The Witcher Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales - Gwent expansion turns into standalone RPG

[Infinitron]

https://www.pcgamesn.com/thronebrea...onebreaker-hearthstone-banner-saga-easter-egg

Thronebreaker has nods to The Banner Saga and Hearthstone

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is nearly upon us, bringing a blend of grand role-playing and extensive card battles. While its genre blend is mostly unique, it’s far from the first title in either of those traditions. CD Projekt has built some nods to what’s come before, with a handful of references both obvious and surprising.

The obvious reference is to Hearthstone. You’ll eventually come across a battle titled Stone Hearth, where you’re asked to play a round of Gwent with an innkeeper during a snowstorm. (Or you might call it a ‘blizzard.’) As the description notes, the residents there “played by a set of rules different from what humans were accustomed to in the lowlands.”

It’s no surprise to see a reference the game that set the standard for digital CCGs, but there’s also a nod to the excellent strategy series, The Banner Saga. That game’s caravan of Nordic fantasy archetypes seems to have taken a wrong turn into the world of the Witcher, and you’ll find a cart with a lengthy red banner broken down in the snow. “Downright poetic,” Gascon says. “Prime material for a ballad, perhaps even a whole saga.”

We’ll leave the details of these Easter eggs for you to discover, but you can see the results below.

Check out our Thronebreaker review if you’re on the fence about CD Projekt’s latest. It’s an excellent story that builds on the world you’ve typically seen through Geralt’s eyes, but may leave hardcore card game players disappointed by its lack of strategic depth.

 

[J1M]

Single player card games are one of my favorite niche genres. So I am excited for this project. Hope it compare favorably to the pokemone card video game and the first magic video game.

Which pokemon card game?

 

[Funposter]

Single player card games are one of my favorite niche genres. So I am excited for this project. Hope it compare favorably to the pokemone card video game and the first magic video game.

Which pokemon card game?

I would assume the TCG game on Gameboy.

 

[J_C]

I think my grievance is they really should've turned it into a tactical RPG if they were already divorcing the game from Gwent. Fact you're still doing battles through a card game for no reason just comes off as weird now. Doubly so with how they overhauled the game board so you have visible leader models. Could've taken it one step and applied it to all the card units.

Well, you can look at it this way: the cards are the units, they have special abilities, and their position on the battlefield is important. So in a way, we are getting those tactical battles.

 

[ColCol]

Single player card games are one of my favorite niche genres. So I am excited for this project. Hope it compare favorably to the pokemone card video game and the first magic video game.

Which pokemon card game?

I would assume the TCG game on Gameboy.

Correct, it was pretty solid.

 

[Mark Richard]

It's out today.

Unlock times -
New York 7:00 EDT
LA 4:00 PDT
Sao Paulo 8:00 BRT
London 12:00 BST
Warsaw 13:00 CEST
Moscow 14:00 MSK
Seoul 20:00 KST
Tokyo 20:00 JST
Sydney 22:00 AEDT

 

[Quillon]

Hope its bug-fucking-free, need a distraction after all the kingmaker restarts.

Let's GWENT-IT-UP!

It's nice hyping up for a game on the day...better yet the hour of its release

 

[Paul_cz]

GOG posted a joke tweet and usual suspects are losing their minds again, I wonder if CDP social media guy is this clueless, or if he's trolling on purpose.

Thronebreaker is purchased, but I will wait with playing it until after RDR2.

 

[Infinitron]

Released:



https://af.gog.com/game/thronebreaker_the_witcher_tales?as=1649904300

 

[fantadomat]

It's out today.

Unlock times -
New York 7:00 EDT
LA 4:00 PDT
Sao Paulo 8:00 BRT
London 12:00 BST
Warsaw 13:00 CEST
Moscow 14:00 MSK
Seoul 20:00 KST
Tokyo 20:00 JST
Sydney 22:00 AEDT

It was on the torrents since midnight local time.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

How is it?

 

[taxalot]

How is it?

Apparently, it's a card game.

 

[odrzut]

How is it?

It's easy, even on hard. But puzzles are good. Story is good too, obviously.

 

[Mark Richard]

How is it?

Obnoxious. That full page advertisment on GOG sets the tone. The game's main menu has an offline prompt, and the first card to find is an unlockable for multiplayer Gwent. The campaign itself is a huge map that's fun to explore, if you can ignore the false sense of urgency dogging your heels at every turn.

'WE HAVE TO HURRY BEFORE THE BANDITS REACH LORD FAFFBERRY!'

'THEY'LL TAKE THE CASTLE WITHIN DAYS, HURRY!'

IF WE DON'T DO THIS RIGHT NOW, THE KINGDOM WILL BE LOST!'

Oh fuck off.

 

[fantadomat]

I just watched a play-though and the writing seems pretty shitty in typical sjw fashion. The protagonist feels like a typical mary sue. Anyway,i am pretty bored so i decided to give it a try. I write a few lines after i get to play it for a few hours.

 

[Urthor]

It's actually pretty great and has a lot of good card game puzzles. Gwent is still a fantastic CCG that was unfortunately ruined in its online edition by power creep.

The walking around unfortunately somehow even more downright awful than Underrail's though, actually feels garbage to click and move your character

 

[Ibn Sina]

The game is great and a lot of the puzzles in it are interesting. Decisions have fucking weight as the game ravages you each time you make a humanitarian choice and rewards being an uncaring despot. The supporting characters are great as well and well leave you/betray you if you do not follow their whims.

 

[Ibn Sina]

My army just got ravaged by saboteurs from within because I took a couple of nonhuman civilians in my ranks instead of killing them all, as I should have done.

 

[cvv]

So Codex hath spoken? Game's gut?

A lot of mainstream journo review are whining about the card part being too easy. That's sure as shit something you don't see every day. But is it true?

 

[Reinhardt]

It looks great but game is boooring. I guess all this card stuff is just not for me.

 

[Paul_cz]

Of course the game is gut.

 

[Quillon]

Game's quite boring and low effort as fuck, shoulda been sold for 10$ at most. CDPR's using Witcher name for cash grab.

 

[you know what time it is]

The changes you can make to a deck are pretty minimal at first, I'm about an hour or two into the game and I'm already bored, idk if it gets better or not, but gwent is not exactly an exciting CCG as it is, but lack of proper deck building and variety just kills it for me. Aside from that it seems to be a pretty well made game for mobiles, not sure if price tag is justified tho.

 

[Lacrymas]

I don't mind card games, Etherlords 2 is a very intriguing game for me, and this looked like it might not be as bullshit as Witcher usually is, so I'm interested in more opinions.

 

[Reinhardt]

From first ~2 hours it's more about puzzles with very limited deck so only one correct order to play your cards than about deck building and card battles.