by ScrewTape
I have not posted or really followed the discussion on these boards because I did not want to say anything that might violate the NDA. Now that it has been lifted I wanted to give my option of the game.Firstly my disclosure, I am a fan of Descent Road to Legend. My group (three of us) have probably played about 250-300 hours of RtL over several campaigns. While I love RtL I do believe that it does have problems with balance. This is one of the main reasons I was so excited about Descent v2 with a built in campaign system (instead of a tacked on system). Our group played through the campaign twice while also playing a few non-campaign adventures to learn the rules. We played with all but... one (?) of the heroes. I'll start with the changes I like then the changes I don't like and end with my conclusion.
The good/meh:
Can you really play a session in two hours? Once you learn the rules yes. Conservatively I would plan for three hours counting setup, play, (I recommend two encounters since they are linked) and tear down.
"But the overlord only draws one card and there is no threat!" At first I wasn't too keen on "no threat". With play I much prefer the new system. The OL deck is now only 15 cards (when you add new cards you have the option to cull cards keeping your deck at 15). This allows the OL to have a focused strategy. Also there are no more throw away cards. In our RtL sessions "gust of wind", "trapmaster", "brilliant commander", etc. were always throw away cards while "beastman war party", "skeleton patrol", "sorcerer circle" etc were always cards that would be played. There are no more "trash" cards. While the OL only draws one card per turn it will be a good card. Also because the OL deck is at 15 cards he will be able to see the cards he wants to see over the course of the adventure.
Defensive dice. Again this was something I didn't seem to keen on when reading over the rules. In practice it isn't too bad. Everyone gets to roll dice! Yipppeee! I'm kinda "meh" it doesn't really add anything to the game but I don't think it really detracts from the game either.
No more death/resurrection/conquest value. This was something I was unsure about when I read the rules. In practice I think I like it better than the conquest mechanic. In our games a full party knock out would always be a loss for the heroes. This felt right to me. It forces a little more teamwork from the heroes as they will need to make sure that you can revive a knocked out hero when they fall.
No more spawning. Wow. This is *wonderful*. For me this is, hands down, the best improvement in the game. The heroes do not need to spend time trying to control spawning points every turn. That change alone speed up our game play dramatically.
The bad:
Large monster movement (and large monsters in general). No one in our group liked the large monster movement rules. While the rules are streamlined and easy to execute I feel as though they make the large monsters more powerful than they should be. This, along with the new reinforcement rules, created an issue in our group where large monsters were almost always selected (when given an option) due to them being better (in almost all cases) than small monsters.
The power of immobilize. Our group found this condition to be much better than the other conditions. I like the idea of immobilize but I don't like how the mechanic works in the game.
Conclusion:
Is Descent v2 still Descent? I think "Yes". It is still a tactical miniatures game with character development. You still roll dice. You still move around on squares. The overlord still controls creatures. The overlord still draws cards. Most of the streamlining improves the game.
If you want a one vs many dungeon crawl that can be played in 2-3 hours get this game. If you liked Descent v1 but didn't like the time commitment get this game.
As a Descent RtL lover I enjoyed this game. It was fun to try out the different heroes as well as the different options the OL had (I did play both sides).
I found the OL play a little more engaging in v2 due to the knowledge of the "stakes" of the first encounter of the adventure. The OL could decide when he wanted to make his big move. Is winning map #1 of the adventure worth spending a good card early or should you hold it in your hand until encounter #2?
I do miss my strategic level map in RtL. I have already suggested that the strategic map be brought back in an expansion.
