Pluto (Abstract Expressionist Tactical Spellcasting Deckbuilder)
While searching for a new game critic (surprisingly difficult), I’ve taken on the task myself with a ton of games in the queue. Unfortunately, unlike music, you need to spend a long time with these to provide proper criticism. Sometimes after a few minutes a game seems incredible, and then by the end you wish you died before you started. So if you see me talking about it, you know it’s made it past the threshold. Pluto is billed by the devs as a “deckbuilder,” which is only partially true. There’s certainly this element featured prominently, that cannot be denied, but this is best understood as tactical spellcasting, with some rather interesting features. Choosing one of eight different wizards, you collect various spells as you move along a map, along with artifacts, and extremely critical rings that you place on your fingers. This is the key element.
As you can see from the trailer above, you place the rings on your fingers to create synergies that relate directly to the layout of the elements that each spell is comprised of. So, for example, if you cast a spell that uses the element of bone (icon in the upper left of the header image for this article), it will have a certain number of these icons indicated on the card. Let’s assume three. This means that if the three rings you have on the left starting from your left pinky each are bone-focused and you place the spell there, this will alter how the spell works such as increasing its power. The elements creates an extremely unique experience that forces the player to think more deeply, but not without some faults. Certain wizards, such as “The Magus,” can completely wipe the game with very little effort. This is somewhat expected, of course, because it enables the player to better understand the game before taking on the more difficult challenges. But there’s a rather high bar level of stress that immediately goes to a million with some of the others. Some of the wizards are extremely difficult to work with based on enemy skills, making for longer, painful runs that can end in a heartbeat due to not getting the kind of spells that work best. There’s only so much building you can do based on what kind of wizard you choose. Still, with its eerie settings and sound, in addition to its novel, AbEx styled artwork, Pluto proves itself worthy in the end, just prepare yourself for some taxing runs that will take your breath away, if you make it.
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
Pluto
Siege Wizard Interactive (developer), indie.io (publisher)
4.1 / 5
