For those of you (if there are any?) who read this blog, I apologize for the lack of posts lately. This has been report card week for this teacher and thus a very busy week. Due to all the comment writing I've had to do, writing for a blog post was not much of a break for me. So, instead, any spare time was spent delving into dungeons.
I've completed four scenarios in Gloomhaven now (one took three attempts and I've failed on my most recent play) and unlocked about a dozen others. I've already gone through about 6 city and road events. I have a level 3, a level 2, and a level 1 character (I started using three characters two scenarios ago). I've fought probably 20 different enemies. I've opened five treasure chests and looted lots of gold. So far I have a pretty good reputation, but it's still early.
I am addicted to Gloomhaven, thinking about it and playing it every spare second I have, but it's not making for a very fun blogging game. Since it is such a big, diverse, non-linear game, I'm scared to spoil anything for anyone. I know that some people don't want to see or hear about the characters, scenarios, choices, enemies, etc. So I apologize for the lack of pictures. I will post one picture to show my table set up, and if you choose to zoom in and see the (starting) character's hand of cards, that's on you.
Far left is my level 2 support character, middle is my level 3 attacker, and on the right is sort of a mixture of the two (is that spoiling anything?). A scenario is set up on the far right but I won't tell you which one, which tiles I used, or which enemies are in it. I will say that this was my first scenario playing with three characters. I had started out playing two because I thought it would be too overwhelming to learn the rules and balance three characters, but I think I'm there now. My worry now is that if I play only two there won't be enough levelling up going on to spread out over the 18 characters! I won this scenario, there was a nice epic boss battle where my heroes wrecked some bruisers. Now we are chasing after a bad guy but he's run away and hidden. We need to try and find him (is that a spoiler too? I'm no good at this).
I have a new problem as well - my level 2 character is ready to pursue some scenarios resulting to their life goal. This would lead to their retirement. Do I want do pursue this already??? Don't I want them to level 5 so I can do their solo scenarios first? But...I want to open some goodies! Help!
Total Plays: 6 solo, 1 cooperative
COMPONENTS
It's always hard not to compare miniatures to Gears of War because they are so amazing, but I have to do it. The minis in this game are great, but not QUITE Gears of War quality. That being said, they're great. There are a million bits and pieces that come with this game and the artwork and quality are top notch. I like standees - then you get colour without having to paint them! And the standees and artwork for the 40-ish different enemies is great. 5/5
RULES
Ok, this one is tricky because there are a lot of rules. There are so any parts to this game that there has to be to make it work. The back of the rulebook has a very handy review section that points you to the proper page in the book for more details. I have found this extremely helpful as I've been playing. Most rules seem thematic and common sense, so I've felt that they've been easy to pick up. But, there are A LOT. It takes some time to be able to jump into this game and then it is easy to miss something. As far as big games goes, they do a good job, but it's still a lot. 4/5
GAMEPLAY
Holy cow the gameplay! I was hoping it would be, but this game truly is exactly what I wanted. It has card driven mechanics similar to Gears of War. It has deckbuilding-esque aspects that allow you to upgrade your hand of cards and attack modifier deck as the game progresses. It's an RPG - there is leveling up, loot, purchasing equipment, quests, character classes, enemies to defeat, choices to make, etc. This game has exactly what I want and even when I get tired of a scenario kicking my butt, I want to jump back in and try again. 5/5
REPLAYABILITY
Three starting characters I haven't played yet? Check. One starting character I haven't even opened yet? Check. Twelve more characters to unlock? Check. Many levels and perks to achieve for all these characters? Check. Able to change a characters standing hand so you can have a different strategy for each scenario? Check. Only 15 pieces of equipment unlocked out of 150-ish? Check. Only fought against a third of the 40-ish enemies in the game? Check. 40-ish enemies with different skills and strategies? Check. Four scenarios defeated and a dozen unlocked out of 100-ish? Check. Great to play solo or cooperative? Check. 5/5
FUN
Yup. Have I been raving about it enough yet? This is the game I was hoping for. Thank you Isaac! This game has taken my last 20 hours of gaming time and every time I think about setting up another game, I change my mind and keep playing this (although, I must admit, at least part of that is not wanting to tear everything down and set it up again later...). 9/10
FINAL SCORE: 28/30
Yes, it's that good.
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