Well that was....different.

The terrain in the video looked awful. The close up of a few tiles actually made me feel better about it. I did enjoy the artwork heavy tiles but hundreds of dollars in single use tiles is kind of a lot vs the modular tiles of 1e.

The artwork really doesn't look great which was disappointing.

The minis seem nice, what's up with that slit in the base?

I'm interested in what they mean by narrative heavy? If it's as heavily narrated as Mansions of Madness maybe they've got something.

So far $175 seems like a lot but then they don't tend to get their asking price.

11 minutes ago, Bucho said:

Well that was....different.

The terrain in the video looked awful. The close up of a few tiles actually made me feel better about it. I did enjoy the artwork heavy tiles but hundreds of dollars in single use tiles is kind of a lot vs the modular tiles of 1e.

The artwork really doesn't look great which was disappointing.

The minis seem nice, what's up with that slit in the base?

I'm interested in what they mean by narrative heavy? If it's as heavily narrated as Mansions of Madness maybe they've got something.

So far $175 seems like a lot but then they don't tend to get their asking price.

The slot in the base is for a chip with marks on it 0, 1, 2, or 3 slashes. This is the level of the enemy. Instead of different colored bases or miniatures, the slot is for a chip.

Narrative in terms of an unfolding story with a story arch that can change depending on choices. Similar to the LotR Game. More time to explore with fewer race type of objectives.

The entire game is considered by their own words a "one shot" You play once, there is a foreshadow for the next game and they will "sell" you side quests until they release the next Act.

The game may be the thing for someone, but not for me. I may try it some years in the future after is available second hand for curiosity sake by they are not getting $175 from me.

It reminds of T.I.M.E. stories but with an app. IMHO, they made this game for people who do not like dungeon crawlers and do not like to do book keeping that some games require.

All that is fine, give people what they want, but is definitely not me nor the original core base of the Descent fans.

I think I understand why the artwork is so cartoonish. It seems to be that the game required lots of artwork initially and continuously within the app. I think the artwork is less detailed because of the illustration and economic decision to create more images with less detail. It makes sense that if it is an illustrated game through multiple app images, the choice was "produce faster, easier, and cheaper." The problem is quality suffers and the environment losses its tone and theme. If I want something that looks like Keyforge, I'll go buy Keyforge. The artistic decision makes me look at this game and say, "nah, it's not Descent" It does not even look like Terrinoth.

Off I don't think cutting a bunch of corners on a $175 game was the best plan.

I’m partway through the stream and I really do like what I’ve seen except for the art. The character art is very jarring. I’m actually okay with the tile art.

Edit: OH NO! They’re talking about successes... I hate checks...

i am wondering where the doors are ? It is not supposed to be a dungeon crawler ? And no health tokens ?

8 hours ago, brikabrakafirecraker said:

I think I understand why the artwork is so cartoonish. It seems to be that the game required lots of artwork initially and continuously within the app. I think the artwork is less detailed because of the illustration and economic decision to create more images with less detail. It makes sense that if it is an illustrated game through multiple app images, the choice was "produce faster, easier, and cheaper." The problem is quality suffers and the environment losses its tone and theme. If I want something that looks like Keyforge, I'll go buy Keyforge. The artistic decision makes me look at this game and say, "nah, it's not Descent" It does not even look like Terrinoth.

I was getting a slightly Keyforge vibe too, still mixed feelings- Galaden's a bit 'WHAT' and Brynn has timelord fashion vibes but then if you're gonna do big shoulder pads why not big helmet wings too (possibly not too practical in combat although maybe a good misdirection tactic and extra shields for one's neighbors on the field of battle, plus they actually look less ott on the mini) , however as characters they're fine, I can live with the art for them and actually quite like the other four- Syrus with the fiery phoenix, Kehli with the fearless pose, the catfolk Chance and Vaerix the dragon hybrid. So the departure from the more recent art styles which I really liked a lot is a shame but the new art is better than people are implying, even though it's a little off-the-setting.

The generic tiles I can live with but on that I am still disappointed, still agree with others saying you can do generic without it being samey and uninspiring blocks of colour, not enough of an issue to ruin gameplay though.

