Something to note is that playing the campaign on Expert is different than playing the scenarios on Expert. The Expert campaign adds the Obligations and a few additional rules, whereas Expert scenarios are played w/ the Expert modular set and the villain on Stages II/III instead of I/II. If you want to use the extra rules for the Expert campaign, while keeping the scenario difficulty Standard, you can, and vice versa.
Funnily enough, the thematic disconnect really jumped out at me as well. The coreset really sold me on the theme with the way that the scenarios seemed to be take place over a larger passage of time (which would make flying back to stark towers to acquire upgrades for the suit make sense). Felt like it was a missed opportunity to not represent these scenarios in a broader context and just simulate the showdowns through mini-main schemes (that made it impossible to switch hero forms or something while they ticked down..could've maybe added some more variety to the gameplay as well). For instance "Mini Scheme with 1-2 threat to advance; "He's getting away on the motorbike!; players cannot change forms, but the enemy is potentially vulnerable" or some little window of opportunity/disadvantage that could meld the gameplay/theme together better. Could've potentially been a cool way to add some windy arcs to the gameplay.
i'm glad i'm not alone (i'm starting to feel a bit crazy that i'm the only person who seems to care about it!) and yeah, it's such a great way to make for cooler scenarios as you say. like the kang going back in time module could have had a set of alternate alter-ego cards for when you're in a different time zone, and you have to replace the regular alter ego cards with these alternate time ones. drives me nuts that the devs just don't seem to care about what makes their game special!
The next scenario, Kang, will also likely give you a similar alter-ego disconnect since half way through the scenario each of the characters are separated and sent spiraling through time so again it doesn’t make sense for Steve to go home to his apartment. An interesting mechanic they could use for those times when they want to do immediate stories within a scenario is have side schemes that pop out that say “While this in play you can’t flip to alter-ego.”
interesting. i'm probably fine with that in the same way that i'm fine with the taskmaster mission in red skull, where we find ourselves in an alternate dimension. even if steve wouldn't have his apartment in that alternate dimension, i'm okay with imagining that he's in some flop house somewhere that fits the theme. same for aunt may. but a mission like absorbing man, where thematically only 15 minutes passes during the entire scenario are where the 'retreating to private life, leaving the villain to pursue their agenda unimpeded' breaks down, and i hope that doesn't become more common, because that conceit is what makes the game very special from a narrative perspective imo. and yes, if absorbing man used its setting well, doing something like "one player must always maintain hero state", and "while in alter ego form, the villain doubles their scheme rating", etc. so that yeah, if you leave, you're probably going to fail very quickly, i'd love it. hopefully this is the sort of thing they can bear in mind in the future :)
Rahdo “Aunt May, what are you doing in ancient Egypt??” Haha. It’s a stretch but I wonder if a thematic fix for those more immediate scenarios is to imagine those alter-ego moments as flashbacks. Like Peter gets punched in the face and he flashes back to a moment earlier with Aunt May and it’s thanks to the wise words she said then that Peter is able to get back up and continue the fight.
Agree on your points about how some core mechanics don't scale so well in theme given an immersive campaign setting. A board game of this size is an entire experience, story included. If it was all about sheer gameplay and nothing else, big box board games wouldn't be this profitable and we'd all still be playing chess. Thanks for saying what needed to be said!
I think of each game as an issue of a comic book. It has downtime, it has epic set piece fights, sub plot etc and flipping into alter ego for me isnt literal. Its just a reminder that more is happening in the heroes life. Its all the panels before and after a fight, flashbacks, flash forwards etc that make up a comic. The one exception and the one thing that bothered me about wrecking crew actually was you never could trigger your obligation because shadow of the past wasnt in the wrecking crew deck. This bothered my play group a lot because for them that emergent story telling for having your nemesis show up at the worst possible time is one of the best and most exciting stories told by champions. I do think the game is at its best when it leaves the story telling to the cards and the players own imaginations but there are people who like a more structured story not a sandbox. I imagine the sandbox players have already created their own scenarios and difficulties lol because the community for this game is obsessive and insane in the best way :)
Maybe you could take it as they are recalling these alter-ego cards as memories? Like, Peter Parker recalls Aunt May and draws strength from that? Scheming is weirder then, like, the moment-to-moment advantages the villain is looking for to get away, dunno. Anyways, I play for the gameplay, but I appreciate your view on thematic consistency!
