- [TJ] When something comes along that as thoroughly exceeds
my expectations in so many areas
as Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales,
it reminds me why I got into video games in the first place.
Far from a mere single player afterthought slapped
onto a multiplayer collectible card game,
CD Projekt Red has a sweeping complex emotional story
with memorable characters, excellent voice acting
and varied exciting card battles all along the way.
- [Warrior] The chase is on!
(energetic music)
- [TJ] I was most blown away by the writing.
Set just before the Witcher RPG trilogy during
the Second Nilfgaard war,
you take on the role of the dauntless dynamic
many-layered Queen Meve of Lyria and Rivia.
Every step of her journey is complicated by an overwhelming
enemy, abundant political intrigue,
and the kind of gut-twisting no right answer moral choices
the Witcher has become known for.
Are you willing to sacrifice your personal honor
to preserve your basic human decency?
Are you willing to do what's best for your soldiers
at the expense of a possibly instrumental alliance?
This tale recognizes no distinction between good or evil,
only tough, emotional, imperfect compromises
that stuck with me hours after I'd made them.
I was accompanied on this journey
by a cast of multi-layered, diverse and interesting
aids to camp who could stand right beside or even outshine
the best of the best party members
from more traditional RPGs.
- [Reynard] Your Grace.
The man's a brigand.
- [TJ] From the irreverent bandit Captain Gascon.
- [Gascon] I transform into a creature
that's half-man, half-dachshund.
- [TJ] To the fanatically pacifist sorceress Isbel,
they're all more than meets the eye
and have unique reactions to the decisions you make
that can lead to them opening up more
or even departing your service.
In fact, I found it impossible to keep everyone happy,
adding a tangible component of ongoing consequence
to my behavior and it's more than just missing out on
another drinking buddy when someone leaves
since many party members can offer special solutions
to certain story events and quest dilemmas
that allow you to come out of them
with much less blood on your shirt.
I adored the organic feeling reactivity of this system
and how it rewarded or punished me
for the values I chose to stand for.
- [Narrator] And following in the rear,
the bandits, bound in chains.
- [TJ] The quest themselves and the accompanying dialogue
are written every bit as well as the Witcher 3
and the card-based battle system it all revolves around
is a lot of fun as well.
Far from playing a couple hundred rounds
of standard rules of Gwent, nearly every encounter
has some kind of unique twist that's satisfying to overcome.
Some commanders have the ability to immediately resurrect
any cards you kill so the only way to win
is to whittle them down with non-lethal attacks.
Certain story battles require you to destroy
a heavily armored gatehouse before you can attack
the units behind it and the level of deck customization
especially later on once you get the ability to recruit
special cards like Dwarven auxiliaries
and Skellige mercenaries means
you can always change things up
if you're bored or a particular battle
is giving you a really hard time.
Particularly interesting are the various optional
puzzle fights scattered around Thronebreaker's
lovely hand-painted world maps which require you
to accomplish something really unorthodox using a specific
set of cards in a limited number of turns.
You might be asked to get a certain card
to a certain side of the board using movement abilities
or to raise a specific card's power to a certain number.
Some of them are really legitimately tough,
taking me close to an hour to come up with
the right solution, but it was always
so so satisfying when it clicked.
It's much quicker to list the few things Thronebreaker
gets wrong than the many many things
it does delightfully well.
Aside from being one of the best written RPGs
I've played in years, the varied ways it keeps its
card-based combat from stagnating across a 40-ish hour
campaign are admirably clever and well-thought out.
Deck building and some light RPG elements
that allow upgrading specific cards and giving a feeling
of progression to your two-dimensional army and expertly
crafted companions that aren't shy about leaving you out
in the cold create a satisfying
meaningful feedback system for your actions.
If you like a good fantasy RPG at all,
even if you're not normally a collectible card game person,
do yourself a favor and treat
your inner card-slinging monarch to this one.
For more gritty tactical combat, check out our reviews
of Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Space Hulk Tactics
and for everything else, stick with IGN.