Deathless: The Hero Quest is a roguelike collectible card game with turn-based combat seamlessly combined. It is created by 1C Game Studios.
They are known for the recently released Caliber and their flagship franchise "IL-2 Sturmovik".
World and Lore
Our adventures are set in the world of Belosvet. You play four heroes that patrol the lands to help those who are in need and dispatch those that seek to subjugate those too weak to defend themselves. The further our heroes go, the clearer their goal: To defeat Koschey and save Belosvet!There is not a lot of lore, but the "Lore Corner" has a list of all cards you collected, information and snippets about the monsters you encountered, and also every consumable and relic that you came across. These combined tell the lore, but dialogue from the heroes and their enemies also gives you an insight to the world. It is also somewhat similar to Witcher minus the well.. Witchers. The game is less drab and moody though; it is quite colorful to the point of being cheery.
Gameplay
This game is all about building up your deck of cards by progressing through a map.How it works:
You select your Hero, then have a small introduction, and the game welcomes you to the map menu where you can select from three directions. Each of them have positive and negative modifiers that are randomized throughout your journey. Positives can range from additional loot, enemies getting debuffs to meeting a merchant after the fight, while negatives can range from no loot at all to stronger enemies or even facing a boss.
The Map along with the directions you can choose.
Everything you might need to know before engaging in a fight is neatly shown on the Map Menu. Your health, your wealth, the number of battles fought in the this journey so far, current consumables, along with the current difficulty you play on, your deck, and the Hero's Path. Each Hero's Path has a unique storyline and you will need to walk all paths in order to reach Koschey. Some of the directions are marked with an exclamation mark, indicating that they advance the main quest. After all, the goal of all four heroes is to defeat Koschey the Deathless! 
The Hero's Path, each needed to reach Koschey
The combat is a delight to play: using your cards correctly to see the enemies getting debuff after debuff and then finally dying is a satisfying feeling. Similar to Slay the Spire, Darkest Dungeon and other games, your party is on one side while the enemy is on one side. Both player and enemies have a set amount of "Armor" and "Health". Armoris basically protecting you from damage. If for example an enemy attacks with you with 5 damage times two and you have 11 Armor you will not take any hits to your Health, it works the same for the enemies too, you will need to remove their Armoror do more damage than their Armor number.
Something I quite like about Deathless is the fact that enemies have "Intention," which shows you planned enemy actions for the next turn. This lets you anticipate their moves and plan your strategy accordingly. For example, in the image below the Ukodlak (a vampire with sword and shield) will deal 7DMG and also inflict bleeding on Varvara, while the two-souled Bosorka will just do a 4DMG ranged attack. The Bebok's grey icon means he will move forward and switch places with the Bosorka. The Skeleton Archer does the same ranged attack but also gets the Reloading status which means he has to reload before attacking me again.
You have a hand of cards that changes every turn, and a fixed amount of AP, although you can increase them with cards or relics. Your deck can be improved by upgrading your cards, and change by transforming existing cards in your deck into random cards from the same category, it is also possible to add more by clearing battles with the corresponding modifier (choosing cards).
An encounter from the aforementioned Map
Each playthrough is called a "Journey".There are 6 quests steps for all heroes, you won't reach the end in one run. Each run builds on the previous, meaning when you reach a certain step, your next journey with the same hero will start from the last quest step you were on. Every time you successfully end a Journey, you get EXP to unlock cards for your hero. And if you play on anything other than cakewalk, you unlock Feats of Glory that add more challenge to the subsequent runs you do with that hero. Difficulties and Gameplay modes
The game offers multiple difficulties:- Cakewalk is for those that are new to card games
- Hike is meant for experienced card game players.
- Feat of Glory 1-10.
- Normal
- Hard
- Heroic
Maps
The Map is a never-ending stream of three directions; left, right and onward. Occasionally there is a single node to take which either means you have reached the end and the end-boss of the Journey or another important story point to get you further. I like this system because it isn't expansive or restrictive regarding choice, since every node has it's benefits and drawbacks.Enemies
The game features a variety of enemies, all of them from Slavic mythology and folklore. There are human enemies like bandits along with witches and sorcerers, but also the classic undead like revenants and skeletons, to beasts like basilisks and bukas.A pleasant thing I noticed was that most female enemies are quite beautiful and the male enemies look intimidating and towering or grotesque.
They all have their own buffs, attacks, and tactics to keep you on your toes.
