Saga of Guardians Review (Demo) – Simple But Effective

As a fan of deck-builders, I’m always keen to try out new ones, hence creating this Saga of Guardians review. I played a demo version as the full version isn’t released (at time of writing), but most of the features seem to be there. I didn’t actually see a trailer beforehand, but the description and screenshots were enough to sell me on it.

Even though the gameplay is quite simplistic, I wasn’t put off by that. There’s enough strategy involved to keep it interesting, without it being so complicated that it makes it inaccessible to beginners. In fact, this game would even be suitable for children provided that they can read and do basic maths.

But is this PvP strategy game right for you? Let’s get into it!

Gameplay

In Saga of Guardians, there’s no story, not even background lore. You just battle each other, that’s it. I feel like they missed a chance to create some kind of war story with separate factions, especially since the cards seem to primarily fall under 3 distinct groups – Cats, dogs, and birds. It would’ve been cool to have a cutscene or something with them all fighting each other, just to immerse you a little.

However, there’s no story, so let’s focus on what is there – the gameplay. As I said, it’s exclusively combat, but the way that combat works is interesting. You start the game by drawing 4 cards, and then you draw 1 card at the start of each round. This works out well for the early rounds, but the balancing is a little off, especially when you get to later rounds. I’m not sure what the fix would be here, perhaps getting to spend AP on an extra draw, or having more cards with a drawing effect.

Combat uses an AP system that scales the intensity as the rounds go on, and I love how it develops slowly. It can create really exciting twists as you go on. Ultimately, the goal is to defeat the opponent’s Guardian before they defeat yours. You both start at 30 health, which means the games can last a fair while, which I enjoy.

AP System & Combat

The AP system used in Saga of Guardians is one of the main aspects that drew me in. On the surface, the gameplay isn’t particularly interesting. This is mainly due to the lack of cards. The game page boasts of 150 unique cards, but in all my battles with opponents, I never saw more than maybe 40, if I’m being generous. And honestly, it was probably closer to 30. Either way, not much variety. But the AP system means that you can only play weaker cards at first, so when you do get to the more expensive cards, they feel novel.

AP is what you use to play cards, and each one has a price. The more useful a card, the more expensive it is. Every turn, you increase your total AP by 1. So on turn 1, you have 1 AP, 2 AP on turn 2, 10 AP on turn 10, etc. You can decide between playing one or two high priced cards, or multiple lower priced cards, which is where the combat strategy comes in. But you can only ever have 4 cards out at a time (although you can play upgrades on those cards).

Each round has a decision phase where you spend your AP and choose your order, and then a play phase where everything resolves. The cards attack each other from the inside out, so your outermost card is protected by the cards in front of it. Figuring out the optimal order is crucial, and involves thinking carefully about what moves your opponent is likely to make. I always try to have my stronger cards defended by weaker cards. I don’t care if weak cards die, especially in later rounds, as it clears space.

Deck-Building

The whole reason I wanted to write this Saga of Guardians review is because of the deck-building. It’s a genre that I love, although usually the deck-builders I play are roguelites. I did enjoy the PvP aspect, however, I wish there wasn’t such a long wait between games. Another issue there is that sometimes I’m screwed simply because my opponent has access to better cards than me. If they’ve been playing for longer and have therefore opened more booster packs/ received better cards in their packs, then there’s not much I can do about that.

You begin with a starter deck, but once you’ve bought new cards, you can create new decks. I think it’d be more interesting if you had more spare cards to begin with, as scaling is slow in its current state. Still, I enjoyed creating a more balanced deck to play with. I tried to prioritise lower priced cards, as getting a leg up in those early rounds really sets the course of each combat.

One thing Saga of Guardians is lacking is satisfying combos. Due to the simplicity of the cards and effects, there’s nothing that stands out as a particularly exciting combos. You don’t really have to think much about deck synergy, and can just stack it with the best cards. I do wish there were more options for cards working well together, it’d make the deck-building experience feel more meaningful.

Audio & Visuals

If I have to hear that stupid background tune one more time, I’m gonna snap. The developer really dropped the ball here. The game has exactly one tune, whether you’re in the menu, the loading screen, or the game itself. And that tune? It’s probably about 15 seconds. It just loops and repeats, the same annoying beeping sound. Thankfully the settings have the option to turn the music off, because it’s just so grating. There are so many great royalty free tracks available, I don’t know how this was the one the dev settled on. It’s a shame, because the sound effects themselves are decent. They’re exactly what you’d expect, clunky combat sounds like swords swishing or shields crashing.

The graphics are fine by me too. They’re not going to be making any lasting impressions, but the character art is enjoyable enough. Everything is very minimalist, but I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing. If it works it works. I like that there are distinct styles between the factions, and I’m a big fan of the artwork for the dogs as it’s so cute. The cats are drawn kind of creepily, which is a shame because I love cats! But it’s not bad artwork, it’s just not my personal preference.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

• Lack of CPU is frustrating – Saga of Guardians is exclusively PvP, which can be problematic for such a small game. The miniscule pool of players means waiting several minutes between games, and there’s no option to play against a CPU after you’ve done the tutorial. It feels lazy not to create an enemy AI to play against. It would’ve been a useful way to test deck synergies.

• Store needs rethinking – I love that you can buy booster packs in the store, and I’m also intrigued to see what the greyed out shop options will be when the full game is released. However, currently you can only get coins by doing the Daily Challenge, which means you have to wait 2 days to open a single booster pack. You should really be able to get coins every time you win, or have multiple challenges. Even being able to sell your dupes would be a great addition. I hope this is improved upon the full release.
• Inexcusable spelling mistakes – For a game like this which has next to no writing, there’s really no excuse for there to be spelling mistakes. Even if the developer was bad at English, they could’ve at least had a friend look over it. Instead, some of the cards had glaring mistakes, such as card text reading ‘loose -1 attack’ instead of ‘lose 1 attack’.
• Levelling system – You start at Bronze 1 and work your way up. For every game you win, you gain progress, and after you win 5 games, you hit the next rank. Each colour has 3 ranks within it, but I haven’t played for long enough to see where it maxes out. I do enjoy having a ranking system, but I wish it affected which opponents you face. Maybe it will when there are more players.

Verdict

Overall, I would say my Saga of Guardians review is pretty positive. It certainly has promise, the question is as to whether it’ll deliver upon the full release. Despite its flaws, I’ve still enjoyed it, and have played for around 100 minutes total, across 20 matches. I would definitely play it again, but I’d want to wait until there are more players, as I hate waiting so long between matches.

Would I recommend it? Not in its current state. Would I dissuade you from it? Also no. It’s certainly worth keeping on your radar if this is a genre you enjoy.

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Saga of Guardians Demo (Steam)

N/A

7.2

Verdict

7.2/10

Pros

• Interesting AP system
• Accessible gameplay
• Fun combat mechanics

Cons

• Awful soundtrack
• Lack of exciting combos and synergies
• Long wait times and no CPU enemies
• Spelling mistakes aplenty