Once Mage Knight really gets going it's like crunching out some hardcore tax report before a deadline. If that's not drama and excitement, I don't know what is!
And playing Mage Knight with a group who have a tendency of going into analysis paralysis over every decision is the real kicker! Hope you brought your sleeping bag, this is going to take a while!
We need more people that do these reviews to be brutally honest. I would rather know a game has broken mechanics and that it's not for me then to spend my hard fought for money and being disappointed. I think in the world of reviewers for games to many people are worried about being honest in fear of these companies not sending in more games for them to review. Just my opinion but I'd rather have the honest opinion from them and not have to try and decipher what they are truly saying.
@@TheDungeonDive I totally agree with you. I'm speaking in a more general term about other you tube content creators. I follow you because I believe you to be honest and I can see the passion and love for the games that you cover.
Great video!!! Middara I’m in complete agreement. I’m still pushing through it but don’t see myself holding on after I’m done. Final Girl isn’t actually that difficult once how the systems work make sense. It’s just very counter intuitive, and many habits from other games are often traps which will get you killed. Once I had a handle on the gameplay loop I started winning more often than not. Still, even while I understand the gameplay loop enough to avoid frustration, I don’t favor it all that much even while I love the rest of the setting and atmosphere. If anything I just wish more companies would put this amount of care and love into their games. Gloomhaven took a long time for me to appreciate for all the same reasons you stated. I’ve come around to really appreciate the card play as very compelling design at long last but completely appreciate and concur with most of your observations.
I've been there with Final Girl, more often than not when I play it...but when the dice gods smile on you and you get the rolls, ah man, it's such an exhilarating experience. Turn the lights down low, whack on some John Carpenter synth, it's so immersive. And the production quality is off the charts too, but I do understand how you bounced off it. Great vid :)
Thank you, was interesting to hear your take on some of these popular games. On your channel I’ve seen a few lesser known, or indie, games that were previously unknown to me. It’s a shame the availability of those isn’t always great. I’m sure I’ll catch some at the next reprint.
Agree 100% on Gloomhaven. It’s a Euro puzzle game disguised as a Dungeon Crawl. I hated to sell it because it was so beautiful and big, but I just despised playing it.
Interesting premise for a video! I think it's rare to completely hate a game and finding things I like about games I'll never play again does sometimes help identify games I might like. I completely agree with your 5 selected titles here, all games that I know are well-loved by the community but I had very similar issues with. Regardless, learning what you like in board gaming (especially when playing solo) is all part of the hobby. Expensive, but definitely part of my own journey, anyway.
Very interesting review and point of view. I understand your concern with Middara and Sword/Sorcery about the lore behind and the quality of the writing and overwhelmed with the text and the amount of reading. . This is something I feel less because English is not my language and I'm less sensitive to the quality of writing.and it's perhaps preferable because once translated it can be the double pain, poor text and poor translation 🙂 I'm interested by Middara but I'm afraid it would be too much time consuming. I recently bought SoB, Swamps and FF , a super deal along with derelict ship add-on. I agree with your analysis, except perhaps for Mage Knight, it's unique in the genre and the cards mechanics are very stimulating. I think I will try the space version one day, it's said it's more fluid in the gameplay.
@thedungeondive - Loved hearing your thoughts here (thanks for sharing as always) but in particular I LOVED seeing the copy of Another Day Another Dungeon on your self. Very nice Daniel :). Just gave me a big old smile on my face.
Amazing. Exactly my thoughts. I still like Gloomhaven for the smart mechanics and the locked classes system but oh boy was I wrong on Mage Knight when I bought it years ago. I expected it to be an amazing adventure land crawl. I could see myself slaying dragons, discovering ancient artifacts in a remote dungeon. But no. I was an accountant evaluating figures to eliminate any risks. A real planning engineer. What a damper.
