บทวิจารณ์ล่าสุดโดย Ciaran

I was first introduced to Duelyst during its kickstarter campaign through another kickstarter success story's community forum. It looked beautiful and seemed like a fun concept. I didn't decide to back it at the time and instead promptly forgot about it.

I was later reintroduced to Duelyst via a friend who DID back it, letting me know that it's been released for a bit now and that it was free to play. This was in late January, during the open beta. Hearing "free to play" triggered worries about what sort of exploitative ftp cash grab gimmicks that might have been implemented, but found it to be entirely devoid of impulse buy exploitation. With a big sigh of relief, I dove right in and was able to enjoy the game whole-heartedly.

Then, as I raised up through the ranks and came to realize just how narrow the meta really was in high level play, a ray of light pierced through to the core of the game and changed everything. The developers recognized that one of their core mechanics was limiting high level play in a major way (drawing 2 cards per turn forced a need to play 2 cards per turn) and they COMPLETELY REWORKED that core system, changing everything about the pacing of the game. It really caught me off guard at first, but within a week I realized how much of an amazing thing they had just done.

It's now been a half year that I've been playing this game. As a result of their show of forethought and willingness to adapt even the core systems to keep the game healthy and active, I have a lot of faith that Counterplay will keep Duelyst a game to enjoy for years to come. It's astoundingly easy to build cards up without spending a dime, essentially getting a booster pack per day within 4-8 games; and with such quick matches, it's easy to enjoy the game in short bursts or longer sessions alike. If you like tactical gameplay, creative deckbuilding, or even just get a boner over amazing animations like I do, <b>play the game</b>.

This is a repost of a review that helped me a lot while deciding whether to accept the game as a gift or not. It has been re-translated into English and reformatted for an enhanced experience. Please enjoy:

Play this game with the same name is a digital copy of the table.
This game (if you can call this function) to the cellar master, if you dare to kill the hair using treasure hunters can attack. DM very different in their abilities.
This game is based on a map is based. I have such a meeting, equipment, checking the hero as many cards close.
5 types of heroes will go to the city.

1. This classic warrior,
   
2. Profile,
   
3. Priest,
   
4. "stupid" thief.

They do not know crazy place. Who is stupid enough to think about? Against the detention of the most impressive in each category is identified.

Due to kill the game - 10 hero, take his soul 10 issue of hero you will go through five times.

Extreme sports, information, etc. - various symbols. Random. Most accidents.
Since the ticket was written description of thin - and prepare a drink.
There is a game, but he died. Remember, it's the ability to turn the game for any reason - and see the show.

I do not want to recommend this game. Only when it is removed, and the basic process you know IRL.
If you are looking for a rare game - it is your definition of gender interests in, if possible please. Wait to see if the sales tax maze.

To put it bluntly, this game is fabulous in every way as long as you hide the majority of hud elements that shephard you through the game. They take your attention away from the amazing level design, and ultimately reduce a spectacular experience in exploration and problem solving into a stroll from one destination point to another.

Do yourself a favor. Hide everything except the essentials. You will have an exceptionally rewarding experience.

To give a little perspective on my opinion, here's a quick brief on me. I come from a game design background, having gone to an art school for it. I played TCGs heavily for a period and followed competitive play of friends, which led to a big interest of card game R&D. I also had a half decade of national-level competitive fighting game play that defined my love for the mental aspect of any competitive game.

With those things in mind, I love games that introduce new concepts into a genre and take great care in implementing them well. To my great pleasure, this is exactly what Infinity Wars has accomplished.

Taking full advantage of the digital format of the game, Infinity Wars has incorporated a few huge advantages over the average card game:
1. Simultaneous turns.
2. Deck commanders.
3. Animated card art.
4. A non-exploitative Free-To-Play business model.

-1-
Simultaneous turns is my personal favorite addition into the genre that really makes a massive change in the dynamics of a turn. It serves two major purposes. First, it reduces down time while waiting for your opponent to play through their turn, which keeps both players a lot more active while playing and speeds up games to a degree. Second, it enforces a major element of prediction over reaction. What your opponent may play and how you want to play spells or move/rearrange your creatures is always an important part of the flow of battle and ultimately who wins. In addition, there is an initiative that swaps between players each turn that allows one player's spells and attacks to resolve first. Simply put, this one feature puts Infinity Wars on a completely new level compared to all other card games, and I absolutely love it.

-2-
Commanders also serve two important purposes. First, the faction of each commander determines what cards you're able to place within that deck. Having 3 different factions in command gives you a lot of options, whereas three of the same faction gives you access to all tiers of cards within that faction. Second, the commanders are simply extra playable cards from the same list of cards you would build the deck from, yet they exist outside of the limitations of the deck. For example, setting up a deck with commanders that cost 1, 2, and 4 cost cards, when you know your deck has a majority of 3 cost cards gives you a huge advantage in the reliability of your first few turns. It would allow you to simply play your command creatures if you didn't have anything better in your hand, helping to you overcome the inherent randomness of card games. Command creatures also count as being in play, allowing you to use character abilities from the command zone, yet also being slightly at risk to creature removal in the process. Interestingly, the command setup often broadcasts what to expect from the opponent, so that both players understand what they're roughly up against. It's simply a wonderful concept all around.

