Collect some waifus, build your deck, and troubleshoot some buggy videogames! Was Super Bullet Break Worth It?
Table of Contents
Background
Bullet Break was a gacha from back in 2019 where you pulled bullets (the waifu characters) to clear shooting stages. I’m not sure whether it was successful, but it’s now defunct and the assets have been flipped for this game.
Fast forward a few years. Super Bullet Break is a Slay the Spire clone. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an anime knockoff like this: see Aria Chronicle vs Darkest Dungeon. In this case, the bullets are simply the cards. There aren’t relics per se, but each bullet will have a “cartridge” that provides a special effect.
The overall plot focuses on troubleshooting malicious bugs across several videogames with your bullets. If this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s essentially Digimon. Each game has a different aesthetic and you have a different starting deck. This plot is also a carryover from the mobile version. Compared to Slay the Spire, which has no real plot, this is a marked improvement.
What does Super Bullet Break do well?
There’s a lot of personality on display. The combat itself works well enough, and this format lends itself well to the triumph of pulling rare bullets. When you get a particularly good bullet, there’s the excitement of wanting to use it.
What could Super Bullet Break do better?
Here’s where it starts to get messy. On Steam, this is advertised as a “deck-building strategy roguelite.” On the eShop (this review is for the Switch version, incidentally) it’s described as a “strategy deck builder.” There’s just one issue. You don’t actually build your deck. Instead, you’re very much at the whims of RNG.
My very first run was exciting…until I learned that all those gacha bullets might as well not exist. You don’t actually get to use them unless you get them as drops for a run. Your starting deck is persistent on each map.
In theory, unlocking a ton of bullets and building a deck to take on challenges in this format sounds great. In practice, I’m not sure if they were trying to be intentionally misleading or if they just didn’t want to add in a real deck building feature.
Synergies
You obviously want a deck that synergizes well. That’s going to be difficult in this game, because each bullet has different attributes that are hard to track down. All of my ‘bishop’ bullets have +5 attack? That sounds great, but I have no idea what constitutes the bishop faction in this game! I got a card that adds a persistent combo effect? Awesome, but I can’t select for other bullets to support it, and it’s tedious to see whether it even benefits any of my current bullets.
You don’t have any real agency in drops. Get a bullet that doesn’t work with what you’ve got? You can pay to remove it, but that’s it. Scouting (rolling, the gacha system) for drops is terrible. You pick some random traits and hope for the best. Realistically, no one has a spreadsheet of all the bullets from this game, and the traits are absolutely meaningless. Should I prioritize “unwell” or “third year student” for this roll? Does it really matter?
Difficulty Tuning
The first map is clearly the hardest, and there are no ways to tweak the difficulty. Enemies deal high amounts of damage, which disincentivizes combat. You should also avoid event squares, because there’s a good chance that they’ll have boss enemies waiting to ruin your run.
Was Super Bullet Break fun?
My very first run was fun. After I realized the implications of the unlocking system, I was not nearly as invested.
Was Super Bullet Break good value?
I got the physical for $20, which is also how much it goes for on the eShop. The high number of unlocks means that there should be some value and replayability here. Your mileage (and patience) may vary.
Who is this game for?
If you need something close to Slay the Spire and are ok with the progression loop, then check it out.
Was Super Bullet Break worth it?
Super Bullet Break comes close to nailing it. This could have been a diamond in the rough if they had given the player more options to actually craft a deck with the aforementioned drops. Earn drops and build a deck with coherent themes and synergies to tackle the procedural maps? Sounds like a dream. Unfortunately, this bullet was a misfire. Buy it on sale if you absolutely must try it for yourself, but otherwise I would pass.
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