Verses of Enchantment Review (PC)

I’ve launched three 10 damage attacks during the first turn of my duel with Petyr. Taking almost a third of his health this quickly is a great way to start the fight, although the poetry resulting from my mix of cards won’t probably be very good. He retaliates with Brilliance and two strikes of his own.

This engagement might be won by the poet-magician who’s better able to regain health or dull an opponent’s attacks with distractions. The poem built by Artificial Intelligence from my first three cards is all about a dark night, a storm, and young Donald. It has gloomy and passion keywords, which is unfortunate given the cards I’m currently holding. I deliver some more damage and add a dispirited effect, while also playing a nature card that will have no effect.

Petyr’s poem is pretty much nonsense but gives him some good combo options. My poet is distracted and heartbroken and he shaves off more of my health. I have no good options for my next turn and then I get hit with Wealth, which allows him to deal more damage for having many cards in hand. I suspect I’ll be defeated soon but I already have plans to tweak my deck and win the re-match.

Verses of Enchantment is developed and published by Nachtvlam. I played it on the PC using Steam. The title uses card-driven duels centered on poetry and the power of words to create magic. Players will be transported to an alternate reality, based on our own XVIII century but with one big change.

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People who become poets can use words to create beautiful verse, but they also gain the ability to fight magical duels. Basically, words can hurt and inflict status effects. And these poet-magicians are ready to travel across the world, visiting new locations to meet their peers and then engage in battle. No one dies but plenty of rhymes get hurt. As Merle, a new poet, it’s time to travel the land and collect as many cards as possible.

The card-driven poetry duels will be instantly familiar to any player who has engaged with the genre before. The duelists take turns, drawing cards from their decks into their hands before choosing any three of them to play. Each card has clearly spelled-out effects and is associated with a color. Some deal damage directly, some provide healing, and others inflict status effects. The objective is to bring the other poet’s health to zero.

Verses of Enchantment adds one cool element to this classic approach: the three cards played during one turn are transformed into a short poem. All the verse is written by an Artificial Intelligence algorithm created by the game’s developer. It’s a nice trick, although the overall quality of the poetry isn’t impressive in itself and some lines make little sense. This new piece of poetry features words that are colored and highlighted, which will in turn power actions found on cards.

There are five schools of magic in this game and most of the computer opponents found in the campaign have decks centered around one of them. The player will get to choose one new card after winning a duel and can tweak his own deck at any point. Duels can be launched when another wizard poet is encountered on the overland map. Traveling costs supplies, which is why it’s important to pick up some gold and trade with the merchant from time to time.

Verses of Enchantment features a campaign, with the player controlling an aspiring poet named Merle as she goes up against more experienced adversaries and gains access to new areas of the world. Progress is gated by the number of cards players have, which means sometimes one has to fight repeated duels against the same opponent to simply reach the required threshold.

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Outside of the campaign, the Versus mode allows anyone to choose a deck and go up against one of the characters they have already met. This is the perfect place to test out ideas and decide what their main strategy is. Because a deck only holds 15 cards, players will have to make some tough decisions and focus on a series of combos and keywords to defeat the tougher opponents.

Verses of Enchantment also offers a Gauntlet mode, where players get a starter deck and then choose a specialization before they battle a series of seven poets. It offers a nice challenge but, somehow, I find the duels in the campaign to be more engaging.

The game’s duels are fun but don’t have many new ideas for the genre. The A.I. poetry is a gimmick that never realizes its full potential. It really needed to be integrated better with the card battles, with the various poets having more ways to impact the verses and their effects.

Verses of Enchantment has a presentation that’s very much influenced by its theme but pretty standard for its genre. Think XVIII century oil paintings for the character portraits, all depicting high-class individuals trained in the art of poetry and dueling. I like the design of the cards, designed to evoke the same period while also offering players all the details they need to make good choices and create powerful combos. The world map is a little disappointing, with almost no detail for the locations. I wanted this world of poet-magicians to feel more alive.

The sound design isn’t as interesting as the graphics. During the poetry duels the effects are limited and there’s no voice work for the various characters. The soundtrack tries to add to the immersion and works well with the theme but needs extra variety to keep players from substituting their favorite poetry-related podcasts.

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The Good

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Conclusion