Trulon: The Shadow Engine Review

RPGs are extremely popular, and ones that use card style fighting in console and PC have been a big trend recently. I may be one of the few gamers who completely missed the boat on RPG turn-based card style games until recently, but I’ve been learning! My most recent venture into this type of game is Trulon: The Shadow Engine.

In Trulon: The Shadow Engine, you are brought into a world based on the writings of Jak Koke, writer of such series’ as the Shadowrun Trilogy. Trulon was an ancient world full of machines that were beyond anything in current times. The world died out and in its place is the land of Maelon, where our story starts. We open on a young woman named Gladia, a monster hunter, just starting her day. As she wanders into town, she’s given various tasks that cause her to have to venture into the wilderness, facing off against evil creatures.

As you play through the game, you will team up with other characters. This is a game that’s designed for long and in depth play, as I played it for a few hours and didn’t feel like I got all that far. The card style play is fairly easy to get a hold of, even for someone new to it. The cards are explained as a new one comes up, and different characters get different types of cards. There is a health bar as well as a magic bar, and after each fight they seem to replenish. Taking your time to read the cards out during battle and pick which one is best for your next move doesn’t take too long as the cards are very simple to understand.

The monsters that you face off against fit in well with the world and are rather stylistic. They remind me of characters that could be found in Okami, a game for Nintendo Wii. The style is similar to traditional Japanese art with an anime feel twisted in, leaving the enemies such as monkeys looking cute yet standoffish. They may be cute, but it’s clear that they’re also a little bit dangerous, some more than others.

The character and world design are clearly influenced by Steampunk, giving the game an interesting feel. This isn’t the first time, nor will it be the last, that anime style and steampunk have been married together, but it creates a wonderful feeling world. The art reminds me partially of Avatar: The Last Airbender as it has a simple color palette that is easy on the eyes. Despite the world being a little dark and full of monsters once you venture out of civilization, the color and art style still allows it to feel somewhat happy. In other words, it’s hard to play this game and get upset at anything.

I would definitely recommend Trulon: The Shadow Engine to anyone new to RPGs. The simple setup and anime style make it easy to follow and not overwhelming. The game eases players into the world and the playing style, offering explanations that can be ignored if need be. Rather than a world like Diablo III where you had better know what you’re doing or you’re kind of screwed, this game politely holds your hand.

At the same time, I would also recommend this game to pretty much anyone. A casual gamer, someone looking for something to wind down with after playing something intense, this is game that pretty much anyone can get into. It is slow moving, though, and the action won’t be giant theatrical cut-scenes. In fact, the dialog is more in the style of traditional JRPGs where it’s mostly text and little voice acting.

The game, as I said before, does take some time to get into. It’s very simple and easy to pick up and put back down at a moment’s notice. On the reverse side of that, though, it can also draw you in and you can find yourself playing it for over an hour when you were pretty sure you’d only been playing for a few minutes. The characters walk kind of slow, though I think that actually adds to keeping the pace of the game relaxed, even if it can get a little bit annoying at times. I’m looking forward to getting further in this game and seeing just what the whole story is.

Trulon: The Shadow Engine, made by Kyy Games and published by Headup Games, is a single player casually paced RPG. For those new to the genre as well as those with loads of experience, this is a game that has interesting lore and simple game mechanics. Being laid back gives it an edge on some other RPGs currently on the market, as it is easily approachable. Perhaps Trulon: The Shadow Engine will be my gateway game of sorts to exploring other card-based RPG games.