Review | Deathless. Tales Of Old Rus - Tale Retold
I’ve played a lot of deckbuilders and roguelikes over the years, and after a while, they can tend to all blend into one—however, Deathless. Tales of Old Rus stands out from the crowd.
You’re immediately greeted with a gorgeous art style and a grand adventure. A deck builder rarely has a fully built and expanded story, but this one has everything.
An Epic Slavic Adventure
Jumping into the game, you’re greeted by the character you play as. Their name is Varvara, and they come with a unique set of skills that sets them apart from the other characters that will be added later in the game.
Deathless. Tales of Old Rus immediately piqued my interest with the character placement. I was instantly reminded of Darkest Dungeon, which features the same turn-taking process. Varvara has cards that allow her to pull an enemy to the front, or, when dying, she can pull them in front of her and use them as a shield.
Regarding deck-builder roguelikes, this one has so much potential and a lot of replayability. As a result, I have sunk many hours into the game, and I still feel as if I’ve barely scratched the surface of Varvara’s potential and how strong a deck she can build.
Paths, Quests and Rewards
Deathless features a navigation system unlike any other I’ve experienced in any other deckbuilder. This immediately grabbed my attention, and I quickly found it was full of depth. For every floor you clear, you are then given three options. Left, forward, or right. Alongside those comes a description of what you can expect to await you and affixes that affect what happens on the floor.
For example, some may offer you no gold, but your enemies have less health. Or, if you fight a particularly difficult enemy, you’ll be rewarded with a relic. I liked this idea of choosing what reward will suit you the best and making careful decisions as to whether the affixes will make or break your run.
Additionally, Deathless. Tales of Old Rus features a quest system. At the bottom of the map, where you are given your choice of which path to take, it tells you how many floors until you can expect to encounter a boss. When this is triggered, you can fight the boss of that floor, which correlates to a quest. It isn’t necessary to do the boss on that floor if you feel you aren’t ready, and you can continue your run while avoiding all of the quest markers.
Completing a full quest line allows you to unlock other characters and increase your score, which allows you to pick three cards to unlock where you can find them on your next adventure.
Kindness is a Virtue
Most deck-builder roguelikes are very unforgiving. Deathless is quite unique in that regard. While some enemies are very strong and unforgiving, it makes up for it with relief in affixes. For example, you may find one that heals you, gives you extra strength in the next battle, or allows you to find a merchant.
One of the most interesting features that I enjoy is that if you die in battle, you are given the option to retry. There’s been plenty of times when I was certain I could do the fight, but I played the wrong card. Being given a second wind where I could try again with no repercussions was something I utilized heavily. You can retry the battle as many times as you like or choose to end your run if you feel you can’t do it.
Overall, Deathless. Tales of Old Rus is one of my favourite deck builders that I’ve ever played. It features many unique mechanics and systems that most deck builders don’t implement. The story features many enemies from Slavic folklore, giving you a taster of fairytales from the region.
The art style is one of my favourites I’ve seen it in a deckbuilder roguelike. It’s so smooth and vibrant and really helps bring the whole game to life. I can see myself sinking many more hours into this game well into the distant future.
