FFG has announced a new Arkham Files game, Final Hour, but they have not created a community page for it as yet, so here we are.
As of yet, I spot
The big selling point to this I see is that it is set to be playable in under 60 minuets. It's a romp in the Miskatonic U campus from 11 P.M. to midnight to save the world by punching out every cultist and monster in sight.
Hilarious - another Arkham Files game, wonder how much they can recycle for this one! I kid, although I'm at my saturation point for FFG Arkham games. Will happily try it out at a boardgame cafe.
One pet peeve: Why is Jenny always one of the first investigators...traditionally it should be Harvey, as he was the 'example character' Chaosium used for creating characters in Call of Cthulhu, going back to the 70s.
oh and I checked out the FFG In Flight Announcement at GenCon - some interesting products coming - but the final investigator is Ashcan Pete. So we have a drifter, a gangster, a dilettante etc. but no ACTUAL PROFESSOR FROM MISKATONIC on the Miskatonic campus. Heck, they gave us Rita Young, she totally makes sense there...but no Harvey?
Those look like valentine hearts, not bleeding-out-of-my-eyes hearts.
36 minutes ago, Krysmopompas said:oh and I checked out the FFG In Flight Announcement at GenCon - some interesting products coming - but the final investigator is Ashcan Pete. So we have a drifter, a gangster, a dilettante etc. but no ACTUAL PROFESSOR FROM MISKATONIC on the Miskatonic campus. Heck, they gave us Rita Young, she totally makes sense there...but no Harvey?
That's interesting about Harvey. After running around AH 3e, I'm a Norman Withers convert & in the LCG I'm a Daisy Walker fan - both of whom work at MU.
I should have guessed that "Ashcan" Pete would show up if Jenny Barnes was around. They've released in the core sets for AH 2e, Elder Sign, MoM 1e, and AH 3e if you count the promo. They also debuted in the LCG's first arc. They did not appear in the same expansion for EH. They've reached the point where I think there's something more going on between the two of them...
7 minutes ago, Duciris said:I should have guessed that "Ashcan" Pete would show up if Jenny Barnes was around. They've released in the core sets for AH 2e, Elder Sign, MoM 1e, and AH 3e if you count the promo. They also debuted in the LCG's first arc. They did not appear in the same expansion for EH. They've reached the point where I think there's something more going on between the two of them...
It's not about Pete, it's about Duke. Jenny likes animals.
Edited by CSerpentI like the idea of taking a game of Arkham Horror and compressing it down to just the climax. That means this is suppose to be a short, tense and action packed game. This will definitely have an audience. Will it be for me? Probably not honestly considering I like the slow ramp of investigation and collecting gear that other Arkham Files games offer. I also am at my saturation point for Arkham games between AH:TCG, my AH 2.0 collect and MoM 2.0. I think it would have been smarter for them to introduce this game concept using another IP considering AH:TCG is popular and a monthly expanding game, MoM 2.0 is still popular and releasing regularly, and they just relaunched AH 3.0. I really would like to see an action game using Android or L5R. I feel like FFG right now incorrectly skews their board game releases toward Arkham Files and Terrinoth, but I'm sure I don't have all the information. These are probably the IPs that sell even though I'd prefer they exercise some of their other properties.
This kinda reminds me of Android:Infiltration where you play a heist but at the point where someone has already triggered the alarm so everyone is looting and looking to make an escape as soon as possible. That was a cool game. I wish they would have built on that premise.
Edited by phillos1 hour ago, Krysmopompas said:oh and I checked out the FFG In Flight Announcement at GenCon - some interesting products coming - but the final investigator is Ashcan Pete. So we have a drifter, a gangster, a dilettante etc. but no ACTUAL PROFESSOR FROM MISKATONIC on the Miskatonic campus. Heck, they gave us Rita Young, she totally makes sense there...but no Harvey?
"As Final Hour focuses more on combat than other Arkham Horror Files titles, you may choose between six of the scrappiest characters this universe has to offer."
That's a big turn-off for me. The board looks kinda ugly too.
