Well. This game is absolutely the polar opposite of what I was expecting based on that initial trailer. I really appreciate your coverage Mike. This time it helped confirm this is not a game for me.
Thanks, Mike. Appreciate the playthrough! You helped a lot of people realize they're going to love this one, and you helped me figure out I won't. Your work is done. :-)
Great video! Helped me confirm to back this project. Love the simplicity, others will complain its a fault but simplicity is only a fault when the choices you are given arent enough to make you feel like you are impacting anything. I think from what ive seen choices do matter and I really like that in a game. Combat seems interesting as well and looks like it can probably get eventually more challenging.
This does look like a fun game and I'll say it again. I absolutely love it when a company makes the rule book spiral bound. It just makes it so much easier to hand around the table. I also enjoy the art in the game.
Oh my gosh I’m so happy to finally see a playthrough! I have been following it since the beginning and am so hyped too 🤩 I already was 99,9% sure I wanted to back it, but now I know I definitely will! Thank you!
@@OneStopCoopShop The standee version is actually a great value! Add the fact you can pay in 7 months and it's crazy efficient if you like the game but are tight on budget / space.
Thanks for the gameplay video. At least you'll the first person to show gameplay and showing everything up close on camera (can't tell what's being played when you can't ever read the cards on the camera and it's only hanging over the table). As for me, I'll have to wait until their gamefound campaign page is live to see what else they will offer since they only announced base pledges in the last video, but I usually wait until a few days before they close the campaign just in case they announce "we're adding XYZ to this campaign based on feedback" 10 days after it started. I want to make sure if I want add-in, I get it. So far, it looks promising for a good one-time story, but the rougelike mode is what speaking to me to get it since I played a lot of rougelike deckbuilding games on a computer and they rarely release board games as rougelike deckbuilders that you can play with friends, and the tactics of figuring out where to move your pieces, etc. always makes for a good puzzle about what to do with your creature(s) each turn.
Thank you for the playthrough Mike! This is really cute and I love the art and whole presentation :) Somehow it is also totally different from what I expected ^^ Might be better though.I wonder how it would play non-solo.
I was already interested since I love narrative campaign games and AR has done a few great ones, but this video sold me on the gameplay for sure. I love the artwork and am considering the miniature version since those look lovely to paint (not that I don't have lots of minis still waiting..). The other extras they offer with the deluxe edition will probably be the deciding factor for me in choosing the more expensive pledge or not, so hopefully those will be known soon!
Thank you very much for the playthrough. Love the theme and that the exploration isn't too stingy with time. I L O V E the perosnal quests for the monsters, wow! So much better than just "evolve with level up" and that the game reacts when you managed to tame one. Push your luck is more fun than dice for me so that's great too! Now I just hope that coop is good.
Rule book dropped today hope to see more coverage on this. Final ruleset looks fantastic as does the rogue light mode. They upped the deck construction to 16 with 1 legendary limit which will really add a ton of variety to Mystlings. Hope we get to see you run the rogue light mode.
Sadly I don’t think I’ll be covering it again. As long as awaken realms is using midjourney and other AI programs that scrape from other artists without credit or compensation, I’m not covering their products anymore
@@OneStopCoopShop ah that’s unfortunate, I think the game has been looking really good. I don’t know a whole lot about the situation, but I thought they had a fully paid art staff of 16 or so employees and were using some ai tools for early concept and prototyping?
@qtherage7536 that’s what they’ve been saying, but when I pressed my contact more on the issue he admitted they were using midjourney and other programs like it. Whether it’s in the concepting phase or not, that’s something that my personal ethics don’t accept. But that’s just me. Everyone else can make their own choice for the game
I think it's different enough from Robomon mechanically, and in tone, that, if one can afford it, it wouldn't be redundant to have both. The similarities are genre, in the same way as worker placement games have similarities with each other - plus these games have the added difference of the stories.
Very interested in this one, following it since they announced it, thanks for the video, definitely would take it into account when gamefound project actually starts.
Alex is a buddy of mine, and I've never felt like his videos were shilling. He tends to have compliments and criticisms in every preview, just like us. At least that's my impression, but again he's my friend so I might be biased 😅
This game has peaked my interest since I saw it. I have been waiting to determine if I want to get Robomon or this, and i think I am now leaning Dragon Eclipse, although we will see as more content comes out as the launch date in a couple weeks draws closer. Thanks for the intro!!!!
