This game is pretty. That was the first thing I noticed, once a friend convinced me to play. The art is colorful and softly lit, the music is light and often ‘peppy meditative’… and there’s a friendly metalbending tiger.
Okay, to be clear – my characterization of Mu Hu as friendly is based on the artwork. If you have the misfortune of opposing the tiger, it might not hold. Also to be fair, as a member of the Five Elements Alliance, Mu Hu can technically make use of any of them – metal and earth are just in line with his character bonus.
The way it works is this: each character belongs to a Sect, which has a base card pool they’re working with, and throughout the game the player will also unlock the character’s unique special options. A little bit like Hearthstone Battlegrounds, Yi Xian is a game of eight players, each prepping their own build, cycling through one-on-one fights until they run out of health. (Or rather, Destiny.) Also like Hearthstone Battlegrounds, your build is determined before you enter combat.
There are, in total, eight card slots in your deck. The game starts with three unlocked and progresses, so as not to overwhelm, and you’ll draw cards to work with each turn, which you can add to your build, hold on to, exchange (discard, draw a new one to replace it) or absorb (I call this “eating” it – it’s one way to level up). You can also stack two Level One versions of the same card to make a Level Two, and two Two’s to make a Three, with improving bonuses.
And then, build in place and timer running down, you fight! And hope that your build scales faster than your opponent’s. You can check in on what they’re working with, if you have time to spare, but you only ever get to see what they had in play last turn – not what they’re changing about it now.
Basics in place, there’s the matter of Sect and character complications: the Cloud Spirit Sword Sect are very stabby, and generally straightforward to use, while the Heptastar Pavilion – reliant on probability manipulation and building around fixed spaces in the deck – are a little bit harder. Mu Hu is consistently well-paired with earth and metal cards, while one of his Five Elements comrades, Du Lingyuan, starts with a randomized preferred element each game and benefits from jumping between multiples, which need be carefully sequenced. My favorite card in the game by name and by artwork is “Giant Whale Spirit Sword.” I have no idea how to explain why this makes sense, except that it… does.
And then the characters have Side Jobs, a whole ‘nother card pool which can give you magic flowers or poison music depending on what you choose. And then, if you’re of a high enough experience level (or playing with a friend who is) there’s also the Season event chaos. And yet somehow it’s all cohesive and well-balanced! And, again, so beautiful. I might go play Mu Hu again.