Was about to reply with the same. Also, alter-ego flashback scenes can help repair the thematic disconnect. Black Panther is down to his last few health & KO'd from the villains point of view who starts gloating, continuing their nefarious plans! While down BP has a vision quest to his ancestral grounds, gathering new knowledge & recuperating his strength, rising back up to rejoin the fight!
sorry, i don't dig it. having steve rogers daydream in the middle of a fight about how great his apartment is ("Even Captain America needs a place to get away and rest") doesn't make new allies suddenly show up. but having his dustup with rhino end (because the scenario takes place over multiple days or weeks) so that time can pass and he can go back to his regular life for awhile, that does make sense (and is a more true to marvel comics experience) Sure, you can stretch things as far as you want to maintain conceits, but why should we have to when the developers already nailed a really fresh approach in the core box that makes the game unique? Why turn it into something that feels like other games thematically (like, say, Aeon's End) and requires us jumping through thematic hoops and ignoring flavor text that's on the card? It makes no sense to me... all downside and no upside, just so we can say that our fight with Absorbing Man was resolved in 2 pages of one issue of a comic, rather than he was a problem for 3 issues that kept coming back into our lives? Why de-marvel Marvel Champions?
Very valid points, I have completely bought into this game and I think its fantastic how accessible it is for someone who is new to collectable card games. But I tried to tell stories thematically with it and it sometimes works better than others, so I guess you just have to accept that. I had a brilliant ending to playing red skull with Doctor strange, I was low on health and i knew I had many encounter cards coming. Red skull threw so many minions at me, but no attacks happened because I was in alter ego. It was like I was suddenly sneaking around while he sent his entire army after me, then the next turn when I flipped back and was able to finish the game, felt like I'd just jumped into the room and dealt the final blow to the villain when his army was just about to win. So much fun! When it works, it is absolutely brilliant.
yes, the stories that this games creates on a regular basis are amazing, but the ones that grow out of gameplay situations (i'll never forget when ms. marvel sacrificed herself to save her idol captain marvel when we were going up against green goblin for the first time), and also from the thematic touches on the cards (like spiderwoman retreating from the battle, only to spy on the enemy from afar to reveal their plans and then sneaking back in "inconspicuous" to thwart those plans. love it, it feels like a comic brought to life by our choices. i just hope the developers don't forget the narrative in favor of the gameplay. it's a bummer than hawkeye has zero out of costume content, for instance. i appreciate that he needs all those arrows for balance, but to ignore all the amazing work in the matt fraction run is just a real crying shame. and absorbing man simply makes no sense. i appreciate that i can pretend that "this card really symbolizes something else" to fill in the cracks myself, but why add the cracks in the first place when they've got such a strong template they've developed going back to rhino. don't throw that away FFG team! :)
@@rahdo yes, the alter egos can give so much background and it would be really good if ffg can bring that out in a few of the heroes and scenarios coming up. Thanks for sharing your play through stories too. It's great that we're able to share such cool ways the game comes to life. And thanks for all your content, it really is very good 👍
@rahdo Ffg designers confirmed at this years online gencon that this was the safe campaign expansion that would be basic, they said the guardians of galaxy campaign coming next will be more in depth including a new market where you can spend money between scenerios to buy new cards and items and upgrades to your ship. So I think your wishes will soon be granted :-)
Hey Rahdo, think of misison 1 and 2 this way, Peter Parker doesn't have time to see Aunt May, but he swings to a corner and grabs his backpack and takes a quick snack that Aunt May made for him. Steve Rogers doesn't go back to his apartment, but maybe he pulls out his cellphone and checks the security cameras of his apartment. When you are playing those cards. Switching to Alt-Ego I thought the way you had it but switching to Alt-Ego sometimes is just taking a quick break from the fight to take a quick breather.
