Author: Trafficblast

Legends of Runeterra is a brand new digital card game based on the League of Legends universe, and from our time with it during PAX Aus 2019, it actually feels like it has some interesting new takes on the genre. Here’s how it works.

Naturally, Legends of Runeterra is based around Champions, many of whom will be familiar to League of Legends fans. Champions and other cards are associated with six of the major regions of Runeterra (Demacia, Noxus, Ionia, Piltover & Zaun, Freljord, and the Shadow Isles), which represent the idea of classes or colours, in other card games. But the game features plenty of aspects that will be familiar to players of other digital card games, too.

GAME FLOW

Your mana pool increases steadily each turn, much like Hearthstone, which sets the pace of play. Mana allows you to play things like creature and champion cards, which have the typical attack and defense stats as well as other abilities or buffs which decide how they’ll fair in battle. You want to be able to attack your opponent’s Nexus (which every MOBA-fan should hopefully be familiar with) bringing its health to 0 to win the game. Games tend to last for about 15 to 20 minutes.

However, where Legends of Runeterra separates from other examples of the genre is in the finer details on how you can do Nexus damage. Spells, for instance, can do direct damage but they use a different mana pool from your character cards and can almost always be countered. Some spells will be fast or slow, and they queue up in the middle of the battlefield according to their order.

All cards are played out in turns, which is not something I’m used to seeing in digital card games. These spell turns are segmented into rounds, where one player will be on the offensive and the other defends. There are multiple turns in these rounds, where each player has a chance to play their characters and spells until the actual attack. This adds some interesting strategy–you can bait another person out by slowly adding to your arsenal, rather than playing everything at once. Then, the attack actually happens and unless a status on the card says otherwise, it’s blockers choice.

CHAMPIONS

The champion cards have objectives on them, which allow you to level up those cards and become more powerful so long as they aren’t taken out during the battle. You can choose to use one champion to build your decks around or add more–which is limited depending on the game style–and the idea is to create a synergistic playstyle. This aspect feels reminiscent of Magic The Gathering and the choices it offers in mixing colours for new playstyles.

For example, a champion may level up after you’ve dealt a certain amount of damage to enemies and another may require you to have targeted a set number of enemies. Having both of these cards in the same deck would allow you to level them up and gain their heightened abilities at the same time, without wasting any resources. Perhaps stacking this deck with cheap cards so you can target enemies faster would help you level up even faster to gain an advantage. On the other hand, having different objectives might also offer more flexibility, so deciding how you build decks to achieve your own goals looks like it will add several layers or potential strategy to games.

For fans of the lore behind League of Legends, there’s also the promise of plenty of new narrative content. Fresh stories will also play out through Legends of Runeterra with plans to introduce new characters and champions as the game builds, which will also allow for new cards and playstyles. Legends of Runeterr and League of Legends share the same universe, so it’s not some weird spinoff where everyone’s just playing cards in a tavern.

META AND MICROTRANSACTIONS

Legends of Runeterra all plays quite well, and as someone who’s quite familiar with different digital card games, I was able to pick it up quickly after a few rounds in the tutorial. It has the same drag and drop style you’ll likely be familiar with, and getting into it is just a matter of learning all the new terms, quirks, and cards. The game definitely struck me as the kind that’s simple on the surface, but with extra complexity stashed away in the deck-building meta, if that’s your jam.

The good, and somewhat surprising news is that when it comes to deckbuilding, there appear to be no purchasable random card packs. Legends of Runeterra is still a free-to-play game, however, and though you can’t spend your hard-earned real money on random cards, you can instead pay a set price for “wild cards.” These differ in cost based on rarity, but are a straight swap for whichever card you want in that tier. Even then, this system is limited to a certain number of purchases per week, and I was assured by Riot representatives that it’s not the kind of game you can pay-to-win.

Instead, the only way to get a substantial amount of cards is by playing, but it does look like these can be somewhat unpredictable. You can complete quests and level up to unlock cards from your chosen region, which can be changed at any time. Playing will also level up your weekly vault, which contains more chests full of more random cards. But the ability to pick and choose what you want to do to unlock cards was emphasised as a way to give players at least some agency over how they play the game.

The idea appears to be that those who put the time in–regardless of what they do–will have the most cards and diverse decks, while still giving players on the other end of the spectrum the ability to obtain specific cards with a level of certainty. There did seem to be a fair amount of cards available from the onset, at least in the build we played, but how this system fares for more casual players is something we need to wait and see.

