
- 74 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
Overall, the game has limited replayability, with many players noting that once missions are completed, there is little incentive to replay them due to solved puzzles and a lack of variety. While some enjoy the game for its short playtime and straightforward achievements, others express a desire for additional modes, such as a roguelike feature, to enhance replay value and challenge. The consensus suggests that without significant updates, the game may not hold long-term interest for players seeking more depth and variability.
“Perhaps I'm spoiled with my roguelike deckbuilders that offer more replayability, but I think this game would greatly benefit from a roguelike mode with procedural maps for those wanting more variable runs.”
“If the developers added a replayable roguelike mode to the game, I would most likely recommend it enthusiastically!”
“The game is able to be beaten within 8 hours, and while there is some replayability in redoing missions and going for all of the achievements, the game gets significantly easier the higher level your characters are, which may or may not be a positive thing depending on where you lie on the spectrum of 'I love curbstomping goblins' to 'I want a challenging video game.'”
“The game has next to no replay value; once you've done a mission, you've usually solved the puzzle of the objectives and replaying it has little to offer.”
“A reasonably entertaining game, though I managed to 100% it in 17 hours, so there isn't a ton of replayability here.”
“There's pretty limited replay value.”
- music16 mentions
- 63 % positive mentions
- 19 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally described as atmospheric and enjoyable, but it suffers from a lack of variety, with many players noting the repetitiveness of the combat track. While the soundtrack complements the beautiful artwork and gameplay, it ultimately falls short due to its limited number of tracks, leading to a less engaging experience over time. Overall, while the music is appreciated, it needs more diversity to enhance the overall enjoyment of the game.
“The artwork is beautiful and the music is atmospheric.”
“Excellent progression, good music, fun side quests, simple story, delightfully different play styles for the four characters.”
“Good graphics, nice music.”
“There are others in the game, yes (very few), but it doesn't matter because you will always be hearing the combat music, which gets repetitive and annoying very fast.”
“The design, the strategic gameplay, the soundtrack, the deckbuilding in general are all fine, but currently are not keeping me engaged.”
“Story and music need a bit of work.”
- stability8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is plagued by numerous bugs, particularly affecting save files and the final level, which can lead to frustrating scenarios that require players to replay significant portions of gameplay. While these issues may deter some players, others believe the game remains enjoyable and hope for future patches from the developers.
“At the outset, I should emphasize that this game is a bit buggy and that's frustrating. You will likely encounter a couple of bugs that end a scenario prematurely or force you to replay something you just spent an hour or more on. If that's a deal-breaker, then so be it. I still think the game is worth it, especially if the developers continue to patch.”
“This game is a buggy mess.”
“Final level is buggy.”
- grinding8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviews on grinding in the game are mixed; while some players appreciate the tight, challenging design that avoids tedious grinding, others express frustration with the necessity to grind for bonuses and to level up new characters. The game features difficulty spikes that can make grinding feel obligatory, but the strategic map and mission design help mitigate excessive farming. Overall, players seem to prefer a focused experience over an artificially extended one.
“Died a few times and honestly don't feel like grinding my way through bonuses just to be able to progress.”
“There are some definite difficulty spikes between levels, and unlocking a new character that starts at level 1 means that you'll need to do some grinding on earlier levels before they are able to adequately assist on story missions.”
“Some negative reviews mention that the game is too short, but I prefer a game that is tight and packed full of flavor rather than an artificially dragged out tedious grind that some players mistake for 'value for money.'”
- atmosphere6 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its beautiful artwork and atmospheric music, despite a limited number of tracks. Players appreciate the immersive style that creates a sense of empowerment during missions, enhancing the overall experience.
“The artwork is beautiful and the music is atmospheric, although there aren't many tracks.”
“I love the style, as well as the atmosphere.”
“I like the atmosphere of the game; you can feel overpowered doing the missions, even when you're actually not.”
- humor6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is widely praised for its humor, featuring amusing graphics and a comedic tone that enhances the gameplay experience. Players appreciate its funny elements, likening it to a blend of civilization-style strategy with RPG and roguelike mechanics, all offered at a fair price.
“It's very funny, looks like Civilization's saga but with RPG and roguelike components.”
“Fun game with funny graphics.”
“Really funny game with a fair price.”
- character development4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that while the character design is generally praised for its quality, there is a notable disconnect between the character design and the overall game design, which detracts from the character development experience.
“Nice character design”
“My main knock here is that the character design stands in contrast to the game design.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Overall, users feel that the game's optimization could be improved, although those with upgraded hardware report a smooth gameplay experience.
“I think it could be better optimized, but since I upgraded my rig, it plays perfectly.”
