I was wondering if anybody could give me some feedback on this game. I have been looking at getting it for awhile now but a couple things worry me. It looks really neat, but it has a strange air of juveinality behind it. Is it really kiddy, like a dumbed down D&D or is it really for adults. Also all the parts kinda worries me with MASSIVE micro managing creating gigantic game times. Any thoughts on these topics or any others that stand out as positive or negatives about the game...

Thanks in advance for any responses...

Napoleon

I've never gotten the impression of it being "kiddy". Also, I'm not sure if comparing to D&D is a good reference. Maybe comparing to Heroquest or Warhammer Quest. In D&D, you can actually role-play, and gaming above the mechanics becomes important and there really isn't a way to "win". In Descent, there's no roleplaying at all. You're gaming, improving your Hero as the game goes, but strictly using mechanics of the game advancing you to "win".

Think of it as Diablo vs. Fallout. Diablo is strictly about the fight, but Fallout has a lot more story and character to it. Descent is strictly about the dungeon crawl, fighting monsters and improving your ability to fight monsters. D&D has some of that but has more story as well.

As for micromanagement, there is some, but I've never felt like it was out of place nor pulled from the game a whole lot (as opposed to a game like World of Warcraft or sometimes Arkham Horror when youve got a ton of items). From the Hero's point of view, the mechanics of the game limit what they can have/do, so you're not constantly juggling things around. You just look at what you have and decide what to do. The Overlord has a little more to do, since he has all those nice monster figures, but it's not that complex, since the monsters really only move+fire (i.e. fewer options means less micromanagement).

Honestly, what you should do is *play* the game once or twice. Set aside a few hours and try it at your FLGS. If it floats your boat, then buy it

-shnar

Interesting...Perhaps my D&D example was a bit out of place. In my old group we used miniature alot, even for non-combat situations so for myself I still equate alot of minature games with D&D. But your comments are interesting.

Unfortunatly, to "try" the game would require a rather large investment just to see if I liked it. I would like to get a feel for it first through some first hand thoughts, (such as yours) before making such an investment.

Thanks again for your thoughts...I appreciate them;)

Napoleon w

LOL...i just realized what FLGS meant...the game store near me will not pop a box because there are, "too many pieces" to keep track of in a store setting. What can ya do?

It is just an excellent dungeon crawling, man, period... Space Hulk and all that stuff, in heroic fantasy world. No kid stuff, nor warhammer complicated games with expensive and painted figures... you can play with casual gamers with a bit of teaching, or with everyday gamers... Dungeon crawling, man !

Christmas is just around the corner....have someone that has no idea what to get you? Suggest Descent

napoleonWilson said:

This game is definitely not for kids, in my humble opinion. I mean, anyone over the age of 10 is probably safe in terms of choking hazards and what not, but the competition in this game can be really brutal sometimes. The Overlord in particular usually needs to pull out all the stops in order to win against a hero party who know what they are doing. I imagine young kids might have difficulty containing their emotions after some of the particularly nasty tricks their opponents pulled out, even I've felt a little "ganged up on" from time to time.

In terms of mature content, however, there is none at all. There's not much in the way of story behind this game, aside from a little blurb at the start of each quest to explain the (usually thinly veiled) reason why the heroes have come here to kill the resident monsters. I wouldn't describe the experience as "juvenile" per se, but it certainly isn't anything a matured mind would get more out of, except tactically. As Shnar said, the game is all about the dungeon crawling min-maxing mechanics, if you want a compelling story or a thought-provoking evening, you won't find it here. =)

As far as play time, you're right to worry there. In my experience the average dungeon quest takes about 4 hours to complete, longer if you're still learning the rules (fortunately the first couple quests are significanlty shorter than most.) This is assuming you're playing the so-called "vanilla" game. The advanced campaign expansions are in fact designed to be run over the course of several sessions, perhaps taking a month or more to complete.