Good video, man! Weirdly, I think I agree with you on nearly every one, excepting Middara (as I've not played it). Sword & Sorcery in particular, I might give a go again. I HATED it the first I played it, but I still feel like there was something there, something I glossed over or missed. Maybe I was too quick to sell it... eh, if I find it cheap, I'll give it a go again. Then with Final Girl, dude, I agree so much. For whatever reason, I find it incredibly annoying to play, whereas the previous Van Ryder solo-game Hostage Negotiator just clicks with me. Maybe it's because I don't have to manage movement, and it's almost like having a conversation with a mentally unstable person, but something about it just clicks better for me. It might do for you as well, since it isn't as.. esoteric, I suppose? I can't think of the word... but if you are curious about that one, here's my advice: start with Crime Wave. If you like it, collect more, starting with base Hostage Negotiator, then getting abductor and event packs, then Career. Only if you're bloody mental like me, though. Gloomhaven. I loved Gloomhaven. I no longer love Gloomhaven. I think it's an amazing game with a really good puzzle. I also think that I really dislike the puzzle now, as I find the game tedious to play, and even downright irritating at times. The AI in it is really good though, and there is a kind of joy in forcing an enemy to walk into their own traps. Cragheart's walls are just fun. And then there's Mage Knight. I got rid of my copy a while ago, but I still sometimes do love a good game of it. It's complicated, it has a bunch of weird choices made, but that crawl is really satisfying. If I find the ultimate collection for cheap, it's mine, and I'm going to give it a go again, too. Anyway, sorry for being so wordy, but I really enjoyed the video, sir. Oh, also, I was going to comment this on a previous video, but my brain has been a soup the past few weeks, and Daniel, I had no idea that you were near your 50's. If I were to have guessed, I'd have said 35 at the oldest, maybe 36. Anyhoo, have a lovely day, sir.
It's ok to not like certain games. There are many very popular games that just don't hit that mark for me (ahem...Scythe and Final Girl). What's great about our hobby right now is that we have so many options for so many different types of games. You shouldn't spend time playing a game that doesn't do it for you. Like you said, that doesn't make it a bad game, it's just not your style of game - and that is PERFECTLY FINE! I also don't mind hearing critical reviews of games. Many times, someone's critiques of a game may be talking about exactly the type of stuff I like in games and even would convince me to try that game. For example, I understand you not wanting to have a "fantasy story" in your game, but I like that sort of thing - but completely understand where you are coming from. All in all, very good video. Thanks!
These videos always help me refine my wishlist. I have hesitated on several of these because of the cost and then I watch videos on them and cannot find a hook that shows they are a good fit for me. I feel a bit out of the loop, because they are well-loved by others But this video is a good reinforcement for not buying them. The video Daniel did on Spire's End: Hildegard saved me some money, too; it would have been a bad fit--I like crows!
Ah, finally a voice that echoes my "meh" to outright "blerg" reactions to both Gloomhaven/JotL and Mage Knight. These are held up as among the BEST EVAR!!! For me, eh, not so much. Strangely, I liked the Star Trek re-working of Mage Knight much better, and not simply because of the theme. That said, I unloaded ST: Frontiers from my collection, too.
I really liked this! It added a positive twist to a negative review. I'm so happy to hear someone else agree with me about final girl! I started with hostage negotiator and hated the dependence on good dice rolls that when final girl came out and they said it was the same system I didn't even bother. I really like the theme though, so it makes me sad it's not better.
Great video, Daniel. I'm slowly working through Gloomhaven JOTL but haven't started Big Gloomhaven yet. I quite like it but I've been struggling to get the more involved games to the table lately. I thought Hostage Negotiator was okay for some light fun nonsense but I didn't like the theme and I didn't like the game enough to get Final Girl. Mage Knight was just too much for my brain to deal with as I know I would have to learn it all from scratch every time I played. I tried Sword & Sorcery but didn't get into it at all.
Whoooo, some top 10 heavy hitters in here! Good to know of some possible annoyances. Hopefully get my Mage Knight Ultimate played before the new expansion hits ...see if I feel the same ...fingers crossed, I don't. 🤞
I bought the original Kickstarter of Gloomhaven and I have never even played it. It still sits in my shelf. Amazing box full of cool stuff, but I just can't muster the desire to delve into it knowing what I know about it. Probably a game I'll be selling soon.
