I haven’t seen the quote itself, is there any kind of context missing? I could see a statement like “With the way we have characters and enhancements currently coded, it’s not possible to provide that as a game option without a code refactor”. I could see them not having time to refactor that prior to 1.0 so in that sense it would not be possible.
Again, though, I haven’t seen the quote so I’m only speculating.
How different is Gloomhaven Digital from the original board game?
A 1:1 adaptation was both not possible or desirable, as digital platforms and their gameplay have their own advantages and drawbacks compared to tabletop. Keep in mind that differences remain very minor and Gloomhaven Digital is a very faithful adaptation of the original gameplay and design.
Every difference implemented in Gloomhaven Digital was closely discussed and custom-tailored together with the original board game author, Isaac Childres, to ensure we stayed true to Gloomhaven’s core design.
Oh, going from that quote, they weren’t talking about enhancements specifically, but the game as a whole. IMHO “not possible” is a reasonable statement in that case since you’re not going to be able to recreate the tactile feel of going through the cards in your hand etc etc.
I also wonder if “not possible” in that context it might mean “Isaac Childres wanted it to be this way now that he’s not limited by the physical card medium”. That is, they did so at the direction of Mr. Childres.
Personally, I found the idea of permanent enhancements (especially given their cost) kind of appealing in terms of metaprogression of the campaign along with raising the prosperity of Gloomhaven. It was one of the things I was looking forward to most in the campaign when all that was available was the Guildmaster mode so I’m happy to see it coming as an option!
Agreed. Permanent enhancements is just way more fun (to use the dreaded word), and honestly how often do you replay a character anyways?
I don’t think anyone was expecting Gloomhaven Digital to put physical cards in their hand.
A wave of retirements has given me my first look at the Sun, Music Notes, and Two Minis/Phoenix classes. Simultaneously. Wow, it’s like a whole new game again.
First outing, with my beloved Mindthief, and after three turns I thought I was in big trouble. The Mindthief was in HP trouble and poisoned, and I felt at a bit of a loss how to use these new toys. But they rather quickly blew away the monsters, despite the Mindthief being less of a factor than usual. These classes have a lot to offer, none of which looks anything like the previous classes.
Yeah. I reckon Music Notes is probably the single best class in the game, at least in parties of 3 or 4. So much utlility.
I’m currently playing Two Minis in my campaign with real people. It’s a very different way of playing compared to the classes I’ve played before (spellweaver and Moon/Eclipse).
This is one of the real strengths of Gloomhaven. Different classes (especially the locked ones) play so differently. You get to break the game in tons of different ways.
Yeah, my first reaction was that this class would be tough because the game is so perk-dependent. Get perks, and the character rolls through stuff. And so few of the perk opportunities for each mission fit the Music Note very well.
But then I realized – this class probably doesn’t need perks so much, anyway. :)
Oh, heh, for music note I turned it into a slippery death machine. The lvl 4 song where all enemies get disadvantage is amazing, and you don’t really need to focus on crowd control with that out (though you still can, and be excellent at it). Get the item that boosts your standard attack-2, and the one that gives +1 to your attack if you move at least 4 (easy with this class), and then with that perk deck you can just sing-and-shank until the cows come home.
You can routinely do 6-7 point stabs with perks.
Is there any timeframe for when that major update is coming out?
My biggest complaint with the Two Minis character is that it makes the interface difficult to use. The bear is, of course, on the front lines but the Beast Tyrant himself is far back, often two rooms back. With the result that the camera stubbornly centers far from the front lines and makes it difficult to plot moves on the scree, even when rotating the screen. A noticeable problem on my PC but a larger problem on my smaller laptop screen… First thing criticism I have had of the job they did turning this into a digital game.
I think the video said before the end of the year. Which is really soon! 🤞
Serious trouble with Music Notes: it is so good, I can no longer imagine playing without it. :)
Two Minis is also very, very good. But I am finding it a little tough to control. Maybe it’s bugs in the digital and maybe a lack of understanding on my part. But, for example, if I decline to use one of the parts of Activated Rage on a given turn, should I have control over the bear’s movement 5 on the bottom half of Howling Bolts? Should I be able to choose between two adjacent enemies with the attack 4 on the top of Maul? I’d swear that the game is inconsistent about this. And I’d also swear that the game is inconsistent over whether other characters’ abilities to move allies work on the bear. But, as I say, I may simply not understand something.
In any case, this is getting to be even more fun now that I am into scenarios I never played in tabletop.
There’s a couple of scenario’s where having Two Mini’s make them so easy it’s almost trivial…
I have certainly found it high powered to the point of OP, but I have also found that there is a balancing factor. Let’s say that you have not yet opened the door to the next room, but there is an enemy unit far behind, who you have no need whatsoever to deal with. But if that bear gets to act before the door is opened, he will head backwards towards that worse-than-useless target… and if this puts him closer to that target than the enemies in the next room, he will then continue backwards. A raging bear is not totally controllable, so this is excellent in terms of gameplay. But still a strategic downside.
It’s definitely true that a large part of playing the character well is managing the movement of both characters…
The card that lets you swap positions of any two things breaks a huge number of missions.