by
Cody “Micajah” Bye, Managing Editor
Norrath has fascinated the computer game aficionado. On a daily basis thousands of
players log into the epic worlds of adventure pioneered by style="font-style: italic;">EverQuest and style="font-style: italic;">EverQuest II,
exploring ancient ruins, forbidden castles, and planes of existence
outside of the boundaries of Norrath. Players of these two games are
more than familiar with names like Fippy Darkpaw, Firona Vie, and Lucan
D’Lere.
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Legends of Norrath
continues to expand on the classes represented in the cards.
Yet for players so much of the EverQuest
story goes unseen and unheard, and that is where Sony Online
Entertainment’s Denver studio comes into play. In a fairly
ambitious stroke of insight, Sony Online Entertainment acquired Worlds
Apart Productions in August 2006 and have used the studio to create the
first card game associated with the world of EverQuest and EverQuest
II. Titled Legends
of Norrath, the digital trading card game
has been an extraordinarily successful venture for the company. Not
only has it drawn different types of players into the two worlds, but
it has also given developers the opportunity to use every portion of
the Norrathian lore. Originally released in September 2007, Legends of
Norrath recently released it third expansion set, Legends of Norrath:
Inquisitor, marking the second set to be released in the six and a half
months since the game’s debut.
Being a fan of the first two sets released by SOE, it fell on my
shoulders to check out the latest expansion in the quickly growing
game, and I immediately set to work on constructing a few decks using
the new Inquisitor cards and weighing just how much the game had
improved with the release of the latest expansion. If you’re
interested in the first two sets and how the game works in general,
make sure to read my
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/12633">previous
reviews.
But if you’ve read the
previous reports, continue on!
As had been the case in the
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/16484">Forsworn
expansion set, the Inquisitor
collection of Legends
of Norrath cards included a number of additional features
that help to flesh out the EverQuest
universe inherent in the card game. Although many of the Norrathian
classes were represented in the first two sets, several archetypes
still needed to be enhanced. While the Forsworn expansion introduced
cards focused around Paladins, Necromancers, Druids, and archery-based
Scouts, Inquisitor introduces cards based on four new classes: the
Monk, Bard, Enchanters and Inquisitors.
For the most part, these cards continue to show high quality design
decisions from the SOE Denver crew. From the statistic enhancing cards
like the Fighter’s Ring of the Bastion to the ability for
other archetypes aside from the Mage to finally have their own units,
the game continues to grow in diversity and complexity. Although there
are still several “flavor of the month” decks
circulating the tournament scene – like the Scout’s
Short Sword of Ykesha combination – there are still numerous
strategies that have yet to be uncovered by the hardcore meta-gamers.
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Most of the card art
in Inquisitor is stunning.
Along with the four classes that are finally being represented in card
form, two races have also been added to the mix. Fans of the Halflings
and the Trolls will finally be able to create decks around their
favored races, and both races pack some incredibly powerful abilities
along with them. For instance, whenever a Troll avatar wins a combat
against an opponent, he can heal one of his units. Halfling and Troll
units, mainly split into Shadow and Light configurations, are also
available to the crafty deck artist.
One of the more interesting additions to this particular expansion is
the new ability for players to augment their own and other
players’ ability to gain Shadow or Light faction
points. Although faction based decks have been available since the
release of the original set, there are many players who don’t
put much weight into the actual building of these particular card combos.
However, this will certainly change with the appearance of particular
cards – especially those in the Halfling unit template
– that will adjust a player’s faction if he tries
to attempt a quest where the faction adjusting unit is placed.
It’s an interesting maneuver and will surely frustrate many
deck builders that haven’t put enough time into their faction
based decks.
For those players that have been wondering when a full-fledged
tournament program was going to appear for
style="font-style: italic;"> Legends of Norrath,
you don’t need to wait any longer. Between the Forsworn and
Inquisitor expansion sets, SOE began their Championship Qualifier
Tournament series, which features a free trip to GenCon as the first
place prize for any winner of the series. Once there, players will vie
for $100,000 worth of cash and prizes to be given away at the event!
With the introduction of the tournament series, it’s no small
wonder that the game continues to remain an incredibly popular
distraction for many EQ, EQ2, and stand-alone players. Yet there are a
few aspects of the game that continue to worry me, chief among them
being the growing discrepancy between the extremely powerful artwork
seen on many cards and the lackluster artistic efforts that are
displayed on others. While cards like Mind Blast and Iksar Abductor are
incredibly gorgeous, some cards (like the Razorfang Gloves) just
don’t hold up to the same scrutiny.
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Next time you'll need
to watch out for the Iksar Abductor!
Finally, there’s always the constant worry of power inflation
ruining the card game. Although not enough time has passed to really
determine whether inflation will bother Legends of Norrath, there still
remains a bit of worry in my heart for the future of the game. So many
other card games have succumbed to power inflation –
Decipher’s Star
Wars CCG and even Magic:
The Gathering – that it’s
hard not to have a bit of worry.
That said, the Legends
of Norrath card game continues to be one of my favorite
distractions available to me outside of my favorite MMOG. Whenever I
have a spare moment I love to tweak my decks, trying to make them as
viable in tournament play as possible. Each and every set allows me to
make a new “theme deck”, and Inquisitor was no
exception. Although no new multiplayer functions were added
to the game (like the raid that were added in the last expansion), SOE
continues to deliver content that’s free for every SOE member.
When it comes to digital card games, it’s incredibly hard to
compete with SOE’s Legends of Norrath. Once again, the
company has shown that they’re dedicated to this particular
product, and I hope that the devotion continues long into the
future.
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(4 / 5 Hammers)
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">Ten Ton
Recommendation:
a solid addition to the Legends
of Norrath experience and is a must have for any LoN fan!
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Legends of Norrath Game Page.