I would echo the idea of trying the game out somewhere before buying it. If the store won't crack a copy for their own purposes then maybe you could find someone who owns it via the store and arrange to play a game, either at the store if they have room or perhaps somewhere else. Nothing will tell you better whether or not you will like this game than giving it a whirl for yourself.

Also, if you've ever played the Doom boardgame, Descent runs on a nearly identical system with a few notable tweaks and changes for a fantasy setting.

napoleonWilson said:

Well, I figure the investment of "trying" the game was a lot less than actually buying the game and only then finding out you didn't like it

And sure, most FLGSes won't open the game just for people to try, especially one this expensive with this many parts. But I bet your FLGS has a gaming section in the back, that their patrons can bring their games in to play. Odds are you could find someone in your area that would run a game with you /at/ the FLGS, that way you got a good feel of the game first-hand without having to buy (it is an expensive game, after all).

-shnar

Yea, look for your store's local boardgame night. Ours is once a month. Then see if you can con someone into setting up this behemoth. Or if there is someone at the store hanging out who owns it then ask them to set it up for you.

Now days I always do this...try before I buy. At my store boardgame night is only once a month, but it is still worth it to wait...unless you are talking Space Hulk then BUY IT NOW!!!!

I have also been looking into decent recently, and was wondering how it runs compared to warhammer quest/hero quest as i am looking for a game to fill that hole, as my copies of the above plus all the expansions got destroyed by damp in my friends basement. I am heavily into roleplaying games so the campagin options are a must for me.

Im looking for a fantasy game that is dungeon crawl based with some facet to character development, that i can play when not all my friends can turn up for roleplay, and also will allow me to drag my partner into the world of roleplay essentially. As most rpg players i know came into it via games like hero quest.

Also my flags does not not have a gaming area, its simply somewhere i can go to buy games.

crimsonsun said:

That sounds like Descent, as long as you get one of the campaigns and don't mean "character development" in terms of personality.

If people want to give there characters personalities that up to them, but i cant imagine thats any more involved than a roleplay, as most games only have a two page spread covering questions to ask a player about his character.

Which campagin is better in your opinions? i have heard that the first one has a few balance problems in it?

I plan to get all the other expansions with the game in one hit, as i will prob play the overlord (i dm/gm in rpgs normally) as i look forward to actually trying to kill the heros instead of challanging them in the process and i want more monster types at my disposal. Will this be very complex in terms of rules to get my head around?

There are quite a few rules to know, but the core mechanics are fairly simple. You need to understand the basic turn sequence, line of sight and the various effects of cards, specific monsters and weapons and so on. It looks like a lot, but there's a summary for most of that in the Road to Legend Rulebook (probably in Sea of blood too) and you only need to look them up when they come up. A few games and you and your players should be set. There will, however, be some arguing and rules lawyering from time to time, especially at the start, because some rules are very vague. The FAQ (an essential read) and the boards should help you resolve most situations. I highly recommend getting http://www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/35882 to determine line of sight issues. That's something that's caused some debate for my group.

crimsonsun said:

Descent is definitely in the same vein as WHQ and HQ. The major difference to be aware of is that, unlike the former two, Descent is mainly intended to be a square fight between Heroes and Overlord. There is no expectation that the heroes will win (although the OL can certainly let it happen if he's so inclined.)

You should also be prepared for some illogical rulings along the way. The Roleplayer in you might balk at some of them, but if balance is to be preserved you have to tread carefully regarding house rules. I've always kept a staunch attitude of "play as written" with Descent, which is a departure from my normal attitude toward most board games, but I also haven't seen half to balance concerns other people raise on these boards. I attribute this to the fact that I just close my eyes to illogical situations and everything works itself out.

Rewriting the rules to make sense without breaking balance wold probably involve a ground-up rebuild of the engine which I simply don't have time for right now. Others have already tried it, I'm sure they're out there on the forums if you want to go looking.