At this point it feels almost like an eternity since the first memorable roguelike deckbuilder I played, Slay the Spire, came to the gaming world and helped light a fire under many strategy fans. Of course, since that time the eShop has been pretty well inundated with new ones, with a fair number feeling very familiar, but some managing to stand apart from the crowd with unique ideas of their own. Fairy Tale: Dungeons is the latest to join the mob, and though it is by no means revolutionary, it does at least manage to do the subgenre proud in my estimation.

Given the fact that I’m not a huge follower of anime, this is a property I’m pretty well unaware of, but the good news is that I don’t think it in any way made the game less accessible. For the most part the different characters you’ll have to work with are all about their play style, their personalities and other elements only contribute a little flavor. I could understand how fans could consider this a downside, but in terms of it appealing to as wide an audience as possible, I’d consider it a net positive. 

Given that there are 10 different characters, and they each have a different approach when it comes to the cards they deal in, I do appreciate the attempt to avoid too many rehashed tactics, forcing you to adapt a little and learn to lead with each character’s strengths. That can make your initial attempts to build up decks for some characters a bit frustrating, early on unsure of what you’re shooting for, which can unfortunately result in some wasted runs dominated by early bad decisions that you can’t quite turn around. That said, the learning curve is a fair one, and that’s just an element of the roguelike experience.

I do think that the concept of first completing solo dungeons with different characters, saving their decks, and then tackling the team dungeon with them combined, to at least be a good idea that helps the game set itself apart. Combining that with the concepts like certain card combinations triggering magic chain attacks, to give you some extra power, is also nice. All that said, the individual cards themselves, and the battle systems more often than not feel a bit generic and familiar here, lacking in visual flair and not really turning any typical expectations on their head. There’s no doubt that it plays well enough to be engaging, but in what’s become a pretty crowded space there are competitors that remain a step above this effort.