As a big Cyberpunk 2077 video game fan and board game fan, this is a must-have for me, even to play solo.> If the timer is too much for me on a lazy evening... I'll just house-rule something, like "ignore the timer, 5 seconds equals one turn" or something like that.
I saw the comment yesterday and so glad you chose to talk about it here. While this isn't your "normal" format it was a good watch to get your honest opinions about the game. Sadly I've never played Project Elite so have no idea what I would be getting myself into... Knowing I could go find a copy of that to maybe try before backing in for a large amount on this is really helpful. I'm not a big Cyberpunk person, so the game would have to be really good on mechanics and playability alone to get this one.
It sounds kinda like Project Elite with some depth and progression layered in. THAT feels like a game that should have been made already. I'm very excited for this one!
Timers aren't for me, but I can see how this looks great for someone that is into that. I really enjoy Witcher Old World. Incredible production quality and fun gameplay. Loved Cyberpunk the video game and clocked up 200 hours on, so I feel a bit of IP fatigue with this one. I think it will do incredibly well tho!
I think this is your best review, at least the best I've seen. Felt very real and very authentic. Nothing bad about any other review, but this one covered everything and was very human and true. So thank you. 😊
Man I hate to admit that from the brief part of the explanation of the game I didn't fully understand neither the mechanics of leveling up or combat and the overall actions that you can do on the map. Real-time + fiddly components (which per se are not a problem for me) together they can be a nightmare. Another thing is, that those "chunk" of time you are talking about, are like turns the players are taking between some sort of downtime moments or any missions take just that short amount of time? In the last case wouldn't be bad to show us the turn during a 3-4 minutes action? It would have been more easy to understand the actual game and the frenzy of the timer as well (but this is just my opinion). Anyway thanks for sharing your opinion
Real time games add a level of stress that I do NOT need in tabletop games. If this were without it, I may be interested, but I play games to relax and take my time thinking. Not rush around and panic.
Great video! You've always put up good content, but the improvement in your delivery and style over the last couple years has been pretty awesome! Keep 'em coming!
The gameplay I want to see is without the timer. Hearing the story is fine, as long as the story is also available in print. But seeing gameplay without the timer will be the key deciding factor. I watch the gameplay with the app, and it looked like an unpleasant experience.
@@Dstinct Well, you can't really use a sand timer, since you can't "add 10 seconds" to a sand timer. But I don't think most people who have a problem with this game (of which I am one) find the app to be the actual problem. It's the real-time aspect that just doesn't appeal to some people.
The problem I have with the strict timer game like this is it doesn’t allow for a lot of the fun banter with friends on the table. All rules aside the only reason I play games is to hang out with fun people. It seems like there’s a lot to manage if you’re not all in on playing this game, while managing a clock
Wow Alex! Thank you for being you and to take action to do things differently. I’m a big fan of your content and will continue to be and this is one of the many reasons why. Good job Alex and thanks for continuing to push yourself to be genuine and authentic. Cheers!
My skepticism is far more about this company than this specific game. I found the Witcher to be a phenomenal production, but the game is longer than it needed to be and simply not as fun as I wanted it to be. I need to see more of this before I will know whether to keep my pledge or not. It will also depend on how expensive it becomes. Its already 140 for the deluxe with the free mini. If it ends up being $400, even with 7 stretch pay payments, that may be more than I need.
Not sure I would call The Witcher: Old World production phenomenal. All the content didn't fit in the big box, there were mistakes made in the tray design, and even though they sold the game with sleeves, it's very hard to get things to fit with them. They sold stuff that doesn't fit, that's not acceptable in a production.
@@ScytheNoire That has not been my experience, or wasn't before I sold the game. The minis were nice, I had zero issues fitting everything in the box, even sleeved, as there were plenty of places to stash things. To each their own. My point is that I found the production nice, but the game lacking, or at least not what I wanted it to be. This one will require far more research for me, coupled with waiting to see how expensive it gets.
Yeah but it was pointless, whilst production is great the gameplay is avarage at best, and monster figurines have no real reason to exist, you may as well keep a monster card on a location instead ... if you are already going to introduce figurines into a gameplay then at least give them some strategical moves accross the map and reasons to exist not just seat there, in that case they may be a drawing on the board .... In my opinion witcher was pointlesly overblown production too!!!
