Gwent introduces Thronebreaker story campaign
Including Bloody Baron writer
The singleplayer campaign of a free-to-play collectible card game is an unlikely item of interest, given that they're largely there to train players up for competitive play, but I am quite keen to see what's up with the story in Gwent [official site]. The campaign in the spin-off standalone version of The Witcher 3's fun minigame has folks who did heavy lifting on TW3's story, see. The hot Gwent news out of Gamescom is the unveiling of that campaign, named Thronebreaker. Here, have a look:
CD Projekt Red may be done with The Witcher as an RPG but several folks from 3 are chipping in on Thronebreaker. The Witcher 3's lead quest designer Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz is on Gwent, as is Karolina Stachyra, who's contributions included writing the famed Bloody Baron quest line. Good stuff.
Here's what Thronebreaker is all about:
"Thronebreaker spins a truly regal tale of Meve — a war-veteran queen of two Northern Realms. Facing an imminent foreign invasion, Meve is forced to once again enter the warpath, and sets out on a dark journey of destruction and revenge. Cast with rich, multi-dimensional characters and choice-driven, your decisions will shape the lives of Meve and her kingdom.
"Explore new and never before seen parts of The Witcher world using an interactive map handcrafted specially for Gwent. Embark on thought-provoking side quests and engage in custom-made story battles, which twist the game's rules in wildly unexpected ways. Manage resources, recruit and develop units, and build an army in your very own, customizable battle camp.
"Thronebreaker features cards crafted exclusively for use in the single player campaign, each one uniquely tailored for storytelling purposes.
"When the story ends, take a piece of it with you into online battles, with 20 new, Thronebreaker-inspired cards for your multiplayer collection."
Having special cards and rule-bending for singleplayer sounds good. Trying to balance across solo and competitive play has been the downfall of many a game.
Gwent is currently in open beta through GOG's Galaxy client, focused on the competitive side. Thronebreaker is due to launch later this year.