(Note: At the time of posting, I've only played this game for a bit over an hour to complete the tutorial.) Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is, so far, everything I would have hoped for from a narrative driven version of Gwent. Now, I'm a very casual Gwent lover and have little experience with other card battle games, but I love well crafted stories, immersive gameplay mechanics, and unique experiences. On the first point, Thronebreaker noticeably delivers right out of the gate with well written and voice acted encounters with your allies and random strangers. It wastes no time in letting you know that this story is going to draw you in and enrapture you. As for gameplay mechanics, I absolutely LOVE how CD Projekt Red have taken traditional deck building from card battle games and looped it into this mechanic of expanding Queen Meve's army and camp. The little bit of choice offered in base building is enough to satisfy the management itch and works well with the story and the environment Thronebreaker has dropped you in. For my final point, well, you don't need me to tell you that this is a solitary experience. I'm sure there's other games out there that fit into the narrative card battle genre, but I doubt any of them offer quite the same experience that I'm getting from Thronebreaker. Anyone that loves medieval fantasy settings, casual strategy-management titles, and well crafted stories will likely enjoy this game to some extent. ---------- A quick note about the Gwent changes: like I said above, I'm a casual Gwent player, but I think the way Gwent's been altered to work here suits the game fine, though I'm not sure if it'll satisfy the more hardcore Gwent fans. Though, by now, I'm sure they're used to changes. That being said, I bet they won't be happy about the addition to Gwent of exclusive cards that have to be earned through playing Thronebreaker.
