Titanium Court

Don't talk to me or my dragon son ever again

Why

Why Not

Impressions

Titanium Court is a weird hybrid of visual novel and match three game, but never has 'more than the sum of its parts' been more appropriate. I was pulled in right away by its unique premise and style; then kept around by surprisingly deep/strategic gameplay, a perfectly paced story and the ability to beat up a landlord with goats. I'm writing this at ~24 hours as I have the option to roll credits but can't bring myself to do so without seeing everything the game has to offer (despite the potential consequences for my subjects), so want to give this the positive review it more than deserves before I put a bunch more hours into unearthing its remanining secrets.

Technically this game could be called a roguelike in the sense that you go on 'runs' and can gain power which persists between them, but it's much more in the mold of Hades 2's highly reactive storytelling than the (near) pure gameplay of Slay the Spire. The surprisingly deep if you want it to be gameplay wasn't what really kept me invested; it was seeing what kind of weird hijinks my court and its inhabitants would get up to during or after a run. There's so much great stuff here, almost always funny (in a 'huh, neat' way more than literally laughing) and sometimes even thought provoking. It's brilliant, absurd, and extremely well written. I'd probably enjoy the overall story even as a book, but being a game definitely adds to the experience with all the ways it can react to your actions or make meta-jokes.

Very, very strong recommend from me, if you're at all considering picking this up you should.