Forbidden Legacy - Non Spoiler Overview & First Impressions

0:01 Hello my friends, back in 2010, Forbidden Island came out and this game changed everything. In fact, it was the game that brought me back into board games and I probably wouldn't be making videos for the next 13 years if it wasn't for it. Then later on, uh Forbidden Desert came out, then Forbidden Sky, then Forbidden Jungle. Well, today, I'm going to be taking a look a first look at a no spoiler overview and a first impressions of Forbidden Legacy. Yes, Matt and Rob Daviau Matt Matt Leacock and Rob Daviau teamed up again doing another legacy game. Let me show you how to tell you what I think on the on the other side.

0:40 Before I get to the moment you've been waiting for, I wanted to tell you about finding your grail game at Noble Knight Games. Grail games are games that you've always wanted but are no longer in print and very hard to find, hence finding the holy grail. Noble Knight buys and sells pre-owned games and developed a condition grading system from 30 years of experience from buying and selling games, so you know exactly what you're getting. Maybe it's the top 100 game Max vs. Minions and you don't want to wait a year for the next printing. Or maybe the slipcase version of the classic game Acquire from the 1960s. So, go on your holy grail quest at Noble Knight Games by clicking the link in the description of this video or on the I up there in the upper right. Now, I'm not going to do a full overview of how to play this game because it is very similar to Forbidden Island and so I'm going to show you what's different about that without spoiling anything. If you don't know what Forbidden Island is, you click up there in the upper right and I will have a review that you can see the overview of that before seeing what these differences are. And speaking of Forbidden Island, I actually have one of the Forbidden Island tiles here.

1:38 And this is what it looks like here in the Forbidden Legacy. And I've always loved the art style of Forbidden Island, but I think this is even more interesting and and beautiful. And the tiles in the new one are actually a little bit bigger, so it actually takes up a little more table space, looks a little nicer. Just wanted to kind of show you that there. Now, here's Let's take look at some of those tiles, like the broken bridge and a mysterious fountain. And coming up soon, the aqueduct. Can you notice they have different colors at the bottom? They have different numbers, they have different shapes, and those will be important. Here's a few more close looks for you. We have the gate of roses, and then we have the guard's palace, and then we have a golden plaza. The game comes with this really cool chronicle book. This has a hardback with hard pages. It's really nice. And as you open it, it's going to have a story that you're going to read. Like in this case, it's like time travel, and you're back into 1896. And it will have sort of a graphic adventure here, and then it will basically tell you um you know, what's going on in the story in episode 1. And when you win, I actually took the sticker off here so you wouldn't see what happens.

2:43 Um but when you win, you'll put something there to to kind of bring you to the next episode. Also, each episode has a player aid as to what you're doing. Now, the big thing is the portal in this game in Forbidden Island Legacy, because you're trying in the first episode to find the stones to go into that portal to fix it so you can go go travel in time. And that portal is going to start right in the middle in that first scenario. So, on your turn, you get four actions instead of three uh in Forbidden Island, because you have more things that you can do. Moving is just like Forbidden Island. However, and sort of fixing a tile, repairing a tile adjacent to it is same as Forbidden Island, cuz I can now I could have flipped this up being adjacent to it or onto it. That's same as Forbidden Island. And this is now repaired to its nice side. If it ever got hit with a bad threat when it's uh flipped over, then it it's removed from the game, just like Forbidden Island. However, there are these lore tokens, and for an action, uh you can get this lore token. And notice, this is in the butterfly sanctuary. They were set up in specific places. So, even on turn one, you can start to unlock things. Cuz in each episode, again, depending on the spots, the butterfly sanctuary, each of these are going to have a lore token, and you can go get it. And you would take this out, and there would be something in there. There will be, you know, something you'll do.

3:47 I don't want to spoil anything. And then when you win, that's the panel that you get off as well. So, every game, you're going to have at least four different things that you might be able to get that will help you in future games. Now, another thing that's a little different from Forbidden Island is there are gear tokens on some of the tiles. And if you get there for an action, you can search, remove the gear token, and take a gear card. And these have all sorts of different abilities that you can use to break rules of the game. Uh and these are slight Some of these are slightly different from any of the ones I've seen in previous games. And it's a similar to sort of I think in Forbidden Desert you you got there were separate gear cards from the element deck that was in the original Forbidden Island. But these cards are really powerful and you'll need them to help win you. Now, one of the biggest changes here are the cards that you're drawing on your turn that you're using the element cards, they actually have two things. They have an one of the four elements on the top, earth, wind, fire, uh you know, and and water. But on the bottom side they have a feature, which is going to be a color, a number, or a shape.

