Were we ready for One Step From Eden’s elevator pitch? It’s Slay the Spire as an action game, inspired by the cult-classic-yet-mysteriously-under-played Mega Man Battle Network series. Describing the comparisons does little to downplay the genuinely intimidating complexity—on both strategic as well as mechanical fronts—which the new indie game ruthlessly applies to its formula, but its smart, pitiless structure beckons returns, over and over. Which is to say, it’s an intimidating challenge, but an alluring one, despite its conspicuous lack of character.
It’s a strange callout, because Slay the Spire was definitely not the type of experience anyone signed up for if they were desperate for a dense narrative. Readers of our review know our outlook: Slay the Spire is an ingeniously designed experience, built brick by brick as the kind of endless combat puzzle whose roguelike tendencies never fail to rejuvenate each consecutive randomized run. Small touches of character and charm were certainly there, but it wasn’t the reason to pick it up in the first place. However, Slay’s pedigree was also widely acknowledged and understood in terms of its collectible card game DNA, and One Step From Eden’s most significant inspiration is inarguably more obscure, especially in the west.
Mega Man Battle Network was an action RPG split between exploration and combat, the latter of which took place upon a grid of 3-by-6 squares, with enemies on the right half and the hero on the left. Combat was handled in real-time, with navigation between each square happening almost instantaneously, with players dodging enemy attacks while returning their own. Rather than simply firing projectiles, players cultivated a kind of card deck, a set of “chips” which offered offensive and defensive options, creating an addictive mix of deckbuilding with action-based movement.
Something of a cult fanbase grew around the series, a member (notably, developer Thomas Moon Kang) of whom is unquestionably responsible for One Step From Eden. Upgrading the grid to a 4-by-8 playing field is merely one of many elements the game takes and expands upon from the Capcom ARPG. Interestingly, the game is all-combat, with no exploratory interludes to interrupt the action, though individual bosses do inject some flavor text (more on them, later). You just select one of several characters and immediately kick off your journey, fighting enemies, optionally growing your deck after each encounter, leveling up, picking up artifacts, and selecting the next node to enter on a game map.
Chances are that the first hour will be disheartening. Yes, you will make progress, until you encounter a clutch of staggering, lightning-quick enemies. You’ll stare befuddled at your deck icons in the heat of battle—wait, is this the Ice Blast I’m holding, or the Frost Bolt?—before activating several poorly-chosen cards in a row. Enemies will dazzle you with AOE attacks, or dash into your sacred side of the grid to surprise with a slash to the face. Hostage characters who normally offer up minor health refills upon saving will die at your clumsy hand, and boss characters will absolutely trounce you, all of whom make their final hit an ignoble, dramatic, humiliating killing blow, along with a mocking voice line.
This is normal. To call One Step From Eden “difficult” is not simply to describe the game as a challenge—which it most certainly will be, to most—but to articulate its unexpected density and detail. The introductory character, in certain ways, is the most considerate; she magically revives once per playthrough with a considerable portion of health, she has an unlimited projectile attack which does not consume mana, and her starter deck is one of the most straightforward in the game. However, ten battles in and you’ll be juggling multiple artifacts and spell cards, completely transforming (or potentially ruining) her potential. All the spells you previously chose, doled out after each successful battle, will start to sag the deck down, or appear less useful as later enemies prove weirder and harder to hit.
So far, so good, so Slay, but part of that game’s magic lay in its patient, almost meditative approach. Complex encounters became chess moves, with savvy players weighing the risk of each chosen card to future choices with a calm, zen-like serenity. All of that zen is hurled out the window when two enemies are raining gunfire on your 16 squares, while the third spawns mobs into them who hurt you and blockade movement. A single fight can utterly wreck a run, especially in those early, doe-eyed hours, sending you back to square one, albeit with a few new toys unlocked.
Eventually, be it five hours or 15, the particular skills which One Step From Eden expects you to shape begin to emerge out of the fog. Soon you’ll determine the greatest threats in each given fight, internalize the damage potential of each spell (let alone recognize them in-hand), anticipate attacks and zip around the grid to avoid them. It’s a little head-patting, tummy-rubbing at times, especially when holding a devastating but strangely-patterned spell and needing to summon some quick-thinking geometry to apply it most effectively and accurately in the chaos of laser blasts and exploding mines.
Even then, when the basic gameplay starts to set in, there are the bosses. Each boss doubles as a potential character once they’ve eventually been unlocked, and each of them will no doubt have their ample opportunities to trounce you. At first, the initial few boss encounters will befuddle and demoralize, but they’re hardly the main event. These fights are randomized, but they also accelerate in difficulty with each new completed area, meaning that the first level’s somewhat forgiving Hazel and her assortment of gun turrets transform into an epic, draining experience when she’s the fourth or fifth boss in a given run. Choosing to let the bosses live offers a potential surprise team of allies which can return later on, though this means sacrificing their item drops. And, past the halfway point, reaching a boss with a full health bar means nothing about your chances of success, though the games’ RNG is less of a factor than a player’s developing level of skill.
In this respect, the game’s challenge is meaningfully tempered. Or, in other words, its roguelike tendencies are rarely a match for player ability and input, an alluring recipe that may be One Step From Eden’s greatest contribution to that over-stuffed genre. There’s something of a gradual growth, though, with higher-powered spells available the farther you reach, as well as mutable attributes and the ability to occasionally upgrade individual cards. It amounts to an impressive number of spinning wheels and variables all the way down, and when combined with the growing roster of highly-differentiated characters available to choose from, very few runs feel exactly like another.
The pixel art used here adds some charm, along with gorgeous painted artwork for the characters on the main menus. Aside from a somewhat thin tutorial, though, you’ll be left to figure out what various status effects mean and look like, and it may take some time to deduce what these relatively low-pixel-count sprites are calling out in the heat of the fight.
That’s part of the One Step From Eden experience, though: paying close attention, keeping a stiff upper lip, and practicing smart dodges as you learn from each encounter. There’s even local co-op and PvP options (which were unable to be tested in this review) which could lead to some serious competitive attention further down the line. The game succeeds despite its fierce challenge because each system is incredibly well-designed and compliments the mechanical learning curve quite readily, even if that curve’s breadth can feel demoralizing in its darkest hours. Fans of Mega Man Battle Network as well as the original Xbox’s Phantom Dust will be thrilled by this intricate game, one which is informed and educated by those unique titles, while newcomers will discover an engrossing roguelike, so long as they are willing to weather the coming challenge.
One Step From Eden releases on Steam for PC and the Nintendo Switch eShop on March 26. A digital Steam copy was provided to Screen Rant for purposes of review.