I agree with most of your list, although I think I value well written stories in games a little less. Importantly thought I think it's important to understand that Gloomhaven is NOT a dungeon crawl. It's a euro card puzzle game with a dungeon coat of paint. The goal of those types of games are hand management, card management. Knowing what card to play when and what card to discard when. It's definitely not your type of game to be sure, but it's one of the best designed games I've ever seen.
I do like a lot of Euro games (we have a weekly Euro game group). My favorite is El Grande (tied with Secrets of the Lost Tomb for my favorite game of all time. El Grande is the only game I've ever played that I'd call a perfect game). My 2 most played games of all time are Euro style or at least non-Ameritrash games. Acquire and Condotierre. But yeah, what you said is exactly what I said about GH. It's a dungeon crawl for people who don't like dungeon crawl games.
@@TheDungeonDiveI have played tons of Condotierre! I need to get a new copy and play again. We even had the old editon with the little metal Condotierre statue, back in the late 1990’s or early 2000’s What a fun card game.
Great video, honest and strangely wholesome. I feel like many games are poorly written. Especially when the creators aren’t native English speakers. Etherfields for example was atrociously written. I know so many people love Gloomhaven, and I expected to. But I just didn’t like it and I’m really happy I only got JotL 😅 And like you I lent to a friend without really caring if I ever get it back. I disagree about Mage Knight, though, I love that game 😁
Very good video. I have been thinking of buying those and I have the same exact expectation, same taste I suppose :). So I have dodged multiple bullets with this video, thanks!
I also sold Final Girl after 3 games. Lost all 3, didn't even come CLOSE to a win. Hit the boss like one time in all three games. The only thing worse for me was Quest for the Lost Pixel, which I sold after 1 play.
I have brought Mage Knight, Gloomhaven and Middara. And I agree with you except I would add that the level up of monsters in Gloomhaven was clever. Also, I liked the dice in Middara. I never heard of Sword & Sorcery and for Final Girl, I don't like horror themed games, so I have no comment on those games. I would like to se your list of components/mechanics in your "perfect game." For example, my list would be: Be Dungeon Crawl, prefer fantasy or medieval but could be modern or sci-fi. Miniatures, preferable prepainted. Acrylic standees if necessary. Absolutely NO MEEPLES. Solo to four Players, Enemy AI, i.e. GM-less. Random, be dice based, but non D6: 2d8, 2d10 for bell curve rolls, d10 or d12 for pass/fail rolls. D6 are over use, but are fine for weapon damage. Physical maps, for miniatures, location counts, encourage movement, no opportunity attacks, unless by skill/feat/spell. Card decks for treasure, spell reference, random events etc. (minimize tables.) Character leveling. No classes, your equipment, abilities and skills determines your job in the party. Scalable enemies, ability to convert D20 systems' bestiary. Minimal tokens like none at all. Use dials or countdown dice to track health, mana, etc. Game footprint should fit on a 36" x 36" card table. And finally, NO MEEPLES. (I really hated meeples.)
I've got a playlist called What I Talk About When I Talk About Dungeon Diving with episodes on things I like. I'd also take a look at my recent Top 10 Solo Games, Top 10 Solo RPG Things, and Top 50 Games for a good idea of what I look for.
Exact same feeling with Gloomhaven-verse... part of me wants to like it but at the end of the day it is what a dungeon crawlers should NOT be. The fact that a dungeon crawler got into BGGs top 10 by NOT being a dungeon crawler is kind of sad🙃 (which on itself does not mean much... we all know BGGs rating system is not perfect, but game are talked and promoted more when they get higher ranking)
I agree with Middara. Your take on Gloomhaven was funny. :D I just bought Mage Knight., just because of the challenge of learning the rules. I'm drawn too this game. I really like how it looks.
I like the done well, do better approach. Likewise I agree that strictly calculated card play strips out some of the fun and excitement from a dungeon crawler. Do you have any recommendations for a co-op dungeon crawler that has a shorter playtime like 60 mins? Maybe 90mins at the absolute max if it doesn't feel like a slog or have an overly long setup/tear down.