4:38 And these correspond to the tiles, like yellow, circle, three. So, if I discard a yellow, a circle, and a three, I can place one of the elements on there, assuming one of those cards also had the element. So, for example, if I'm going to put this one there, which was wind, um I would need to have discarded a yellow, a three, and a circle, and I would put and one of those had that element on it, I'd put it on here. This is trying to find one of the four things. Now, if this ever gets flipped over and then doesn't get repaired and gets removed with this on it, that's one way to lose. However, for an action, you can go there and you can pick up. And you discard three cards that have the element. So, I'd have to do three wind cards, discard them, I can pick this up, I put it here. Once you have all of the uh the stones, you everyone gets back to the portal, and that's how you win. However, you lose again if any of the tiles with these uh pretty much get removed, or if the portal tile gets removed, or if the threat goes all the way up. And this is pretty much works the same way as Forbidden Island does with the with the water level and such.

5:36 At a high level, those are the big differences at least in the first scenario. I don't want to spoil anything on the future scenarios, uh but they all use that core concept. You're going to be adding components, subtracting components, changing a few with you know, adding some new mechanisms, taking away some mechanisms from previous episodes, things like that, but that's the core game here. Uh and of course, every episode you're going to be unlocking boxes and such.

5:55 [snorts]

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6:19 including the new Victorian Steampunk mat and many others. Visit gametoppersllc.com for a free limited time receive 15% off existing stock using discount code gameboygeek15off. Okay, first of all, this may this was my number one most anticipated game for Gen Con because I love for Forbidden series. Forbidden Island has a special place in my heart cuz as as I mentioned intro and in that video the other video uh Forbidden Island is the game that brought me back into board games. I was huge in the games as a kid, not so much in college, came back to it with Forbidden Island and it's really what started me doing these videos 13 years ago. Uh and so I have a very special place in my heart for Forbidden Island. I still love it. So I was really interested in this. Uh and on the other side, I'm not usually a huge in the legacy games, but I was into this one because you can go back and replay pretty much any scenario you want. So let's talk about what I liked about it. The chronicle book is so cool.

7:13 This thing is high quality. Even that it's hardback. Like even the cover's like a hardback and all the pages are like cardstock. So like it's a heavy book almost like a kid's book like that that thickness because you know, you got to be taking stuff off and opening things and things like that. It's really nice. I love the artwork in that book. Uh it's super nice. The first episode and again, I've only played the first couple of scenarios and then I've also set up the third scenario so I can kind of see what's what's going to be going on there. Haven't finished that scenario yet. Um and so the first episode is if you're wondering like what does it feel like, it basically feels like a cross between Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert. So, about the same complexity as Forbidden Desert, maybe a slight bit less, but more complexity than the original Forbidden Island. Cuz now you have four actions instead of three on your turn, but you have more choices. Like like in original Forbidden Island, you would just get gear cards as part of your the they were normal cards you're getting of the element cards.

8:07 Where now you go and for an action you can go to a gear place and get it, right? There's also the lore where you're going and picking up lore and that's going to be unlocking things. So, there's just more to do and more to think about. So, it's it's a little bit heavier which is which I actually really like. The element cards. This is the other thing where the element cards having both a type, like a type of element, and features, like hey, is it color, number, or shape. And this really like it seems simple, like a simple change, but it actually adds a ton of depth to the game. Because even the puzzle of deciding which cards to discard is huge. Because as the different tiles start sinking, your options are going to be less and less for where you want those stones to get to. And so you're looking at the cards like, "Oh, I'm over five cards. Which one am I going to discard?"

8:53 Well, this one Well, this one won't really work that well because most of the threes are gone or most of the reds are gone or this is the There's the most blues left so we want to keep this one. So, there's lots of more intricate thought to be played when you're deciding which cards to discard and obviously which ones you're going to play with for what. It just It's a simple thing mechanism-wise, but man, does it add a lot of depth to this and a lot of crunchiness, which is why I say it's a little bit heavier. Maybe not mechanism-wise, but from a cognitive load-wise. Uh, the the locating. The locating in where those different elements are for the for the portal becomes harder and harder as the tiles get removed because you have less and less options of places to put them. Which means you get you feel this like tense pressure even more so than in Forbidden Island, I'd say. Um, and you've got to protect them. So, once you place one of those located things on a spot, like you are got to protect them cuz if that tile goes away, it's removed, you lose the game if it has that piece on it. So, again, raises that tension. You got to find it's got a more intricate timing of when you decide to locate that. Where in original Forbidden Island, it's like, "Hey, they're up there from the beginning of from You know which ones it's going to be from the beginning of the game and you start protecting from the beginning." Where here, like, you can morph that strategy, have more agency when you do it. Uh, it is similar to sort of Forbidden Desert where you're looking at row and column and figure out where the different parts are. It's similar to that, but I think this is even way way more interesting.

