Hello, my family and friends! Welcome back to The Modern Gamer… This is Sumroad writing to you from a really old-fashioned tavern here at Rivia. I needed a good refreshment I tell you guys! I’ve been walking all over the place and I think I finally found the right time to sit down, relax and talk to you about this weeks’ game. -sips from a large bine mug- Aaaah! Refreshing! Alright! As I said, I’ve been walking around and found this nice city called Rivia and, unlike many of my last trips, this is a solo journey. No players around, just me, which in the beginning can feel odd, due to the majority of games nowadays revolves around team efforts and such, but… today, we’re talking about Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales. Come and sit with me while play some cards because this is just about to begin.
If you remember, a few weeks ago I talked to you about GWENT. I know! If you are familiar with The Witcher franchise, then you know GWENT already but… for those who doesn’t you can take a look at my review here. So, at that time, I was really hooked into GWENT and for a good set of reasons, but for now, let’s just say it is a great game, very polished and fast paced mechanics makes it a great addition to any gamer’s library. Anyway… why talk about GWENT when this is another game? Well… because Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales (TbTWT) is a mix of two worlds: RPG and GWENT. Now, if you are, by chance an RPG fan but not a card collector fan or vice versa, let me tell you this, do not shut the door on TbTWT already. -sips and sighs happily-.
As I just said, TbTWT is the bastard son of an RPG Queen and a GWENT Commander, but as you can imagine, you won’t take any of those sides here, you’re on your own, impersonating Queen Meve and as a monarch, you have responsibilities to take care of which means, you will have to take decisions every time, and each one of them will shape your future, and the future of your loyal entourage. The game will soon take you to the tutorial, and I don’t want to get over myself but sometimes it feels like its design is flawed, say for instance that the tutorial and tooltip asks you to tap somewhere, but the tooltip is in the way, so you cannot tap on said target, so you need to move and try to find it. Moving on, exploring the map is key part of any RPG and in this case, TbTWT respects the old school RPGs and I believe that’s one of its strengths, where you need to thoroughly explore the map where not everything is marked and tooltipped and focus on your decisions in the process is something that it is very welcomed and appreciated.
What ‘bout the action? you may ask, yes… let’s talk turkey. Battling is a core part of TbTWT, but how? GWENT is the answer and it is a really good one. I was a little skeptic in this part but the moment I got into my first rumble I did noticed it make perfect sense to use card fight mechanics on an RPG, especially when we talk about GWENT and its proven mechanics, although, if you think this is just the same fighting system, then you’re wrong. Thronebreaker changes it in a very positive and appealing way. Each battle has its own particularities, so you have to take a good look at your enemies and battle conditions to adjust your strategy, so, in a way, it is also a puzzle game.
As in GWENT, you can tweak your deck in multiple ways, you can recruit new cards and build up your decks accordingly. This, as expected, will consume resources so be wary about it.
In the overall features, you have buildings to set up and upgrade, each building does have a particular use and upgrading them will grant you benefits, hence, another resource sink, but do not get me wrong folks, it is good to have this kind of features to improve and fix your power over the land.
The story is very well narrated, the way it is done makes it not only good, but exciting, you know? Pretty much like reading that old great book you love, you can hear everything in your head (or out of your device).
Onto the technical side, man… this game can be overlooked by its visual design, and I’m not saying it is bad, au contraire! I love how it is done, although some players would look for 3D animations, maps and such. TbTWT uses this 2D cartoonish style that fits perfectly to the experience, in fact, the maps have a real nice level of detail, so exploring them are not a hassle, but a nice experience to gather resources, talk to NPCs and fighting. The conversations and cutscenes keeps the classic textbox style, but if I have to criticize something on this matter is… some animations look odd to me, like Meve’s cape lack of movement on the map view, but nothing you can’t live without, there are more details to look at than you can imagine, birds, people, and how the environment reacts to your moves. Sound wise, I am really happy with all the work and effort CD PROJEKT RED have put on this department, not even the voices are great, all the SFX and music is really well done. As a side note here, some of the BGM reminds me of what Matt Uelmen did on Diablo franchise, simply loving.
There’s no secret here, go and give Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales a chance, do it… not tomorrow, today! Do it! I’m pretty sure you won’t regret it, honestly! -sips- Oooh dear! I should go now, it is late and I don’t want to fight any Necrophages at this time of the night, not like this -sips again-. Maybe I could use some help, so please write down in the comments if you want to help me or not, although most likely you would, I trust you guys! Anyway, that’s all for me this week and remember, be safe and have an amazing gaming weekend! This is Sumroad signing out, slán!