Again in 2018, CD Projekt Crimson launched Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales ($9.99) on PC and ultimately PS4 and Xbox One as the one participant marketing campaign element of its common GWENT card sport. For these unaware, GWENT is a minigame in The Witcher three: Wild Hunt that garnered a ton of followers alongside that launch and that led to a full sport being constructed round it. I performed a little bit of Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales on Xbox One when it arrived there and loved my time with it however felt like it might be higher skilled on Nintendo Switch. The sport finally arrived on Nintendo Change earlier this yr and it’s now on iOS with an Android launch to comply with later within the yr.
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales has you taking over the function of Queen Meve who’s the queen of Lyria and Rivia. As queen, you’re instantly tasked with coping with an invasion and are thrown straight into the motion. The story is filled with effectively written characters, very good voice appearing, and selections you’ll make which have precise penalties. I already anticipated the story right here to be nice however this is likely one of the few video games to really get determination making down. When you do ever assume you need to simply expertise this for the story and never be interrupted by battles and puzzles, you may at all times skip battles on the simple mode.
Journey video games are often pretty brief on cell. Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales however is round 28 to 30 hours lengthy and might be shorter or longer relying on problem. Gwent veterans are higher off on greater difficulties whereas individuals who aren’t excited about Gwent may even go for the bottom setting that permits you to skip Gwent encounters. It’s nice to see accessibility choices like this in lengthy video games.
The core gameplay in Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales includes exploring, gathering sources, speaking to individuals, and each puzzles and fight that contain Gwent. Assets might be gathered by tapping and holding when close to a focal point. There’s additionally a camp menu that permits you to improve, work in your deck, recruit, and extra. I used to be very impressed by the areas you discover right here. The faucet and maintain for gathering sources bought tiring although. As an introduction to Gwent’s mechanics, this does an honest job with explanations initially however it isn’t nice and you will want to spend time studying and practising by yourself. It doesn’t assist that the stability may be very completely different throughout Thronebreaker (solo expertise) and Gwent itself (multiplayer stability).
As with different opinions I’ve finished for ports which are additionally on different programs, I’ve tried Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales on Xbox One X and PC along with iOS to check how the sport fares throughout completely different on the subject of visuals, efficiency, and management choices.
When a sport that’s consoles and PC arrives on cell, one would hope that each one management choices can be supported as a result of cell is sort of as versatile as PC on the subject of inputs. Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales has controller help on PC along with keyboard and mouse help. On iOS, it solely has contact controls. I attempted an Xbox One controller and a Steelseries Nimbus and had no luck with controller help. The contact controls work rather well on iPad and nearly as effectively on iPhone however controller help would’ve been good because the sport already helps it on different programs. It’s nice to see haptic suggestions supported although.
Having the ability to sync progress between PC and cell by means of each GOG and Steam is one thing extra video games must do however the implementation right here leaves quite a bit to be desired. For GOG, when you register, you may sync progress however must enter your password if you wish to sync it once more. For Steam, it is advisable to login fully every time you need to sync which may be very annoying. I believed this might be as seamless as syncing progress between PC and Nintendo Change for The Witcher three however that is removed from as effectively finished.
With regards to visuals, Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales has a really stylised look. It brings a mixture of level and click on motion in an isometric setting, visible novel styled segments, cutscenes, and naturally Gwent. For a sport that brings so many various visible views, it nails the aesthetic. All the things from the interface to the precise card battles and motion look nice on my iPhone 11. On iPad Air 2 and iPad Professional, I observed some property had been a lot decrease decision than they need to be. The loading screens which have playing cards displayed are noticeably blurry in comparison with the precise gameplay that’s clear.
Efficiency has been erratic on iPad as effectively however I’m not shocked about this given the random body drops I skilled with my time on Xbox One X the place it targets 60fps. On iPhone 11 and the 2 iPads I performed on, Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales targets 30fps and largely holds that. On iPhone 11, my expertise has been nearly excellent barring some interface parts being a bit too small. On an iPad the place every part scales higher, efficiency is lower than best on each iPad Air 2 (anticipated) and the primary era iPad Professional (disappointing).
The sport has a graphics choices menu that you would be able to mess around with as effectively with choices for graphics high quality, vsync, anti aliasing, and animations for premium playing cards. This didn’t assist me in any respect with making an attempt to make the sport run easy on the primary era iPad Professional.
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales has glorious music and very good voice appearing. The manufacturing values on this launch are very excessive normally however the audio is sensible throughout the board. This has extra voice appearing than many AAA video games I’ve performed. Whereas there are some acquainted tunes from The Witcher 3, the unique rating for Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is effectively value a pay attention by itself as effectively. That is positively on my record for the very best soundtracks of the yr on iOS.
In its present state, the most important points with Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales on iOS are in its visuals and efficiency on my iPads, the non seamless cloud save help, and lack of controller help. Relying on how a lot these facets influence your expertise in video games, your general enjoyment on this glorious story would possibly change. When you’re simply wanting into this for a card sport, I’d advocate wanting elsewhere although. Gwent is enjoyable however this sport is extra concerning the story and the world than simply Gwent. I additionally really feel like newcomers to Gwent may need a tough time understanding the mechanics right here with out some trial and error which may really feel annoying. Different card video games do a greater job with tutorials.
General, Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales on iOS is an important for any followers of The Witcher three and Gwent. When you don’t like card video games however benefit from the world of CD Projekt Crimson’s Witcher the storytelling right here will greater than make up for that. You possibly can even play on a decrease problem to skip encounters if you happen to simply need to expertise the story and world. The writing and story are sturdy sufficient to even make this value it for many who don’t know something about The Witcher since this can be a standalone expertise. With a couple of fixes and enhancements, the iOS model of Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales can simply be one of the best ways to play it.