-3-
A major marketing point for the game itself is the animated card art. Now, having come from an art school, I can tell you that a lot of the early card animations were very rough. Flash-esque element manipulation, simple things like colors glowing in and out, etc. With each consecutive set, though, the quality of art and animation has simply skyrocketed. The next set's card previews left me in awe and craving more. And despite a tremendous amount of time and effort going into each card's art, they don't skimp on the amount of content that each set delivers. That, to me, is truly impressive, especially considering the they're such a small team.

-4-
And finally we reach their business model. Now, I have to admit I really dislike what the free to play model has become in the current gaming climate. It often encourages a lot of exploitation of the player, detracting from their fun as much as possible without actively pushing away players, in order to influence addictive spending. Much to my relief, Lightmare has not only eliminated the biggest pitfalls of free to play design (the pay-to-win stuff), but also actively rewards free players by allowing cards purchased with the in-game currency to be tradeable with others. They also have a rudimentary master and apprentice system that rewards both players with free cards for playing together. It even incorporates a very rewarding draft mode that allows players who manage good runs to get high rarity free cards and even potentially receive their whole draft deck for free.

The only reason the game doesn't receive a 10/10 is that the game is still fairly new, and has a number of planned updates that are absolutely necessary to eliminate a lot of bugs, open it to more playable platforms, and expand on the overall longevity of the game. As those are incorporated, I can confidently say that the game will grow to be be the best possible card game I can imagine.

Thanks for reading along, and I hope you join us all in the wonderful experience it offers.

Okay, so the game's pretty as ♥♥♥♥ and has an amazing musical score that's dynamically implemented. That's great and all, but I care about how a game PLAYS. And to put that into perspective, we're going to have to get some ♥♥♥♥ out of the way right off the bat.

This game is a step away from the ordinary. Some people are going to be turned off by that. In fact, some people will cry.

Me? I praise the sun.


See, The Banner Saga isn't a game that holds you by the hand. It informs you of things to a degree, drops a few hints in the narration and dialogue that you have to actively seek out, and then expects you to make an educated guess on how the world around you will react to your choices. And trust me, it doesn't always react nicely. You'll have party members smashed for doubting in your own abilities. You'll have friends betray you because you stuck to your opinion just a little more than they'd like. You'll get mad.

Deal with it.

One of the best things about this game is that it's about prediction and reaction. You're always given enough to predict things well enough, if you see the subtle signs in front of you. And whether you catch those signs properly or not, you'll be reacting to how things play out, so keep a cool head and salvage your situation the best way possible. Ultimately, you can replay it again and try to not make the same mistakes you did the first time around. See how it changes your story. I can guarantee that there will still be surprises even your third time around.

Replay value is basically the name of the game. It's long enough to be an adventure, but short enough to keep multiple plays from becoming tedious and grinding. There's a lot of choice, big and small, and all of it will impact your story in a major way by the end.

The combat, in a similar vein, is largely randomized encounters. You can affect the difficulty of each war encounter by how you choose to approach it as well. Rush in and take on the harder enemies to spare your army? Take a cautious approach and let your army take the brunt of the forces so your own battles are less stressful? There's a handful of possibile approaches that further alter your experience. And don't let the simplicity of the combat statistics fool you, there's a lot of ♥♥♥♥ to think about for every battle.

For everyone who's had the opportunity to learn the battle system via multiplayer battles in Factions, it's second nature already, but for all newcomers...there's a lot of subtle things that matter in very major ways. Positioning is key. Killing vs crippling a target can vastly affect momentum swings. Effective use of willpower can clutch out an entire battle. Sometimes letting a few allies actually die is exactly what you need to do to win. There's a lot of forethought that can be applied and number crunching is crucial. Can it be brutal at times? Absolutely. But it's never unfair.

So, let's sum this all up.
-Do you value transparency in choices?
-Do you like to know exactly what's going to happen before you do anything?
-Do you usually follow a walkthrough when playing through a game for the first time?
-Do you reload whenever a character permanently dies?
-Do you get frustrated when you can't just kill everything in your way?

Sorry, game's probably not your cup of tea.

-Do you like thinking ahead to predict outcomes?
-Do you like learning how to manipulate a system to your advantage?
-Do you value strategy over action?
-Do you like role playing and value decision making?
-Are you capable of taking responsibility for poor choices?

If these are the case, be prepared for an amazing experience you'll never forget.

With that said, this game gets my full recommendation. I also encourage anyone interested to give The Banner Saga: Factions a try first, since it's free and will let you experience the battle system to your heart's content.

An extremely deep, yet surprisingly simple tactical RPG experience. Taking a step away from the traditional mechanics of the genre and being beautifully hand animated in a style reminiscent of Disney classics, it'd be an understatement to simply call The Banner Saga a breath of fresh air.

The best part about Factions (the standalone multiplayer client), beneath the fun of playing against your peers, is that it is entirely free to play and devoid of game altering advantages via microtransactions. I couldn't recommend it more.