Sure, you can stretch things as far as you want to maintain conceits, but why should we have to when the developers already nailed a really fresh approach in the core box that makes the game unique? Why turn it into something that feels like other games thematically (like, say, Aeon's End) and requires us jumping through thematic hoops and ignoring flavor text that's on the card? It makes no sense to me... all downside and no upside, just so we can say that our fight with Absorbing Man was resolved in 2 pages of one issue of a comic, rather than he was a problem for 3 issues that kept coming back into our lives? Why de-marvel Marvel Champions?
Thanks for the review! I got the base game when it came out but never really got into it due to the lack of campaigny feeling. I don't need a campaign like the one in the Arkham card game (I enjoy LoTR card game more, actually). But I just felt something missing in the Marvel game and I never got any expansions. However, I decided to keep the base game until the campaign expansions came out to give it another try. I wonder if this box would change my mind..?
I'm surprised you found the "Peter Parker visiting his Aunt May" so difficult to imagine as just giving her a call or getting a box of cookies from her, or even remembering what he's fighting for. You don't need to approach these cards too literally - I mean after all, the whole concept of Super Heroes is ridiculous.
my point is that when the game first came out, the developers designed boss missions that took place over days or weeks or even months, and so it was internally thematically consistent that heroes can 'take a break' and the alter ego cards hint at them living their lives, making a deeper and richer storytelling experience. but as time has gone on, they're ignoring that by creating missions that are at most an hour in length (in-game), and so that throws away what makes the game so unqiue and thematic
I loved it. Just went through the last 2 yday. 2p with out of the box decks. Won all first try. Gonna do expert with one more hero I think. Making better decks.
Cap is still Steve, even with his suit on, so it makes perfect sense that he would have access to the more “pedestrian” aspects of his person. He’s not necessarily “going back to his apartment.”
Great points about the “thematic confusion” in the campaign scenarios. I think it would have been stronger if each villain had separate, non-campaign main schemes for when you play them each as a stand alone experience. Because some of the main schemes don’t make a lick of sense in stand alone. Like Absorbing Man, his main scheme is literally just him standing there???? Outside of the campaign context, that main scheme makes no sense. I also agree with your fear of the alter-ego sides of heroes become less important. Hawkeye and Spider woman both have very uninteresting alter-ego sides and abilities. I find myself never flipping forms with either when I go up to hero form. But we are getting Ant Man and wasp later, and I think it would be a crime not to sink into the thematic gameplay elements of each of their respective alter-ego sides. Also, about Spider Woman’s deck building thing. I think the devs were trying to sink into the theme of versatility as a spy. Rather than pigeon-holing her to one role by only pairing her with one aspect, the player gets to decide what 2 roles they want to fill on the team and go from there. Sorry about the long comment, but this is one of my favorite games of all time lol
I think the thematic storyline gripe is going to get worst with the Galaxy's Most Wanted campaign box. It looks like we will be having missions in outer space. So I don't think Peter Parker is gonna be taking a ship back to Earth to visit Aunt May just to heal up. Unless they have a teleporter nearby.
yupyup. if it were me, i'd include in the GMW expansion some basic cards that are general purpose "hanging out on the milano" style cards that players can put in their hero decks as replacements for hero alter-ego cards, so that there are thematic things that they can do while in alter-ego form. easy peasy. fingers crossed FFG shows an interest in maintaining their fictional conceits :)
In some ways they have revisited the sticking point of LotR. The immersion in the world is fantastic. But each scenario requires you to create a new party. Since the book LotR was about three separate party's on a constant journey, requiring a different party make up every scenario breaks up the theme. I look on it as each scenario is a different comic book (OK....graphic novel). It is not necessary to have a connection to another scenario. Maybe as I get better and play more the campaign may appeal to me more. For campaign I'll stick to Arkham Horror lcg. It was designed that way from the start and I don't really se MC being able to duplicate that. A very thorough and good review.
Rahdo. Good video. Thank you. I have to push back gently on your big comment that you are concerned about the developers breaking the verisimilitude. That you're putting it on them. What about putting it on the player? Yes and engagement with a villain happens over an hour, it should be on the player playing somatically not to use aunt May don't you think?
i don't put it on the player to make up for shortcomings in the designer's ability to deliver on the promise of the game, because the player isn't developing the game. the player is the customer who paid for a specific experience, and it's disappointing to see the developer start to show signs of "you know what, maybe we're not going to deliver on that promise any more"...