When I ran into Alex and Meg at GenCon and mentioned not seeing project elite in the background anymore after the move this game was mentioned as giving “project elite vibes” that’s enough for me to back it. The only thing that will hold this game back for me is the 1-4 player count
A very, very helpful episode for me. The Old World is one of my most favorite board games. I am also a fan of the world created by Sapkowski and the games made by CD Project Red. Cyberpunk 2077 is a great computer game. Who would have thought that (we) Poles would create our own GTA. I'm sitting here wondering whether to support this game on the first day on game found (apparently there are bonuses for this). I have a similar problem with this game. That I don't like app-led games. Thank you very much for this episode, for explaining to me what this game is and what to compare it to.
Reviews are only meant to serve as guidelines and we can always form our opinions after watching some gameplays that may or may not match the reviewer's opinion. No problem with that. I for one thought the gameplay looked fun (I love both app-driven and real time games) and I'm a big fan of the videogame so this was a no brainer. Excited to see what the remaining stretch goals are, here's hoping for some Edgerunner anime characters. Thanks always for your content Alex!
I wish you spent a bit more time showing the game mehcanics. After watching the whole video i left without having any clue on how the game played. I then went to Shelfside and within the first 3 minutes they showed so much of the combat, timer and upgrade mechanics. I understand you are trying to avoid criticism but honestly wasting so much time on the defensive is detracting from an objective and informative review.
I have simple issue with real time games, I just have two people in my common party who just need their time with games. And mechanically, it just doesn't feel thematic from what I saw in playthrough. There is nothing that screams Cyberpunk in my face. However, I love how you added this Tamashii: Chronicles of Ascend in the back. I have this game with all expansions for almost an year and it is still the game to go almost all the time when we want to play cyberpunk themed game. There are just so much cool things abou it. Starting from the fact that characters start from zero every game, to the extreme level of randomness and reaching the fact that it is a story, but missions have individual stories, making it perfect one shot game.
Haters will hate anything depending on the mood. I even like games that are bad for so many other people. Fun is subjective and can even be found in a bad set of rules or in a broken game. I tend to fix those games with house rules and sometimes play them even more than a fantastic excellent game.
$192 CAD.... I wanted to back it but that's just too expensive. It's probably going to be even worse at retail cause they will be selling some of that content as extras.
Ive been expecting to pass on this more and more as time went on, despite my son andni both loving the theme...than you had to compare it to Project Elite, a game i love. Knowing my son and i both enjoy Project Elite and the Cyberpunk 2077 theme, i think i have to back this. 😅
Let me ask your opinion based on my situation. My board games are just as much for my friends as it is for me. I will be buying this game with the intention of playing with my friends. However, what will most likely happen is that we will take this game out, and play for one session. Then maybe in a few months, we'll take it out again. Is this a game you can do that with? Just play it for a session and have a good time. Or because of the campaign, it has to be something we're committed to.
I REALLY enjoy Witcher Old World, then I passed on the Paths of Destiny, because it looked awful to me. With this one I'm very on the fence. What I need is to watch some more content, especially solo gameplay. Is there a true solo mode here? EDIT: I'm an idiot, they covered this in Update #14 - there is true solo mode. Now that game has my attention.
You mentioned not using timers for the first mission or so. I may look into trying to play the whole game that way. I don't want to feel rushed during a board game.
You missed to mention the difference to real time games like Escape and Project Elite, the players still take turns. In other real time games you are only rolling dice like a berserker and only looking at your dice. In Cyberpunk you have a little downtime while the other players take their turns. And playing cards, with only dice for combat. Whats more of an action RPG feeling, than a dice rolling simulator. So after your turn, you always have time to analyse the board and you can watch what others are doing and talking (with the other players not doing their turn) without loosing time. I have a friend that doesn't like project: Elite because it's too much rolling dice as fast as you can. But the real time turn base sounds good for him.
Thanks for this review Alex, I'm struggling trying to make up my mind on this one. I actually think the real-time gameplay looks like fun, except that the cooldown periods seem like they would really break the immersion. Did you find they were jarring at all? You could run out of time while literally stabbing an enemy without killing them, and then everyone stops fighting to check their pockets for upgrades and communicate on the next steps of their plans (does everyone yell, "Time out!"). I wish the breaks were just for enemy movement/spawns and changes to the board state. I think having to prepare a full loadout and strategy at the beginning of the mission would be more immersive and more exciting, somehow, but maybe I'm overthinking it?