Ancient Chronicles has much better writing and flair than Sword & Sorcery. However, it seems to be quite a bit more difficult. I was surprised at how early in a scenario it would start to feel like a lost cause. Perhaps we were misplaying somehow but the decision points seemed fairly straightforward. I'd also like to mention Darklight Memento Mori. I bought this because of your enthusiastic videos and I'm very happy I did. It stays on the table for weeks at a time and is far and away my favorite game of all time. I was surprised to see you lost interest in it and I think if you played it more you'd come to appreciate it quite a lot. The game has a surprising amount of depth and is very skill testing. Each time I play I learn more about how I can play better and I get a little further. As you likely know, there is a lot of new fan content that is made in tandem with Mauro Pane. Anyway, I really believe you could enjoy it tremendously if you stuck with it longer.
Man, 12 bad rolls in Final Girl is an unfortunate improbability. However, I'll say that Hostage Negotiator made more sense (to me) as it often required an underlying strategy to beat each abductor. Alternatively, FG is just a mechanically identical dive into wonderful theme and not much to do but fight your way out. I still love FG though.
Mage Knight is vastly better with the Lost Legion expansion. It went from a bad game to a pretty good game for me. It adds a lot of new types of encounters and things to do and discover. If you haven't tried it with the expansion, you might try giving it another chance.
Final Girl, I think, was based on hostage negotiator. If it is, the game requires you to be very strategic with the dice. It's not a simple roll the dice and see, bc then you will lose Everytime.
I find a little hilarious you dont like Gloomhaven or Make Knight because they are too eurish, low drama, an more puzzle planning than dice, and also dont like Final Girl because ragequit after bad lucks in a row :D Not saying its incoherent, just a little hilarious hehe. Nice reviews, I love some of the games there, others not much. To each their one. Nice video though, and pretty honest. Now we want the opposite, some 5 games you like a lot with some minor things you dont like or hate in them (ones you would like to change).
I almost always mention things I don't like in my videos for things I like. :) But an opposite list could be cool. Some things I dislike about games I love.
I never played final girl but I find it odd one would rage quit after 3 bad games that seem to heavely rely on dice. You even like dice and games like shadows of brimstone. I think Ive missed the point. Anyway the oddity has to do with myself, I'm one to not sell or trade away anything
I'm an odd guy, what can I say. First impressions can be super important for me. I'm constantly selling stuff. It's how I afford stuff for the channel. Some things I like in some games don't work in others. Each game is evaluated on its own merits. It all depends on how much fun I have while playing it.
Your so right about sword and sorcery. I was totally shocked at how flat that game felt. I was so excited for it and the game just disappointed in almost every aspect.
Once Mage Knight really gets going it's like crunching out some hardcore tax report before a deadline. If that's not drama and excitement, I don't know what is!
Hahah! Truth.
And playing Mage Knight with a group who have a tendency of going into analysis paralysis over every decision is the real kicker! Hope you brought your sleeping bag, this is going to take a while!
Wow, this is one of the only games that I own and haven’t played. These comments have all but convinced me to move on
HexploreIt is a good alternative to Mage Knight if you still want the adventure without the math degree requirement.
We need more people that do these reviews to be brutally honest. I would rather know a game has broken mechanics and that it's not for me then to spend my hard fought for money and being disappointed. I think in the world of reviewers for games to many people are worried about being honest in fear of these companies not sending in more games for them to review. Just my opinion but I'd rather have the honest opinion from them and not have to try and decipher what they are truly saying.
I will always give an honest opinion. What I won't do is make a video about a game if I don't have anything interesting to say about it.
100% agree. Well said.
@@TheDungeonDive I totally agree with you. I'm speaking in a more general term about other you tube content creators. I follow you because I believe you to be honest and I can see the passion and love for the games that you cover.
Great video!!!
Middara I’m in complete agreement. I’m still pushing through it but don’t see myself holding on after I’m done.
