Punch an enemy into mid-air and shoot him with a bow, or deflect the attack at the moment the enemy strikes; the above sounds very much like things that would occur in an exciting action game. However, these belong to the unique combat systems in the Chinese Deck-Building Game Brave's Rage.
As a DBG, Brave's Rage introduces a unique Active-Time Battle system that allows players to build their own deck while winning with reflexes and combo attacks.
Brave's Rage will launch version 1.0 tomorrow after a year of Beta testing. And after playing the 1.0 version for nearly ten hours, I’m fairly confident that the game's unique combination of ATB and DBG systems and Roguelite mechanics will surprise card game fans and even bring new design ideas to the DBG game industry.
How time changes everything
Unlike traditional DBGs, for example, Slay The Spire, Brave's Rage does not limit the player's actions with a turn-based system but adds a time bar to count down the cooldown time after each action is completed. This is somewhat similar to the battle system of the Final Fantasy series but has more detail in its usage of time and distance. For example, in addition to instantaneous magic abilities, the game also has melee attacks that ask characters to move a certain distance first or delayed attacks with flight time, such as arrows and bombs.
If a projectile from an enemy is still in flight, the player can immediately use a melee attack card to make the character move and thus dodge the attack. Or use a defense card right on time before the enemy's attack hits, to parry the attack and fight back. With a combat system that requires reflexes and thinking, players can develop a more nuanced and fluid fighting style, like using melee attacks to dodge an arrow in flight.
Since the player character's ATB cooldown bar is much shorter than the AI's, players can use more cards in the same amount of time. This makes the second core gameplay of Brave's Rage, combos, much more playable. Players can apply debuffs to enemies, strengthen their own attacks and perform attacks within one round; they can even use multi-stage combos with great control effects and damage, as long as this series of operations finishes before the enemy's ATB time slot reads out.
But at the same time, the use of combos does limit the game's combat and somewhat overwhelms the deck-building system, which should be more important. Developers did not make the time mechanics too deep; players can only use it to dodge enemy attacks and deal combo damage or debuffs quickly, which seems a bit repetitive.
Putting a few shortcomings aside, Brave's Rage is still an exciting and deep deck-building game. It has a unique ATB battle system that makes the battle more intense. Although some parts may lack, the Roguelite mechanics ensures the game has replayability and the traditional fun of deck building.