Chronicles: Runescape Legends - The first look is deceiving

First, before everything else I want to say that my experience with Runescape is around 2 hours so there will be no comparison to characters from there, lore, places from the game etc.

Card Collecting games are seeing huge resurgence and that is no secret for anyone. Hearthstone is still huge, not to mention how many more came after it. Some of them good, some bad, but that's how always it is. After Hearthstone though every CCG was proclaimed to be clone of Blizzard's hit. When information came that Chronicles: Runescape Legends which is Runescape's CCG is going to be released the same was said for it too and to be honest it looked like one. But oh my how wrong we were, because this has very little to do with Hearthstone or any other card game.

In Chronicles you and your opponent go through five levels, on which you fight monsters, buy items, get money. There are two important things to mention - first you do not fight the same monsters so this is not co-operative game. Second you choose what monsters to fight and when by playing them from your hand. Yes, that's right! Essentially you are building the encounters on each floor or level by playing cards from your hand. As I mentioned cards are not only monsters they can be helpers, or weapons, healing items, money or even spells.

Basically your idea is to build your character by increasing his attack and armour for which you will need money from helpers and monsters. And at the same time if opportunity presents itself to weaken or even kill your opponent. The moment one of you is dead the match is over. If after the end of the last floor both of you are alive you fight until there is only one. Battles with both monsters and opponent happen the same way - you just smack each other and the tougher guy wins. Despite this there is good variety of tactics based on the character you are playing. Some will gain armour quickly and win by simply being tough as nails and by beating you to a pulp with their massive plates of armour. Others will collect money with ease and will buy items quickly, another will shower you with spells and so on you got the idea. The classes feel different, each with their own weaknesses and strengths. Each being able to be played aggressively or not depending on your preferences. You can go for the kill when you duel or you can try the cruel way and kill your opponent during the encounters, by playing different spells and monsters which allow you to strike the enemy. 

Chronicles will offer you 3 main ways to play which are the same as in any other CCG - Ladder, Dungeoneering (draft/Arena) and Singleplay. Also there are a lot of daily task to do when you log in so if you do not like to just climb the ladder you will have things to do. Boosters are sold for both real and in-game currency and also you will be rewarded cards and boosters when completing daily quests.

Visually the game will remind you of Runescape. The battles are bit clunky looking as the characters (Legends) are made like figures. This is something I hope they change at some point as it will make the game a bit more enjoyable to watch by the ones who are playing it. Although I must say that this gives the game this boardgame feel. Interesting idea is to make you see across the board the character of your opponent in humanlike size sitting against you and watching the game and even mimicking and reacting to things that happen. This also helps to recreate the feeling that you are sitting against someone and playing a boardgame. Chronicles is a lot more like a dungeon crawl mixed with card collecting and deckbuilding than a cardgame.

Conclusion

Chronicles: RuneScape Legends is one more game which is blending genres together but the difference is that this time two tabletop game are mixed - boardgame and CCG, making something unique and interesting. The greatest thing for me is that you do not need to know anything for RuneScape if you want to play the game and enjoy it. It also offers something unique to all fans of CCGs. Another thing which I noticed is that because you play your cards for your benefit somehow it feels that card collection size does not matter as much and starting decks feel more competitive capable than in other similar games. That said do not expect to reach the top of the ladder but you will have easier start once you grasp the game. 

Where to find:

Official Site

Jagex Games

RuneScape

Salt & Sanctuary - The Saltiest of Souls

Crew of sailors escorting a princess. A mission upon which rests the fate of the world. Attack, unspeakable horror...you awake at a mysterious shore, covered in mist and salt...old man shows you the way to an old sanctuary.


Welcome to Salt & Sanctuary.

When I write I always try to describe the games first without comparing them to others, because its foolish to accept that everyone have played the games that I have or have played all the famous game etc. Because of this I will start with saying that Salt&Sanctuary is a 2D platformer hard-core action RPG. In it you will try to solve the mystery of the place where you shipwrecked and at the same time learn is the princess you were escorting still alive. The game posses great skill three which will give you the ability to specialize your character, 600 unique items with which to equip your hero and many many nasty creatures to kill...most of them already dead, undead...non-living...you got the idea!
The game also will offer you well developed battle system with good variety of weapon types and distinctive fighting styles. Including at least two types of attacks usually a slash and a stab, but you can combine those two with each other or with a block or jump which will end in additional special moves....

Ok, ok I guess that's enough beating around the bush. Salt&Sanctuary is heavily inspired by Dark Souls...no that's incorrect. It is a 2D Dark Souls. The menus are the same, the classes are similar, the fights are very similar - long, with a lot of running and dodging around especially against bosses. When you die you will be revived in the nearest Sanctuary or at shrines and will have to run back to where you were. By dying you will drop all your salt (here you collect salt instead of souls) and if you die before recovering it you will lose it forever.

But while you have the same feeling as when you play Dark Souls there are also some differences. For example the game is 2D, this is big difference, changing the way you explore the world drastically. And there is a fair bit to explore trust me, although the game also has a strong metroidvania vibe and often you will have to backtrack if you want to finish your exploration. But most places and areas are interconnected and there is no shortage of shortcuts so that won't be too hard.
Another small difference is that there are two currencies - salt for level up and gold for buying items. This makes the game a little easier. Speaking about the difficulty - when I played the S&S I had the feeling that it starts easier than Dark Souls and it has slight difficulty spikes when you encounter bosses or new types of enemies. Adapting to those and learning how to counter them will usually help you to master the game and will aid you further in the game. Going the wrong way is not that punishing as you will rarely find monsters which will one hit you...there are those who will kill you in one combo but that you can easily avoid if you are careful.

