Reviewing an early-stage demo is always challenging. Most times, it’s a mixed bag, and sometimes when the game feels undercooked, it could hurt the final product more than help it. This is my concern with Worldseekers, a mobile GPS-based deck-building RPG. There’s a lot of neat concepts in the game; getting people out and about and trying something different in a genre that is already bloated with a ton of games. But because of some elements that are not ready to see the light of day, it makes me worried about the final product.
To start with, the art is inconsistent throughout the game. To be fair, the game includes a warning asking to excuse the unfinished art, as the team is still working on it. I wouldn’t mind rough drawings, but instead, the team implemented my character as an emoji. And it doesn’t fit with the rest of the art. But all the art direction is messy, nothing really matches - sometimes, I am presented with pixel art, especially when I’m exploring dungeons. At other times, the art looks like a painting, and then the next moment, the enemies look like cartoon drawings. The same goes for the cards, which include a mix of hand-drawn sketches, rough drafts, cartoonish elements, and paintings. I’m hoping that there will be a focus on the art and have a consistent style throughout the game.
The text also looks inconsistent. During quests, the text often changes from readable to very small and then back to normal size. Again, I know this is a demo, but things like that cause me to pause as these are small things that could easily be fixed.
The game’s balance is all over the place. The game is structured into zones, each containing enemies, dungeons, and story elements. While exploring my area as a level one character, I often encountered zones with significantly higher-level enemies. I went into town, about fifteen miles from my house, and all the monsters around me are at least ten levels above me. I don’t know if it’s because I traveled away from my home, or just a fluke. Occasionally I’ll find a zone with a similar level as my character, but I couldn’t really do much in town. The dungeons that I encountered are even worse; all the enemies were at least ten levels above me. This imbalance made exploring frustrating rather than fun, which is disappointing for a game meant to encourage exploration.
Now there are some features that I do like about Worldseekers. It is a deckbuilder, and I’m a big fan of deckbuilders. Each time I defeat an enemy, I get to choose a new card to add to my deck. Sometimes, I’m given a choice of weapons and armor, and these items stay with me, even when I die. The battle system is pretty straightfoward - I have a set of cards that I can play, and a weapon that I can use to deal damage as well. Using the weapon replenishes the cards in my hand. I do like the idea of finding narrative quests and dungeons in the wild as well. I’m hoping that these become more tied to the locations I’m in, and not just some random stories.I like the idea of GPS exploration, but nothing in the game feels unique to my actual surroundings. I know that’s more of a challenge, than let’s say having a Poke stop associated with a landmark, but the expectation is there for GPS games to incorporate more of the real world elements, and right now, Worldseekers doesn’t have that.
I’m willing to try any game that gets me exploring, and Worldseekers shows promise with its blend of RPG and deck-building elements. And Worldseekers is trying to add some RPG and deckbuilding elements to this mobile genre. It’s still in early access, so I’m hoping that the things I spelled out in my preview will be ironed out before the full release; A consistent art style, smoother text, balanced zones and unique landmarks would transform Worldseekers into a great game.
Review code provided by Keymailer.
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