SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech Mini Review (Switch)

Check out Evan’s take of SteamWorld Quest here.

SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech is the latest installment in the SteamWorld series by Image & Form Games. As a big fan of SteamWorld Dig 2 and SteamWorld Heist, I was excited to play this game since its reveal earlier this year. When it was announced that this would be a foray into the RPG space, that had me intrigued as their last game to branch off the Dig formula, Heist, was really good. Then, I saw it was a roleplaying card game and I was skeptical, but rest assured, Image & Form nailed the card system. It works well and there are no in-app purchases as all the cards can be crafted and collected just through playing the game. So, here are my impressions.

The Gist

SteamWorld Quest allows you to control a party of aspiring heroes as they venture out into the world to help their village and save the Guild Heroes. The first two characters you meet on your adventure are Armilly, the adventurous grocer’s daughter, and Copernica the alchemist. The game is heavily story-driven, told with typical Steamworld humor that most should be accustomed to by now. Quest is a very linear RPG-lite game, focusing heavily around deck building and combat.

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• Beautiful art and animation
• A great story-driven experience, with the typical “dad jokes” sprinkled throughout.
• Combat is based on playing cards. Cards replace your typical skills, and you can play a number of cards per turn based on the situation and power you have. Some cards use your power while others build it up, and you need to plan your turn accordingly. There are plenty of cards to collect, craft, and upgrade, which gives the player plenty of options to experiment with. Each character in the party, which has a max of 3 active members, has their own deck of cards, of which 8 can be selected for battle at any given time.
• The characters and story work well together.
• Soundtrack, sound effects, and animations are wonderful and what we have come to expect from a Steamworld game.

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• Very linear. Outside of the linear progression system, there isn’t much to do in terms of side quests/exploration. Each chapter within an act has you go “room to room” exploring, combat scenarios, which can be avoided if you choose to walk around the enemies, and some story events. Some of these rooms have hidden areas which lead to a chest containing a card or a piece of equipment. Rooms can have branching paths, which you can see from the mini map in the lower left, but they all lead to the final destination of the chapter.
• There isn’t a lot to collect equipment-wise, which is disappointing however each piece does have its benefits.
• Length. I was able to 100% the campaign on the default difficulty in about 15 hours. I was expecting a little bit more, but the game doesn’t overstay its welcome either. You can replay each chapter to 100% though (collecting all the chests and take on the challenges in the Colosseum).

Overall, I enjoyed my time with SteamWorld Quest, even thought I would classify it as an RPG-lite experience. It’s great for quick gaming sessions, or for those who like to play on the go – no issues to report playing in handheld mode either. If you enjoyed past entries in the series, Quest is definitely for you.