Final Girl isn’t actually that difficult once how the systems work make sense. It’s just very counter intuitive, and many habits from other games are often traps which will get you killed. Once I had a handle on the gameplay loop I started winning more often than not. Still, even while I understand the gameplay loop enough to avoid frustration, I don’t favor it all that much even while I love the rest of the setting and atmosphere. If anything I just wish more companies would put this amount of care and love into their games.
Gloomhaven took a long time for me to appreciate for all the same reasons you stated. I’ve come around to really appreciate the card play as very compelling design at long last but completely appreciate and concur with most of your observations.
I've been there with Final Girl, more often than not when I play it...but when the dice gods smile on you and you get the rolls, ah man, it's such an exhilarating experience. Turn the lights down low, whack on some John Carpenter synth, it's so immersive. And the production quality is off the charts too, but I do understand how you bounced off it.
Great vid :)
The theming and production quality are both top notch.
Plus 💯 for referencing John Carpenter's music--so evocative. 😄
I'll put on his "Lost Themes" LP and dim the lights, but I'll skip Final Girl.
Thank you, was interesting to hear your take on some of these popular games. On your channel I’ve seen a few lesser known, or indie, games that were previously unknown to me. It’s a shame the availability of those isn’t always great. I’m sure I’ll catch some at the next reprint.
Agree 100% on Gloomhaven. It’s a Euro puzzle game disguised as a Dungeon Crawl. I hated to sell it because it was so beautiful and big, but I just despised playing it.
I almost bought Gloomhaven and Mage Knight. But when I read some reviews about them, I just gave up. Thanks for sharing your opinion.
The exact same story for me.
Interesting premise for a video! I think it's rare to completely hate a game and finding things I like about games I'll never play again does sometimes help identify games I might like. I completely agree with your 5 selected titles here, all games that I know are well-loved by the community but I had very similar issues with. Regardless, learning what you like in board gaming (especially when playing solo) is all part of the hobby. Expensive, but definitely part of my own journey, anyway.
Very interesting review and point of view. I understand your concern with Middara and Sword/Sorcery about the lore behind and the quality of the writing and overwhelmed with the text and the amount of reading. . This is something I feel less because English is not my language and I'm less sensitive to the quality of writing.and it's perhaps preferable because once translated it can be the double pain, poor text and poor translation 🙂
I'm interested by Middara but I'm afraid it would be too much time consuming.
I recently bought SoB, Swamps and FF , a super deal along with derelict ship add-on.
I agree with your analysis, except perhaps for Mage Knight, it's unique in the genre and the cards mechanics are very stimulating. I think I will try the space version one day, it's said it's more fluid in the gameplay.
That one-time use thing in Gloomhaven must have come from his earlier game 'Forge War'.
@thedungeondive - Loved hearing your thoughts here (thanks for sharing as always) but in particular I LOVED seeing the copy of Another Day Another Dungeon on your self. Very nice Daniel :). Just gave me a big old smile on my face.
I still haven’t read it. I have both parts.
Amazing. Exactly my thoughts. I still like Gloomhaven for the smart mechanics and the locked classes system but oh boy was I wrong on Mage Knight when I bought it years ago. I expected it to be an amazing adventure land crawl. I could see myself slaying dragons, discovering ancient artifacts in a remote dungeon. But no. I was an accountant evaluating figures to eliminate any risks. A real planning engineer. What a damper.
Good video, man! Weirdly, I think I agree with you on nearly every one, excepting Middara (as I've not played it). Sword & Sorcery in particular, I might give a go again. I HATED it the first I played it, but I still feel like there was something there, something I glossed over or missed. Maybe I was too quick to sell it... eh, if I find it cheap, I'll give it a go again.
Then with Final Girl, dude, I agree so much. For whatever reason, I find it incredibly annoying to play, whereas the previous Van Ryder solo-game Hostage Negotiator just clicks with me. Maybe it's because I don't have to manage movement, and it's almost like having a conversation with a mentally unstable person, but something about it just clicks better for me. It might do for you as well, since it isn't as.. esoteric, I suppose? I can't think of the word... but if you are curious about that one, here's my advice: start with Crime Wave. If you like it, collect more, starting with base Hostage Negotiator, then getting abductor and event packs, then Career. Only if you're bloody mental like me, though.
