(This post is just a recommendation/shout out for a new CCG on Steam if anyone is looking for a new game to try out over the Thanksgiving holiday week. Posting it a few places around the web to do my part as a fan. Wasn't sure whether to post this here or in General Gaming, but this site lists HEX: Shards of Fate as an MMO so this one must be as well by whatever standard being used. A mod can feel free to move this to General Gaming though if they want.)
I've played every digital CCG/TCG that exists, all of them. MTGO, Hearthstone, HEX, Duels of Champions, Spellweaver, Star Crusade, Faeria, Fable Fortune, Elder Scrolls Legends, Cardhunter, Infinity Wars, Runescape Chronicles, Shadowverse, Pox Nora, probably dozens and dozens of others that I'm not immediately remembering along with Cockatrice/Xmage. Been playing CCG's since paper magic Revised in the early '90s.
And yesterday this game showed up out of nowhere and blew me away. I had never heard of it, not one word about it, until I happened to see it on my "show all new releases - multiplayer" filter that I check daily to see what new multiplayer games are on Steam.
The polish and player-friendliness of Hearthstone, the depth of MtG/HEX, the best monetization model I've seen (since Faeria broke their b2p option promise), and game mode/gameplay options that put HEX to shame. Wow.
Aside from getting my friends into the game, I want to do my part to make sure this absolute hidden gem gets the exposure it deserves as a stand-out marvel in an extremely over-crowded genre. So I'm letting my friends know, writing up a positive review for the game here on Steam, and making a few forum posts to hopefully draw attention and get people to try this one out. I urge other fans of the game to do the same. This one deserves it, great job devs, great job.
Comments
I am also a long time MTG player from way way back,don't even remember the year but was around time MTG started.I have also played MANY TCG's of which i had hoped the SOE game would evolve and become the best game ever but sadly Smedley is a crook,liar,lame ass so i lost a lot of money invested and sort of time wasted a as well because i like to feel as though i am in for a long term investment not just a short time to make someone money.
I will check this game out,but i should state that if i see another cheap ass layout such as HS's with a cheap ass board,it will come off as just another ho hum effort.That is why i loved SOE's game,it had animated figurines and the beginning of maps for a playing surface,it had potential.
I will likely post back what i think of the game.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
On the other hand, if you had ever been thinking, "I wish I could play a deep, strategic CCG like MtG in digital format, without the money-draining madness of MTGO/HEX and without the buggy/broken/limited mess that is Magic:Duels, oh and throw in a ton of other features/gameplay options on top of that" this one is worth a few hours to try out. Note that the first 5 PvE campaigns are the tutorial, and features are locked until you finish those. It is a great way to ease new players in, but shouldn't take a CCG vet more than 45-60 minutes to complete the entire thing to get to the "real" game.
Its the most trending CCG now
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
@Lobotomist - Trending downward, rapidly: http://steamcharts.com/app/291410 I played Duelyst myself of course, it was ok, the grid-movement was a nice feature but I preferred Faeria's take on it. The most trending CCG right now (aside from HS, which completely dominates the genre) is probably Shadowverse (http://steamcharts.com/app/453480) which is a decent game with very high production values and visuals if you like that art style, and the most popular CCG in Japan, where it originated. I'd still easily recommend Eternal over all these options though.
Really like Cardhunter also
and Might and Magic Duel of Champions is fun
As for Faeria - fantastic game as well. But after playing both for long time can say that Duelyst is far superior in depth ( good cards do not make you sure winner)
Although I must admit that last night patch of Duelyst made it bit slower to grind new decks
MTG is still miles the best game out there,best mechanics and the best at pvp interaction unlike HS and others that are you play then i play with zero interaction.The problem and why i quit MTG was the unreal cost and creating ridiculous o/p combos can ruin any game.I hate OTK gaming,it is non interactive.
This game is yet another cheap board.
I have grown disgruntled with TCG's because in the long term,they are all identical,nothing but a push to force people buying more cards.I had hoped the genre would evolve into real gaming,worlds and characters and cards alongside to add the strategy.I would prefer a subscription then players earning their cards with a tad bit of randomness or discovery,yeah i said it already a COMPLETE RPG game with cards.
So in the end we have just another series of cards and a board and if you want to invest long term it will eventually cost you a lot of money and effort only to see all that effort tossed out the window via the way MTG and now HS are doing it by basically eliminating old cards every season to force new sales.
The nthe way these TCG are structured,you are either in the NOW via spending lots of momney or get left behind only to catch up a year later only to see those cards now removed,it is a never ending foray into OVER spending.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
While the game you mentioned doesn't look too bad, it does make me suspicious that the cards on the field and the cards themselves seem to be heavily inspired by HearthStone. Overall it just doesn't really look interesting or unique.
Yes Eternal looks like Hearthstone. And honestly I don't like the cartoony style of the board. Yes they borrowed from HS some mechanics (like the weapon one).
However I start to think (I played only 4 campaigns out of five) that the way Eternal is advertised by some people is right. It is like MTG and Hearthstone had a baby. And it feels good.
So yes there is nothing really new here, but may be just a lot of good choices. May be the right ones.
I like the "flash magic" (= MTG instants) cards => way better than HS secrets...
I like the different kinds of magic (like in MTG) you can mix instead of the oversimplified heroes of HS.
One of the biggest pleasure in MTG is the deckbuilding part. I never really felt that pleasure in HS. However Eternal already made my brain at work just by seeing few cards...
I'll keep playing until I cross a possible disappointment. Thx again.