Ancient Enemy fails to improve upon the past

Before we talk about Ancient Enemy, the newest solitaire RPG from Grey Alien Games, let’s talk about Shadowhand. Shadowhand rules. It might be one of my favorite games I’ve ever played. It combined Tri-Peaks style solitaire with turn-based RPG combat, inventory management, and leveling up. It also starred a badass countess-turned-assassin on a quest to reunite with her girlfriend. What’s not to like?

Unfortunately, Ancient Enemy fails to follow in its predecessor’s footsteps. While it maintains the turn-based RPG combat, it ditches some of the inventory management, simplifies the leveling up, and stars a boring male warrior who mostly just soliloquizes. Nearly every step of the way, Ancient Enemy manages to be a downgrade from Shadowhand. It’s incredibly disappointing.

The gameplay makes some key changes that some people might appreciate, but I saw as unnecessary. First of all, your opponents in duels do not actually play any Tri-Peaks; instead, the game indicates what move they are going to use against you. This feels a little like Baby’s First RPG in a way, since you’re never really planning a grand strategy like you could before. The game turns the nuanced weapon and armor system into a much simpler attack and defend gauge that increases as you match cards, so instead of outfitting your hero with your best tools, you’re just choosing what element of magic you’re casting and what kind of attack you’re defending based on your opponent’s arsenal. This takes maybe… one minute to do.

The result is a game that I never really felt challenged by, even on the hardest difficulty. Sure, you have to grapple with the randomness of the cards, and there is a new persistent health mechanic that can potentially make you ill-prepared for a boss battle, but you always have the option to reset the battle to get new cards. Even the permadeath feature in the most difficult setting just makes you restart the chapter, something I often do anyway to get three stars on every level. Sure, Shadowhand was fairly easy too, but it at least had mechanics interesting enough to warrant all the replay.

Possibly the most disappointing aspect, however, is the completely nonexistent story. Shadowhand proved you could tell an interesting story in this format, even one that took some risks. Ancient Enemy barely has any conversations or characters, except your hero and his boring rambling. It shouldn’t surprise you, but he’s looking for his ancient enemy. He ends up finding, and battling, his ancient enemy. I don’t think it counts as a spoiler when it’s this bland and obvious.

If you’re a fan of Grey Alien’s previous work (and you should be!), Ancient Enemy isn’t worth your time. If you haven’t played Shadowhand and you like Tri-Peaks solitaire, pick it up. It’s still the gold standard.