You’ll also be able to use real money on cosmetics, and Legends of Runeterra is an intensely visual game. The card art is stunningly detailed and the board is very Hearthstone-like, featuring little interactive touches. Cards animate when played and sometimes even emoji-style stickers will pop on the screen. When champion cards level up, they’ll take over the whole screen to play an animation and even attacking seems a bit more extra than most other digital card games. I could still tell what was happening most of the time, so the flair doesn’t feel like it gets in the way but, it is a visual feast.

ONGOING SUPPORT

While not being presented as an esport yet, Riot has promised regular monthly balance updates to keep the meta shifting, as well as a ranked system currently in development. The general synopsis seems bent against the level of randomness that can often be present in card games, so Legends of Runeterra could be quite competitive in a very different way to what we’re used to seeing in the genre.

If you’re curious about Legends of Runeterra, the good news is you can pre-register for your chance to play it now, and unlock the exclusive Moonstruck Poro Guardian at launch. The announcement comes as a part of the League of Legends 10th anniversary celebration and you’ll find a selection of folks with access streaming the game live as we speak. In a month’s time, there will be a five-day preview where more people who pre-registered will be allowed in, and then a larger closed beta in 2020 before launch on PC and Mobile platforms sometime during that year.

The final season of Arrow has officially begun, and it is already having major ramifications for the upcoming Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event. Warning: The following contains spoilers from the Season 8 premiere of Arrow, titled “Starling City.”.

At the conclusion of the episode, it was revealed that Earth 2 had been wiped from existence as Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Diggle (David Ramsey) were preparing to leave and return home. While they made it out, along with Laurel (Katie Cassidy Rodgers), this development has thrown a wrench into the Arrow-verse.

“It does indicate that Crisis [on Infinite Earths] is starting earlier than we thought,” Arrow executive producer Beth Schwartz revealed during a press Q&A for the episode. While viewers had been led to believe that the majority of the Crisis would occur during the crossover, with the early season episodes of Arrow, Supergirl, The Flash, and Batwoman setting the stage for what was to come, that’s all out the window now.

Instead, with the destruction of Earth 2, the Crisis has begun. That, paired with the revelation that the Monitor expects The Flash (Grant Gustin) to die during the event, makes for an interesting couple of months leading up to the crossover. What remains a mystery, though, is how the loss of Earth 2 will play out in upcoming episodes of the various shows. The Flash fans, especially, are going to be wondering what this means for Harry (Tom Cavanagh), a fan-favorite version of Harrison Wells that resides in the alternate universe.

Whatever the case, the Season 8 premiere of Arrow did its job. “We don’t have that many episodes, so we wanted to start big and we wanted to introduce the upcoming Crisis immediately because that is what this season is about and what Oliver is struggling with the entire time,” Schwartz explained.

That said, don’t expect a planet to get obliterated in every episode this season. Schwartz confirmed that the remaining episodes of Season 8, outside of the crossover, will take place entirely on Earth 1. However, they will see Oliver on the road.

“In our upcoming episodes we visit places that we’ve gone to in our previous seasons, so they’ll take place in different locations,” Schwartz said. “I think we only have maybe one or two episodes actually in Star City.”

Now viewers will have to wait to find out exactly where Arrow is headed. If old locations are being revisited, though, don’t be surprised if Oliver winds up on Lian Yu to say one last goodbye to his favorite island.

Arrow airs Tuesdays on The CW.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

AMC’s zombie TV show The Walking Dead recently returned for its 10th season, and it seems the show is losing steam in some categories but rising in others. According to Deadline, the episode, “We Are the End of the World,” drew 3.47 million viewers on traditional linear TV.

That is the lowest number of viewers for any episode in the show over its 10-year history. It’s down 7 percent from the Season 10 premiere a week previously.

There are a number of contributing factors to the big declines in viewership. First, every episode of The Walking Dead is now available two days early on AMC’s digital streaming service AMC Premiere. Additionally, the initial numbers do not tell the whole story of an individual episode’s success and viewership.

For the Season 10 premiere, the “Live + 3 ratings” were actually up 50 percent in the 18-49 demographic and 45 percent overall. Live + 3 ratings are the total number of people who watch live and over the next three days with DVR plays. The Live + 3 ratings for Season 10, Episode 2 have not been released yet.

However you look at the numbers, however, The Walking Dead is trending downwards in total viewership compared to the earlier seasons. Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman ended the comic book series earlier this year, and that might have impacted viewership, too. Still, with the numbers it still gets, The Walking Dead is among the most popular shows on linear TV.

