The Elder Scrolls: Legends Now In Open Beta
Carded
The Elder Scrolls: Legends [official site] - the digital card game based on the Elder Scrollsiverse - is now in open beta. I've already downloaded the game launcher and am currently going through the fun thing where you have to get Bethesda to remind you of your username and then, when you have your username, reset the password which you also can't remember and none of the reset emails have arrived BUT! I'm sure I'll be hurling nirnroots at a board before long...?
Matt Thrower gave us his impressions after spending time digging into Legends recently. You can read the full feature here but overall it sounded like it had elements you'd recognise from Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering as well as adding some ideas of its own (as you'd hope).
The most obvious thing is dividing the board into lanes meaning that where you physically place the card on the play surface matters. There are also some comeback or defender-assisting mechanics which mean smacking your opponent in the face isn't always the optimal move as they might suddenly get a game-changing card free of charge.
Here's Matt's summation:
Legends feels slower and more serious than the majority of its competitors. There are more things on the board, more mechanics to deal with, more to think about. Even the art and sounds have a more somber, realistic tone than Blizzard’s card battler, and games take longer. At first, the thought of taking longer to climb a steeper learning curve doesn’t seem too appealing, especially with less of an addictive buzz.
After a good few hours with the alpha though, I can begin to see the game unfurling before me like a map of Tamriel, and the scale is impressive. The huge scope of Betheda’s RPG’s might be offputting for some. But the same approach to a CCG has the potential to pay big dividends.
Oh! Apparently I don't even have a Bethesda login linked to the email address I'm using. That will definitely explain why requesting my username wasn't working. I shall go and fix that now. Meanwhile, if you have a crack at Legends let me know what you thought in the comments!
You can download the beta from the official Legends website (it uses the Bethesda launcher so you download that first).