Reply: DC Comics Deck-Building Game:: Reviews:: Re: DC Comics Deck-Building Game: A Game in Desperate Need of a Cool Subtitle (a review)

by Happy Thoughts

SommerMatt wrote:

And yet, how thematic is it to have five different people with the same heroes (Legendary)? Or the possibility of having the same villain in the rooftops as well as the sewers (Legendary)? Neither game (from the outside) seems to be all that representative of thematic presentation, and yet nearly every review I've seen praises Legendary and knocks DC.

Can you explain a bit more why you feel Legendary is much more immersive/thematic?

I haven't played the DC game, so I can't offer comparisons--but I can tell you what I appreciate about Legendary in terms of theme.

Each game has its own antagonist with a specific villainous goal that the players need to thwart. You're not just gathering victory points for the sake of getting victory points. There's an actual plot and goal. As has been mentioned earlier, it is quite possible to lose to the mastermind. Sometimes, based on the combination of villains, schemes, and heroes available, we really struggle to gain any ground (or even hold our ground). To me, that really adds to the comic book feel.

Most of the hero cards really fit their characters (a notable exception being Spider-Man, but that's another tangent). There is a lot of potential synergy among the different heroes, which adds to the superhero team feel of the game.

I have to add that the first time I played Legendary, it felt a bit wonky due to the fact that everyone had access to all the same heroes from the recruiting area. I was expecting something more along the lines of Sentinels of the Multiverse, where each player controls a single hero. What I realized, however, was that each player's turn isn't a hero turn, and each hero card isn't a hero, but rather a hero maneuver. Once I started treating each player turn as a comic panel (or page, if you have a lot of synergy and actions going on), it made a lot more sense. When we play at my house we like to verbally describe the scene playing out and build on previous narratives.