If you play the game regularly, a few times a month maybe, you should be playing the game on expert. There is some serious power creep in the game (for the heroes) and expert in this game is no that hard.
well, it's pretty hard if you make completely randomized aspect decks that get lucky if they have any synergy. try playing the game with no "power of" or "genius" or nick fury cards or any of the other "standards that you always put in the deck". things get much tougher when you have no idea what you're capable of :)
@@bikeguy75 hehe, tbh i've looked at hyper effecient super competitive decks, and they're boring to me. only 40 cards... i want 60. i want more cool fun unexpected stuff to happen, rather than just focusing on dupes of a few super cards :)
It is very odd to see a Euro fan complain about a thematic detail in a game. :) I am not really a Euro gamer but I like some, while I mostly adore good thematic rich games And let me tell you ONE thing: Marvel Champions is the best game that was published over the past 2 years... NOT Gloomhaven, the Jaws of the Lion, not Tapestry, not Paladins of the West or other Death may Die KS products etc .... Nope, this Marvel Champions game - certainly in solo and 2 player mode - is King in the thematic/card/solo/design department of these last 2 years. I played this well over 150 times already and I do NOT even care about Marvel Comics and certainly not these movies. It is simple: the game play is a w e s o m e. /Discussion closed/
Something to note is that playing the campaign on Expert is different than playing the scenarios on Expert. The Expert campaign adds the Obligations and a few additional rules, whereas Expert scenarios are played w/ the Expert modular set and the villain on Stages II/III instead of I/II. If you want to use the extra rules for the Expert campaign, while keeping the scenario difficulty Standard, you can, and vice versa.
I'm pretty sure Stark is funding Aunt May's trip along with the group because Peter is under 18
Funnily enough, the thematic disconnect really jumped out at me as well. The coreset really sold me on the theme with the way that the scenarios seemed to be take place over a larger passage of time (which would make flying back to stark towers to acquire upgrades for the suit make sense). Felt like it was a missed opportunity to not represent these scenarios in a broader context and just simulate the showdowns through mini-main schemes (that made it impossible to switch hero forms or something while they ticked down..could've maybe added some more variety to the gameplay as well).
For instance "Mini Scheme with 1-2 threat to advance; "He's getting away on the motorbike!; players cannot change forms, but the enemy is potentially vulnerable" or some little window of opportunity/disadvantage that could meld the gameplay/theme together better.
Could've potentially been a cool way to add some windy arcs to the gameplay.
i'm glad i'm not alone (i'm starting to feel a bit crazy that i'm the only person who seems to care about it!) and yeah, it's such a great way to make for cooler scenarios as you say. like the kang going back in time module could have had a set of alternate alter-ego cards for when you're in a different time zone, and you have to replace the regular alter ego cards with these alternate time ones. drives me nuts that the devs just don't seem to care about what makes their game special!
The next scenario, Kang, will also likely give you a similar alter-ego disconnect since half way through the scenario each of the characters are separated and sent spiraling through time so again it doesn’t make sense for Steve to go home to his apartment. An interesting mechanic they could use for those times when they want to do immediate stories within a scenario is have side schemes that pop out that say “While this in play you can’t flip to alter-ego.”
interesting. i'm probably fine with that in the same way that i'm fine with the taskmaster mission in red skull, where we find ourselves in an alternate dimension. even if steve wouldn't have his apartment in that alternate dimension, i'm okay with imagining that he's in some flop house somewhere that fits the theme. same for aunt may.
but a mission like absorbing man, where thematically only 15 minutes passes during the entire scenario are where the 'retreating to private life, leaving the villain to pursue their agenda unimpeded' breaks down, and i hope that doesn't become more common, because that conceit is what makes the game very special from a narrative perspective imo.
and yes, if absorbing man used its setting well, doing something like "one player must always maintain hero state", and "while in alter ego form, the villain doubles their scheme rating", etc. so that yeah, if you leave, you're probably going to fail very quickly, i'd love it. hopefully this is the sort of thing they can bear in mind in the future :)
Rahdo “Aunt May, what are you doing in ancient Egypt??” Haha.
