GWENT: The Witcher Card Game

Game has become progressively worse since the end of closed beta. The mechanics are totally dumbed down, idiotic, and not fun now. Don't waste your time.

It's the first time ever I review a game. I do it just because I trust CD Project Red and I know they care generally about their audience and long time fan, such as I am. I've never been a hardcore card games player, but i loved Gwent for his approach so unique, his graphic style, becuase I think it was extremely user friendly and fun even for noob players like me, and of course i loved it because I'm a hardcore Witcher fan since the very first chapter of the saga. Unfortunately with Homecoming it remained just The Witcher theme, all the other good things about the game are gone. All the faction now look pretty much the same, and there are too many similar cards. I have never be good at this game, but at least before I could manage to win half of the games in my low bracket and having fun, now I cant literally win a single game and it got super boring, you won't even bother check your opponent cards, because they all look the same basically. I don't really get the point of erase and remake a game which was betatested by its own community for 1 year and half. I don't know if it's possible to change the rating, but i will gladly do it if CDPR will give me some reason to play again the game after the mess they made with this Homecoming.

I've been playing Gwent since Closed Beta. I lost interest following the Midwinter Gwent patch of Dec 2017 and decided to give it another shot when Homecoming released. This is by far my favorite version of the game. Never before in the history of the game have so many different kinds of decks been viable. With the provision system, deckbuilding feels like a real challenge instead of feeling like the Beta decks that practically built themselves. RNG is down, which makes the player feel in control of the game. The three card draw system combined with the lack of cheap tutor/thinning options means that we're at the sweet spot of consistency where a well built deck can execute their strategy consistently (unlike much of Closed Beta Gwent) but every game plays out a little differently (unlike late Open Beta Gwent). I was initially skeptical about the removal of one of the rows, but it hasn't hurt the games complexity at all (in fact row placment means more now than ever before) and one less row means the card art can be seen in all it's glorious detail instead of the tiny stamp versions from Beta. I never thought Beta Gwent was ugly while playing it, but after about a week of Homecoming Gwent I can't even watch old clips without cringing at the board style. It's so much better now. I'm very pleased with the state of the game and I'm happy to see CDPR committing to updating it regularly. Can't wait for the March expansion!

A permanent online connection must be available. GOG client/launcher Galaxy must be running. Otherwise you won’t be able to access the game in the first place.

(It seems that the review length for games is about 393 words or 1,977 characters) Pro of GWENT, compared to “Magic 2014 – Duels of the Planeswalkers” (aka MTG): The playing deck is much smaller, so you have a much greater chance of drawing cards that you want in your hand and there are no conditions which need to be met in order to play the cards in your hand. Cons: 1) The tutorial in the game is useless and doesn’t teach you basic facets of the game like how to pass a round (i.e. cease taking your turn in a round playing a card in order to gain a tactical advantage for the next round) or how to discard a card from your hand. 2) Unlike MTG, you can’t play your decks against each other in solo mode so that you can learn how cards play or how new cards work. 3) Unlike MTG, there is no lobby, so GOG automatically assigns an opponent to you. On the official forum people often complain that the matchmaking feels rigged against you. Since players seem to copy currently powerful decks found online, this feeling is reinforced. 4) The game is modelled on gambling industry mechanics, so you can spend a lot of money for little reward, as far as getting cards that you want or other trinkets. It’s a bit like pay-to-win. 5) On the forum people often say that that they play for the rewards, not because they find the game fun. I agree with that sentiment. 6) If you do spend money for a mode like “Journey”, GOG will pester you for more money to get stuff instantly that you have already paid for and can get for free just by playing the game. Conclusion: I’d welcome a matchmaking filter to limit what sets of decks are played, as constant additions and changes to cards is overwhelming. It makes keeping up with the game a grind. I got my badge for completing the tutorial on 19/12/2019. Due to COVID-19 I’ve played this game more than I otherwise would have. It’s probably been a good run for playing the game but I’m pretty much done with the game and have been for months now.