Re;ACT: The Arts of War, Card Game Review
Re;ACT is a work of art. To be clear what I’m meaning here is most works of art demand time. They often demand that you sit there and take everything in and ponder. They ask that you study every facet of piece, from every brush stroke to every last curve and depression in the piece if marble. You can look at a picture for a minute and take it in, but to truly understand everything that was intended then you need to spend time appreciating the individual parts that went into the larger piece. One of my favourite pieces of art is A Boy Blowing on a Firebrand to Light a Candle, a piece that I first saw in the National Gallery in Scotland, a I spent a considerable amount of time just looking at the piece, taking in the lighting, the darkness and left with an overall fascination of how someone was able to paint lighting so alive back at the tale end of the 17th century. I saw others walking past and giving it a cursory glance, and I had no doubt that their appreciation was fleeting and vapid.
Which brings us to Re;ACT: The Arts of War, a technicoloured fighting game, a bright eyed programmable battler that offers a roster of glorious looking character artists, offering their various artistic skills from differing genres in the field of combat. On first glance, you’re looking at a game where passion wasn’t only the project, but the intention. Cleary there is a lot of love of the fighting genre you see on most gaming consoles. Characters are bold and brash and stunning to look at, and will make you wonder which streaming platform you can catch the original TV show on. I found myself spending some time looking at the art designs that went into every character, and it’s easy to imagine them brought to life and bounding about the arena. But not really bouncing, as there’s thankfully been some restraint in the ‘anime-waifu’ department and Re;ACT isn’t a game where you’ll potentially feel uncomfortable playing it around certain friends and family.
When I talk programmable, I don’t mean to the depths of Robo Rally or Mechs Vs Minions. In some ways it reminds me of Faraway that you are playing cards from left to right, the end result is activated from right to left, which brings in both forced strategy and hopeful planning. Characters will play intention cards of what they want to do and then players on both sides have the chance to react or not. There’s an action track that allows up to five total actions in a turn. The ‘Turn’ player can then keep on playing intentions until they run out, often without any reactions impeding their progress. Once intentions run out, play passes to the other player and it is their turn to take the lead on attacks. There’s an action track that allows up to five total actions per round so things don’t end up as massive chains, forcing measured responses to every play.
What a feast of attack types there are. Re;ACT offers a full blown menu of direct and indirect attacks, area attacks, space switching and the occasional assistance from minions and well placed tokens. This is a game that is very reminiscent of your two dimensional side on beat ’em ups along the likes of Street Fighter. Yes there are charge up attacks and super moves as you piece together your own masterpiece. And, Yes, it therefore potentially suffers from the same pitfalls and issues which is maybe increased due to it being boardgame based instead of digital. As I have alluded to in the opening, it is a game that demands time, and also potentially requires you to double hand a game or two to get a grip on what all of the different characters can offer. It is also a game that requires commitment and repeated plays. I mean repeated plays. I wasn’t surprised to learn that Re;ACT has a discord server which no doubt has a list of multiple strategies and arguments over which characters are best to play against others. It is that kind of a game. This is the going to sit very well in those collections where the concentration is on several key titles, but titles that get played again and again until mastery.
Surprisingly it doesn’t demand time to play through a game once you’re familiar with how to set up and play. I can imagine it being the kind of game where you sit down before the main event of the big box game of the evening and have a quick smack down with someone else. Each of the characters will tap out either once their three lives are spent or if they burn through their deck, and I get the feeling that this was by design. Characters arrive in their own little tuck boxes which cover all of their required components and set up, and for those learning characters for the first times, there’s normally a ream of text to read over before you even understand how the character should play. It isn’t really the kind of game you want people to try as a one off. I’m more likely to sit down with one of the my friends who appreciates the learning curve of how a character plays out, rather than someone who likes to play new games but prefers variety.
With the large roster of characters on offer, different strategies and play styles not to mention the absolutely stunning presentation, Re;ACT is a game that will become a firm favourite of the commitment gamer. Those who continually chase the new hotness are probably going to clash quite hard with what Re;ACT requires, and so its tricky to recommend it to those friends who text you every week with their latest purchase that they just need to get to the table this week. However, the one who adds a game to their collection and then sits down every week and plays the same game with different factions like Flesh & Blood, your Ashes Reborn players, or someone who plays Altered or Star Wars Unlimited is going to appreciate the time required to get the most out of what Re;ACT demands. They’ll spend the learning time required, they’ll envelop themselves in the world Brother Ming Games has created. Re;ACT requires you to stop and stare, and take in everything over time, like a glorious piece of Art. For those who do that, they’ll be rewarded with subtle brushstrokes and a glimpse of a brand new world.
