EndCycle VS Review: A Shuffled Brawling Experience

Sometimes all I want to do is indulge in a good brawler game that'll keep me entertained, and put my combat skills to the test. And although there are already prominent games out there, like Smash Bros Ultimate and Mega Man Battle Network, I've been on the search for something unique and refreshing—something I've never seen before. Luckily for me, EndCycle VS ticks all the boxes, albeit not without some issues.

EndCycle is a deck-building brawler game featuring a roguelike single player, as well as multiplayer modes to keep competitive gamers entertained, and stuck to their screens. With an extensive character list and over four thousand attack combinations, EndCycle boasts a unique card-based combat experience that plays out across a playing field made up of three rows of panels.

Image Credited to Endcycle VS | 12B3 Games

EndCycle's gameplay focuses around five mechanics: movement, offense and defense, effects and statuses, character ultimates, and interactable panels. The goal is to defeat the opponent using the tools and mechanics available through strategic and precise actions.

Starting off, there are three vertical lanes of panels to step on. The field also consists of color-coded territories that can be manipulated with skills to push enemies back or forward. The Crimson Force faction controls red-colored panels on the left side, while the Azure Shield covers the blue panels. Both sides can move freely on the in-between gray panels. This platforming mechanic was definitely something I've never seen in a game before. At first, it took me some time to understand, but the gameplay became dynamic and exhilarating after getting a handle on it.

Image Credited to Endcycle VS | 12B3 Games

[i]

[/i]Unlike most brawler games, EndCycle features a card-based system. It has two major customization points for players to sandbox their combat experience. There are VOC skills and styles. VOC skills are essentially the standard abilities players can choose, while styles are effects or statuses applied to skills, tweaking the outcome of the attack.

Players can customize three skill sets for their character, with each one consisting of four skills. Skills are also color-coded. Red abilities deal damage, blue manipulate the field, yellow inflict ailments, and green provide healing. I found the deck-building nature of EndCycle quite interesting, as it allowed me to be creative with my fighting style. It was a little confusing at first, since the pixel art for the icons isn’t too well-defined, but the text descriptions helped me customize my sets much more comfortably.

Image Credited to Endcycle VS | 12B3 Games

EndCycle’s combat system places a major emphasis on effects, statuses, and elemental weaknesses. There are two informative bars above the characters’ heads: the HP bar and the Crush bar. The Crush bar is a yellow gauge that goes up depending on damage dealt; once filled, the character gets immobilized temporarily. Players can deal damage to Crush their enemies, or they can use skills with status effects or elements to inflict ailments. There are many effects, like healing, poison, regeneration, blind, stun, etc. My personal favorite were the electric abilities that would shock enemies, paralyzing them for a few seconds, and freezing attacks that would slow down foes’ attacks.

I played with dozens of different combinations in the game, and it really felt like there are endless opportunities for finding new approaches. However, despite EndCycle having complex gameplay that differentiates it from many other brawler games, that complexity is also one of its biggest problems.

EndCycle goes beyond being not beginner-friendly. It essentially requires extensive reading before it makes sense. If you don’t have a ton of experience with card games or RPG-like features that need you to craft your skill sets, expect to work through a lot of confusion. I struggled in my initial hours, not just with winning battles, but even understanding the game on a fundamental level. EndCycle didn't take the time to ease me into its strange mechanics. After the tutorial, I was bombarded with twelve new abilities, and I had no choice but to figure them out while doing a mission. Because of the lack of guidance, playing often felt more like studying than an actual game, making it hard to enjoy the brawler to its fullest potential.

I was also annoyed by the game’s reliance on ads for free-to-play players. These popped up after every single mission, and they required watching the full twenty- to thirty-second ad and then waiting around another five seconds before I could close it and get back to the game. If the game’s ads were optional and provided players with a reward in return, I wouldn't complain, but the way they’re implemented here slowed down the game’s pacing and took me out of the fun. The only way to remove the ads is to buy the full version for $9.99.

Image Credited to Endcycle VS | 12B3 Games

Overall, EndCycle is refreshing and unique for its genre, but it's not a game I'd recommend to people who haven't played card games or RPG titles before. Because of its complexity, I rarely actually had fun playing it. When I think of brawlers, I think of simple gameplay, decent mechanics, and entertaining characters. EndCycle bucked those expectations and baffled even a veteran gamer like myself, so I can't imagine how mind-boggling it might be for inexperienced players. I loved the game’s innovative approach towards making something nobody’s seen before, but I wish it wasn’t quite as confusing to figure it all out.

SCORE: 3 STAR OUT OF 5

PLAY IF YOU LIKE:

• If you like Naruto: Ultimate Storm then you might enjoy EndCycle. Compared to the anime title, EndCycle features an array of characters with unique abilities just like Naruto: Ultimate Storm. 

• And if you’re interested in platform-style brawlers similar to Shadow Fight Arena, then you might enjoy EndCycle’s unique combat experience just the same. EndCycle shares an extensive, fast-paced, fighting gameplay style similar to Shadow Fight Arena.