2 hours ago, Tintaglia said:

i am wondering where the doors are ? It is not supposed to be a dungeon crawler ? And no health tokens ?

They did say the map reveals as you go and it's a dungeon crawler so it must have doors- there was an archway and portcullissy type entranceway of some sort.

Seem to be some sort of new health dials- there were some dials they didn't talk about

Well at least it's put 2e back on the BGG radar and back into the hotness (Terrinoth fans: Legacy of Dragonholt is also topping the sister site RPGGeek at number one)

Considering that the Runewars miniatures starter set had 48 miniatures for $100, I don't understand the "price per miniature is low" statements I'm seeing. If you want Terrinoth miniatures for cheap, even full priced Runewars was cheaper.

I'll be lazy and copy-paste my thoughts from BBG:

Pros:
+ Scultps of miniatures (not the overall design).
+ I... cannot find any other at the moment without seeing some gameplay. *Probably* game balance, which is a result of the app tracking actions/results.

So-so:
+/- Theme art in general. I don't mind it actually, but it's nothing exceptional. Could have come from any kickstarter board game.
+/- Exploration. The question is, is the second time round as interesting as the first?

Cons:
- *FIDDLINESS*. Everything is more complicated to set on board. 3d terrain, water/lava background, tiles, tokens under monster figures. Too many bits and pieces and too much time spent setting up stuff, less time playing.
- Tile art, and tile connectors.
- Wear and tear seems quite high.
- Price. It doesn't make sense to me yet, unless they offer a FREE second campaign via the app soon after release (which I don't see coming from FFG/Asmodee tbh).
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnZPwT6PH4M&t=4223 - just a BIG NO. This is a different medium, don't try to go there. Tabletop games are different, video games are different, board games are different. This is a mix of everything, so it only results in a confused product.

Verdict:
Not buying it, so I will not complain about it.
I hope people that get it and invest in it have many hours of fun and it'll be something that will hit their tables often.

Honestly, I enjoy the art well enough. It's definitely stylized, and I guess maybe that's not for everyone.

I haven't watched much of the deep dive yet, but one thing really stood out to me.

Between the inclusion of terrain (which is neat in Descent, but more of a luxury than anything), the extremely well detailed minis, and the surprisingly modular tiles... doesn't it kinda feel like this game was designed in part to sell components to other TTRPG players?

I mean, I own all of 2E Descent, and I haven't even finished an entire campaign with it, but I use the minis (and sometimes tiles) from it just about every week at our D&D sessions. And I have to say, I could see Legends of the Dark being even more appealing. The minis are mostly a mix of undead and cultists, both of which you really can't quite get enough of for D&D. Oh, and there's wolves- a mini that, in my opinion, is pretty underrepresented in the miniature market for how often they come up as monsters in some settings.

And with how blank they are, the tiles are a lot more useful for D&D. I'm actually pretty excited to pick up Legends of the Dark for this- looks like a nice easy way to build a modular or even randomized dungeon. Again, I use the 2E tiles sometimes, but they're so overly detailed that it can be tough to find one that's both the shape, setting, and tone that I'm looking for. But these almost blank ones... they're a canvas for a DM.

The terrain isn't like Dwarven Forge quality, but it's still pretty neat.

I mean, for 175 bucks, this contains the workings for a pretty robust starting package for a starting DM that really wants to up their presentation at the table, and I'd say it's even worth it for a more experienced DM and mini collector like myself.

Now, as to whether this is a good thing for the Descent community... at least it might sell well? That's not a bad thing, right?

Good points- I have a few other non-Terrinoth games / bits of kit kit I've got JUST to use with Descent-'universe' RPG use/ expansions fans have made for Descent/ almost certainly other game use too- with no interest or intention playing those other games so this could indeed see the opposite- the game selling for people who just see it as having some useful bits and pieces (I often think this is why some Kickstarters go so ott on content, that knowledge that RPG players and wargamers and so on will re-purpose stuff thus buy it for the toolkit of items rather than the game in some cases)

One or two of those such games I also like the idea of playing so I've gotten an interest in the game I'd probably not even have on my radar otherwise.

So if this brings more visitors to Terrinoth that's great.