The idea of a smaller-scale, self-contained Arkham Files game as opposed to the sprawling, expansion-ridden usual fare seems good. But I doubt I'll bother with Final Hour.
I am really not interested in this game. When I saw the name and the opening spiel I was really interested - I thought it might be a directly time-limited game with app support like the XCom board game, where you have to coordinate your efforts under time pressure to overcome terrible challenges. But instead it's a game that's explicitly about failure to co-ordinate? No communication between players at all except via a game mechanic? That sounds like a quick road to frustration - plus, those kind of social communication games work best as their own thing, rather than a mechanic bolted on to an Arkham game.
Plus it simply feels like I've reached peak Arkham. I have Arkham Horror 2e, Arkham Horror 3e, Eldritch Horror (all of it), Mansions of Madness 2e and all of the LCG; even a huge Cthulhu nerd like myself has a limit...
Ditto. I'm sure it'll be fun, but the story-motivated (sometimes slowly paced) investigation-heavy nature of FFG's Arkham Files games are where they shine and fit the subject matter best.
I agree with phillos that while I'm sure it'll track with some people, I'm surprised it didn't fit another IP better. I do like the Gloomhaven inspiration though, and would give it a try. I just don't have enough room in my collection.
On the other hand, if they're going to make a new Arkham game, doing something wildly different is probably a good call as people are already questioning if we need 3rd edition and Eldritch and Mansions as they are 'samey'. They are all quite a bit different to me, but this is more obviously divergent from the usual direction we've seen.
11 hours ago, Krysmopompas said:oh and I checked out the FFG In Flight Announcement at GenCon - some interesting products coming - but the final investigator is Ashcan Pete. So we have a drifter, a gangster, a dilettante etc. but no ACTUAL PROFESSOR FROM MISKATONIC on the Miskatonic campus. Heck, they gave us Rita Young, she totally makes sense there...but no Harvey?
I heard that the problem actually was that Harvey was chaosiums, so fantasy flight became very reluctant to keep using him.
17 hours ago, Doma0997 said:I heard that the problem actually was that Harvey was chaosiums, so fantasy flight became very reluctant to keep using him.
Wow, that's a really interesting tidbit of info. I'm sure if that's the case the LCG will still include him somewhere, but sad to hear it might be because of some legal issues.
In the original RPG Harvey was a journalist, or at least that's what I remember. Maybe by the time the Arkham Files games came about they decided he retired as a journalist and turned to the academic life. Could be enough of a switch that it would give them more latitude in using him. I miss the guy.
Edit: just looked up to make sure and yep, he was a journalist...some nice poster reprinted his stats from the RPG, I have the 1st edition and I think 5th edition of the game and remember it being in both.
Harvey Walters, journalist (pre-Arkham Horror days)
Age 38
STR 4
CON 14
SIZ 16
INT 17
POW 9
DEX 12
APP 17
EDU 16
SAN 45
Archaeology 50, Debate 50, Fast Talk 40, Law 40, Library Use 50, Oratory 15, Pilot Aircraft 60, Psychology 40, R/W Latin 40
MA Journalism, Miskatonic
$4,000/year income
I think in 2nd edition, they had left out the bit about a journalism degree, but branched out with his bio in Eldritch as it notes:
In the time since Harvey Walters earned his master's degree in journalism from Miskatonic University, a lot has happened to him. His journalistic career took him into the roles of mystic and psychic investigator, which in turn led him to earn doctorates in History and Archaeology. There is perhaps no sane man alive who knows more about the occult than Harvey. Now his ongoing struggle against the darkness has brought him back to his alma mater here in Arkham.
It would be strange if this was the case though considering I know Carl Sanford is also a prominent Chaosium invention and he featured heavily in AH:TCG just recently and was all over the release articles for the game. Carl is a reference to one of the old RPG developers Sandy Petersen. He explained it a long time ago on the Yog Sothoth.com forums. I believe the Silver Twilight Lodge itself also first appeared as part of the Call Of Cthulhu RPG. It would be strange for old Harvey to be singled out, but I obviously don't know the specifics. Also Harvey is in Arkham Horror 2.0, Eldritch Horror, Mansion of Madness 1.0 and 2.0, Investigators of Arkham and Elder Sign. So if it's really an issue and not just speculation then it's a fairly recent issue. They've been using the guy for over a decade.