I deleted my original comment due to it not properly reflecting what I wanted to express. What stands from it is that I am thankful for Alext to have referenced my comment from yesterday and engaged with the concerns expressed. I also want to repeat my belief that Alex is in the upper echelon when it comes to trustworthiness. I do believe he likes this game. This said, I am having a hard time with this video as a "review". There was barely anything on actual gameplay and mechanics, aside from the timer element. There was no word on enemy activation, character progression, story, or the play material element. So, in the end, it's just another "I really like it" without true substance. There was really no substantial information. So no, sorry Alex, this was not a review. And so, for me, the Emperor is still naked. Edit: There was an actual review, covering all the topics mentioned above, just released on another channel.
To be fair, different reviewers talk about games very differently. It's kinda rough and suspect to do an actual "review" on a product that isn't in its final form yet. This video did a good job explaining his view on it, but to have him on the backstep before it was even shot is not very fair. YOU had your own expectations of what YOU wanted out of the video, which isn't Alex's concern specifically. You had unrealistic expectations. But that's how the customer is, varied in their tastes and opinions.
@@TheTabletopMisfits What were my expectations and what was unrealistic? Edit: If you do a review of a prototype, nobody expects a review of the final product. But it is only fair to expect to get the prototype reviewed.
@@delirium83 I really hope Alex won't get upset for naming an other channel, it is not my intention to divert traffic. I highly recommend Shelfside's review.
Biodelic. Your original comment reflected a distrust in the reviews because you had already decided the gameplay looked terrible. Which I then find interesting that you comment I didn't talk about the gameplay enough. Gameplay you've already decided isn't good. Which is why I chose to engage more in the general distrust of why someone might be skeptical of this game, as opposed to talking about the gameplay in depth. Make no mistake, I didn't decide to do this video just to address a single person. Rather your comment reminded me that I was walking in very skeptical as well, and so were the other reviewers who then played and enjoyed it. I decided it was a good choice to focus on the general skepticism since it seems so prevalent.
For everyone wanting to play without the timer, could they houserule that certain actions, on average take X seconds and therefore your turn can take so many movement actions, attack actions, and whatever other actions are in the game? Or does the timer actually make playing the game more enjoyable and therefore houseruling to remove it takes out a facet of the game that makes it shine less?
You definitely can, afaik its just a timer, and thats why i don't understand why people are whining about the timer so much... Personally i would play some rounds with timer and see how many turns you are getting out and then replace the timer with X turns per player or something like that. Taking the timer away changes the games characteristic, it takes away the time pressure, the chaos and makes it more planable. Can't have everything i guess.
Great review, as always, Alex. :) While I've never played any sort of real time board game before, I do enjoy board games in general, and really liked the Cyberpunk video game, so I have a feeling I'd like this game either way. Just curious, since you seem to mostly recommend it, any chance you'll be doing some gameplay videos for this? Maybe something with Quackalope like you guys did for the Cyberpunk Gangs of Night City game? Just curious. Keep up the great work. :)
Is which way is the solo version different instead of the 2 player mode? I hope you can get some info about this. Thnx for your videos en hard work for al the reviews.
I had tuned this game out when I heard realtime and app but after listening to a bunch of reviews I've flip-flopped. Part of that comes down to my positive experiences with GoB but is mostly just due to having a better idea of the game mechanics and feeling like I'll enjoy it :-)
It's a tough one for sure, no matter how good a game is, real time does turn it into a bit of a gimmick, the question is how well the game works around it and in this case I think it works well
My only problem with this game is mainly that there is an app. Id consider trying it out still because apparently there is a way around it and its optional according to there gamefound. just curious how the experience would change and if it isnt much. I usually play my board games on Shabbat because that's when I have the most time to actually sit down. As for any controversy regarding this game I'd say it comes with any IP that has a big name around it. I think anybody that sees a big IP asks themselves "how can this be also a good board game? If it already succeeded as another medium then can it truly also succeed in a completely different way that is constructed completely differently?" It's a fair question to ask. The board game medium isn't so easy to go ahead and bring to the table so many people have their doubts. And with that comes suspicious distrust of others. But I think it's important to find a reviewer you trust hence why I appreciate your input Alex because it's always straight to the point. As for any others that are asking themselves why to trust Alex All they need to do is watch more of his videos.
