At this point I’ve run out of clever things to say when introducing roguelike deckbuilders. Let’s face it, there are loads of them, many of them fail to significantly differentiate themselves, and even for someone like me who is generally a fan, I’ll admit to groaning quietly when I see yet another one arrive. It isn’t so much that they aren’t interesting to play, the eShop and general market are simply oversaturated with them. With that in mind, it pays to do something a bit differently, and I’ll at least give Menace from the Deep credit for doing just that.

In all honesty, seeing the word Lovecraftian also tends to be a bit tiresome anymore, but for once this is a game that feels truly invested in bringing that vision forward. Not only will you be engaging with a dark and foreboding city, full of creepy threats that range from human to something completely weird. In order to really make progress you’ll also be facing off with pretty massive eldritch beasts and beings that through their sheer scale feel intimidating, and when they begin to unload on your character who’s usually already been through the wringer to get to them, you’ll really feel it. 

Getting started with the generic decks was a decent enough intro, but you’ll quickly find that to get real results you’re going to want to cook up your own. You’ll need those few early runs, learning the ropes, and getting the sense of how different cards interact to have a decent base to work with, but assembling your custom deck doesn’t take much effort, and tends to yield far better results. Runs here just feel a little different, as you’ve got your normal task of staying alive, but they’ve really leaned into the randomness of it all, as well as events that are very focused on risk and reward. I loved the tension in some of these encounters as you’re trying to make your choice, while hoping that the RNG gods will take mercy on you. My main complaint is that the console control implementation can be decidedly clunky when trying to deal with your consumables and anything getting away from core card play, but you do end up managing. Credit to the developers for not just going with a darker theme and story, but then also backing that up in every area of the game to make it all feel whole.