Gloomhaven. I loved Gloomhaven. I no longer love Gloomhaven. I think it's an amazing game with a really good puzzle. I also think that I really dislike the puzzle now, as I find the game tedious to play, and even downright irritating at times. The AI in it is really good though, and there is a kind of joy in forcing an enemy to walk into their own traps. Cragheart's walls are just fun.
And then there's Mage Knight. I got rid of my copy a while ago, but I still sometimes do love a good game of it. It's complicated, it has a bunch of weird choices made, but that crawl is really satisfying. If I find the ultimate collection for cheap, it's mine, and I'm going to give it a go again, too.
Anyway, sorry for being so wordy, but I really enjoyed the video, sir. Oh, also, I was going to comment this on a previous video, but my brain has been a soup the past few weeks, and Daniel, I had no idea that you were near your 50's. If I were to have guessed, I'd have said 35 at the oldest, maybe 36.
Anyhoo, have a lovely day, sir.
It's ok to not like certain games. There are many very popular games that just don't hit that mark for me (ahem...Scythe and Final Girl). What's great about our hobby right now is that we have so many options for so many different types of games. You shouldn't spend time playing a game that doesn't do it for you. Like you said, that doesn't make it a bad game, it's just not your style of game - and that is PERFECTLY FINE!
I also don't mind hearing critical reviews of games. Many times, someone's critiques of a game may be talking about exactly the type of stuff I like in games and even would convince me to try that game. For example, I understand you not wanting to have a "fantasy story" in your game, but I like that sort of thing - but completely understand where you are coming from.
All in all, very good video. Thanks!
These videos always help me refine my wishlist. I have hesitated on several of these because of the cost and then I watch videos on them and cannot find a hook that shows they are a good fit for me. I feel a bit out of the loop, because they are well-loved by others But this video is a good reinforcement for not buying them. The video Daniel did on Spire's End: Hildegard saved me some money, too; it would have been a bad fit--I like crows!
Ah, finally a voice that echoes my "meh" to outright "blerg" reactions to both Gloomhaven/JotL and Mage Knight. These are held up as among the BEST EVAR!!! For me, eh, not so much. Strangely, I liked the Star Trek re-working of Mage Knight much better, and not simply because of the theme. That said, I unloaded ST: Frontiers from my collection, too.
I've heard food things about Star Trek - I think the calculating chances thing works better in a SF setting.
@@TheDungeonDive”Never tell me the odds!” Well, to be honest that’s from a science fantasy movie…
@@TheDungeonDive Agreed, and it seemed to me that the ruleset was somehow more streamlined, too.
I might check that out.
I really liked this! It added a positive twist to a negative review. I'm so happy to hear someone else agree with me about final girl! I started with hostage negotiator and hated the dependence on good dice rolls that when final girl came out and they said it was the same system I didn't even bother. I really like the theme though, so it makes me sad it's not better.
As always Daniel great, articulate, honest, and insightful views/review.
Glad you enjoyed it
@@TheDungeonDive Yours is one of a few channels I trust to give honest reviews. I don't even bother with Dice Tower anymore, too much ego and BS.
Great video, Daniel. I'm slowly working through Gloomhaven JOTL but haven't started Big Gloomhaven yet. I quite like it but I've been struggling to get the more involved games to the table lately. I thought Hostage Negotiator was okay for some light fun nonsense but I didn't like the theme and I didn't like the game enough to get Final Girl. Mage Knight was just too much for my brain to deal with as I know I would have to learn it all from scratch every time I played. I tried Sword & Sorcery but didn't get into it at all.
Sounds like we have similar opinions on these.
Whoooo, some top 10 heavy hitters in here! Good to know of some possible annoyances. Hopefully get my Mage Knight Ultimate played before the new expansion hits ...see if I feel the same ...fingers crossed, I don't. 🤞
I bought the original Kickstarter of Gloomhaven and I have never even played it. It still sits in my shelf. Amazing box full of cool stuff, but I just can't muster the desire to delve into it knowing what I know about it. Probably a game I'll be selling soon.
