Talisman: Digital Edition Review (PC)

very good
key review info
  • Game: Talisman: Digital Edition
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: No
  • Reviewed on:
Talisman quest

For a while, the rise of video games, which has been taking place for the last 20 years or so, was threatening to make board games and card games less popular than they once were, as virtual experiences tended to become more interesting than real world ones.

The phenomenon seems to no longer exist in 2014, judging by claims that we are living in a Golden Age of board games, with more projects than ever launched by the big companies working in the genre and with even more titles getting delivered after successful Kickstarter pitches.

Talisman is just the latest title from the board game world to make the jump to virtual reality, with Nomad Games Limited, the team that takes the core ideas of the product from Fantasy Flight Games and remakes them for a wider potential audience.

Talisman: Digital Edition is a very solid experience, although it might lack appeal for those who have already played the board game on which it is based.

The object of the title is to pick one hero from the line-up of 14 available (other can be bought via DLC) and then travel to the center of the game world, where a Crown of Command can be found and then used to take out the other players and win.

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Board view
Battle time
In order to do this, each character rolls a dice to decide where to move and visits a variety of locations, some of them with pre-determined effects and others that rely on Adventure Cards to deliver encounters with enemies, items or friendly NPCs.

There’s a lot of content Talisman: Digital Edition, and it can take a few games to see the cards that can come into play and determine which is the best strategy based on character attributes and on the layout of the game world.

The digital version of the game does a good job of telling players what and how they need to do and there are helpful tutorial tips that introduce all the core mechanics.

The two issues with playing with Artificial Intelligence-powered enemies are that their turns tend to be a little uninteresting, although they can offer more info about the cards that can come into play, and that some of their moves can be characterized as less than optimal.

Talisman, as a concept, also has a more general flaw: it relies a little too much on the dice roll, and that means there are moments when player tactics and intelligence are inconsequential because the game simply throws a challenge at the gamer that he cannot complete.

Talisman: Digital Edition also does a solid job in the graphics department, faithfully recreating the design of the original board game, as the interface is very well designed, delivering a lot of information to both newcomers and seasoned players.

The sound design is less impressive, with some generic fantasy background tracks and a library of effects that can quickly become tiring.

Multiplayer is very important for Talisman because this is a game that’s designed from the ground up to include human gamers.

The Steam digital launch means that there’s a large group of potential players to choose from, but my advice would be to stick with friends as much as possible, mainly in order to make sure that they stay involved for the entire length of the game.

The civility level among gamers who play Talisman is higher than for the first-person shooter genre, and that means that even matches involving random people can be enjoyable, although there are moments when the level of skill and game knowledge might be uneven.

Talisman: Digital Edition is a solid port of the board game experience, but it will certainly only appeal to those who accept its core ideas and mechanics.

Nomad Games Limited has also delivered a retail version of the new title, which includes two digital titles and the Prologue single-player campaign, a perfect way to introduce friends to the experience and give them a chance to play together.

On launch Talisman: Digital Edition already has an available downloadable content pack, which adds more character to use and new spells and items to be found during the adventure.

More DLC will be delivered in the coming months, and a Season Pass is available for the most dedicated of fans.

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story 5
gameplay 8
concept 9
graphics 8
audio 7
multiplayer 8
final rating 8
Editor's review
very good
 
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