The Pagemaster

Inkbound is a weird game, not in its gameplay or systems but just in how its narrative is presented. I literally have no idea what is going on in its story but its fun and co-op gameplay is solid enough that it doesn’t really matter. In Inkbound players will assist with staving off the blight to protect the land, I think actually it might be books. Players will control one of the many Needless who are all working apart of an enclave to destroy this blight in what looks like a library.

At its core, Inkbound plays out as a set of rooms where players fight enemies in isolated and shrinking arena, turn-based combat using action points and then access the chosen rewards. Players will do this a few times and then fight a mini-boss before doing it a few more times to fight another until ultimately, they will fight a boss which will conclude the run. The formula is extremely repetitive, but it never really feels like it unless you are playing solo, the coop is what, in my opinion really sets this game apart from the horde of other roguelites.

MSRP: $29.99
Platforms: PC
Price I’d Pay: $24.99

As I said earlier battles take place in arena that begins with a large arena that will gradually get smaller as the battle progresses. And oh, my gawd get used to seeing LOTS of shapes, circles, rectangles, arrows all of which help to demonstrate the range of attacks for you or baddies. At the outset players are able to use four of their action points, which is called Will here. In Inkbound players aren’t locked into either moving or attacking and in fact can do a mix of each on their turns. Having the freedom to move and attack as one sees fit is a huge boon in a genre that typically forces you to choose between one or the other.

Engaging in battles while playing multiplayer opens up a whole new level of strategy for skirmishes. Players get the first attack, which is always nice; and in multiplayer allows the team to position themselves perfectly for success. I absolutely adored the level of strategy that Inkbound allowed for. Saving big attacks, and stun moves for the larger enemies. There are massive AOE attacks that can hit multiple targets, there are tank classes to draw aggro from the bigger enemies while more attack-oriented classes mop up the little guys. And there are even various status effects that can enhance damage or synergize with other players and classes, the developers did an excellent job with the tools provided here for players.

Combat and deep strategy is great in Inkbound, but this isn’t a picture-perfect storybook. Inkbound has been in early access for about a year I think, and this is it’s 1.0 launch. Well, it’s just kind of odd to me that there is so little in the way of monster variety. There is however lots of trinkets and abilities between the eight classes which will allow for tons of customization. As players move through the map, they will have three options for fight types with the harder ones offering better rewards. Yes, this is a rogue lite, which means players are going to be playing levels over and over until they get the perfect build for domination. Also, some players may find some difficulty at the onset, as Inkbound bombards players with numbers, modifiers and a bunch of other stuff. The game wants players to learn by doing instead of presenting them with a tutorial to explain all the game systems. Folks who don’t appreciate having to stumble around blindly until they figure things out won’t have a good time here at the outset, but I will say it doesn’t take too long to figure things out in game.

Aside from the repetitive enemies and locations, I enjoyed my time with Inkbound. It’s a different breed of rogue game, one that not only allows for layers upon layers of strategy with how players can approach each battle but the inclusion of 4 player co-cp makes for even greater strategizing with friends. With a whimsical graphical style and a great soundtrack to match, Inkbound can for sure be a fun game, if you are alright with fighting the same types of enemies again and again.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.