I agree with most of your list, although I think I value well written stories in games a little less. Importantly thought I think it's important to understand that Gloomhaven is NOT a dungeon crawl. It's a euro card puzzle game with a dungeon coat of paint. The goal of those types of games are hand management, card management. Knowing what card to play when and what card to discard when. It's definitely not your type of game to be sure, but it's one of the best designed games I've ever seen.
I do like a lot of Euro games (we have a weekly Euro game group). My favorite is El Grande (tied with Secrets of the Lost Tomb for my favorite game of all time. El Grande is the only game I've ever played that I'd call a perfect game). My 2 most played games of all time are Euro style or at least non-Ameritrash games. Acquire and Condotierre. But yeah, what you said is exactly what I said about GH. It's a dungeon crawl for people who don't like dungeon crawl games.
I do go into a lot more detail on my GH thoughts in my review for Jaws of the Lion - ruclips.net/video/Ou7NGOVJ8Pc/видео.htmlsi=70Lxt5wIqC_cX550
@@TheDungeonDiveI have played tons of Condotierre! I need to get a new copy and play again. We even had the old editon with the little metal Condotierre statue, back in the late 1990’s or early 2000’s What a fun card game.
It’s my most played game.
Great video, honest and strangely wholesome. I feel like many games are poorly written. Especially when the creators aren’t native English speakers. Etherfields for example was atrociously written. I know so many people love Gloomhaven, and I expected to. But I just didn’t like it and I’m really happy I only got JotL 😅 And like you I lent to a friend without really caring if I ever get it back. I disagree about Mage Knight, though, I love that game 😁
Very good video. I have been thinking of buying those and I have the same exact expectation, same taste I suppose :). So I have dodged multiple bullets with this video, thanks!
I never played Final Girl, but i love every other Game on this list 🤣
I also sold Final Girl after 3 games. Lost all 3, didn't even come CLOSE to a win. Hit the boss like one time in all three games. The only thing worse for me was Quest for the Lost Pixel, which I sold after 1 play.
I have brought Mage Knight, Gloomhaven and Middara. And I agree with you except I would add that the level up of monsters in Gloomhaven was clever. Also, I liked the dice in Middara.
I never heard of Sword & Sorcery and for Final Girl, I don't like horror themed games, so I have no comment on those games.
I would like to se your list of components/mechanics in your "perfect game." For example, my list would be:
Be Dungeon Crawl, prefer fantasy or medieval but could be modern or sci-fi.
Miniatures, preferable prepainted. Acrylic standees if necessary. Absolutely NO MEEPLES.
Solo to four Players, Enemy AI, i.e. GM-less.
Random, be dice based, but non D6: 2d8, 2d10 for bell curve rolls, d10 or d12 for pass/fail rolls. D6 are over use, but are fine for weapon damage.
Physical maps, for miniatures, location counts, encourage movement, no opportunity attacks, unless by skill/feat/spell.
Card decks for treasure, spell reference, random events etc. (minimize tables.)
Character leveling. No classes, your equipment, abilities and skills determines your job in the party.
Scalable enemies, ability to convert D20 systems' bestiary.
Minimal tokens like none at all. Use dials or countdown dice to track health, mana, etc.
Game footprint should fit on a 36" x 36" card table.
And finally, NO MEEPLES. (I really hated meeples.)
I've got a playlist called What I Talk About When I Talk About Dungeon Diving with episodes on things I like. I'd also take a look at my recent Top 10 Solo Games, Top 10 Solo RPG Things, and Top 50 Games for a good idea of what I look for.
@@TheDungeonDive : 👍
Exact same feeling with Gloomhaven-verse... part of me wants to like it but at the end of the day it is what a dungeon crawlers should NOT be. The fact that a dungeon crawler got into BGGs top 10 by NOT being a dungeon crawler is kind of sad🙃 (which on itself does not mean much... we all know BGGs rating system is not perfect, but game are talked and promoted more when they get higher ranking)
I agree with Middara. Your take on Gloomhaven was funny. :D I just bought Mage Knight., just because of the challenge of learning the rules. I'm drawn too this game. I really like how it looks.
