Questions about game length and complexity

[Nom]

I know the game just came out, but I'm curious about a few things:

* About how long does it take to finish all the quests?

* Do you play a single character all the way through the campaign, or is there a system like retirement in Gloomhaven, so you have a chance to play different characters?

* Aside from trying another character, is there any replayability, like campaign choices, deciding between quest A or B, etc?

* Can you ever equip more than three cards at once? Do you ever get more powerful cards that have a cooldown / exhaust mechanic, or other interesting card choices?

* Can you ever equip more than one trinket?

Basically, I want to make sure the game isn't just a quick 20 hour romp that doesn't give you more options per round than three infinite-use cards and one trinket. Thanks!

[Dominosugar]

I would also like to no how much playtime one can expect from a playthrough of the campaign.

[CdbSora]

-Playtesters reported in the 30-40 hour range for each individual playthrough. I've only done 1 session with my partner, but it took us about 3 hours to do the prologue missions + 2 side missions, and with playtesters saying that act 3 quests took them twice as long as act 1, it for sure seems accurate.

-You choose your characters at the start and, outside of having the choice to swap with other people you're playing with in multiplayer, you stick with those characters and grow them throughout the game.

-the game has a LOT of replayability. Different heroes play VERY differently, even different builds on the same hero work entirely differently, every chapter has 3 unique side quests of which you only get to do 2, and you can't built up full relationship with every NPC in one playthrough as well.

-I've heard that you maybe get the ability to equip 4, but i'm very unclear on that so take it with a grain of salt. You get more skill cards as you level up, and each works in very different ways, but none are ever "stronger"; you can rock the base 3 all the way through the game if that's what you want your build to be, but i'd say the important part is that every card i've seen so far has very clear uses in multiple different builds, so the choices are very nice. Also, you will get a LOT of new Fate cards (modifier cards you draw whenever you attack), and they can range from basic +1s, +0s that give you buffs, or even one my partner got which was -4, stun + expose the target. So overall, there is a LOT of buildcrafting in this game. Also yes, every hero has an Ultimate you unlock at I believe level 6, which is your big boomy cooldown card. (also, Arcanist has to pay a mana cost for their stronger cards, so you may be interested in playing them : ) )

-At level six you get a second trinket slot, yes. You also unlock the smithy that can craft weapons for you, which I believe have their own effects, but I haven't unlocked it yet so can't say for sure what weapons do for you. Also you unlock a clothier to change your guys colors, the most important aspect : )

hope this insane rambling helps!!

edit to add: forgot to say that the general structure of the campaign (after the prologue) is 3 acts, with 3 chapters each. Each chapter is 1 main mission + 2 (out of the three available) side quests, plus a town visit where you can talk to 3 npcs per hero in between each mission.

[Jupiter VIII]

CdbSora covered a lot already, but I started typing this out so I'll finish lol

Originally posted by Nom:

I know the game just came out, but I'm curious about a few things:

* About how long does it take to finish all the quests?

* Do you play a single character all the way through the campaign, or is there a system like retirement in Gloomhaven, so you have a chance to play different characters?

* Aside from trying another character, is there any replayability, like campaign choices, deciding between quest A or B, etc?

* Can you ever equip more than three cards at once? Do you ever get more powerful cards that have a cooldown / exhaust mechanic, or other interesting card choices?

* Can you ever equip more than one trinket?

Basically, I want to make sure the game isn't just a quick 20 hour romp that doesn't give you more options per round than three infinite-use cards and one trinket. Thanks!

I'll try and go through this one by one

* Campaign length is going to vary depending on the amount of heroes in play, as you'll likely want to coordinate actions and attack combinations (and also because the amount of enemies scales with the amount of heroes) - so there are missions that can last anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour.

* You can add up to four individual heroes to a campaign run (and remove them again if you wish); but once you've added, say, a Berzerker, Pyromancer, Ranger and Arcanist to your party, you'll be able to swap between them, but locked out of adding the other available heroes to your party.

* There are moments in the campaign where, for example, you choose to complete 2 out of 3 available missions before the story progresses. As such, a second campaign is likely to include missions you didn't experience the first time around. On top of this, the biggest element of choice probably comes from your interactions with the inhabitants of Arden. Between missions you will be able to converse with the townsfolk, you're limited to a certain number of conversations between missions so you'll be deciding who to strengthen your relationships with - and each have their own benefits and bonuses!

*As your heroes level up, they will gain access to new ability cards which you can equip/unequip between missions; so the abilites you have at the outset of the campaign are just the beginning!

* You will also unlock an additional trinket slot as you level up, but these are just two of a bunch of elements and mechanics that open up as you progress

Hope this helps!

[Nom]

Thank you both for the great info!

For other people on the fence, I also found an interview that the dev team did on Gamerant that talks more about equipment like trinkets and weapons, and how varied they are in what they can do and how they are activated, even sometimes acting out of turn order. It sounds like you can make a very personalized build even if you can only bring 3 cards into battle.

I saw in a let's play that you can gift items and gold to other party members, so if you open a chest and get an awesome equip for your friend's build, it's easy to send it their way. Also, there's a kitchen where you can choose passives, and the Oracle randomly gives out a new fate card after each mission for a low price... Seems like cool stuff to me.

[Jupiter VIII]

Originally posted by Nom:

Thank you both for the great info!

For other people on the fence, I also found an interview that the dev team did on Gamerant that talks more about equipment like trinkets and weapons, and how varied they are in what they can do and how they are activated, even sometimes acting out of turn order. It sounds like you can make a very personalized build even if you can only bring 3 cards into battle.

I saw in a let's play that you can gift items and gold to other party members, so if you open a chest and get an awesome equip for your friend's build, it's easy to send it their way. Also, there's a kitchen where you can choose passives, and the Oracle randomly gives out a new fate card after each mission for a low price... Seems like cool stuff to me.

Yes absolutely - I think what you mention here speaks to the fact that there are a LOT of different trinkets to experiment with. The possibilities are... well, "endless" is not true strictly speaking, but there are a lot of combinations of heroes/abilities/trinkets/meals and more to switch up every encounter!