Foretales, a review of the narrative card game where we save or destroy the world

Card video games remain popular with fans, and the reason is simple: they can always come in many different and interesting forms. A new example of this rule is available today, from September 15, 2022. predictionswhich we told you we tried a few months ago.

don’t wait for one card game It’s not even collectibles like Hearthstone and a simple adventure like Slay the Spire, because Foretales is all about storytelling and exploration, with less emphasis on combat and almost no deck building mechanics.

If you want to know every detail, keep reading ours. Insights reviewIt’s available in the PC version (used in our test) and Nintendo Switch.

world of foretales

Foretales takes us to a medieval-like world filled with anthropomorphic animals. Sherwood dark where you steal from the rich and the poor. We are actually just ordinary thieves, Volepain accepts a commission job with his friend Leo (a tiger) to earn some money: stealing a lira from a mansion in his city.

this theft However, it doesn’t end in the best possible way as Leo is captured and Volepain is cursed by the lyre, causing visions of possible treacherous futures. The world is indeed on the brink of destruction and our task is to prevent catastrophes, or at least some of them.

There complo It will allow us to explore the kingdom by moving from cities and forests to caves and tropical islands. Each area will represent a mission that, if we do it on time, will give us the tools to prevent the futures Volepain sees from happening. Every completed task takes time and every negative event has a countdown.

It’s almost impossible to get the best results on the first try, but that’s okay: Insights wanted to replay (a game takes five to seven hours). Volepain’s own dialogues will change in later games as he retains some volatile memories.

There complo it’s a fairy tale but it’s not obvious: until the end of our second play we were left in doubt as to who the good and the bad really were, because we could even be real monsters if we wanted to, leaving corpses behind us. our way.

There freedom of movement in fact, it applies not only to the selection and sequence of tasks to be completed, but also to our approach to them. For example, trying to complete an entire campaign without killing a single opponent is complex, but the game structure allows us to realize how deep the cards in the hand are.

Reconnaissance, combat and morale

While it is true that Foretales is not a game in the deck building category, it still card game and with them every action takes place.

Each mission it takes us to a place such as a city and places us on a board with three, four or five squares. Each box is an environment like a market or street. A deck contains all the main environments, but there are always additional environments that can be placed only if we use an action card of our characters that have a predefined deck. For example, on a street, Leo may use his nose to find a tavern where other actions can be performed with other cards.

The adventure is based on this mechanic: play a certain card in a certain place to reach certain environments where we can find what we need to progress. Foretales foretells what will happen after a certain action, so it’s not about taking a chance. So it may seem very easy, but the further you go, the more place and card combinations they become complex and it is not always clear what to do, even with various clues.

You may even “get lost” in some cases and some steps sometimes vague: Those who want to prepare the answer immediately can be easily disturbed by the structure of Foretales, let them know. We also believe that the level of difficulty in the final stages is much higher than in the rest of the game: It’s a pity because Foretales only works great when it strikes the perfect balance that is detailed but not too overwhelming. Some changes in some sections would be welcome, but on average we can still be happy with the design of the missions.

But exploring is only part of the game. Many settings and actions do not serve to move forward with the plot, but accumulating valuable resources apply for current mission such as food, money, fame and evil. These are used to get temporary allies, but also for certain objects that are used for special actions and are crucial to combat.

As a rule, war it is just a confrontation between the hero and the enemy in front of him on a special game board. It deals and takes damage, and it’s possible to gain the upper hand, kill enemies through allies, buff cards, and items like throwing knife or Molotov cocktail. But our characters are fragile and as you progress, finding cures will become more and more complicated, so the main challenge is to be able to escape enemies by spending money, fame, evil or certain special cards. Enemies usually have a morale level, and dodging some enemies resets it, causing the remaining enemies to flee.

The game invites us to take action without bloodshed, so we are forced to gather resources in secondary areas, to act in a way that does not increase the number of enemies that follow us and may appear in the places we explore. The characters then have a limited number of cards and you have to spend resources or incur some penalties to get some back, so each mission is like a big timed game of chess where we try to figure out what to do while optimizing the collection. resources.

All this mix of mechanics works so well and it turns out fun, because each location has its own unique dynamics and also offers secondary missions that must be completed to get bonuses. In addition to the fact that we can’t see every setting in a single game, Foretales is fun and interesting even after multiple adventures.

The whole is later decorated by artistic direction by Foretales. The soundtrack is nice and there are many sound effects that make us feel like we’re inside a city or forest, even if in reality there are only static cards in front of us. But the real strength is the narrator, who comments on our every action, like a Dungeon Master telling his players what’s going on around them. Travis Willingham (Critical Role, The Legend of Vox Machina) dubbing is excellent. The cards are then perfectly designed and always very detailed, so much so that we want them all in physical format to collect.