Saw a combat video and felt that it could be a lot better. Enemy cards face down for a more difficult experience makes more sense. You could make 3 modes to adapt. Rookie, where you play face up. Medium, where every creature has a level and depending on how many creatures you tamed you could play with cards face up. So an example would be a creature level 3 and you already tamed 3 creatures, making you experienced enough to see the enemy cards. Same example but the creature being level 4 would make you play with enemy cards face down. Introducing experience in the game. And finally the hardcore more, always face down. These options would make the game more complex and would adapt to target audience better. Also don’t really like that you get to chose where enemy creatures move to or place tokens. This happens when the distance is the same. Example, the enemy will teleport to the furthest place from you. This could in some examples be in front or behind you, making you choose where it goes. That doesn’t really make a lot of sense to me. An easy way to bypass this would be to incorporate the same cards that you use on the “push the luck” tests. Example, in the scenario that the enemy can teleport either in front or behind you, draw a card, odd it goes behind, even it goes in front. Or place a token on board, left or right? Well draw a card and find out. If needed you could draw as many as needed to find the final location. Example, you already drew a card to discover that the enemy will teleport behind you. But it can still move to two locations. Draw another card to find out. These two things would make the gameplay feel a lot better and would make the enemies have their own free will!
Neither of those are variants I’d personally want to play with, but it sounds like a good way to amp up the difficulty and variance if that’s what you prefer!
I’m looking into coop more to find out how it plays. No idea how the competitive is supposed to work, though I probably won’t play it that regardless 😅
@@OneStopCoopShop excellent! Can't wait to hear your thoughts. Especially for the rogue like mode. I love 1v1 skirmish and dueling games, so the competitive mode has some interest for us as well.
This looks so good. I’m not usually an awaken realms fan, but his seems different than what they usually out out. And the price point for the standard edition is really good.
If you’ve played anymore scenarios, does combat become more frequent or longer? While I like the choose your own adventure, I feel it the amount of time spent on it versus combat in this first scenario was more than I would like. If further on combat takes a little more priority this game is definitely for me
Up to you of course, and the minis in the prototype were lovely, but they are also somewhat superfluous to gameplay, so you could certainly go for a lower tier 😅
There is a weird disconnect between the creature art on the cards and the miniature sculpts. This has allready struck me in previous presentations. The story writing is kind of mediocre, just like the gameplay. Very underwhelming. Sadly, this is going to be an easy pass for me. I had high hopes for this.
So far I’d say the narrative is pretty family friendly, but I don’t know where it’ll go in the full game. But certainly the mix of narrative and gameplay and monster catching seems to match her interests
Is this the Special Edition or the Collector's Edition? Because I wonder if those are the Arena playmats you are using or if they are part of the core box. Would you advice on getting those, like how much would it influence fun during gameplay? My only concern to back is: how long will the gameplay be? It seems like you could maybe finish in one day.
I’m not sure which tier or pledge they sent me. But it’s a nice rollout mat so I’m assuming it’s some sort of deluxe option. As for length, not sure on that either. Depends on how many acts there will be
Seems more fit for solo play. I like the deck-building and conveyor belt mechanics. I honestly thought this would be very close to TCG. If Robomon is retro board game Pokémon, Dragon Eclipse is 2023 board game Pokémon. Might pick this up. Thanks for covering it!
I should point out the very strong possibility that Awaken Realms is using AI art generation in this game. Many of the attack cards feature abstract landscapes and almost random elements that do not fit the card's name and do not have the creature in them (would require actually taking the time to draw that instead of hitting "generate" in Dall-E or Midjourney). They look very similar to common AI art designed work (albeit touched up for consistency). AR has used AI art before in their promo for the STALKER board game. They have not answered as to their policy on AI art over the course of the campaign and with 3 days to go, I feel like they'd prefer to run down the clock. If this is all true, please do not support this.
Hopefully it’s just for prototyping and not something that’ll show up in the final product. Has gamefound taken a stance on AI yet? I know KS requires disclosure and backerkit just outlawed it.
@@OneStopCoopShop Gamefound and Awaken Realms are almost one and the same, I believe, so if they are using AI, it will never be an official policy to disclose that information.
thanks, you explain really well the game. The price is very low for this game and I'm very tempted but I don't play solitaire games so probably I will pass. I'm waiting to see how it is the coop
From that very first impression, would the deck construction feels like ISS Vanguard? I’m standing on the other side and AR didn’t quite do it lately, but his one sounds like so much fun 😭
This is just the tutorial so I have barely dug into deck construction, but I think it’ll be more immediately impactful here. ISS cards were fine but I often didn’t get to use their powers in a cool way, at least not consistently
Wow, I agree, hopefully the rogue-like mode gets fleshed out. Love the concept and the execution, but my aversion to reading in-game makes me wary. But then again, freaking pokemon-like game, need more of those.... regardless, great coverage!
