Black Book review - how we missed real Russian folklore in games!

But let's start with the genre of card battlers, which in recent years has literally transformed beyond recognition. It all started with the developers of Slay the Spire, who managed to improve on the classic form, but then there were projects like Neurodeck and Ring of Pain that breathed new life into this genre. Black Book is both, and in addition a huge role-playing game with an interesting, colorful and, in a good sense of the word, ancient world. All this as a whole gives us an amazing story based on Slavic fairy tales and mythology. The game has its flaws, but they are few and far between, and I don't even want (for the life of me) to pay attention to them. At least for the reason that the game is completely localized into Russian. Yes, yes, there is a full Russian voice acting. And she's gorgeous!

"Black Book" (no, I'm not trying to "shine" with knowledge of English; it was under this name that it was released on Steam) is a role-playing card battler in the setting of Slavic mythology, based on bylichki - a special genre in Russian folklore with an emphasis on spirits and evil spirits. You will have to manage Vasilisa, a recently converted witch who followed this path, trying to resurrect her lover and to spite everyone to live happily ever after with him. It all starts at the grave of that same guy. Then the girl goes to her grandfather Yegor, who helps her with the ritual. As a result, she becomes a witch and gets her hands on the Black Book. The latter has 7 seals. And only when Vasilisa breaks all 7 seals, she will be allowed to make one cherished wish.

The story doesn't end there. Moving towards the main goal, you are faced with a lot of people who ask to solve their problems. And only you can decide how this or that situation will end. So a system of morality enters the scene, determined by the number of sins you have committed. They were greedy and did not give the beggar 2 rubles - that's your first sin! They asked the devil for as many demons as possible - and this is the second one! How sinful you are depends on the course of the story, the availability of additional options in quests and, as you might expect, the endings of the game. You are writing your story, which, be sure, will receive its logical conclusion in the Black Book epilogue.

And in the course of the storyline, you will get several companions in the form of demons to help, and you will have to send them to work, otherwise they will get bored and begin to intrigue Vasilisa personally. However, the work of demons comes down to robbing, breaking, spoiling, and so on, which means sinning. Again, you will have to choose between good and evil, but I will say frankly - it is very difficult not to stain your hands, but the main thing is to do it right. And with this approach, Black Book perfectly erases the boundaries between you and the demons. The game does this in several ways. And demons also have personal quests.

In general: why not spit on everything and go through the game once as a real black witch ?!

You will have to constantly choose between strength and conscience - and demons will push you to such decisions. A constantly updated encyclopedia will allow you to clarify certain points in order to make the right decisions. The main character of Black Book is not just a witch. She is a kind of anthropologist, exploring a completely different and unfamiliar world.

The battles in The Black Book are reminiscent of classic card battlers that get more difficult and tougher as you progress through the story. Each turn, you can play a certain number of cards and items, and there are also Vasilisa's skills, obtained for new levels. And since our heroine is a witch, she uses her powers to understand how the enemy will act. Hover over the icon above the opponent's head to see what he will do on his turn. Is he defensive? Then it makes no sense for you to use defensive cards! And if it attacks, then, please, defend yourself. And the further you progress through the story, the more cards you will open. Accordingly, expand the catalog of possible combos and strategies.

Each new open seal complicates and modifies the combat system, it becomes more and more interesting. The Black Book can have a maximum of 33 words (they are also cards), but the entire deck has almost 200 different spells. You will have to choose, look for synergy, discover new combinations and select the best deck for dangerous opponents.

Conclusion

These days, games based on Slavic legends are a huge rarity. Games that you want to go headlong into are even bigger. And Black Book satisfies both concepts! Despite the shortcomings (like choppy pacing, seeming overkill with length), intriguing storytelling and addictive gameplay will make it so that you won't even notice how the 15 hours will fly by and the credits will roll across the screen. Who knows, maybe I was also affected by witch magic?

• Author : Igor Patrin