Legends of Runeterra is a brand new digital card game based on the League of Legends universe, and from our time with it during PAX Aus 2019, it actually feels like it has some interesting new takes on the genre. Here’s how it works.

Naturally, Legends of Runeterra is based around Champions, many of whom will be familiar to League of Legends fans. Champions and other cards are associated with six of the major regions of Runeterra (Demacia, Noxus, Ionia, Piltover & Zaun, Freljord, and the Shadow Isles), which represent the idea of classes or colours, in other card games. But the game features plenty of aspects that will be familiar to players of other digital card games, too.

GAME FLOW

Your mana pool increases steadily each turn, much like Hearthstone, which sets the pace of play. Mana allows you to play things like creature and champion cards, which have the typical attack and defense stats as well as other abilities or buffs which decide how they’ll fair in battle. You want to be able to attack your opponent’s Nexus (which every MOBA-fan should hopefully be familiar with) bringing its health to 0 to win the game. Games tend to last for about 15 to 20 minutes.

However, where Legends of Runeterra separates from other examples of the genre is in the finer details on how you can do Nexus damage. Spells, for instance, can do direct damage but they use a different mana pool from your character cards and can almost always be countered. Some spells will be fast or slow, and they queue up in the middle of the battlefield according to their order.

All cards are played out in turns, which is not something I’m used to seeing in digital card games. These spell turns are segmented into rounds, where one player will be on the offensive and the other defends. There are multiple turns in these rounds, where each player has a chance to play their characters and spells until the actual attack. This adds some interesting strategy–you can bait another person out by slowly adding to your arsenal, rather than playing everything at once. Then, the attack actually happens and unless a status on the card says otherwise, it’s blockers choice.

CHAMPIONS

The champion cards have objectives on them, which allow you to level up those cards and become more powerful so long as they aren’t taken out during the battle. You can choose to use one champion to build your decks around or add more–which is limited depending on the game style–and the idea is to create a synergistic playstyle. This aspect feels reminiscent of Magic The Gathering and the choices it offers in mixing colours for new playstyles.

For example, a champion may level up after you’ve dealt a certain amount of damage to enemies and another may require you to have targeted a set number of enemies. Having both of these cards in the same deck would allow you to level them up and gain their heightened abilities at the same time, without wasting any resources. Perhaps stacking this deck with cheap cards so you can target enemies faster would help you level up even faster to gain an advantage. On the other hand, having different objectives might also offer more flexibility, so deciding how you build decks to achieve your own goals looks like it will add several layers or potential strategy to games.

For fans of the lore behind League of Legends, there’s also the promise of plenty of new narrative content. Fresh stories will also play out through Legends of Runeterra with plans to introduce new characters and champions as the game builds, which will also allow for new cards and playstyles. Legends of Runeterr and League of Legends share the same universe, so it’s not some weird spinoff where everyone’s just playing cards in a tavern.

META AND MICROTRANSACTIONS

Legends of Runeterra all plays quite well, and as someone who’s quite familiar with different digital card games, I was able to pick it up quickly after a few rounds in the tutorial. It has the same drag and drop style you’ll likely be familiar with, and getting into it is just a matter of learning all the new terms, quirks, and cards. The game definitely struck me as the kind that’s simple on the surface, but with extra complexity stashed away in the deck-building meta, if that’s your jam.

The good, and somewhat surprising news is that when it comes to deckbuilding, there appear to be no purchasable random card packs. Legends of Runeterra is still a free-to-play game, however, and though you can’t spend your hard-earned real money on random cards, you can instead pay a set price for “wild cards.” These differ in cost based on rarity, but are a straight swap for whichever card you want in that tier. Even then, this system is limited to a certain number of purchases per week, and I was assured by Riot representatives that it’s not the kind of game you can pay-to-win.

Instead, the only way to get a substantial amount of cards is by playing, but it does look like these can be somewhat unpredictable. You can complete quests and level up to unlock cards from your chosen region, which can be changed at any time. Playing will also level up your weekly vault, which contains more chests full of more random cards. But the ability to pick and choose what you want to do to unlock cards was emphasised as a way to give players at least some agency over how they play the game.

The idea appears to be that those who put the time in–regardless of what they do–will have the most cards and diverse decks, while still giving players on the other end of the spectrum the ability to obtain specific cards with a level of certainty. There did seem to be a fair amount of cards available from the onset, at least in the build we played, but how this system fares for more casual players is something we need to wait and see.