It would be really informative and interesting to see a ranking of the first scenarios in all scenario based games you've played. Not campaign games, but games that can be played as one-off scenarios.
Oooh...that's hard. This first scenario was training wheels....not nearly a good representation of the game...still fun, but not nearly as good as the game as it develops.
I appreciate you trying something new to address criticism/your own skepticism, but just to give you some honest feedback i prefer your more standard form of reviews. I feel like i come away learning more about the game, versus here all I really know is real-time and a reference to a game I've never played and is out of print.
I have the opposite experience with Go on Board. I liked the card combat with Witcher: toW, the rest was a mess that overstayed it's welcome. I am interested because the card combat in Cyberpunk is similar to the Witcher, but their designs never really seem to land. I am also not a fan of campaign games.
Given how much I talked about this, I can't tell if this is a joke... But just in case it isn't, as I said in the video, most real-time games don't last for me, project elite did and this one feels similar
It seems like a really good game; I would have backed it if it were 80-90 (Deluxe Edition) or so; it is 50% more expensive for what it is! In addition; a real-time CAMPAIGN game?! I am not sure ...
I hated my 2 plays of Project Elite and despite that i'm really pulled to this one. I think this is because it is turn based and you can check that the other players are not doing missplays to some point
This is just unfortunate as I love the Cyberpunk franchise. But unfortunately Project Elite is just too chaotic for me. Where I don't get lost in the narrative and theme of whats happening, I just get lost in the frantic nature of just looking for the correct symbols on the dice.
Great, level-headed review. I can't think of another game in recent years where the cynics have been wishing for it to fail quite as hard as this game. I totally understand the disappointment if real-time games aren't their thing. I've never even heard of this mechanic before, and from what I've seen of the playthroughs for Cyberpunk, it's a blast. It says something when reviewers have to preface their opinions with "honestly, I'm not lying!" because of a minority of haters. Nobody should have to do that :(
You may have addressed this in a previous video, why do you say review for kickstarter projects? Games (sometimes) have rules tweaks when the full game gets released, full releases have different production values than prototypes and thats something to review as well? It "feels" as though this is a jump to get on the algorhythm for the early review. Wouldnt the term "impressions" be a more fair interpretation of this? I am asking this in good faith, not to troll.
I fail to see the issue. Content creators such as Alex receive the prototype copies for review - those are like you said, not yet final (aka production) copies but are in state that deliver close to finish experience, so a review for potential backers is quite useful. If it's the term "review" vs "impressions" - come on, that's semantics.
Its still a review of a kickstarter prototype. Its no different than early access reviews on steam. Yeah the game can change, but the review is based on the information at hand at the time the review is done.
I have not had a time to play co op games that are actually good such as Oathsworn and ISS so I will not waste my time on this ... just another long dragging co -op game that you will never get to finish in a sea of co -ops ...
@@nirszi There's thousands of games released each year, and it's the 3rd Cyberpunk title alone so it's not like this is a big deal of a game. Now I have to go work on our review of the other two Cyberpunk games :D
@BoardGameCo :) obviously mine:) but seriously we bounced off of it hard. It didn't feel like "witcher" at all. It was a race around the board upgrading stats. It took way too long and we all just couldnt wait for it to end. I won by meditating for every point and then fought another Witcher for the win, it was super anticlimactic. I am glad to hear people like it tho
@BoardGameCo and I am afraid cp2077 game is gonna be the same thing. Theme seems to be super thin, mechanics super basic (timer is the only thing that makes it "exciting" - but trying to roll a 6 on a d6 in 5 seconds can also be exciting). The theme is just not there. You could make this a Heist in the wild west with the same mechanics it seems. I dunno. Not sure if I will keep my pledge or not, it's a shame. I am a big cyberpunk fan, way before the video game. Coming from Podsmiths cyberpunk red.
The videogame wasn't a flop. It has sold great but had a lot of problems (mostly on console) at first. And over time they polished it from a good but flawed game, into a stellar game. Almost no one still thinks the game is bad.
The video game launched completely broken but it wasn’t a flop and now that enough time has passed that it should have spent still in development it’s actually really good.