It’s a stretch but I wonder if a thematic fix for those more immediate scenarios is to imagine those alter-ego moments as flashbacks. Like Peter gets punched in the face and he flashes back to a moment earlier with Aunt May and it’s thanks to the wise words she said then that Peter is able to get back up and continue the fight.
Agree on your points about how some core mechanics don't scale so well in theme given an immersive campaign setting. A board game of this size is an entire experience, story included. If it was all about sheer gameplay and nothing else, big box board games wouldn't be this profitable and we'd all still be playing chess. Thanks for saying what needed to be said!
Richard is overthinking it.
disagree
I think of each game as an issue of a comic book. It has downtime, it has epic set piece fights, sub plot etc and flipping into alter ego for me isnt literal. Its just a reminder that more is happening in the heroes life. Its all the panels before and after a fight, flashbacks, flash forwards etc that make up a comic.
The one exception and the one thing that bothered me about wrecking crew actually was you never could trigger your obligation because shadow of the past wasnt in the wrecking crew deck. This bothered my play group a lot because for them that emergent story telling for having your nemesis show up at the worst possible time is one of the best and most exciting stories told by champions.
I do think the game is at its best when it leaves the story telling to the cards and the players own imaginations but there are people who like a more structured story not a sandbox. I imagine the sandbox players have already created their own scenarios and difficulties lol because the community for this game is obsessive and insane in the best way :)
Maybe you could take it as they are recalling these alter-ego cards as memories? Like, Peter Parker recalls Aunt May and draws strength from that?
Scheming is weirder then, like, the moment-to-moment advantages the villain is looking for to get away, dunno.
Anyways, I play for the gameplay, but I appreciate your view on thematic consistency!
This is what I was going to say. They don't go back to their Alter-Ego cards locations but just remembering them helps them draw strength from them.
Was about to reply with the same. Also, alter-ego flashback scenes can help repair the thematic disconnect. Black Panther is down to his last few health & KO'd from the villains point of view who starts gloating, continuing their nefarious plans! While down BP has a vision quest to his ancestral grounds, gathering new knowledge & recuperating his strength, rising back up to rejoin the fight!
sorry, i don't dig it. having steve rogers daydream in the middle of a fight about how great his apartment is ("Even Captain America needs a place to get away and rest") doesn't make new allies suddenly show up. but having his dustup with rhino end (because the scenario takes place over multiple days or weeks) so that time can pass and he can go back to his regular life for awhile, that does make sense (and is a more true to marvel comics experience)
Sure, you can stretch things as far as you want to maintain conceits, but why should we have to when the developers already nailed a really fresh approach in the core box that makes the game unique? Why turn it into something that feels like other games thematically (like, say, Aeon's End) and requires us jumping through thematic hoops and ignoring flavor text that's on the card? It makes no sense to me... all downside and no upside, just so we can say that our fight with Absorbing Man was resolved in 2 pages of one issue of a comic, rather than he was a problem for 3 issues that kept coming back into our lives? Why de-marvel Marvel Champions?
Thanks for another great review!! And it must be said (as a european I can do so) I love the statements on your tshirts!
Very valid points, I have completely bought into this game and I think its fantastic how accessible it is for someone who is new to collectable card games. But I tried to tell stories thematically with it and it sometimes works better than others, so I guess you just have to accept that. I had a brilliant ending to playing red skull with Doctor strange, I was low on health and i knew I had many encounter cards coming. Red skull threw so many minions at me, but no attacks happened because I was in alter ego. It was like I was suddenly sneaking around while he sent his entire army after me, then the next turn when I flipped back and was able to finish the game, felt like I'd just jumped into the room and dealt the final blow to the villain when his army was just about to win. So much fun! When it works, it is absolutely brilliant.
yes, the stories that this games creates on a regular basis are amazing, but the ones that grow out of gameplay situations (i'll never forget when ms. marvel sacrificed herself to save her idol captain marvel when we were going up against green goblin for the first time), and also from the thematic touches on the cards (like spiderwoman retreating from the battle, only to spy on the enemy from afar to reveal their plans and then sneaking back in "inconspicuous" to thwart those plans. love it, it feels like a comic brought to life by our choices.