You’ll also be able to use real money on cosmetics, and Legends of Runeterra is an intensely visual game. The card art is stunningly detailed and the board is very Hearthstone-like, featuring little interactive touches. Cards animate when played and sometimes even emoji-style stickers will pop on the screen. When champion cards level up, they’ll take over the whole screen to play an animation and even attacking seems a bit more extra than most other digital card games. I could still tell what was happening most of the time, so the flair doesn’t feel like it gets in the way but, it is a visual feast.

ONGOING SUPPORT

While not being presented as an esport yet, Riot has promised regular monthly balance updates to keep the meta shifting, as well as a ranked system currently in development. The general synopsis seems bent against the level of randomness that can often be present in card games, so Legends of Runeterra could be quite competitive in a very different way to what we’re used to seeing in the genre.

If you’re curious about Legends of Runeterra, the good news is you can pre-register for your chance to play it now, and unlock the exclusive Moonstruck Poro Guardian at launch. The announcement comes as a part of the League of Legends 10th anniversary celebration and you’ll find a selection of folks with access streaming the game live as we speak. In a month’s time, there will be a five-day preview where more people who pre-registered will be allowed in, and then a larger closed beta in 2020 before launch on PC and Mobile platforms sometime during that year.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/legends-of-runeterra-how-does-the-league-of-legend/1100-6470580/

League of Legends is coming to consoles and mobile. Riot Games announced today that the incredibly popular MOBA will be released on consoles and mobile starting in 2020.

The game’s new version is apparently called League of Legends: Wild Rift. You can watch the announcement trailer below, but note that it features gameplay from the mobile edition.

The Wild Rift website has the first details about the new game. The game features a 5v5 player count and it also features “revamped” controls.

“Team up to take down the enemy Nexus on a new 5v5 map designed for new platforms, with faster games and revamped controls,” reads a line from its announcement.

There will be about 40 champions in Wild Rift at launch, with more to come over time.

Like the PC version of League of Legends, Wild Rift is free-to-play, and players can unlock all the champions without spending real money. Players can, however, spend real money on various cosmetics and other extras.

Riot explained that it rebuilt League of Legends from scratch, “like the whole thing,” to bring it to console and mobile.

“Refreshed models, animations, game systems and more–but keeping true to the core League of Legends gameplay you already know,” the developer said. “We didn’t want to just port League on PC 1:1–we want to make sure Wild Rift feels like it was designed for new platforms, and use that opportunity to make a bunch of improvements to the game. While you won’t get your unlocks from League PC, you’ll get some cool rewards for the time you’ve spent in the PC version. More to come on that in 2020!”

Developing…

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/league-of-legends-announced-for-console-and-mobile/1100-6470587/

Publisher Private Division has announced that developer Obsidian Entertainment’s upcoming game, The Outer Worlds, will only be enhanced on Xbox One X. It’s a surprising move given that most games available on Xbox One X and PS4 Pro are enhanced on both consoles.

In a statement to Windows Central, a Private Division spokesperson said that The Outer Worlds would only support 4K “on Xbox One, no enhancements for PS4 Pro.” This means that you will only be able to play The Outer Worlds in 4K on Xbox One X and PC, with the PS4 Pro capping at 1080p.

Though neither Private Division nor Obsidian Entertainment added why PS4 Pro wouldn’t support The Outer Worlds in 4K when Xbox One X will, it is worth noting that Microsoft acquired Obsidian back in 2018. That’s not to say that Microsoft’s relationship with Obsidian is the sole reason that this is happening–again, there’s been no announced official reasoning–but it’s good context to have when viewing this situation.

On PC, The Outer Worlds is a timed exclusive on the Epic Games Store. If you pre-order the game, you can nab it at a discount. For those looking to play the upcoming space RPG on Xbox One, The Outer Worlds will be available via Game Pass on launch day.

The Outer Worlds has been marketed as the spiritual successor to the Fallout series–the game is being made by the studio helmed by the series’ creators. However, rather than being set on the post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland of Earth, The Outer Worlds is a futuristic science fiction story that takes place on several planets throughout the far reaches of space. Like many RPGs before it, The Outer Worlds emphasizes player choice–giving you the option of choosing your own destiny. Whether you become the universe’s savior or conqueror is up to you.

The Outer Worlds will launch for Xbox One, PS4, and PC on October 25. A Switch version of the game is scheduled to release at a later date.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-outer-worlds-will-only-be-enhanced-on-xbox-one/1100-6470583/