Titan Slayer: Roguelike RPG Review

Slay What You Wanna Slay

In the last few years, games in the “rogue” genre have obtained greater significance and acclaim in gaming. As such, mobile gaming remains an excellent platform for these titles. Randomly-generated assets and short, developing runs make for easy access on the go. Titan Slayer: Roguelike Strategy Game by developer Dreamplay Games wraps all of these elements into an engaging and gothic-inspired package.

Up Front

Upon launching the game, a unique design and clear aesthetic immediately impresses. Despite fitting the mold of other gacha RPGs on mobile, Titan Slayer attempts to not be so cut-and-paste. Just about everything outside of the UI appears hand-drawn. The heroes at your disposal (earned through random chance typical of gacha games) don layers of specific armor and accessories. A tactile grit pervades as you take down waves of monsters. After a (gratefully) breezy tutorial, you set off in search of villains to slay.

The core gameplay centers around turn-based battles with formidable, mythic creatures. Each character you unlock (through microtransaction or in-game currency) holds a variety of attacks and defenses set to playing cards. You drag the moves toward the monster, keeping your guard up for the end of the turn. Accompanying higher-power moves is a mana system, which removes certain cards for the sake of a higher net benefit. Combat develops further through a variety of classes that will vary in buffs or debuffs toward your party or enemies. In between waves, temporary boons unlock to build on your streak of wins.

Your Just Reward

Despite being a gacha game by nature, a multitude of rewards are earned just through gameplay. This is a welcome reprieve to the typical play-to-win model so often found in mobile titles. Login and achievement bonuses provide ample rewards of new party members and attacks. These additions to your team deepen gameplay in a continuously refreshing way.

The variety in boons between character types really adds a layer of strategy to matches. For example, by matching a character who causes enemies to bleed with attacks with one who can use a potion that does double damage to those under that effect, you tighten up battles and give the opposition less chance to retaliate so strongly. Of course, this comes to a head if you use all of those types of cards in your deck at once in the beginning of a wave.

Monstrous Expectations

Even with its slightly repetitive nature, Titan Slayer manages to catch onto something really enjoyable. I do feel there’s something for every player here. The app’s clear and consistent design, approachability and easy-to-learn, hard-to-master gameplay really cuts a wide swath. With more content on the way and a few online modes, Titan Slayer should absolutely be put toward the top of your backlog to try out.