Video Gamers Podcast - Gaming Quick Takes - Thronebreaker

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey guys, welcome to this Quick Take episode. We're so excited to have you here with us. In the past, these Quick Take episodes actually were only available to those who financially supported the show through Apple subscriptions and Patreon. But due to popular demand, we have decided to shake up the perks for our supporters and we'll be releasing these Quick Takes on Saturdays to everyone, giving you all some extra free content that was previously unavailable to the public. And these Quick Takes are a little more laid back, and they're hosted by just one of us. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this Quick Take episode.

Starting point is 00:00:35 Shazam! Boom! Oh, oh, I am back, baby. And I have a great game to tell you about this time. Thank you for tuning into another bonus episode of what we call our gaming quick takes. Thank you for your support of the show. We could not do this without you. Honestly, I know we say that all the time, but it's very, very true.

Starting point is 00:01:07 So we appreciate the support. One way that we like to say thank you is to bring you these bonus episodes. And I have found that I love suggesting games that maybe you haven't heard of that are some of the better games that I have played. They're not for everybody, I get it, but they are games that I do believe

Starting point is 00:01:23 should be on your radar or are worth at least checking out to see if it would resonate with you. Okay, you guys all know how much I love The Witcher. Okay, it's an amazing world. The creatures, the characters, the world building in that game is second to none. You also know that I love card-based games, deck-building games. I love the strategy behind them. I love the gameplay in them.

Starting point is 00:01:49 I'm always looking for that next great one. But take those two genres and put them together in honestly one of the best card-based games that I have played that is also not known very much. And that is a game called Thronebreaker The Witcher Tales. Now that's kind of an odd title. Don't let it scare you off. You don't need to know a thing about the Witcher universe. You don't need to have played the Witcher games.

Starting point is 00:02:15 This is not Gwent if you have played those games. Although it does use a little bit of the cards and the graphics and some of the stylings of Gwent, but it is a full-fledged independent game that you can enjoy even if you don't know anything about the Witcher universe. Okay, in Thronebreaker, you play as Queen Meve, who's on a quest to build an army and take on the evil Nilfgaardian Empire. This game tells a very good story um that takes place in the world of the witcher it's got empires that are just warring and clashing with each other it's got kings and emperors and spies and knights and all that stuff it's got intrigue it's got sadness it's got betrayal it's got darkness and and you know the the horrors of war and stuff like that but

Starting point is 00:03:06 this game is going to actually make you feel a lot of emotions it it is an absolute master class in telling a story uh through the gameplay in this game and through the cards in the encounters and stuff like that so um the best way i would describe it is this game is a combination of a point and click adventure. Ooh, that sounds good, right? A card deck based building game and a visual novel. Okay. And if all of those sound good, then trust me, they are, and they all come together very well in this game. This game is an amazing combination of all of those genres that causes you to feel connected to that main character, Queen Meve. And at its core, it's a card game, but it's not like any other card games that I've played. This does not play like Slay the Spire or Monster Train or some of these other

Starting point is 00:03:57 card games that have come out. It is unique unto itself. So this game plays out in a lot of different ways. Choices matter in this game and will affect the various types of engagements that you're going to encounter. Sometimes you'll run into puzzle type encounters, which for a card based game is kind of neat. Like there's only one solution in the order that you play your cards or how you have to defeat like an enemy. And so those are a really neat aspect um there are uh you know these big gigantic like warlike encounters where you have access to like your full deck and you know you can choose the units that you want to play and stuff like that too i don't want to spoil too

Starting point is 00:04:39 much there but you know there are these big battles like i said sometimes they'll have these little puzzle type encounters um and you know the with the big warlike ones you get to use your entire deck and then other times they'll give you uh maybe you you know you come across this encounter in a town and it says okay well here's like a deck of like 15 cards and you haven't ever used any of those cards before so it's like almost like you're taking control of the forces in this game and in those forces are represented by cards and then you have to do the fight but it's all card based it's it follows the same kind of rules as deck building and stuff like that so if you're a fan of that it's not going to take it away from you too much but it's just going to add a lot of story and gameplay to it as well um and so that's kind of the the point of this game, right? Is your

Starting point is 00:05:26 queen meme, you're going through the countryside, you're trying to take back some of these towns, you're trying to go find these people that you need to find. And maybe you get sidetracked through the swamps and you get ambushed by some elves and stuff like that. But maybe if you're good with your choices and you're good with the combat and the dialogue in this game you can sway those elves to spare a few units and then those units join you as additional cards that are in your deck uh you know there's there's all kinds of you know like trigger events there's treasure to find there's this big overworld map that you're traveling along so you can kind of, you know, explore a little bit and try to find treasure. And it's worth it because sometimes you might find a unit

Starting point is 00:06:09 that is like a legendary type card that will join your army for a while that you can build a whole strategy around. So it's definitely well worth the exploration and the decision making and stuff like that that comes along with this game also. Okay. So like I said, you don't need to be familiar with your universe or even have played it. It helps because you understand the different factions and stuff like that. But again, don't let that put you off from trying out this game because it is easily a standalone game. Now, it's criminal how underhyped the Thronebreaker is because it does everything so well. It's amazing to me that it's only kind of resonated with Witcher fans because I get it, but I think that might put some people off as well if they haven't played it. And that's something that I'm highly

Starting point is 00:07:00 encouraging you to get past if you've never played The Witcher, but you enjoy this kind of game. And even if you don't like card building games, this game has a lot of adventure to it. It has a lot of story to it. Like they kind of mentioned earlier, it's got that visual novel aspect. It's just a great story all around. All right, so I'll quit gushing about all that stuff. So pros and cons, right? So this game, one of the pros is that it has a great use of the card deck building mechanic. The battles are challenging, but they're not unfair. You usually stand a chance if you play your cards right.

Starting point is 00:07:32 You're going to lose some fights. That's just the nature of it. And when you lose fights, maybe you lose some units too. So there are some penalties there as well. It's an amazing world. It has amazing characters and the choices. I've kind of mentioned that already. You feel like what you do really matters in this game and that's something that can't be said for a lot of other card based games so one of the cons some of the areas in this

Starting point is 00:07:54 game are a little bleak the world's at war it's somewhat of a dark game in that sense and it's not all happy not going to make you feel good all the time. You know, you're at war and there's some atrocities to war that you're going to come across. And then some areas and environments are just more fun than others. But, you know, that's kind of nitpick in the game as well. All right. So Thronebreaker the Witcher Tales is on sale for, you know, sometimes $10. It retails for $19.99. You're going to get about 20 to 25 hours worth of entertainment out of the game. I highly recommend that you look into it, watch some video on it, see if it's something that it looks like it resonates with you. I am giving it my official Josh recommendation for a multitude of reasons, even if you're not into card-based games.

Starting point is 00:08:43 But it's, again, one of those games I think is just criminally underrated and not known about, and it deserves that. So that's why I'm bringing it to your attention. All right, that's it for this episode. I've rambled on long enough. Again, thank you guys for the support of the show. We will have another bonus episode for you soon. Thank you guys and gals for all you do. And I will see you next time. All right. Bye-bye.

Video Gamers Podcast - Gaming Quick Takes - Thronebreaker

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