i just hope the developers don't forget the narrative in favor of the gameplay. it's a bummer than hawkeye has zero out of costume content, for instance. i appreciate that he needs all those arrows for balance, but to ignore all the amazing work in the matt fraction run is just a real crying shame. and absorbing man simply makes no sense. i appreciate that i can pretend that "this card really symbolizes something else" to fill in the cracks myself, but why add the cracks in the first place when they've got such a strong template they've developed going back to rhino. don't throw that away FFG team! :)
@@rahdo yes, the alter egos can give so much background and it would be really good if ffg can bring that out in a few of the heroes and scenarios coming up. Thanks for sharing your play through stories too. It's great that we're able to share such cool ways the game comes to life. And thanks for all your content, it really is very good 👍
Just about to watch your mariposas review as my wife and I are big Wingspan fans. 😁
Spider Woman’s prebuilt deck is awesome! You can play her deck on standard and expert and win (maybe make a simple card swap or two!)
Appreciated this honest appraisal of the new campaign and storytelling flaws thereof... Great summary, Rahdo.
@rahdo Ffg designers confirmed at this years online gencon that this was the safe campaign expansion that would be basic, they said the guardians of galaxy campaign coming next will be more in depth including a new market where you can spend money between scenerios to buy new cards and items and upgrades to your ship. So I think your wishes will soon be granted :-)
Hey Rahdo, think of misison 1 and 2 this way, Peter Parker doesn't have time to see Aunt May, but he swings to a corner and grabs his backpack and takes a quick snack that Aunt May made for him. Steve Rogers doesn't go back to his apartment, but maybe he pulls out his cellphone and checks the security cameras of his apartment. When you are playing those cards. Switching to Alt-Ego I thought the way you had it but switching to Alt-Ego sometimes is just taking a quick break from the fight to take a quick breather.
Sure, you can stretch things as far as you want to maintain conceits, but why should we have to when the developers already nailed a really fresh approach in the core box that makes the game unique? Why turn it into something that feels like other games thematically (like, say, Aeon's End) and requires us jumping through thematic hoops and ignoring flavor text that's on the card? It makes no sense to me... all downside and no upside, just so we can say that our fight with Absorbing Man was resolved in 2 pages of one issue of a comic, rather than he was a problem for 3 issues that kept coming back into our lives? Why de-marvel Marvel Champions?
Can I play the story with other heroes?
yes. you can plat with any combination of heroes.
Darren Matthews super
Thanks for the review! I got the base game when it came out but never really got into it due to the lack of campaigny feeling. I don't need a campaign like the one in the Arkham card game (I enjoy LoTR card game more, actually). But I just felt something missing in the Marvel game and I never got any expansions. However, I decided to keep the base game until the campaign expansions came out to give it another try. I wonder if this box would change my mind..?
I'm surprised you found the "Peter Parker visiting his Aunt May" so difficult to imagine as just giving her a call or getting a box of cookies from her, or even remembering what he's fighting for. You don't need to approach these cards too literally - I mean after all, the whole concept of Super Heroes is ridiculous.
my point is that when the game first came out, the developers designed boss missions that took place over days or weeks or even months, and so it was internally thematically consistent that heroes can 'take a break' and the alter ego cards hint at them living their lives, making a deeper and richer storytelling experience. but as time has gone on, they're ignoring that by creating missions that are at most an hour in length (in-game), and so that throws away what makes the game so unqiue and thematic
I loved it. Just went through the last 2 yday. 2p with out of the box decks. Won all first try. Gonna do expert with one more hero I think. Making better decks.
Cap is still Steve, even with his suit on, so it makes perfect sense that he would have access to the more “pedestrian” aspects of his person. He’s not necessarily “going back to his apartment.”
He's talking about the card that's literally called "Steve's Apartment"...
Corey Batten I know. And I feel he’s taking it too literally.
@@RiddleFlowOn So what are you suggesting that card represents? Him just thinking about his apartment?
Corey Batten I think this suggests he accesses his non- Captain America self which might mean many different things.
Would you play marvel legendary or champions more?
champions definitely
Great points about the “thematic confusion” in the campaign scenarios. I think it would have been stronger if each villain had separate, non-campaign main schemes for when you play them each as a stand alone experience. Because some of the main schemes don’t make a lick of sense in stand alone. Like Absorbing Man, his main scheme is literally just him standing there???? Outside of the campaign context, that main scheme makes no sense.
