MENACE FROM THE DEEP REVIEW: WHEN RNG HITS HARDER THAN CTHULHU'S MORNING BREATH
Let's get one thing straight: if H.P. Lovecraft made a card game, it probably wouldn't be this random – and this is coming from a guy who wrote about cosmic chaos for a living. Menace from the Deep looks like a slam dunk on paper: gorgeous Lovecraftian art, solid atmosphere, and deck-building mechanics that should work smoother than a cultist's sales pitch. Unfortunately, it plays like someone shuffled the rules with a tentacle.
THE GOOD STUFF (BEFORE THE MADNESS KICKS IN)
First up, credit where cosmic credit is due. The art is prettier than an elder god's prom photo, the atmosphere is thicker than New England fog, and the voice acting hits harder than a shoggoth to the face. For Lovecraft fans, it's like Christmas came early, wrapped in tentacles and cosmic horror.
RNG: THE REAL ELDER GOD
Here's where things go from spooky to straight-up frustrating. The RNG in this game is more oppressive than Cthulhu's reign of terror. Your deck bloats faster than a corpse in water (sorry, got too Lovecraftian there), and there's no way to trim it down. You can only skip five card rewards, meaning your carefully crafted deck strategy gets about as much respect as a human in an elder god's breakfast buffet.
ACT 2: WHERE DREAMS GO TO DIE
Speaking of difficulty curves, Act 2 hits you harder than existential dread at 3 AM. Regular encounters become tougher than boss fights, which makes about as much sense as using a fish for a bookmark. The game's balance is wobblier than a cultist after happy hour.
UPGRADES: THE ETERNAL GRIND
Want to make your cards better? Hope you enjoy stalling fights longer than a politician's promise. Cards upgrade through use, which means you'll spend more time farming upgrades than actually, you know, playing the game. It's like having to do your taxes before you can eat dinner.
FUEL ME ONCE, SHAME ON YOU
Oh, and let's not forget about the fuel system – because apparently cosmic horror wasn't stressful enough, now you need to worry about gas prices in the apocalypse. Run out of fuel in Act 2, and your run dies faster than your sanity in a Lovecraft story.
CONCLUSION
Menace from the Deep is like that friend who shows up to the party looking amazing but can't hold a conversation. It's got all the right ingredients for a killer deck builder, but the recipe needs serious work. The RNG is more random than a madman's diary, the difficulty spikes harder than a Great Old One's wake-up call, and the deck-building feels more restrictive than a straightjacket in an asylum.
Score: 6.5/10 - Beautiful on the surface, but like any good cosmic horror, the deeper you go, the more terrifying (and frustrating) it becomes.