During the pandemic, I subleased a nook of a jam space infested with musty beer cans to practice drums. The unit behind me was a frequent domain of aging speed metal bands. They said he never played more than half an hour in time and routinely got drunk so he could not finish a single practice. When the lead guitarist took a break from arguing with his girlfriend on the balcony, he passed me in the hall, begging for cocaine while playing Motörhead on his phone speaker. Power chords are very similar to that band.
need to know
what is that? Roguelite Heavy Metal Deck Builder
Expected payment: $20 / £16.75
release date: January 26, 2023
Developer: big blue bubble
the publisher: big blue bubble
Review date: Windows 10, Ryzen R7 5700g, 16GB DDR4 RAM, Radeon RX 5700
Multiplayer? No
Link: steam page (opens in new tab)
Power Chord’s deck-based combat centers around its lineup, with each member of the band offering a distinct way to deal or negate double-digit damage numbers. Despite his eye-popping name, I really fell in love with Grimnir Brawlfist. He’s the lead guitarist who throws out deadly riffs based on his own pent-up anger. The vocalist and bassist positions fill the support and healer niches respectively, giving the band (and each hand of cards) a healthy variety.
Each battle typically distributes either random cards or cash used to buy (or burn) cards. The interaction between the cards in the deck is where Power Chord is really interesting. All the best have some built-in challenge or secondary ability. “Sunder” does 7 damage quickly and dirty. This is usually a killer number that needs to be built up over the early game turns, but when used to break through an enemy’s shield, it gives allies a free barrier.
Most important to my success was the Grimnir card, which allows me to further boost my Rage stacks by playing Stance cards that generate more Rage at the cost of taking more damage. Power chords limit you to playing a few cards each turn. This is a constraint that shines when it feels like you and your opponent are playing two turns ahead of each other. I wish it was clearer what was happening on the turn I was already playing.
If you’ve spent weeks on Slay the Spire, Monster Train, etc., the underlying mechanics of Power Chords may seem familiar, but you have a master’s degree in deck building. No I was overwhelmed by obscure stacks and debuffs. I couldn’t identify where the damage was coming from or why some attacks were almost 1-hit knockouts and others weren’t. is difficult to do.
A lot of this comes down to enemy diversity (or lack thereof). Positioned on opposite sides of the stage, demonic bands typically consist of a dizzying array of subtypes, each with specific abilities and bonuses that can greatly affect the course of battle. With only 4 different silhouettes in between (and some confusing instrumental overlaps), the enemy roster can hardly be parsed and how and why they’re taking such massive burst damage. I was worried about my head. Still, identifying the band’s weakest link and pulling off a decapitation attack that neutralizes their damage output is satisfying.
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One of Power Chord’s missed notes is in its themes, frustratingly skin-deep, ragged “I go you go” turn-based card slings slinging into some bargain-bin punk/metal/sludge-instrumental. It uses a musical style that sits on top of a tourmental. It’s all well suited to the subject matter, but with runs often lasting 45 minutes or more, I immediately wanted to hear something else. It’s a bare-bones visual affair that you don’t think you can convince, and the battle always happens only on one, unchanging concert stage.
Despite digging into their cards, I wasn’t entirely sold on any of the bandmates I had. An album that spends more time attacking with weapons than playing music. There are too many derivative amalgamations of art tropes. None of his attack animations match anything on the card at all. When playing a “one, two” card, he shakes both sticks his once.
I agree I’m not a metal guy, but it’s a very rich genre, hard as hell to play, let alone play well. Not being reflected is just one way Power Chord has a pervasive sense of ‘missed opportunity’. Back in 2006, he just feels cheap to rely on the type of aesthetics Metallocalypse derided.
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Power Chord’s card battles are stitched together by a roguelite progression system – simple dot maps that you randomly encounter between pit stops to heal or gear up. I’ve never weighed the risks and rewards of these loot options, as it’s not visually clear where the damage is coming from during combat. There’s a variety of unlockable gear (such as chokers and band shirts) with powerful enough bonuses that you won’t feel the same when you run. No, but it doesn’t add grip either.
Powerchord studies enough mechanical skeletons to be let down by an anemic commitment to Bit. I never fully embrace genres that tug on me in a meaningful or sincere way, only using them as cheap themes. Combined with a battle that veers between satisfying, frustrating, and incomprehensible, Power Chord is out of tune with the times.
