Following the bouncing ball, the upcoming Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is a spin-off of Gwent: The Witcher Card Game which was a playable card game found in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt which is a video game adaptation of Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher series. Personally, I like the books, love The Witcher 3, skipped much of the in-game Gwent, but I'm liking what I see of Thronebreaker.
Thronebreaker is a single-player game using Gwent for battles, but also has a hand drawn isometric map for moving around the world, visual novel screens for telling some of its story, a full-on D&D-style narrator during the more text adventure segments, and a Darkest Dungeon-style customizable home base. It all comes together very nicely in this GameSpot gameplay video. The storyline trailer above is just a rapid-fire teaser, but the gameplay is finally making me look at The Witcher universe again for the first time since The Witcher 3's 2015 launch.
Thronebreaker has a 30-hour campaign with 20 possible "world end-states." That probably means there are degrees on a scale in which the game could end—not necessarily that there are 20 wildly variant earth-shattering endings; but I'm largely guessing. Still, good to know that your choices make a difference when all is said and done.
I'm pleasantly surprised. I mean, this type of game isn't going to steal headlines away from the big AAA fall/winter season we're heading into, but I like what I see. Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales launches October 23 on GOG.com, and on December 4 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Thronebreaker is a single player role-playing game set in the world of The Witcher that combines narrative-driven exploration with unique puzzles and card battle mechanics.
Crafted by the developers responsible for some of the most iconic moments in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the game spins a truly regal tale of Meve, a war-veteran queen of two Northern Realms — Lyria and Rivia. Facing an imminent Nilfgaardian invasion, Meve is forced to once again enter the warpath, and set out on a dark journey of destruction and revenge.
Main Features:
Additional Features:
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales comes with these bonus items: