14 DAY TRIAL // Ever since Slay the Spire made roguelike deck-building genre so popular among gamers there have been loads of new titles that adopted the formula. Some managed to offer their own take on the recipe, while others simply refined it in an attempt to find success.
Mahokenshi does both, as the game developed by Game Source Studio, feels like a refined version of Slay the Spire, but several twists that make it stand out. Truth be told, Mahokenshi doesn’t bring anything new to the table in terms of game mechanics, but it smartly combines multiple genres to provide a smooth, immersive gameplay experience.
Instead of certain classes, in Mahokenshi you must choose between four samurai houses, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. House of Ruby plays like some sort of battlemage that wields both blade and magic, while House of Jade has access to some interesting stealth and poison mechanics.
The other two Houses that you can play with, Topaz and Sapphire, draw strength from different elements, thus allowing players to create different playstyles. You start with House of Ruby and unlock the other classes as you progress the story.
It’s probably not that important for this type of game, but Mahokenshi does benefit from a compelling story. At least the first few chapters made me want to keep playing not just to exercise my deck-building skills, but also to learn more about the world and its inhabitants.
The main objective of the game is to protect the floating Celestial Islands from powerful enemies who seek to corrupt them. Each mission takes place on a grid map that features various landforms such as forests, mountains and plains. You’ll spend energy to move and fight on the map and then end your turn to replenish the energy pool. Moving doesn’t require you to play cards, but to win a fight you’ll have to play cards.
Unlike typical card games, Mahokenshi adds an extra layer of strategy by letting you move your character on the map during battle, thus forcing the enemy to spend energy on moving towards you. Also, battles in Mahokenshi happen on the campaign map, you’re not going to switch to a small battle map, which is why it’s possible to move away from the enemy by either using special “move” cards or simply spending energy.
Each house in the game has their own set of cards, so it will take time until you figure out a viable strategy to make battles easier. You first have to unlock the house, then the cards, and then find the synergies that fit your playstyle. It’s not unusual for a deck-building game to require multiple runs to unlock more cards or fine-tune a deck.
In Mahokenshi, each story mission has one main objective and one or more secondary ones. Many story missions must be finished in less than a certain number of turns, but the good news is you don’t have to fight all the enemies on the map. Experience is rewarded at the end of the mission, depending on how well you performed, while gold is earned by defeating enemies and completing secondary objectives.
If you don’t manage to complete any of the secondary objectives on a map, you can always revisit it. The game also has a pretty extensive skill tree where you unlock various powers and abilities that make building a powerful deck much easier.
Visually, Mahokenshi looks gorgeous. The art style also fits the setting and it’s incredibly well done. In fact, I love the entire presentation of the game, even though it’s not even the final version.
Conclusion
I’m mildly hooked on the gameplay, so I’ll give it a go one more time when Mahokenshi launches in January 2023. If you’re a fan of deck-building games, I definitely recommend keeping your eyes on this one, it’s truly a very nice surprise.
Preview code provided by the publisher.
