Mystic Gate | PS5 Review

Do you fancy a new adventure? A roguelike adventure? Well, if you do ZOO Corporation, and EastAsiaSoft have you sorted this September. The game in question is one called, "Mystic Gate". A game whose namesake fits the contents within. For in it you are a nameless and immortal adventurer on a quest to brave the God's gate, and it's set of monstrous trials in order to be granted one wish. 

Armed with a gun, an alternate weapon, and skills of the passive and active sort you set forth into the labyrinthine dungeons to face off against fiends of Godlike origin for the ultimate prize. All while looting the place for it's precious gems, and the gold needed to partake of the finer things back at the base, and within the winding pathways of the Mystic Gate.

The world of "Mystic Gate", as grand in scale as it may sound, is divided into two confined areas of interest. A base of operations and upgrades as well as the randomly generated dungeons beyond the gate itself. At the base, the hub of operations, you will spend earned gems that are gained through successful and unsuccessful dungeon playthroughs for feats rendered and a bestiary plus compendium of available weapons made complete. 

Beyond that the gems that are earned through those two key vendors can be spent at the lone skill vendor to unlock, and upgrade permanently applied passive and active skills which will come in handy in follow-up dungeon runs. Things like weapon performance, damage boosts, and health/defense based perks can be upgraded for the right price. Upgraded multiple times each for an increasing effectiveness at an increased cost. This of course is the point of grind loop that the game is centered around. Even in failure it is possible to unlock and upgrade skills to help you get further into the game, so there's no need to fret over the very real challenge that the game presents.

Past the Mystic Gate entrance, and inside it's randomly generated interior lies a linked series of rooms, and gated corridors. Some rooms harbor waves of enemies that must be cleared in order to gain the keys necessary to face off against the current trial's boss, and others contain weapon chests or an item vendor that can and will take currency for the wares. You'll find that downed enemies you encounter along the way drop gold and that, that gold can be spent to unlock premium weapon chests. That or the skills, health refills, and better weapons that the resident vendor has to offer. 

Some weapon chests will also drop keys, and there are set number of keys that must be acquired to open the boss room gate. If you do manage to defeat the boss for the given trial you'll be awarded the choice of one of three randomly offered passive or active skills. Enhancing the already established skill set unlocked from your base of operations.

About the Combat ...

Three things are a given in this adventure for one granted wish and that includes limited heart health, the ability to carry and swap between two weapons at a time, and the ability to use a single active skill that is dependent upon built up meter. Both weapon slots are interchangeable with found weapons, and will vary from the projectile type to the thrown or melee type. Each weapon deals damage according to it's type and rarity, and guns in particular require a reload sequence between each spent magazine. Making chosen on-hand weapons a priority. 

The active skill, on the other hand offers defensive, and offensive options that can aid in the more challenging trial rooms. Rooms with enemies, as they are, are wave based by nature with spawning enemies that will shoot projectiles as well as attack in close quarters combat. Navigating the enemy threat of these rooms while avoiding traps, and pitfalls is necessary for the collection of currency, and keys needed to help you be better prepared for the scaling challenges ahead.

While the game's challenge does scale with each trial area, only allowing for the current stock of heart health to carry over, there is an alternative to difficulty scaling available at the start. Initially "Mystic Gate" offers difficulty settings in the form of Normal, or Hard with Despair being unlockable through Hard completion. Hard, alone, is one that ramps up the currency demands as well as enemy health and aggressiveness. Despair, alternatively, offers a permadeath style of experience only for those with true skill. A test of your mettle when it comes to braving the Mystic Gate. 

The Verdict ...

This particular approach to the roguelike genre has been done before, and almost to a copycat degree. I've personally reviewed a similar indie years ago that had the same base, and dungeon concept with currencies needed for upgrades and arsenal. This does kind of hurt my opinion of the game as it shows a lazy effort towards innovation, and creation. 

That being said it looks different, and plays mechanically different in combat. The character and creature sprites are top notch as are those of the dungeons, and base world as well. Even the soundtrack has something of quality to offer. Whether or not it'll be a day one worthy buy for you depends on if you are a roguelike player who wants immediate access to everything without a grind, or whether you don't mind the grind. For me, personally this type of approach limits replay value greatly once everything is maxxed out and unlocked. It negates the challenge later on, and the reason to continue grinding, but that is me.