I also agree with your fear of the alter-ego sides of heroes become less important. Hawkeye and Spider woman both have very uninteresting alter-ego sides and abilities. I find myself never flipping forms with either when I go up to hero form. But we are getting Ant Man and wasp later, and I think it would be a crime not to sink into the thematic gameplay elements of each of their respective alter-ego sides.
Also, about Spider Woman’s deck building thing. I think the devs were trying to sink into the theme of versatility as a spy. Rather than pigeon-holing her to one role by only pairing her with one aspect, the player gets to decide what 2 roles they want to fill on the team and go from there.
Sorry about the long comment, but this is one of my favorite games of all time lol
good points across the board! :)
I think the thematic storyline gripe is going to get worst with the Galaxy's Most Wanted campaign box. It looks like we will be having missions in outer space. So I don't think Peter Parker is gonna be taking a ship back to Earth to visit Aunt May just to heal up. Unless they have a teleporter nearby.
yupyup. if it were me, i'd include in the GMW expansion some basic cards that are general purpose "hanging out on the milano" style cards that players can put in their hero decks as replacements for hero alter-ego cards, so that there are thematic things that they can do while in alter-ego form. easy peasy. fingers crossed FFG shows an interest in maintaining their fictional conceits :)
hail hydra!
In some ways they have revisited the sticking point of LotR. The immersion in the world is fantastic. But each scenario requires you to create a new party. Since the book LotR was about three separate party's on a constant journey, requiring a different party make up every scenario breaks up the theme. I look on it as each scenario is a different comic book (OK....graphic novel). It is not necessary to have a connection to another scenario. Maybe as I get better and play more the campaign may appeal to me more. For campaign I'll stick to Arkham Horror lcg. It was designed that way from the start and I don't really se MC being able to duplicate that. A very thorough and good review.
Rahdo. Good video. Thank you. I have to push back gently on your big comment that you are concerned about the developers breaking the verisimilitude. That you're putting it on them. What about putting it on the player? Yes and engagement with a villain happens over an hour, it should be on the player playing somatically not to use aunt May don't you think?
i don't put it on the player to make up for shortcomings in the designer's ability to deliver on the promise of the game, because the player isn't developing the game. the player is the customer who paid for a specific experience, and it's disappointing to see the developer start to show signs of "you know what, maybe we're not going to deliver on that promise any more"...
If you play the game regularly, a few times a month maybe, you should be playing the game on expert. There is some serious power creep in the game (for the heroes) and expert in this game is no that hard.
well, it's pretty hard if you make completely randomized aspect decks that get lucky if they have any synergy. try playing the game with no "power of" or "genius" or nick fury cards or any of the other "standards that you always put in the deck". things get much tougher when you have no idea what you're capable of :)
@@rahdo maybe it's time to start netdecking. 😉
@@bikeguy75 hehe, tbh i've looked at hyper effecient super competitive decks, and they're boring to me. only 40 cards... i want 60. i want more cool fun unexpected stuff to happen, rather than just focusing on dupes of a few super cards :)
@@rahdo well its LCG and the deck building is huge portion of game (building decks etc) + the Villains shine in Expert or Heroic1 the most.
You seem to be nitpicking Rahdo.
nope, these are the things that are important to me, that make the game special. ymmv
It is very odd to see a Euro fan complain about a thematic detail in a game. :)
I am not really a Euro gamer but I like some, while I mostly adore good thematic rich games
And let me tell you ONE thing: Marvel Champions is the best game that was published over the past 2 years...
NOT Gloomhaven, the Jaws of the Lion, not Tapestry, not Paladins of the West or other Death may Die KS products etc ....
Nope, this Marvel Champions game - certainly in solo and 2 player mode - is King in the thematic/card/solo/design department of these last 2 years.
I played this well over 150 times already and I do NOT even care about Marvel Comics and certainly not these movies.
It is simple: the game play is a w e s o m e.
/Discussion closed/
with every Final Thoughts video I fear that this is the one where rahdo announces it is the best game possible and the channel is over...
No. It only happens with every second one :D