@@OneStopCoopShop Don't threaten me with a good time! Or, realistically, you should do it and then get paid brother man. In any case, as long as shipping ain't too bad, I think I'm in. I don't need minis, but a tight card game with some depth but not overly complex looks like a winner.
Yeah, there are a lot of similarities for sure. It’s tough to say which I’ll prefer until they are both closer to done. Though I could see owning and playing through both since they are both campaign/story focused
@rolandloeve9778 I think they are referring to Robomon, a similar game that crowdfunded either this year or last year. I discuss the comparison a bit at the end of the video
After watching the whole video i'm left with a big question. It's advertised as a single or 2 player co-op campaign. Does the demo have any information on how a 2 player campaign would look?
So far I like the battles more here a bit, though both systems are good. As for the story, it’s very much a matter of taste. Robomon is more free form video game style exploration, this one seems more curated and linear at least so far
Hey guys, whats your thoughts? I wouldnt play this game alone, only with one friend and i love the minis so i wanna paint them all. Is it worth the price if u dont play alone ? :)
Hi i think you made a mistake @12:06 , you choose a card which allows you to resolve another card but it does not say you take the crystals above the card or i am missing something ? (also it's "coup de grâce " prononce it like that " cou de grasse " Btw good video and preview , i just hope the game is not too easy because this seems really too easy. 4 possibilities at each turn , massive damages whereas the boss tickles you .. I don't know if you can really loose this fight and it's with one player >< ...
This is just a prototype, so I’m sure they’re still balancing things, and it’s also the tutorial scenario, so I hope it’ll get harder :) PS - how do you think I said coup de grace? Because the way you wrote it out is how I usually pronounce it 😂
The prototype they sent only allows for solo play, so I’m not sure yet. My guess is that you’ll each control a creature in 2v2 battles, maybe? I think that aspect is still in development
This is the tutorial, so I wouldn’t feel comfortable making any difficulty claims yet. Once i play chapter 2 and the roguelite mode I’ll have a clearer read on challenge level
Do you think this would be an ok board game for a newbie. I havent played any kind of game like this. I only watch critical role. Saw this and thought it looks mega cool
phew! big pass for me... very well done video by the way, but better save my money but still give it to Awaken Realms for the new Nemesis Retaliation, here's hoping is good btw 🤞
I discussed this at the end of the video. There are lots of similarities. Robomon seems more sandbox/go where you want in exploration, while this might be a bit more linear (though that’s based on the tutorial chapter)
Hmmm... I guess what I was really wondering is “Which do you think is better?” If you had to choose one based on game play, which would you choose and why?
hmm, the arena and scripts seem very one player focused, hopefully that's just the case with the prototype, and the 2 player mode won't be an afterthought@@OneStopCoopShop
So this is a campaign game again? Ugh I am done with AR games. They always run out of steam after a few hours and can never hold my attention for long. The gameplay is never good enough to keep playing it for 30-40 hours
Thx for the playthrough. It's a pass for me. I hated the narrative, it gave me some gloomhaven vibes which is not good. The combat system is shallow for my solo taste, but I think it would have some potential as a skirmish game (4/5 players). I am conflicted regarding the art, I like the illustrations, but on the other, I don't like the minis. The lackluster narrative is what puts a final point for me. Thx again it was really helpful.
Boy the balance between exploration and combat is... off. The fun part is battling with your monsters, finding new ones, etc., but the exploration seems to take up a larger percentage of the gameplay time while not being the fun part. Also, the art on some of the cards is strange to me. Why does Flaming Bite not show something ... you know ... biting something?
Hopefully the roguelite mode provides a fun alternative for people who want to battle and catch creatures primarily. As for the art, I think it’s still in development, but not sure!
@@OneStopCoopShop I like the fact that there's a campaign but it's just out of balance. If I want a deep narrative I'll read a book, XD. Like the original Pokemon games, I like just enough narrative to get me from a to b, not so much that it takes me away from the fun gameplay loop.
But yeah, @@OneStopCoopShop, hopefully the art gets changed to be more creature-specific and less like amorphous blobs of elemental energy. I'm waiting for Spirit Duels for my board game Pokemon fix, I think. Which is sad because both this and Robomon have a lot of cool stuff happening in them.
@@OneStopCoopShop For sure, I'm always liking the 2d art direction more so then the actual 3d prints. I'm a big mini guy but the standees>mini in this instance for me😮💨
Gamefound page - gamefound.com/en/projects/awaken-realms/dragon-eclipse *Rule clarification - You only need to EQUAL health to defeat someone, not exceed it. And you do not reshuffle items until the deck runs out.* 0:00 - Introduction 1:25 - Story Introduction 6:23 - First Battle 16:12 - Exploring the Town 33:01 - Second Battle 41:48 - Exploring the Ruins 51:17 - Impressions
