Stone Blade Entertainment and Playdek sneakily launched Darkness Unleashed, the latest update for their deck-building game, Ascension, this past week. The new set of cards comes a month and a half after the last expansion, Rise of Vigil in what we hope is a sign of quicker updates to come. How do the new cards fare? Quite well, actually.
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Rise of Vigil introduced the Treasure mechanic, which allowed cards to trigger special abilities when a third pool (Energy), reaches a certain level. It was a much needed ability; a way to expand the game without having to radically break it. Darkness Unleashed one ups Vigil by giving the Treasure cards a more active ability in game: Dark Energy Shards.
One of the first moves anyone in Ascension should aim for is banishment. Apprentices and Militia weigh you down and prevent you from pulling the really useful cards. Dark Energy Shards, which are counted like regular Treasure cards, also act as a neutral way for both players to banish cards. When one is placed in the center row, a player may banish a card in his or her discard deck. No more getting snubbed by the other guy constantly grabbing the banish cards; though it can be annoying when three Shards come out and you have nothing in your discard pile.
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The major mechanic change in Darkness Unleashed is the Transform ability. Certain cards, such as the Gemcatcher Spirit and Yolothian Monolith can be changed - evolved, to use terms from other games - into more powerful versions of themselves. Utilizing the Energize mechanic, Transform adds great long-term value to low level cards.
For instance, you can pay 2 Runes for the aforementioned Gemcatcher Spirit, which will let you draw one card. Two rounds later, you play 2 Treasure, thereby earning the requisite energy to Transform the Gemcatcher, which will now draw two cards instead. The other 'draw two' card of the game, the Monk of the Lidless Eye costs 5 Runes. Additionally, Gemcatcher can be copied with the Rise of Vigil card Reality Sculptor as it still only costs 2 Runes. Advantage: Gemcatcher
Now, one cannot always be guaranteed Energy shards, of course, but as the game wears on, you will get more than your fair share. Which brings me to my new favorite card of the game, Moken, the Huntmaster. He's pricey (7 Runes) and he only adds 5 Honor points when played, but his value is also in the long game. The issue with Energy shards with the release of Rise of Vigil was that they did not count towards your collective Honor total at the end. They "technically" take up no space in your deck - each Shard draws another card for you - but they also were not worth anything. Moken's ability fixes that, giving you a potentially great source of additional Honor for the end game.
Due to the neutral banishment cards, the pace of the game has quickened. Matches are not necessarily faster; in fact, DU games seem to last a while, but the build up to the end game is more pronounced. With the lack of Militia/Apprentices in your deck, you'll always be doing something interesting on each turn. The new lower cost cards, aided by the transform, help prevent the early rounds from being too much of a 'Mystic/Heavy Infantry' draw that can suck the wind out of matches.
Darkness Unleashed has a sense of life and, well, energy that Rise of Vigil doesn't quite possess. Vigil was a welcome change-up to Ascension, but Darkness Unleashed is a further, beautiful polishing of those concepts. Vigil felt like it needed the other expansions to be really enjoyable; DU is a lot of fun to play on its own. You can now play four-player games utilizing just the two decks. When all the cards are working in sync with one another, a four man match can get heated.
As with any Ascension expansion, you'll find yourself hoping for that one particular card. It's not necessarily a card that will work with the deck you've constructed nor the most powerful one, but the one that just speaks to you. It might not be the most powerful card, but it's the one you feel good about possessing.
The 44 cards of Darkness Unleashed increases the enjoyment of Ascension across all three phases of the game. It's an expansion built around the long haul; yes, you can easily cut through the many monsters that are present but the true joy is in crafting a deck with many cards and abilities. A lot of games will end in the 80/90 range for both players.
You can purchase Darkness Unleashed for $2.99 via Ascension's in-app store.