10:13 Um, and also when locating, you got to use a card that has a element that you need to pick up. And so, that also has like there's a hand management aspect that has a layer an extra layer of depth as well. Um, now having to locate the stone, um, even though it's similar to Desert, I really still think it's better than than than that. Because I think it really does give you more agency. Now, new There's new gears. So, even in the previous games, there are some new gears that you haven't seen before in this, which gives you different abilities, which I think is really cool. I love the lore unlocks because they've they unlock little thematic little new things and rules and things that you can do. Um, but, you know, and you can even do this in the first turn. And it's really exciting cuz like, "Hey, I'm going to go to this lore. I'm going to get it and I get to now pick out something, you know, take out something from the book." And it's like, "Wow, first turn we're already jumping into into the cool stuff." Right? And I think that's really clever. Used to be, you know, legacy games, sure, in your first game, it's like the prologue in a lot of the Pandemic Legacies, and it's pretty much the same thing as the base game. This is not the same thing as the base game. I like that aspect of it. It jumps you right in, gets you into getting new things faster.

11:20 This game feels familiar, but yet different. And it's exactly what I'd hoped sort of the other sequels had done for this, which they all kind of did in a way, but for me, none of them lived up to Forbidden Island. This one does for me. You can add or drop out players. You can just choose you know choose that to use different people if they don't you get used they just wait on the side. The ones that aren't used they still get abilities from the start but you know you can drop in and out if you really want to even though it's probably best if you play with the same group. I like that the new abilities that you're that you gain I'm not going to tell you how or when you get them but they they sort of stack where like you have more and more things you can possibly do as the episodes go on and you have more choices and more options. Uh and that's really cool. And then at the end of every scenario that you win you'll oh wait I can't remember if it's if it's actually all scenarios or only when you win cuz I haven't lost yet so I can't remember but um the you get these you get to choose like a rule breaking ability that makes it very strong and I think that's really cool because the game gets harder and harder as the episodes go on but you're also getting better and better at new abilities, new things new rules to break and I just think that's really cool. So on the negative side of things it's definitely a little heavier than Forbidden Island and for many people that's going to be a positive but I bring it up as a possible negative because if you have someone who's around 10 8 to 10 years old and they have played Forbidden Island they may be able to just get on this cuz it is similar but there is again it's not the mechanisms that's so much harder it's just there's a lot more layer of depth and things to kind of like process through. I wouldn't

12:51 recommend this for like the the lower end of the age ranges of Forbidden Island for their first Island Forbidden experience. I would still say Forbidden Island is the best first one. This is more like an advanced version of Forbidden Island. I'm talking about just the first episode here. The core game which by the way that first episode core game is the core game for at least the first three and different things will unlock different mechanisms come out different things come out of boxes and you are playing a slightly you know a different game with different goals and different mechanisms are added to it. Some of them are subtracted. You know you add some mechanisms you take away some mechanisms. That's what that's what happens between each one Um, but it's still a little heavier than that and some people might If you have the the younger side and if it's your first Legacy experience or Forbidden experience, I still recommend Forbidden Island first uh, if you're playing with the younger ages.

13:37 Don't necessarily And again, I've only seen the first three scenarios out of seven, but so far what I can say is don't expect sort of forks in the road, plot twists, things like that you would expect in more of a thematic game like Pandemic Legacy where like there were these like holy crap, I can't believe that just happened moments in the plot. Now, this has a story and the story is it's fine and it kind of like brings you, you know, to the next setting if you will, but don't expect like the deep immersive story that Pandemic Legacy had and don't expect like, "Hey, if you do this, something completely different happens in the future versus like this." This is more of Think Think of this is more of like a modular sort of a modular way of playing a game. You can play a Forbidden game seven different ways and you can play any of them individually. So, if you're looking for a big adventure game, this is not going to be it for you, I don't think. At least not from what I've seen yet. Um, I personally like this better than the original Forbidden Island, personally.

14:28 Um, I think it's an advanced version of the original. I think it's better and there's seven different games that I'll be able to play with it. Even just Even if I did nothing but play just the first scenario all the time, I still like it better. Now, again, as I mentioned earlier, if it's new people, I might still play Forbidden Island first. Uh, I like that you can play any replay any scenario after the campaign. And again, you're just cuz things are going in and out of boxes between uh, rounds and you just pick the one you want, set it up and play. And the cool thing is is you have your own sort of version of the game at the end of that because to you know, it's a Legacy game. So, you obviously know tiles are going to get stickers, characters are going to get stickers and you have this game that nobody else has exactly what you have. And this is your game and you get to play all any of the seven scenarios with it. So, I I like that. I like these Legacy games. So, you can replay any of these scenarios. You necessarily can't reset it because you're not unlocking new things and stickering new things after you've played through it once.

15:22 So, it's not like you could recharge it. You just, you know, you'd have to buy a whole new thing. But, you can replay it and you do have your own little thing, and I think that's great, too. So, so far, uh so, the first episode plays most like a cross between Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert. The second one plays most like, I'd say, Forbidden Jungle. And the third scenario plays most like Forbidden Sky. Uh that's what I know so far. So, hopefully this non-spoiler review will give you an idea of like what this is was it what it isn't so far, and then a good overview of like how it works and how it's different from Forbidden Island. This has been the Game Boy Geek breaking down barriers and growing likes to two board games but helping you find the next one you love. And because of all these reasons, of course, it's going to have to get a saxophone serenade. It's staying in my collection. So, here we go.