Vambrace: Dungeon Monarch PS5 Review - Roguelike Defense Hybrid

Vambrace: Dungeon Monarch, developed by Dvora Studio and published by Headup, casts players as the Dungeon Monarch, a regent tasked with safeguarding a divine entity's lair from opportunistic archon hunters, rival deities, and greedy adventurers eyeing the master's golden throne during their absence. The game revolves around flipping the typical fantasy script. Instead of delving into dungeons as heroes, you embody the villainous defender, summoning infernal legions to crush waves of intruders before they breach your sanctum.

In the way of content the core package that is included for the base price delivers a hybrid experience blending deckbuilding tactics with dungeon defense, featuring roguelite progression, auto-battler automation, and summonable units across multiple factions. Additional content includes cosmetic DLC like Monarch skins (Azazel's Fashion, Hellforn's Mask) and dungeon reskins.

The Gameplay ...

Deckbuilding forms the strategic backbone of Vambrace: Dungeon Monarch, where players curate a hand of cards representing spells, summons, buffs, and traps. Options which are limited in number to enforce tough choices. This feeds into tactical turn-based defense, resembling tower defense with path-based enemy waves marching toward a central portal. You position units along lanes to intercept foes automatically while deploying cards for support. Auto-battler elements shine as summoned minions clash independently, leveraging their AI-driven abilities without micromanagement, though smart placement amplifies their impact. Roguelike mechanics ensure procedural runs with random events, enemy compositions, and card rewards, demanding adaptation each time.

Central to mastery is the Monarch system. You can summon the powerful regent via dedicated cards to wade into battle personally, dishing out heavy punishment or repositioning for optimal plays. Monarch cards offer versatile actions like direct strikes or field manipulations. As the dedicated resource mana powers this deckbuilding ecosystem, regenerating per turn (capped low, often around 3 initially, expandable via cards or structures) to fuel summons and spells in which resource denial becomes a key enemy tactic. The summoning portal acts as your recruitment hub, spawning troops periodically (accelerated every few turns or by towers/buildings), with population limits preventing spam. Per-turn actions blend card plays (summon, cast, buff) and unit deployments, culminating in auto-resolution before the next wave.

Character elemental synergy elevates combat depth. The available units and spells are tied to elements (fire, ice, lightning, etc.), chaining casts for escalating damage. Repeated fireballs amplify potency while legion bonuses kick in with faction stacks, boosting collective power. Each summon features tailored skills (AOE blasts, stuns, heals) and stats (HP, damage, speed, morale), mixable across factions for hybrid armies wherein priority sees melee tanks doing better upfront, ranged harassers dealing damage further behind, and mages good for burst attacks.

A typical run unfolds in waves with victory rewards and a stop at the main hub for expansion purposes. During a playthrough the player preps by drafting cards and summoning initial forces, defend through escalating assaults (positioning units, burning mana on reactions), building towers for buffs, navigating events, and facing off against boss-rush culminations. Success advances deeper, unlocking story beats or higher difficulties. Victory rewards your continued run with bonus character packs of different rarities and types as well as a new card for your deck. At the main hub there's also a blueprint vendor to help you expand upon hub features like a bedchamber, and the sanctuary among others. Each adding to the storytelling or feature enrichment. 

The Presentation ...

Presentation impresses with hand-drawn 2.5D visuals including gothic, fiendish aesthetics in vibrant dark fantasy palettes, fluid animations for chaotic brawls, and detailed unit designs that pop during synergies. The soundtrack weaves ominous orchestral swells with percussive intensity, heightening tension in defenses and triumph in victories. 

The Verdict ...

Overall, Vambrace: Dungeon Monarch earns a solid recommendation for its ambitious content fusion and strong replayability through roguelite variance, deck tinkering, and synergy experimentation, though a steep learning curve and occasional opacity demand patience. It's best suited for fans of Slay the Spire, Orcs Must Die!, or Teamfight Tactics who crave defender-side strategy with auto-battler flair on PS5.