Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales Reviews
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is a worthy successor to both The Witcher games and the Gwent collectible card game.
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales features some of the sharpest writing on PS4, and it's all embedded within a superb story stuffed with brilliant characters. Meanwhile, Gwent makes up most of the gameplay, and although the card-based system does have flaws, it's easy enough to look past them when the surrounding journey is so masterfully told. Ultimately, Thronebreaker is an easy recommendation for Witcher enthusiasts and fans of strategic RPGs -- a surprisingly robust and rich tale that shouldn't be overlooked.
Whether or not you are a fan of the Witcher series, or even card games in general, Thronebreaker deserves your attention.
Loyal fans of Sapkowski and CD Projekt RED will be pleased to visit familiar places and battles from the books, but for an ordinary player the storyline will seem like a pale shadow of The Witcher 3 and its additions. Mew's journey is interesting in some moments, but still it cannot be compared with the adventures of Geralt.
Review in Russian | Read full review
With its excellent story, charming characters, varied and engaging gameplay experience, Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales can be considered a true The Witcher game, despite not being a traditional RPG. The game may be too easy, but this small flaw in no way compromises the game's overall quality.
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales takes this genre to a new level of depth thanks to the combination of good writing and a gameplay skillfully declined in numerous variations.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is a wonderful addition to the Switch. While it may not appeal to all fans, those who enjoyed Gwent in The Witcher 3 will find a lot to love. There's enough nuance and strategy for those hungry for a challenge and it does a great job of adding to the mythology of the world and it's excellent characters.
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is a spin-off based on a card game featured on The Witcher 3. That said, it's a marvelous work that joins enticing and involving gameplay mechanics, a gorgeous art style and an addictive experience. While certainly not an easy feat to play through, Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is more than welcome on the Nintendo Switch catalogue and opens the way for more spin-offs to come.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Strong single-player campaign for Gwent, which could inspire even non-card players through its gripping story.
Review in German | Read full review
With Thronebreaker : The Witcher Tales, Gwent evolves through an exciting adventure that brilliantly enriches the Witcher universe in video games. We regret, however, the classicism of sometimes painful exploration phases.
Review in French | Read full review
CD Projekt Red have delivered an exceptional adventure in Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales. One that any Witcher fan should not hesitate to experience. While Gwent is undeniably fun, it falls short of its full potential in a single-player only game with AI opponents.
Apart from the fact that combat is resolved by placing cards into rows as opposed to moving units across a map, there's little difference between Thronebreaker and similarly hand-drawn, resource-gathering, unit-upgrading games like Heroes of Might and Magic and The Banner Saga. If anything, Thronebreaker offers a deeper strategic experience, given the distinct feel of these custom-crafted battles, with their special victory conditions and unique cards.
I love that CD Projekt Red's solution to getting more players on board with its free-to-play card game was to produce a massive standalone RPG with all the spellbinding storytelling that's become a signature of The Witcher brand. It's the sort of thoroughness and commitment to quality they've built a reputation on, and Thronebreaker now paves the way for an exciting new genre of card games that incorporate a similar design ethos.
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales quickly establishes itself as more or less the paradigm of a genre. The alchemy of its RPG roots, addictive gameplay and wonderful story make it a far more fleshed-out package than many may have expected. While non-series fans may not find too much to write home about in terms of the tale it weaves, what remains in terms of gameplay is a fundamentally worthwhile package and one that one will provide many, many hours of entertainment.
Thronebreaker struggles as a card game but excels as a Witcher game due to its rich narrative and excellent, if simple, worldbuilding.
This newest iteration of Thronebreaker is a welcome and unexpected treat, and truly at home in its portable format. Being able to tackle Queen Mave's part in the Second Nilfgaardian War while on the go is well worth the slightest of tradeoffs in graphical quality. Even if you aren't a CCG enthusiast, this is a must have for any Gwent battler or Witcher fan.
Thronebreaker is a masterful RPG with a version of Gwent that is well-suited for a single-player experience. Even if you aren't into card games, this one is worth a try for the story and RPG mechanics alone. [OpenCritic note: Travis Northup separately reviewed the PC (85) and Xbox One (80) versions. Their scores have been averaged.]
Though tainted by a broken difficulty mode, Thronebreaker stands on the shoulders of The Witcher as a morally complex and often harrowing Macbethian tale of royal revenge and revolt.
Thronebreaker is a great solution for players that value amazing story and beautiful graphics over everything else. Despite some minor gameplay issues and unrealized potential of the game, players will have a lot of fun. If you miss the world and lore of The Witcher, it's definitely worth to check this title.
Review in Polish | Read full review
It might be a little late to the party on the Switch, but given its modest asking price and lengthy campaign with a lot of replayability, this is one game that deserves to be a part of your Switch library.