There are cards, too, from Thronebreaker’s principal cast, and deep cuts from the books, like Sabrina the teenage (in appearance, if not actual age) witch.Īs a consequence, the voices and visages of friends and rivals from Geralt’s past bounce about your head as you progress through Rogue Mage’s substantial challenges. If I’m going to put down an enemy, I’m happy for that foe to be named The Bloody Baron, and to mumble audibly about vodka as he hits the tabletop. If I’m going to lean on a card that boosts the healing of an entire lane, I’d rather that card bore the face of Keira Metz, the woman I once picnicked with in an effort to glam up the mud and squalor of Velen. Every time a familiar image pops up, Rogue Mage pulls on welcome memories made elsewhere in the developer’s catalog. It’s a decision that will divide fans, but which I find more than defensible. Yet this roguelike never truly grounds itself in a time and place, since CDPR stuffs its decks with characters from Geralt’s timeline. Should you lose a single battle, Alzur will be sent cursing back to his lab – his own tail between his legs, and the dragon’s still firmly attached to its abdomen in a distant cave. Since this is a roguelite, the success of your enterprise is not guaranteed. Your goal is to make your way from one side to the other – funneling magical energy from places of power to fuel your spells, negotiating passage with bridge trolls, and most often, battling the enemies who seek to waylay or enslave you.
Your goal, then, is to slice open the throats and bellies of rare creatures and retrieve their monstrous essence.Īlzur starts each run at the western end of a great valley, while the beast of note – a white dragon, for instance, or oversized spider – nests among the mountains, forests, or burnt wastes of the far east. As you join Alzur, his lab is empty of the mutagens he’ll need to bring his ethically dubious plans to fruition. You won’t benefit from the swordarms of any of the pirouetting, cat-eyed killers who might grace The Witcher 4, however.