In the middle of the pandemic, I sublet a corner of a musty, beer-can-filled jam space to practice drums. The room behind mine was frequented by an aging speed metal band, who never played more than 30 minutes in-time and routinely finished one practice session drunk. The lead guitarist would take a break from arguing with his girlfriend on the balcony and pass me in the hall, playing motoheads on his cell phone speaker and begging for cocaine. Power Chord is a lot like those bands.

Power Chord's deck-based combat is built around its lineup, with each member of the band offering a distinct way to inflict or nullify double-digit damage. Lead guitarist Grimnir Brawlfist, despite his eye-popping name, delivers deadly riffs fueled by his own damaged and accumulated rage. The vocalist and bassist fill the support and healer niche positions, respectively, giving the band (and their respective hands) a healthy variety.

Each battle usually deals either random cards or cash to buy (or burn) cards. The interaction between the cards in the deck is where Power Chord gets really interesting, and the best cards all have some sort of challenge or secondary ability built in. Sunder deals a quick and dirty 7 damage, which is usually the enemy's finishing number that needs to be built up over the first few turns of the game."

Most important to my success were Grimnir's cards, as playing stance cards that generate more rage at the cost of taking more damage can add to your rage stack. power chord plays 2 or 3 cards each turn This is a shining constraint when it feels like you and your enemy are playing two turns ahead of each other. However, it would have been nice if it were clearer what is happening on the turn you are already playing.

The underlying mechanics of Power Chords may seem familiar to anyone who has spent weeks on Spire Slayer or Monster Train, but without a master's degree in deckbuilding, I often found the stacks and debuffs that did not communicate well I was overwhelmed. It is difficult to discern where the damage comes from and why some attacks are close to one-hit wonders and others are not.

Much of this is due to the variety (or lack thereof) of enemies. The band of demons camped out on the other side of the stage generally consists of a dizzying array of subtypes, each with specific abilities and bonuses that can greatly affect the course of a battle. With only four different enemy silhouettes (and overlapping instruments that made them difficult to recognize), I could barely keep track of what my enemies looked like. Still, it was satisfying to identify the band's weaknesses and unleash a decisive attack that neutralized its damage output.

One of Power Chord's misnomers is its subject matter, and the musical style is frustratingly uncomfortable, a turn-based card sling of "I go you go" over a bargain bin of punk/metal/sludge instrumentals. It's appropriate enough for the subject matter, but it often went on for 45 minutes or more, and I soon found myself wanting to hear something else. The visuals are bare-bones and unlikely to appeal to those who truly love metal music, and the battle only happens on the one concert stage that always remains the same.

Despite digging up their cards, none of the bandmates I got together with were completely sold. Too many bands spend more time attacking with weapons than playing music, in an amalgam derived from album art. For example, the only "knight of Thunderfast", Drummer, appears to be a 40K space marine with two giant clubs. None of his attack animations match what is depicted on the card.

I'm not a metal guy, but this genre is deep and difficult to play, let alone play well. To see it not sincerely reflected in the game is only one of the reasons why "Power Chord" perpetuates a sense of "missed opportunity" - it just feels cheap to fall back on the same aesthetic that "Metalocalypse" made fun of in 2006.

Power Chord's card battles are connected by a rogue light progression system, a simple dotted map with random encounters between pit stops to recover or gear up. Since it is not visually clear where the damage comes from during combat, there is no weighing the risks and rewards of these route options, and it often made the most sense strategically to head for the healing station. The variety of unlockable gear (chokers, band shirts, etc.) and strong enough bonuses, such as free hand shuffling and the ability to play a card that can only be used once twice, ensure that you never end up playing the same way. These bonuses are very lightweight and never intrusive, but they also don't add anything attractive.

The power chords have a sturdy enough mechanical skeleton, but are spoiled by a poor approach to the bits. The film does not fully embrace the genres it cites in a meaningful and sincere way, but merely uses them as cheap theming. Coupled with a battle that vacillates between satisfaction, frustration, and incomprehension, "Power Code" feels out of step with the zeitgeist.