Edited by phillos8 hours ago, phillos said:It would be strange if this was the case though considering I know Carl Sanford is also a prominent Chaosium invention and he featured heavily in AH:TCG just recently and was all over the release articles for the game. Carl is a reference to one of the old RPG developers Sandy Petersen. He explained it a long time ago on the Yog Sothoth.com forums. I believe the Silver Twilight Lodge itself also first appeared as part of the Call Of Cthulhu RPG. It would be strange for old Harvey to be singled out, but I obviously don't know the specifics. Also Harvey is in Arkham Horror 2.0, Eldritch Horror, Mansion of Madness 1.0 and 2.0, Investigators of Arkham and Elder Sign. So if it's really an issue and not just speculation then it's a fairly recent issue. They've been using the guy for over a decade.
good point on Sanford, and yeah I'm sure they're going to keep using Harvey...just feels more natural for him to be in the first batch of investigators for every expansion; he's a Lovecraft-typical investigator. Instead we get Jenny Barnes almost every new game...
Jenny is also a natural fit though and they probably are looking at gender spread. It would make more sense to replace ashcan, mcglenn or tommy. Or if they replaced Jenny with another woman like Danielle. Honestly if it’s a monster fest game, Harvey would not be a good go to anyway even if he is typical Lovecraft. This feels less typical lovecraft than usual hahah
Edited by SoakmanI think they were specifically targeting action investigators. Jenny is often shown to be a gun toting pulp hero. The same with Lily and Mike. They are both action movie type characters. Rita's emphasis on physicality and speed also makes sense. I'm also sure they are careful with investigator spread to make sure they cast a wide net of appeal so most people have at least one investigator they can identify with in the box. Harvey, while one of my favorite investigators is usually a pretty effective spell caster, but also more of an academic than a man of action. I can see an argument for him not making the first round cut here in favor of someone like Akachi or Luke who feels more pulp. Have we seen all the investigators in this box? I know "Mystic" isn't a term outside the card game but right now I'm not seeing a "mystic" type investigator in any of the articles.
Edited by phillosOn 8/3/2019 at 10:08 AM, phillos said:Have we seen all the investigators in this box? I know "Mystic" isn't a term outside the card game but right now I'm not seeing a "mystic" type investigator in any of the articles.
We have. Not the best photo, but some thoughtful person on eBay has given us a breakdown of the contents.
They really did grab 6 fight-heavy characters. I think Pete is the least combative of the 6 (maybe Rita). As far as narrative, why are these 6 on campus when it all goes south, Rita's enrolled and Tommy's a cop. That's all I've got.
I wonder what all they'll do with this. It's a game that's designed to be setup and played in under an hour (partially by eliminating the alpha-gaming & collaborative planning by not allowing players to communicate their plans (thematically because they are all seldom in the same place)), as well as the game only lasting 8 rounds. Perhaps, creating a game which allows for shorter gameplay (something FFG is not particularly known for) will give them the window to create a much longer gameplay. (I know, I know, wishful thinking.) I suppose the LCG is actually quite a long gameplay, if you look at it in terms of complete campaigns.
As a side note, one of the rules I've found which makes this very different from all other Arkham Files games is that if 1 player looses, they all lose. No more advancing the bad stuff and grabbing someone else. I suppose with it only lasting 8 rounds it's not that surprising, and yet I was surprised.
As others have said, it is only taking the last gasp of any of the big Arkham games – and only the rarest Ancient One stories that actually end in a fight the heroes might win.
All-in-all, getting some games that are quick to play & that introduce friends to a bigger world of games is a good thing. It's also the same price as 1 LCG core set and doesn't require any further purchases. This game won't replace any of the existing Arkham Files games for me, but I'll enjoy it. It's closest analogue in that light is Elder Sign.
Fingers--crossed that it'll feel like the climatic moments from memorable games of AH, EH, MoM, & the LCG where you barely scrap by, or were so close to making it.
Edited by Duciris