Vantage- Review

ODBG 0010 - Review of Vantage

What is Vantage?

It is quite similar to an RPG but in a very complex board game version which might be better presented as a video game or as an RPG world. You are a character whom has crash landed on a planet and have various goals and missions.

What is good about Vantage?

Theme and story on the cards - This aspect was easily enjoyed thoroughly by all. To dance, move and then Dance some more for a sentient queen, and other things like it, felt like it was suitably silly and it would have been fascinating if they all connected with the whole plot, however they didn't seem to. But the way each moment linked to a situation was done really well.

The artwork - Looked absolutely stunning and is a huge pro for the game. It is part of the reason we were enticed to play. The idea of exploring and unknown planet is really interesting and exciting. However the mechanics just didn't seem to support it.

It's clearly a huge undertaking- I've never played an actual board game quite like it. You can feel all the effort that went into it. There is so much heart and soul. But if it takes 5 minutes per turn to decide what to do, search for the right card, do the correct thing, win or fail, do this, do that. It just took too long and would be smoother as a digital game perhaps a click adventure game like you used to get on PCs in the noughties.

What's bad about Vantage?

No strong thematic reason for doing the mission - in our case it was wanting to conquer a city as a mission. If we'd crash landed on a planet why is the first thing we'd want to do is focus on conquering a city rather than making sure everyone is alright, or that we all can contact help to get home or something that enkeeps with what we should be trying to do? That's what I didn't understand. If it is an RPG which I argue it is, why doesn't this happen?

Looking everything up on cards. Have a personal book for each player or something like that just to make it a little cleaner with a player board with dedicated slots for upgrades. I never felt like I've played such a nerdy game where I'm constantly saying things like “oh I need card 1239 subsection A or subsection B if I've done this”. It felt a little messy and all over the place.

Not knowing if we won or lost. After we completed several games of Skrim to meet the criteria of the Destiny card - because we were able to “farm” it (due to my having a building of my own?) - It said we didn't have an epic victory which none of us knew if it was a victory or not. That's kind of the main problem the vagueness and confusion just really battered my brain and I was not alone.

Summary of Vantage

“WTF is going on? My brain really hurts”, is the feeling I had throughout the game. Whilst the elements in this game are really interesting, the complexity is really high and the execution just doesn't quite feel there.

I absolutely applaud the effort and passion that's gone into it. 8 years of work. But on my first play it really wasn't for me. I may try again and give it a second chance to see if it was a freak accident that happened.

For most of the game it felt like I was going through the motions of doing random things which I had no idea if it would help the group towards our goal, so much so, I started writing this blog between turns. We were on hour 3 and nowhere near finished. It really shows either that the turn length is too long due to the complexity or I've lost attention because it's overly bambozaling.

We played this game with 4 players and none of us enjoyed the game as a whole. However the elements and theme of it were done well the execution just didn't seem quite there. It is VERY different from all the other Stone Maier games I've played (yes, this isn't a Euro Game ;) ) I just have a strong hunch that it requires someone who knows it in and out to play it and teach others by guiding them through the game, rather than a group learning it together. The only problem is that you would have to play it a lot to be that someone.

Holy moly it was so intense and is currently a game I'm not wanting to return to, despite the obsession my good friend Matt had with the Skrim mini game he LOVED!

Overall I think if you want to play an RPG in this themed world why not play an RPG where you make decisions similar to that of DND it felt like the cubes cards and other stats could have been significantly tidier if it were a large (game masters) book to read through when you're all making decisions with character sheets.

As another one of my friends would say “is the faff worth the fun?” And on this occasion I would say no.

Thanks for reading

Sam

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