Dandy Ace is a game about magicians. Real magicians. Not those wizard idiots with their fireballs and summoning spirits. Ooof. Go back to Mirkwood, Radagast. Nobody wants you.
We’re talking stage magicians. Disappearing hankies. Chopping stagehands in half. Dying while catching bullets. The good stuff. Legends of our time; Harry Houdini, David Copperfield, Gob Bluth.
Maybe Goofy? I can imagine Goofy being a terrible Stage Magician. Probably, still better than Donald Duck. Stop hogging all the Health Potions, Donald! You had ONE. JOB.
Have you ever wanted to play a videogame as a magician? Not just some Arrested Development simulator where you have to fight for your right to be taken seriously. One where you fill up a meter that represents how much Jessica Walter doesn’t care for you. Although, that would be boss.
Well, if you did, here’s Dandy Ace, a rogue-like from Mad Mimic.
You are Dandy Ace, renowned dashing narcissist, the world’s Favourite Stage Magician, trapped in a seemingly ever-repeating mansion maze generated by a demonic cursed mirror! Who did this to you? Lele, the Green-Eyed Illusionist! The Second Most Succesful Magician in the world! By selling his soul to the mirror, Lele has become unto a God, and now Dandy must defeat him to take back his rightful spot as a valued children’s entertainer.
Dandy Ace plays as you might expect from an isometric rogue-like. You move, dash, and throw magic in all directions, destroy hordes of baddies, clear rooms, buy new abilities at shops, find treasures, and then move to the next map. Pretty standard stuff.
However, instead of weapons, you fight using card tricks scattered throughout the environment. These come in three types; blue for movement, pink for attacks, and yellow for crowd control. You have four slots, each mapped to a button, so you can double up or totally eschew certain types.
Blue cards let Dandy perform standard dashes, short teleports, or leaps with ‘poison gas’ (It’s blue sparkles). While pink cards, see the magician toss playing cards, fireworks, bouncing magic wands, and even daggers at foes. Finally, yellow cards help him run interference with exploding cards (set down in defence mode), binding chains, and blinding flashes of stage lights.
As you progress through the game’s myriad of dungeons, you can improve your hand with new and better cards and, more importantly, add new effects. You see, each button has a sub-slot, and sticking a new card in there modifies your existing attack. Maybe add that “poison cloud” (again, its glitter) to your long-range dashes? Or perhaps poison those bound in your chains? Or make your thrown cards spawn additional homing shots (Hint; This Is The Best Combo In The Game)?
What makes this system great is not just that there are tons of options to choose from, but how flexible and rewarding it makes experimenting feel. You can swap any cards in your hand out on the fly from the pause menu. This is fast, fun and allows you to try out devastating new combinations in seconds.
Another way the game excels is its take on permanent progression. Although dying will always throw you back to square one, things you did during your run can have ongoing consequences for your future runs. At the end of each level, you can trade in the shards dropped by defeated monsters for permanent upgrades and other rewards from your assistant Jolly-Jolly. (She is not jolly, let alone twice that). These include healing potions per level (Hint: Get these), the ability to sell cards, and other stat-boosting trinkets. Buying into these even partially stays between runs (like Dead Cells), so it’s always worth spending everything to help future runs. It is also here where you cash in blueprints you found, unlocking new cards and trinkets.
You can also talk to Jenny-Jenny (ironically, the jolly one) and equip trinkets, your risk-reward and stat upgrade, mechanics. I’m a big fan of buffs, so I usually take one of the ‘Damage Goes Up’ choices, of which there’s three; when they die, when you get hit, and when you don’t get hit. There are loads of other trinkets to suit most playstyles too. These include speed upgrades, buffs to status effect damage, and even a credit card, complete with paying interest, which is a simultaneously cute and soul-destroying option. By the fourth level you can have three trinkets equipped too, which is just, *mwah* *chef’s kiss*.
However, perhaps the best progression elements are the gates you’ll find blocking side paths, each emblazoned with a different card suit. Well, explore the third level, and you might find the diamond key – you now have this bad boy forever. Not only will this unlock all diamond gates in every stage – giving you access to stores with healing items, bonus cards and much more besides. This also opens an alternate, albeit harder, route to the final boss on level One. I got damn excited when I first found that key. Now when I think my level one build is mondo ridiculous, I can try the alternate route and hopefully unlock (HA!) the other keys.
Where Dandy Ace truly excels is its presentation. The game is full of glorious bi-lighting in warm pinks, purples and blues. The anime style fits the plot really well. So do the enemies and environments. Each level is packed with out-of-the-hat rabbits, animated objects brought to life. While thematic scenery like bushes in the gardens, spoofs of famous pieces in the art gallery, and beautiful table spreads in the banquet hall help bring the world of Dandy Ace to life. The menus and visual flare take a lot from later entries in the Persona series, especially Persona 5, whose ‘thief’ themeing is much like Dandy Ace’s similar ‘magician’ oeuvre. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention the love for Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure going on here. Complete with the familiar zig-zag and checker-board patterns, Dandy’s attack poses (special shout out for the throwing knives animation being very Dio’y), a trader called ‘Quickwagon’, the garden boss being straight up a Stand, and some familiar trinkets. Some great taste in manga going on here.
On top of all this, Dandy Ace’s crowning jewel (stolen in a sleight of hand trick) is its characters. There’s only seven, and they are all an absolute treat. Though Dandy is a hero, happy to entertain at the literal drop of a hat, he’s also something of a self-centred narcissist who doesn’t see or appreciate anyone but himself. While his assistants, Jenny-Jenny and Jolly-Jolly, are empathetic and cheery, even worrying about the villain’s mental health at times, while also pissed off at being stuck in a dumb mirror.
And then there’s the villain himself, Lele. You might get fed up with his repetitious prattling over every battle, but damn it, I love this Wario-looking, bandy-legged little turd. Lele sees himself as Dandy’s equal, but he has zero style or talent, forcing him to use a dark pact to get what he wants. It becomes clear through dialogue that while he hates Dandy for showing him up. The so-called hero has never even noticed him, so Lele stews in loneliness and feelings of inadequacy. Chastising his minions for bringing cupcakes to a battle while surrounded by paintings and sculptures of himself that bring him no joy. The characterisation here is firmly on point and deserves a standing ovation.
Unfortunately, that brings us to the elephant in the room, an elephant named Supergiant Games. Dandy Ace, no matter how clever or fun it is will always live in the shadow of fellow isometric Rogue-like with permanent progression – Hades.
But Dandy Ace is no Hades.
It tries, it really, really does. It is delightful – cleverly constructed, brightly coloured, with unique themes; but everything it does, Hades did better.
Hades offered accessibility options which Dandy Ace lacks – and can, in turn, be far, far too hard at times. While Dandy Ace has one fantastic character, Hades had a genuine Pantheon of them. Also, Lele talks far much. The only lines I heard in Hades were Zagreus’ quips after defeating an enemy. Meanwhile, Dandy Ace is barraged with tedious banter about mimics and poisoned cupcakes from his green caped nemesis.
Hades is a near-perfect game released just a year before Dandy Ace, and unfortunately, Hades will always overshadow it.
Does that mean I don’t recommend Dandy Ace? Uh, No. Did you read my bit about Lele? The villain alone is worth the price of admission. If you are done with Hades and want something similar. If you liked Dead Cells’ progression. Or you just like visually striking, funny games – I highly recommend Dandy Ace.
It’s fast, fun, and it doesn’t demand to be taken seriously.
But seriously, Netflix, someone message me about that Arrested Development game. The pickups can be incomplete Scrabble sets. Eh? Eh? Call me.