Player Characters
Vasilisa: An elemental sorceress who can summon nursemaids to help her in battle, or she can dish out damage herself depending on how you build your deck. She does a lot of passive damage and can recover AP.Dobrynya: A Bogatyr from Velikograd and one of the strongest in all of Belosvet. He carries a sword and a shield covered in dragon hide that is able to defeat his foes with a fiery beam. He is a tank, which is evident in his cards and relics going towards armor accumulation and buffing himself. He prefers to do direct damage.
Varvara: A treasure hunter and has a pickaxe and an enchanted braid. The braid obeys her mental commands and can assume different shapes. She evades damage, can ignore armor, and can debuff enemies with slow, stun, or control.
Alyosha: A hunter from Kitezh and the youngest Bogatyr; he wields a starsteel sword and a combat wand called Spellbane. He has an aggressive combat style and can target specific enemies with Spellbane (which is shaped like a pistol).
Out of the four playable characters, Varvara had the playstyle that was the most fun for me. Somewhat aggressive with her cards since they build off of you debuffing enemies while evading damage by using dying enemies as shields.Very fun.
You have four distinct heroes to choose from, each with their own combat style and their own unique relics and cards.
Cards, Relics and Consumables
Cards are divided into four categories:Attack - These are used to attack your opponents, some doing simple damage while others inflict debuffs or even giving you an edge by making you attack twice AND moving the targets around while inflicting debuffs.
Skill - These do a variety of things from debuffing enemies, giving you buffs, armor, or even letting you pick cards from your deck to then activating them.
Boon - These are situational cards that activate when certain things happen. For example, one card gives the ability to inflict a debuff on enemies every time you play a base attack card.
Grace - There are three Grace cards and each is based on luck. For example, if your hand includes "Aid from Kitezh" on a turn you can draw one additional card and you also get seven armor.
Each Hero has unique cards in his or her deck. You'll always find cards for your hero without having to fear that you'll get a card for the others. You can upgrade your cards, randomly swap cards for other cards of their category, or even remove them from your deck completely.
During normal gameplay enemies are also capable of debuffing you by placing a negative card on your hand. Some, are removable for 1-4 AP but others are permanent.
Relics are powerful items that can give you quite powerful buffs but some come at a cost. Some are even very situational and useless unless you face a specific boss fight. A really cool feature is that there are relics that specifically target Koschey that can lessen one of the debuffs he can give you or completely negate one of his abilities.
Consumables are one time items you can use without spending AP during combat. Some are defensive, some are offensive, but they all are very handy to have.
Sound
There is no voice acting in the game, but the soundtrack is well-composed and comparable in quality to The Witcher 3. The sound effects are appropriate, matching the actions they represent. For example, the magic from Alyosha's sword, which blinds enemies, has a sizzling and ethereal booming sound. A sword strike feels solid, like hitting metal on stone. The sound of a shield activating to indicate an armor boost is sharp and clear, with a subtle popping noise as the points are added to your armor.Visuals
The visuals are highly polished and professional. The card artwork and models for both players and enemies are clean and of exceptional quality. While some might consider them overly polished, I appreciate the look of the enemy models. As mentioned earlier, female enemies often appear beautiful until their masks slip, revealing their true nature, whereas male enemies tend to look either ordinary or grotesque, towering brutes. Also, some art is traced from pop culture references and memes.
The meme and reference card arts.
Negatives
Perhaps the only negative I have so far is the difficulty as it seems that the game is too easy no matter which difficulty you play on. After playing a while you figure out how the cards work together and it becomes a well... cakewalk.Conclusion
Deathless: The Hero Quest is an engaging and polished roguelike deck-builder that captures the charm of Slavic mythology while offering accessible and enjoyable gameplay. Its combination of well-designed mechanics, vibrant visuals, and an excellent soundtrack makes it a solid entry in the genre. The variety of heroes, cards, and strategies ensures replayability, while the nods to folklore and clever card art add a unique charm.While the game’s difficulty might be too forgiving for seasoned players, it remains a fun and rewarding experience for newcomers and casual fans of deck-building games. With a few adjustments to the difficulty scaling and potentially more content to deepen the lore and gameplay, this game could become a standout title.
If you’re a fan of games like Slay the Spire or Darkest Dungeon, or simply enjoy a fresh take on mythology-inspired gaming, Deathless: The Hero Quest is well worth exploring.
The game key for this review was provided by the publisher.
