Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales

Incoraggio chiunque ad acquistare e a giocare a Thronebreaker! In questo gioco che mi ha sorpreso positivamente la storia è appassionante e coinvolgente. I personaggi sono ben caratterizzati e le battaglie e i rompicapi sono molto ben integrati con il gioco delle carte. Mi ha anche sorpreso l'intero doppiaggio (egregiamente eseguito) in italiano. Come per tutti i giochi della cd project, le scelte guidano e modificano il proseguire della storia, quindi vi sentirete parte integrante del mondo di "The Witcher". Mi dispiace solo che sia già finito! 25 euro ben spesi come tutti gli euro spesi ad acquistare i giochi DRM free della CD. Lo rigiocherò per vedere la narrazione proseguire effettuando scelte differenti!

I came into this as a fan of Gwent from The Witcher 3 but understanding that this game would need to offer a new system. Gwent in that game was reliant on a progression system gated by the surrounding RPG, where you picked up better cards as you played. There simply isn't enough Gwent in the game. As you travel you'll engage either in a battle, or a puzzle. A battle is Gwent, three rounds, get the most points, etc. Great, Gwent is what I'm here for. Puzzles give you a small number of cards, special rules, and a single round. This makes for a nice palette cleanser between rounds of Gwent as you're basically taught card combos. But there are way too many shortened battles, which is Gwent but only one round. And often there are special rules applied. This destroys meaningful deck building as you’re never actually sure what you’re building for. Did you take a leader, powering up a card and putting it at the top of the deck? Tough, because this is a short battle and so there’s only one round and no card draw. Did you remove ranged attacks from the deck? Well that was silly because in this battle some special rules apply, and you need to destroy a target on the other side and power values mean nothing. The game is filled with this, and you’re never quite sure what you’re getting yourself into until you trigger it, at which point you can’t change your deck. Even if you just intentionally lose the first time, then reload to whenever the game last saved, there’s no mechanism by which you can setup separate decks. Despite the vast range of circumstances you can wander into, and special rules which apply, you have to construct a single deck which tackles all of it. Just the idea of a one-size-fits-all deck feels so antithetical to a CCG. The writing is still on point, and the choice stuff is fun. Hell, even some of the special challenges make for an engaging twist. But there simply isn’t enough Gwent in the game, which is what I thought I was signing up for.

The music, story, chacaters, everything expected top notch from CDPR and you still get the chills of how good everything is. For a gwent veteran and personally, most games even on the highest difficulty tend to be maybe too easy, but you still have great and some challenging puzzles, and interesting 'Custom deck' battles that are super fun. Extra props for the music.

I did not know what to expect going into Thronebreaker, the concept was a bit confusing to me from the start. I was intrigued at the prospect of spending more time in the world of The Witcher however and so I took the plunge and started my playthrough. I am very glad I did. An amazing journey from start to finish with very few hiccups, I was enthralled the entire time. The RPG/storytelling elements are superb, interacting with the world and its inhabitants through Queen Meve is a deeply satisfying experience. Equally satisfying is the ability to build your army and your camp as you see fit, it might not be a definitive strategy experience, but it does the job. The Gwent gameplay is an interesting twist on the formula, sometimes it worked other times it felt more like a chore, but it never went completely stale. The voice acting is superb and the characters you encounter will stick with you for some time. The art and overall visual style are amazing as well, not to mention the game’s superb soundtrack. The game is not perfect however. I would have liked to see more character interaction, more army and camp customization, and a more varied and in-depth resource system. The gathering of wood, gold, and manpower ends up feeling terribly dull and unnecessary as opposed to a gratifying and worthwhile experience. Some of the puzzles and their rewards, or lack thereof, are incredibly disappointing and tedious as well. These criticisms were not enough to stop me from falling in love with the experience however and as I happily embark on my second playthrough I cannot recommend this game enough. I sincerely hope we get to hear another tale very soon. *Note* - I do not believe any game is truly “flawless” and I understand that 5/5 is quite the statement to make, but I believe this game is deserving of that score.

Overall I had a lot of fun with Thronebreaker, but there are also a few things that start to annoy me the longer I played. Positives: - Music is absolutely beautiful (although it is a bit of a shame that not every piece is part of the soundtrack) and I adore the graphics. - Amazing voiceacting so far and great characters - Interesting choices - and consequences - Puzzle battles are great for the most part and offer a fresh experience each time Negatives: - Why can I not pan the camera around with WASD to look around the gameworld - There are way to many "Short Battles" with only one round - meaning that a lot of cards never works for these short scenarios - The game is far too easy on bonebreaker. So far I have crushed every opponent with no problem whatsoever - There is not "defeat" in any of the battles. You either win or retry - and in an RPG that is all about choice and consequence, this is a huge miss in my eyes. There should be a failure state and apt puinishments Neutral: - I wish you could talk a little more with your companions in the camp. Verdict: For 25€ I do not at all regret my purchase. But there are certain things that in my eyes could have been implemented better.