And probably the most important difference for me, something which made me leave Dark Souls but helped me not give up Salt&Sanctuary is the pace of the fights. In Dark Souls when you fight multiple opponents the fight goes slowly you are very careful, dodging and rolling all the time as it is really easy to get surrounded and killed. In 2D environment is of course harder to get surrounded and the ability to jump always gives you reliable way to escape. Because of this there are quite a few enemies which can kill you with their combos so the game does not really steps down in terms of difficulty or danger for your character, but at the same time manages to keep a brisk tempo when fighting even against four, five enemies you will be striking, jumping, dodging, puling off combos and perfect parries all the time which somehow creates the feeling of faster pace, does not feel like a chore fighting all those guys again when you are going back to somewhere. You can run by them, sure but the more action packed fight make you fight them if there is not much risk as this will give you more salt which you will need in good quantities further in the game. This does not mean you should be reckless when you fight, no this will kill you before you know what is going on.

Conclusion

I as most people like to play original games, games which offer something new to the players. But when a game takes something proved to be working, tweak it a little here and there, change it a little so it offers different enough experience and do all this well I can not say that it is a bad game. This is exactly the case with Salt&Sanctuary. It draws heavily from  Dark Souls but at the same time offers different perspective, more aggressive battle system and not such steep learning curve as DS. And by doing this although it looks like not much it wins its own place in the gaming world. If you have already beaten all Dark Souls games and Bloodborne but you still crave for similar experience or wonder from where to start your filled with sadness and dying gaming - Salt & Sanctuary might be your answer, try it, its worth it!

Where to find:

Official site
Steam
Ska-Studios

Banner Saga 2 - The Epic continues

After what felt to me like an eternity Banner Saga 2 is out at last. The continuation of the epoch is in our hands! If these two sentences does not say it clearly enough to you - I loved Banner Saga it easily became one of my favorite games. Stoic did great job with the first part and now I am here to see together with you have they managed to keep the level with the second game.

!!!CONTAIN SPOILERS ABOUT THE ENDING OF THE FIRST GAME!!!!

First of all I think I should warn you that if you are about to rush to get the game because I praised the first part WAIT! Get Banner Saga first because in the second game you will get only a short recap which will remind you what have happened IF YOU HAVE PLAYED THE FIRST PART. If you have not you will be able to play the game no problems, but you will have no idea what is happening and sorry if you are here only for the battles but the story of Banner Saga is like 70% of the game. If you have already finished the first part you can load your save and it will transfer all characters, skills and artifacts and you will be able to continue playing with whoever have survived the first game with you.

Now that this is out of the way lets talk about the second part itself.

The second game picks the story from where its predecessor left it and it continues your epic desperate journey towards the human capital Arberrang. In this matter I can not complain Banner Saga 2 has absolutely the same spirit and feeling as the first one. Long desperate marches with dredge at your heels all the time. No food, low morale, unexpected let's be honest in 90% of the time ill events waiting for you after each turn, the world literally falling apart around you, not to mention the giant serpent looming over the horizon reminding you that your time is almost at hand. Your only choice will be to try and do the best you can to survive!

In this part you will lead two parties again. One led by the living member of Rook's family(depending on your choice at the end of the first part) and the Ravens, mercenary group led by the last varl berserk Bolverk. Both story lines are interesting and different I followed them with great interest, especially the story of Bolverk which will little by little plant ideas in your head until in the end reveal the answers of many questions. At the same time "Rook's group" will have a lot more difficulties with traitors in their caravan, bandits, lack of food, barbaric tribes and warbands of the newly introduced in this part race of the Horseborn. Not the mention the constant strain because of the lost sibling and self blame.

Something new that impacts the game more than the Horseborn as you might not even use them, is the possibility for your characters to learn second ability which gives the battles a little more diversity and gives you more control upon the battlefield. Also now for every maxed stat of a character he can learn unique for this stat passive ability depending on the role you have in mind for this character. For example a character may have the chance to deal critical damage or the chance to avoid str damage. If you decide to use the Horseborn though they will fit perfectly in group focused around hit and run, striking from distance and so on.

Another trademark of Banner Saga without a doubt is its artstyle. The beautiful art which grabbed the hearts of so many fans is present here too bringing the feeling that you are part of great Norse myth. Saying that though the whole game creates this feeling. Stoic has done amazing job in creating authentic atmosphere.

I have not tell you much about the battles as they are mainly the same. The battlefields are now always according to the terrain where you encountered the enemy. The additional skills bring new possibilities during battle as I already mentioned, also there are few new enemy units which will make it harder for you as some of them are really nasty. If I should nitpick the battles suffer from the same problem they did in the first part - they are 2D and sometimes you will have hard time judging distances, clicking enemies also terrain will sometimes obscure your vision.

Conclusion

We reached this part again. The hardest sometimes, but not this time, because Stoic has done their job amazingly well again! A lot of words are unnecessary really, if you have played the first part and have enjoyed it there is nothing to think about it, get this its great continuation of a great start. I personally enjoyed it a lot and now a new eternity begins waiting for the third and last game of the saga.

Where to find:

My review of the first game

Official site

Steam