Great perspective on this video!
I like the done well, do better approach. Likewise I agree that strictly calculated card play strips out some of the fun and excitement from a dungeon crawler. Do you have any recommendations for a co-op dungeon crawler that has a shorter playtime like 60 mins? Maybe 90mins at the absolute max if it doesn't feel like a slog or have an overly long setup/tear down.
Tales From The Red Dragon Inn is a great dungeon crawler with a quick setup and very enjoyable gaming experience.
Thanks! @@SoloBoardGamingKnight
I like a lot of shorter and smaller games. I have a whole playlist dedicated to small games.
Ancient Chronicles has much better writing and flair than Sword & Sorcery. However, it seems to be quite a bit more difficult. I was surprised at how early in a scenario it would start to feel like a lost cause. Perhaps we were misplaying somehow but the decision points seemed fairly straightforward.
I'd also like to mention Darklight Memento Mori. I bought this because of your enthusiastic videos and I'm very happy I did. It stays on the table for weeks at a time and is far and away my favorite game of all time. I was surprised to see you lost interest in it and I think if you played it more you'd come to appreciate it quite a lot. The game has a surprising amount of depth and is very skill testing. Each time I play I learn more about how I can play better and I get a little further. As you likely know, there is a lot of new fan content that is made in tandem with Mauro Pane. Anyway, I really believe you could enjoy it tremendously if you stuck with it longer.
Cool concept for a video!
Man, 12 bad rolls in Final Girl is an unfortunate improbability. However, I'll say that Hostage Negotiator made more sense (to me) as it often required an underlying strategy to beat each abductor. Alternatively, FG is just a mechanically identical dive into wonderful theme and not much to do but fight your way out. I still love FG though.
Enjoyed this thoughtful and well produced content.
Thank you! I liked doing this one.
Mage Knight is vastly better with the Lost Legion expansion. It went from a bad game to a pretty good game for me. It adds a lot of new types of encounters and things to do and discover. If you haven't tried it with the expansion, you might try giving it another chance.
This is a great channel!!!!
Interesting that you dislike Mage Knight but seem to like (since you have it) Champions of Hara, which are quite similar game with similar engine.
Sure is! That’s why I called Champions of Hara better Mage Knight in my review.
Great vid topic idea
Final Girl, I think, was based on hostage negotiator. If it is, the game requires you to be very strategic with the dice. It's not a simple roll the dice and see, bc then you will lose Everytime.
But you literally can’t do anything if you don’t roll the right things. Can’t be strategic of you don’t have any choices!
I find a little hilarious you dont like Gloomhaven or Make Knight because they are too eurish, low drama, an more puzzle planning than dice, and also dont like Final Girl because ragequit after bad lucks in a row :D
Not saying its incoherent, just a little hilarious hehe.
Nice reviews, I love some of the games there, others not much. To each their one.
Nice video though, and pretty honest. Now we want the opposite, some 5 games you like a lot with some minor things you dont like or hate in them (ones you would like to change).
I almost always mention things I don't like in my videos for things I like. :) But an opposite list could be cool. Some things I dislike about games I love.
You don't like Mage Knight. I would never have guessed that.
Yes sns had the best enemy ai combat n dice...the story's were a joke..darkness falls is good
I never played final girl but I find it odd one would rage quit after 3 bad games that seem to heavely rely on dice.
You even like dice and games like shadows of brimstone. I think Ive missed the point.
Anyway the oddity has to do with myself, I'm one to not sell or trade away anything
I'm an odd guy, what can I say. First impressions can be super important for me. I'm constantly selling stuff. It's how I afford stuff for the channel. Some things I like in some games don't work in others. Each game is evaluated on its own merits. It all depends on how much fun I have while playing it.
Your so right about sword and sorcery. I was totally shocked at how flat that game felt. I was so excited for it and the game just disappointed in almost every aspect.