Topic: Balatro

So, I've been playing the demo on Steam, and...yeah it's fun. Still has that rogue frustration but I think the extra frustration here is just because it's a demo. Has anyone played the full game yet now that it's out? You think NintendoLife will review it? Or a video? (no idea if Alex/Felix/Zion view these forums, lol)

Thinking about getting this game but wanted to hear what others thought about the full game first.

@Joeynator3000 Seems unlikely it will be reviewed here simply because most random small games don't get reviewed. And it wasn't in the 'look forward to February games' video I don't think. I would try it if Switch had a demo but it apparently doesn't although I admit the screen shots... don't look exciting.

Well yeah, it's a poker game. Of course the screenshots don't say much, lol.

I went for it anyways because yeah, the demo itself on Steam had me going for quite a while.

@Joeynator3000 I hadn't heard of the game until I saw Nintendo World Report's video review and I was instantly sold as it's something right up my alley. I've put 4-5 hours into it so far. Still getting the hang of how to go about building a run, especially early, so I'm losing a lot more than I win so far but I've won a couple of runs so far and am having a really good time with it. Can't comment on how the full game compares to the demo though, having not played the demo.

Yeah, I think the demo was bugging me a bit much because you're limited with the type of cards you can get...so I figured the full game would be much better. I got pretty far just now, too...>.<

I wish the demo would come to Switch. The game seems to be getting a lot of hype and has a weirdly high metacritic score. I want to play it and see what the hype is all about. 😝 But I don't want to buy it blind because I am 90% sure I would dislike the game — the official description has both the word deckbuilder and uses the word 'synergies' (twice)! My brain just doesn't quite compute how it could be good even after reading reviews.

I wonder if NintendoLife will review it afterall given there is staff playing it.

They removed the demo from Steam for some reason, so, I doubt it would come to Switch. It's basically poker, but after each round you use the money you gain to buy cards from the shop. The main spotlight being joker cards that can basically change the mechanics of Poker entirely if you're lucky. Also you can combine Jokers with others and cause combos and stuff.

I uploaded an hour gameplay video on my youtube, so...you could see what a single run of that game would be like. (I lost at the final boss, lol)

@FishyS I would ask this - have you played (and enjoyed) Slay The Spire? StS, in my opinion, is one of the best games going in terms of Deck/Rogue mechanics - utterly addictive.

Baltro is fantastic, but definitely not same tier as StS. If you've already played/enjoyed StS, then you'll love Balatro. Otherwise - buy StS.

@Joeynator3000 - Only had 1 successful run so far with red deck..... this morning I got to the final boss hand in Ante 8 (final ante!) and came a cropper Loving it though, v addictive

@CJD87 No, the game trial for slay the spire never came to NA so I didn't get to try it. It's another one I'm not convinced I would like so would want to try before I buy. I usually love rogue games and dislike deck builder games so I'm never sure what to think about the cross-genre. 😅

I'm giving the game a break for now, yeah, it's still addicting, but the dev does need to balance some things. he's already working on it since the Steam version already got a decent balance update with the Arm boss. (it'll no longer be able to degrade your hands to level 0, lol)

But yeah, this game can be infuriating some times, I'll come back to it later. lol

@FishyS What is genuinely funny, is that I said exactly the same sentence "I love rogue likes but can't imagine enjoying a deck builder".

I'd adored Hades, Dead Cells, Isaac, Returnal etc... and the idea of a rogue game that involved cards just seemed so... boring?? But honestly, StS is probably one of the best games I have ever played.

I'd say that it is probably as loved as Hades, and IMO is a must-buy. Such a great title to play on Switch also, it is really brilliant.

Of course 'every game isn't for every player'... but I would bet heavily on you enjoying this

I’m somewhat surprised given all the articles that more folks aren’t discussing this game.

So apparently there’s meant to have been an update that get the Switch version to 1.0.5.

I don’t think I’ve had one since I got it…?

Published by Playstack.

Kind of hoping this gets a physical release like Mortal Shell did.

In Europe at least if nowhere else.