Shadowveil: Legend of The Five Rings Review Summary

Fun, addictive, deep gameplay: The game is praised for being fun, enjoyable, and addictive, with many reviewers highlighting its depth and replayability. It's considered a solid autobattler that offers a unique and engaging experience, often drawing players into a "one more run" cycle.

Faithful L5R setting adaptation: The game is lauded for its faithful and immersive adaptation of the Legend of the Five Rings setting. Reviewers appreciate how well the game captures the theme and lore of L5R, making it a treat for fans of the franchise.

Strategic, not micromanagement focused: Reviewers appreciate the game's focus on high-level strategic decision-making, such as quest selection and resource allocation, rather than micromanagement. This emphasis gives players the feeling of commanding forces and adds unexpected depth to the gameplay.

Customizable character/item progression system: The game features a character skill and item system that allows for customization and build variety. Players find it engaging to unlock classes, develop characters, and discover ability combinations.

Appealing graphics and art: The game's visuals, including the artwork, graphics, and art style, are frequently praised. Reviewers find the art style appealing and impressive, contributing positively to the overall aesthetic.

Numerous bugs and frequent crashes: The game suffers from numerous bugs, including crashes, control issues, UI problems, and translation errors. Many reviewers reported game-breaking bugs that corrupted save files, preventing progress. The prevalence of these issues, some of which were present in the demo, significantly detracts from the player experience.

Slow, grindy progression system: Reviewers found the game's progression system to be slow and grindy, requiring significant time investment to level up characters and progress through the story. The need for repetitive grinding and a steep early difficulty curve makes the game less appealing as a short-term or casual experience.

Confusing, lacks clear instructions: The game lacks a proper tutorial and clear instructions, making it confusing for new players. Hidden enemy statistics and unclear mechanics further hinder strategic planning and understanding of the game's systems.

Poor localization, inconvenient settings: Several reviewers noted that the game does not remember settings like battle speed, requiring players to re-enable them every time. Additionally, the game's localization is poorly translated with small font sizes, making some parts incomprehensible.

Inaccurate unit/tile selection: The game has issues with unit selection, target area selection, and ground tile bonuses being difficult to see. Battle tiles require mousing over and a pause to reveal their function, and sometimes this doesn't work.

Roguelike autobattler with automatic combat: The game blends roguelike and autobattler genres, featuring automatic combat where units fight autonomously. Player strategy is focused on pre-battle setup rather than real-time control. This combination creates a unique strategic experience.

Strategic trait and item combination: The game incorporates a system where characters can be assigned traits that provide bonuses, and combining items and cards enhances their power. Skill placement also influences the order in which skills are used, adding a layer of strategic depth.

Strategic pre-battle character management: Players manage characters and runs by equipping their party, leveling them up, strategically placing them on battle maps, and using targeted abilities before battles. While battles are automated, strategic decisions before combat are crucial.

Customizable difficulty and unlockables: The game includes mechanics to unlock schools and passive effects, use relics for boons, and increase difficulty for greater rewards. These features add depth and replayability, allowing players to tailor their experience and farm resources more efficiently.

Sibling choice impacts gameplay: The game's narrative involves choosing between two siblings, Hida O-Ushi and Sukune, to lead expeditions. The other sibling manages the watch tower, suggesting a division of responsibilities between exploration and base management.

High GPU load/optimization issues: Several reviewers reported that the game causes their computers to run hotter and/or produce unusual noises (buzzing, loud fan sounds). This suggests potential optimization issues leading to high GPU load.

Good for L5R and genre fans: The game is recommended for fans of the L5R setting, roguelite deckbuilding, and tabletop RPGs. Some reviewers highlight that the game may be a pleasant surprise to newcomers of the IP. However, one reviewer who is a long-time fan of the L5R universe cannot recommend the game due to its poor combat design.

Slow, janky, and irritating: Several reviewers report the game being slow, janky, and irritating due to inconveniences. Some recommend waiting for updates to address crashing issues before playing. A few reviewers do not recommend the game at all, stating it offers no enjoyment.

Try the demo first: Multiple reviewers suggest trying the demo first to see if the game is a good fit.

Immersive L5R setting and narrative: The game is set in the Legend of the Five Rings (L5R) universe of Rokugan, featuring samurai, ninjas, and magic, with a focus on the Crab clan and narrative progression. The setting and characters are interesting, with potential for future story arcs.

Roguelike autobattler with stop-motion: The game combines roguelike and autobattler mechanics with a unique stop-motion art style. This blend of genres and visual presentation creates a distinctive gameplay experience.

Multiple character classes available: The game features six distinct classes, plus an initial pre-class option, allowing for varied playstyles and character customization. This provides players with multiple options for approaching the game.

Poor initial game marketing: The initial marketing and explanation of the game by Asmodee were inadequate in showcasing the game's features and Palindrome's work. This may have led to confusion or a lack of initial interest from potential players.

Nostalgia for original card game: This point references nostalgia for the original L5R card game from the 90s. While it indicates a connection to the source material for some players, it doesn't provide specific feedback on the current game's mechanics or features.