Should I get Monster Train or Inscryption?
Should I get Monster Train or Inscryption?
TL;DR: Which game you like better, Monster Train or Inscryption?
When I first bought Slay The Spire, I thought I was going to hate it. Never been much into deckbuilding games, roguelites even less. I ended up absolutely loving the game. Building unique fun decks, adapting to the RNG, planning a way to beat the heart. I loved every second of it. I spent 500 hours on the game so far. I beat A20 with every character, completed every achievement.
Recently I bought Wildfrost. At first I found it super hard, but devs seem to be very active and developed some QoL improvements that made the game amazing for me. Managing all the keywords and unit placement was hard but very rewarding. I loved the game and would totally recommend giving the new patch a go, it's much more forgiving. I spent 70 hours on the game so far, beat all difficulties and completed every achievement.
Looking to move on to the next deckbuilding roguelite game. Narrowed it down to Inscryption or Monster Train, both seem really nice.
If you own Monster Train would you recommend getting the DLC (it's at sale now) or just the base game and check the DLC later?
Thanks!
Inscryption is not close to StS in gameplay style. It's more narrative and the card gaming strategy takes a back seat, it's also very breakable with certain strategies. Not to say it is a bad game, just it doesn't sound like it's what you're looking for.
Monster Train is a solid game, you'll get more replayability if you get the DLC later since it impacts core gameplay.
I would actually recommend you check out Griftlands, it feels closer to StS playstyle to me than Monster Train. In Monster Train it's a lot about supporting the units with your deck, whereas StS and Griftlands are more about using your deck for the combat.
My take echoes this. If one puts any stock in streamer recommendations, Baalorlord who has at various times held spire world record winstreaks, has recently cited Monster Train as his current favorite spirelike (other than spire itself), and also cited Griftlands as a playthrough a highlight.
Baalor probably doesn't have an opinion on Inscryption as he tends to avoid things with even a slight horror theme. I enjoyed what I played of Inscryption a lot, but very little about playing it evoked the vibe of playing spire. Monster Train is quite adjacent though, the mechanics are different enough to feel fresh but it slots into the same gameplay mood for me whereas Inscryption is just a different (and still very good) thing.
Neither has the tight balance of Spire or feels quite as deep strategically to me (though in all honesty I'm probably not a strong enough player to be trusted in this regard), but both are fun.
I hope you're not disappointed by Inscryption, because it's not going to be what you expect. But it is great. Don't look anything up before you play it.
Inscryption > monster train by a wide margin. Go into it as blind as possible. Don’t look anything up. It’s the most memorable deck builder that I’ve ever played. I wish I could erase the game from my mind so that I could experience all over again.
Monster train was fun but I felt like there were runs that were pretty much unwinnable from the start due to RNG. Unlike Slay the Spire, some of the classes just didn’t feel viable. I only played it with the DLC enabled so I’m not entirely certain how the base game felt.
TL;DR there’s absolutely no situation where I would ever pick Monster Train over Inscryption
I’ve never played monster train, but inscription has a little more going on than just a roguelite. I don’t want to spoil anything, but depending on if that sounds interesting to you, that may be the answer to your question.
Monster train is very good. It's probably a bit easier than others in the genre. It's more about how many modifiers you use to make the game more difficult than simply finishing. You can generally always beat the game on any given run, you aren't as dependent on getting the exact right cards or unlocking more powerful cards.
I can't speak too much to the dlc, I don't have a ton of experience with it, but my friend has literally unlocked and completed everything and still enjoys the game.