I was ecstatic to try Leap of Fate, developed by Clever-Plays. The game looked incredible in the various trailers and gameplay teasers, but once I started, I realized that this video game is no walk in the park. There were plenty of deaths during my time playing through Leap of Fate, but that only increased by the joy of replaying the game. My reviews are pretty straightforward, I try not to get so in-depth that it may spoil what the development team is hoping players will uncover, but here’s my overall experience with Leap of Fate.
Leap of Fate is described, according to the developers Clever-Plays, as a unique blend of isometric perspective, furiously-paced action, and roguelike elements. This is a pretty accurate description of the game, players embark on a journey through a steampunk alternate New York where they will take control of four different characters. More specifically, you’ll start off with Aeon, a shadow mage and as the game progresses, three additional characters will unlock.
Each character comes with their own unique attributes, some more appealing than others. For instance, I found myself favoring Aeon, a shadow mage that shot bursts of magic at his enemies when compared to Big Mo, a cyborg technomancer with a primary beam-based weapon.
This doesn’t mean Big Mo or the other two character unlocks, Mukai, a spirit channeler, and Rasimov, the rogue occultist, were poorly controlled or cheap to the gameplay experience. Essentially, it just comes down to preference and playstyle.
Speaking of playstyle, Leap of Fate does a pretty unique way of leveling players up. When it comes time to level up your character you’ll use the common skill tree layout, though its broken the character down into three levels to which you’re forced into upgrading a certain aspect of your character. Ultimately, if you’ve been saving up to unlock a particular combat attribute you may be forced into upgrading your movement capabilities instead. This was one aspect I particularly loved as it always kept myself thinking on the fly rather than long-term.
While this is a rougelike game, Leap of Fate is a big forgiving. Sure, you can die and lose out on your progress in a particular chapter, but the game doesn’t strip you from your abilities, thus players won’t have to start completely from scratch. Additionally, being a rougelike, I assumed there would be plenty of loot to collect but that front was a bit weak. There wasn’t really items you could equip for your character. Instead, there were items available that could help in other aspects of the game such as continuing the game from the point of which you died rather than restarting the chapter.
Going through chapters and missions is done by a tarot card menu layout. During the start of each chapter, players witness a pyramid of cards, as you go through one card, the connecting card beneath is turned over, revealing what is potentially next. Not every card has to be completed and its entirely possible to play through half of the chapter by searching for the chapter’s end boss, known as the Guardian in this game.
Each card will show what players will run into. If it’s a mission, you’ll see how many rounds or waves of enemies are in the mission along with how big of a reward you can expect if completed. Additionally, there are cards that may present a challenge, a secret, or a shop to refill your various meters such as health or your secondary combat weapon.
I’ll be honest when it came to the story, it was interesting at first, though the game never really kept my enthusiasm as I progressed. I’m not going to spoil too much for you, but Leap of Fate has players taking a role of a technomage, each with their own unique story though all must go through the journey of a Crucible in order to uncover their own story and purpose in this world. Again, the story was something that really got my interest when I started the game, but it would have made more of an impact if there was more element within the story after each guardian boss fight rather than a quick line or two before tossing me into the next pyramid of cards.
Personally, I didn’t have any issue when it came to audio and visuals within the game. The soundtrack was mostly looped and the visuals weren’t winning any awards though there wasn’t anything negative that took me out from the immense gameplay in that regard.
Unfortunately, there was still one aspect of Leap of Fate that I did run into a problem with and that was repetition. Each map was relatively small and formed as a puzzle, blocking players off from various areas. Layouts for the maps just bled together and it became tough to differentiate a new location.
With all that said, Leap of Fate was still a pleasant and an addicting game. I found myself going back throughout the day to kill a bit of time and to unlock a new character or attempt to pick up a new character attribute. This video game is definitely worth the $15.99 it’s currently marked at on Steam and one I recommend despite the downsides highlighted in my review.
Final Verdict
8/10
Leap of Fate was developed by Clever-Plays and published by Clever-Plays. It was released on March 30th for the PC. A copy of the game was provided by the developer for the purpose of this review.