AMC recently renewed The Walking Dead for Season 11. In addition to the show, AMC is producing multiple Walking Dead movies starring Rick Grimes.

The dichotomy of beauty and violence has always been a driving theme in The Witcher series. The Northern Realms’ gorgeous vistas are dotted with war-torn battlefields, kindness–no matter how fleeting it may be–is often juxtaposed with savagery, and even the warmest characters have a cold and calculated side to them. That neverending tug-of-war is ever-present in The Witcher 3, even when its stripped-down visuals may obscure some of that beauty.

Everything is here in the Nintendo Switch version–The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, its two expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, and all of its DLC. The main game alone offers dozens of superb quests filled with interesting characters, fantastic twists, and rewarding combat encounters. As Kevin VanOrd said in GameSpot’s original review, “Excellence abounds at every turn in this open-world role-playing game.” The same is mostly true for the Nintendo Switch version.

As you’d expect, the visuals have been pared down significantly. The textures are muddied, the draw-distances are reined in, and the resolution has taken a hit. These issues are exacerbated during docked play. While it technically runs at a higher frame rate and resolution docked, these visual issues are all the more noticeable when projected onto a larger screen.

The standard Nintendo Switch’s 6.2-inch screen does a great job of hiding the blemishes. Even though it’s running at a lower resolution, the smaller screen gives it a much crisper look, so the poor textures and pop-in are less apparent. If you do plan on playing it in handheld mode, you can, thankfully, adjust the size of the HUD to make things easier to read.

C’mon, this is what you’re really here for

For returning players, the visual downgrade may require some getting used to. However, focusing solely on The Witcher 3’s visuals does this port a disservice. Four years later, the game is still massive in scope, and seeing the battle-scarred swamps of Velen, jagged peaks of Skellige, and sprawling countryside of Toussaint on a technically inferior platform is still a sight to behold.

More importantly, the grittier look of the Switch port doesn’t affect The Witcher 3’s core gameplay. The combat and exploration may be smoother on a PC, Xbox One X, or PS4 Pro, but I found performance to be consistent throughout a wide variety of combat encounters and locales. After nearly 30 hours, I haven’t experienced any significant frame rate dips. Even the swamps in Velen–an area notorious for causing frame rate issues on PS4 and Xbox One–are comparable to the rest of the experience on Switch. According to developer CD Projekt Red, the frame rate should range between 24 and 30 frames per second. In populated areas like Novigrad, the frame rate dipped to the lower end of that range. Given the slower pace of The Witcher 3, I never found these dips to be an issue, even in the heat of combat.

The Witcher 3’s visual prowess may have been a selling point for some in 2015, but the Nintendo Switch version is a reminder that there is far more to this adventure than a pretty picture. Even today, there are few games that can rival the storytelling and worldbuilding on display here. Nothing is as simple as it seems, and every thread you pull on reveals enticing new details about this world and its characters.

The Nintendo Switch version is a reminder that there is far more to this adventure than a pretty picture

The vast web of decisions and consequences is just as impressive as it was in 2015. While it may not be apparent on your first playthrough, your actions–both big and small–can have serious repercussions, even if you were trying to do the right thing. What’s more impressive is how well fleshed-out each of these paths are and how they ebb and flow through main quests and side quests. While many outcomes are bittersweet by design, none feel underdeveloped.

Where The Witcher 3 continues to shine is in its many deeply human stories. While the political aspects of the main story give context to the world and the characters that inhabit it, it’s the interactions Geralt has with its denizens that gives weight to the experience. There are no good guys or bad guys. There are just people fighting to find hope in an oppressive world. Many of the quests provoke questions like: Would you hurt others for those you love? Can even the most vile of men be forgiven? How far can fear drive someone?

The superb storytelling continues in the game’s two expansions. Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. While not necessary to the main narrative, these two expansions are thoughtful addendums to Geralt’s story. Blood and Wine in particular is a heartfelt send-off for the storied series. If you’re jumping back into the game and just want to experience these, you can skip to them right when you load it up for the first time.

Although the Nintendo Switch might not be the best platform to play The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, it’s still a fantastic experience that shouldn’t be missed. If you are looking to replay The Witcher 3 and bask in its detail and beauty, the Switch port may not quite scratch that itch. However, what makes this game excellent isn’t its graphics, but the powerful stories it tells, and those are as vivid as ever on Switch.