Emberward

by Aethyna Sep 29, 2024 | 1 Votes | 80 Played | 0 Reviews

10 rate

Genres:

Strategy , Puzzle

Graphics:

Labels:

Roguelike/roguelite , Tower Defense , Tetris

Platforms:

Publishers:

Refic Games Emberward is a unique tower defense-roguelite game that will have you build elaborate mazes for the enemies to go through using Tetris blocks, build towers on top of those blocks, and ultimately, protect the flame from being snuffed out. Will you be able to defend the flame from the horde? Play Now Similar Games

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Summary Gameplay Graphics/ Sound Conclusion

Summary

Emberward is a unique tower defense-roguelite game that will have you build elaborate mazes for the enemies to go through using Tetris-based tetromino blocks, build towers on top of those blocks, and ultimately, protect the flame from being snuffed out. There is plenty to unlock as you progress, be it a new biome, a new talent, or even a new hero character, and a lot more replayability, thanks to its roguelite element. Will you be able to defend the flame from the horde?

Gameplay

Emberward has a fascinatingly unique gameplay that combines the strategic block-placing of Tetris with the typical tower defense design and the replayability of the roguelite subgenre. In this game, you get to build elaborate mazes for the enemies to go through using various blocks in hopes of slaying them all before they can reach your flame, which is the “base” you need to protect. There are many different block types, and they are all inspired by Tetris, which actually made the game even more fun since you do sometimes get some really funky shapes that you’ll need to figure out how to best place.

Unlike Tetris, however, the tetromino blocks you get aren’t exactly random. They come from your deck of block cards and you can, to some extent, build your own deck of cards that suit your strategy and playstyle. That said, the cards you get on your hand – basically, the cards that you can actually place – are given out at random, thanks to the luck of the draw.

These blocks are crucial to winning a match, not just as barriers to lengthen the enemies’ path or to funnel them into going the way you want them to, but you’ll need them to place your towers on as well! This is especially important when you want to make use of the many boosters on the tiled ground around the battleground since placing a block there will allow you to build a tower that can make use of that extra stat boost. Similarly, some blocks come with their own boosters etched into certain tiles on the blocks, thanks to runes. These special blocks are typically earned at the end of a successful fight.

As with blocks, there is quite a lot of tower variety here as well. Some towers cause damage over time, while others do immediate damage; some have insane range and reach, while others can only deal damage within a short melee range. Depending on your loadout (you can bring up to eight different towers) and your block placements, you’ll need to decide which tower goes where. Of course, towers aren’t free and you’ll need to make sure you have enough coins to build anything. Towers can even be upgraded so long as you’ve got the coin. Some upgrades are better than others, though most of them depend on what you need to strengthen your defenses for the waves of enemies ahead.

Interestingly enough, you can build blocks and towers even while a wave is in progress, which can be helpful for some on-the-fly, last-minute additions to your defense. This is different from other tower defense games, where you can mostly just speed through the battle phase to see the outcome of your defense plan. You will also get booster cards that are only dropped in treasure chests, occasionally looted from slain enemies. Booster cards work the way you can probably expect – by boosting certain stats for the tower of your choice.

From time to time, you may even encounter traps. Traps are passive damage-dealing mechanisms that can both harm an enemy and inactivate your towers unless they have the protection booster. In fact, some enemies have abilities that allow them to deactivate nearby towers at certain intervals, so it’s sometimes wise to have a mix of long-ranged and shorter-ranged towers.

Aside from towers, blocks, traps, and boosters, you may also gain precious Relics, which function like permanent perks that will last throughout your current playthrough or run. These are usually pretty powerful and impactful, with some being able to drastically change up your strategy since you may want to make full use of any perks you may have chosen. You’ll get a starter Relic alongside your starter loadout at the start of every run, but you can gain more either by buying them from shops or earning them as loot after winning certain battles.

Emberward is also a roguelite game in the sense that you get a say as to where you want to go on the map. Each node typically branches off into two or more paths, and you’re free to choose the path you want to take. There are many different types of nodes that you can land on in this game aside from the usual battle nodes. There are the shop nodes where you can spend some of that hard-earned Ember (in-game currency) to purchase new Relics, towers for your loadout, or even new block cards, or Altar nodes where you can buy some health restoration or pay to remove a block card from your deck.

There’s even a Challenge node that gives you an additional challenge to take on out of the three choices presented in the following battle. If you manage to fulfill the objectives set by the Challenge, you’ll then be rewarded with the corresponding prize. Of course, if you don’t, there’s no penalty but you do lose out on a precious reward.

In addition to the map, this roguelite game has an overarching progression system in the form of Talents as well. You’ll earn experience points from every victorious fight, which you can then put to good use by investing in Talents that you think would be helpful. You can easily reset the Talents as you see fit, allowing you to, for instance, put all your points into getting a nice discount from the shop as you’ll be heading to the Shop node next. Naturally, you’ll then want to reset your Talents after that Shop visit just so you can equip the best possible Talents for your next fight.

Thanks to its roguelite features as well, Emberward has more replayability than your typical tower defense game since every playthrough you dive into will not be exactly the same. For instance, bad luck with the draw may have you start off with a fairly weak lineup of towers, but you can recover from it with some careful planning and subsequent tower selections. Similarly, having a stronger starter doesn’t mean you may get lucky with the subsequent towers. As such, you will have to improvise your strategy based on what you get.

While you progress, you’ll unlock new biomes, such as the desert and snow biomes, which come with their respective challenges. For instance, in the snow biome, blocks you place will be frozen in place after two rounds – or even sooner if you have a certain Relic equipped. This poses a huge challenge since frozen blocks can’t be built on. This meant you really needed to plan ahead and make sure you had the towers you needed built before the block froze.

That said, out of the four biomes listed, only the first three are available. The last biome is still a work in progress, unfortunately, but that’s mainly because the game’s still in early access. Once the game is fully launched, all content should then be available to play.

Graphics/ Sound

Emberward features striking and clear-cut graphics that aren’t just designed to attract attention to all the right (and important) spots on the screen but also to provide clear clues as to what dangers are present on the battlefield or what path the enemy will take to attack your flame. You can also zoom in to get a close-up of your beautiful “killzone”, if you want.

In terms of sound, the game comes with an upbeat, Celtic-inspired soundtrack that works well for the game. It also has amazing sound effects that frankly made it so satisfying to see your towers in glorious action, dropping enemies left and right.

Conclusion

As an avid tower defense player, Emberward is truly a treat! Not only does the game offer a refreshing and interesting take on the genre, which let’s be honest, is stagnating quite a bit now, Emberward also nailed its gameplay and design, offering the perfect balance for players of all skill levels, and allowing them to really feel the impact of progression via better talents. The game is also very replayable, thanks to its roguelite element, which ensures no single playthrough is exactly the same. So, if you’re a fan of tower defense games or strategy titles, you’ll want to check out Emberward. Even as an early access title, it’s definitely up there with the greats of the tower defense genre!

New Game Added: Emberward

by Aethyna Sep 29, 2024

Emberward is a unique tower defense-roguelite game that will have you build elaborate mazes for the enemies to go through using Tetris blocks, build towers on top of those blocks, and ultimately, protect the flame from being snuffed out. Will you be able to defend the flame from the horde?