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We check out the new deck-building RPG called Shattered Heaven in this in-depth review. Shattered Heaven is a roguelike deck-building RPG where players control three characters against gauntlets of enemies through rooms upon rooms of dungeons, looking for salvation. Is the trip to the depths to slay the betrayer of mankind for a chance at redemption going to be an entertaining trip for the player, or will darkness envelop all these efforts?
Shattered Heaven Review: What is Shattered Heaven?
Shattered Heaven is a rogue-lite deck-building RPG. It is developed by Leonardo Production and co-published with WhisperGames, coming out on May 31, 2023, on PC through Steam. As a roguelite, the game will throw players into multiple runs into procedurally-generated dungeons, with each run adding to the players' inventory and team strength through new traits and skills. As an RPG, players take control of a party of three warriors, each with their own traits and abilities, fighting against waves upon waves of enemies, and going through various encounters in the dungeons that could require decision-making from the player to affect events. As a deck-builder, each warrior has with them a deck of cards that represent actions that they could take every turn, representing the abilities they have and are built based on their respective archetypes. Players take control of three characters: Andora the vestal, epitome of cycling cards; Magni the Shield, using his tankiness to protect teammates and empower otherwise weak cards; and Ishana the outcast, who is haunted by a mysterious creature that unleashes at certain times, fighting using debuffs and burst damage. As players go along the dungeon, they can gain resources that they can take back to the main hub, The Equinox Cathedral; gain new cards to customize their decks, and deal with encounters that will shape their journey.
Gameplay
Shattered Heaven's gameplay loop is amazing, thanks to the depth of its customization options, a wealth of scenarios and enemy types, and significant amounts of replayability. The base gameplay loop of exploring dungeons, fighting enemies, and earning new cards to build a better deck never gets old when you're someone who loves these kinds of games, and Shattered Heaven's different scenarios give players a lot of flexibility in trying out new builds and strategies. Having three archetypes might seem limiting at first, but it's possible to create unique kinds of builds thanks to the ability to assign any acquired card to any of the three character's decks, as well as the game's enormous skill tree which gives each character three distinct paths to ability paths to develop.
The game's exploration is more substance than style, however, and it's not as exciting to delve into the game's dungeons as other games of the genre. The players navigate through a procedurally-generated board with interconnected rooms, with the player's party jumping from one room to another, encountering events and enemies along the way until they reach a terminal room that usually leads to a boss fight. The exploration is mundane and methodical, with nothing special to differentiate Shattered Heaven from any other dungeon crawler out there. Much worse, the game's dungeons don't really communicate the danger that lurks beyond. The dungeon's presentation and exploration feels disconnected from the rest of the game.
I only have a few complaints about the game's otherwise stellar game design. First being the fact that a majority of the tech tree available for all characters is locked behind story progression, which means players will not be able to plan their builds around the late-game until much later when it might already too late to pivot to a different build if they realize that their current build isn't working as intended or isn't as aligned to their desired play style. The second is how the game's supposed “deep crafting system” is simple and straightforward and isn't as game-defining as advertised. And finally, how it's possible for the player to choose the difficulty of the game's combat every time they descend into the dungeons. It's not that I hate the opportunity to change difficulties anytime, I just prefer that for a game like this where the challenge is essential for entertainment, it would have been nice to have the difficulty options available to change without asking for a change as frequently as it currently does.
Story
In Shattered Heaven, God is dead and humanity has been forsaken. Humans now live shorter lives, and the world has plunged into darkness. To make things right, humanity has to send a Vestal and Warriors to battle the Betrayer Eris and her eight lieutenants, making the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of humanity's redemption.
The writers of Leondardo Production have an amazing imagination. The world-building is clear, and in spite of the lore dumps here and there, it never felt like the writers were giving the players too much information to handle, story-wise. Story beats are dropped at a good pace, and the game's world-building is surprisingly succinct in spite of the game's rather deep lore. While more information is available in the game's lore encyclopedia, all of the important story beats are explained just enough through the game's visual novel-style narrative sequences and cutscenes to make sense of the world and what's happening in it. Want more than just what your party's experiencing, then there's an encyclopedia to deepen your appreciation of the game's lore.
It's also good for the game itself to have multiple branching storylines which eventually lead to one of the game's three major endings. Each route will lead to its own story beats, completely different final chapters, and unique boss battles, giving players a lot of incentive to go through the game again to experience other paths while also trying out new builds, giving the game a lot of replayability.
Graphics
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The game features beautiful art direction rendered with gorgeous artwork and character models. In spite of the game's dark themes, colors stand out making each scene look vibrant and lively. The cards look gorgeous, too, although sometimes it feels like some of the artwork doesn't really match the card's description. Character models look great but sometimes feel a bit janky when animated to act.
The game's art direction matches the game's themes of the fall of man and redemption. Scenes are rendered with stark contrasts and colors are used magnificently to make these scenes pop out. The game also features some cutscenes that show important events in the game, and the artwork never fails to deliver to elevate these scenes.
The team's artists, however, were good at art design but not at user experience. Leonardo Production has a very weird taste for fonts, and it's odd for them to choose the ones they've used for a game that requires a lot of reading. Most of the text is small and hard to read, and the text doesn't lend itself well to the colorful backdrops the game has. There are also a lot of information that is available to the player at all times, which could lead to moments of information overload – and it feels like much of this information could have been represented in a better way. The developers' decision to swap the game screen around with the player's party being on the right as opposed to the left feels like a deliberate choice that represents the world's invertedness, but in practice, it's an awkward design that made my neck feel cramped simply for having to look at the wrong side of the screen for most of the time.
Music and Sound Design
Shattered Heaven's music gives more gravitas to the game's themes and moments, making each boss fight feel extra dangerous and meaningful. Cutscenes are played with emotional music. The game also features limited but fitting voice acting.
However, the game failed to deliver in the sound design department. Exploration and combat feel a bit empty due to the lack of appropriate sound effects and background noise. While there's music that plays in the background, it hurts the game's immersion when you don't really have a lot of environmental sound effects that could have accompanied the game's encounters. Fights also lose a lot of flair because of the weak sound effects employed for the game's attacks.
Verdict: Is Shattered Heaven Worth A Purchase?
Shattered Heaven delivers tons of content and replayability packed with tight gameplay, entertaining story-telling, and deep lore. It has a lot of good stuff coming with it for the very budget price that it's asking for. I can imagine players who are really into deck-building games milking the most out of this game for weeks on end. And for that, I believe that the game is well worth purchasing at full price, especially if you can look past its shortcomings. If that's not enough, players can even try out the game's demo on Steam to see for themselves if the game is to their liking before committing to a purchase. That's as good a deal as any game could get.
Score: 7/10
Editor’s Note: ClutchPoints received a PC review copy to allow us to cover this game. This copy did not, in any way, affect this Shattered Heaven Review’s final score and verdict.
