Forbidden Legacy Review - It's Elemental Watson
Transcript
Hello and welcome out to the Dice Tower. I'm Wendy Yee.
And I'm Chris Yee.
And today we're going to be reviewing Forbidden Legacy. [singing]
This is the four four fifth fifth Forbidden game. There was Forbidden Island, there was a desert, there was skies, and there was a jungle. And now this is this is a co-design from Matt Leacock and Rob Daviau who also worked on many not all but
games.
many legacy games.
Yes.
And so yeah, so this is basically a a family weight uh kind of legacy game. And honestly, these two have worked together on other very approachable family weight legacy games like Ziggurat one comes to mind.
Yeah.
Uh a couple of others, but this is what I was really excited about cuz I love the Forbidden series.
Yeah, so we are going to approach this with trying to give as few spoilers as humanly possible. Um and in fact, we're not even going to show you the game that we played because we don't want all them stickers involved.
All right, so Wendy's going to show you how it plays and then we'll give you our thoughts.
I have the first scenario of Forbidden Legacy set up right here. And the first thing you always do is open the Forbidden Legacy Chronicle. Um this looks like a massive book, but they are like cardboard pages, so they're pretty thick. Um you open it up, you're going to go ahead and read the prologue so you can kind of figure out what's going on around here. Um what we're dealing with. Um and then you're going to read the episode chapter. So every episode is going to have one of these little comic books right here. And then they're going to have a page of player aids that's specific to that game. So there's going to be four player aids attached right here. Then you're going to go ahead and read any special rules that there are for the game. Um and then you'll also find out any of the lore information over here. Uh clearly episode one was played um and And some of the lores were gotten. Um but these are going to be like stickers that are added on later. All right.
So that's that book. Let's talk about the basic game. I have this game set up for a three-player game on normal mode over here, and the gist is that we are in this floating city that is struggling and we need to repair this portal right here. Um and the way we're going to do that is we're going to go around and we're going to find these four pieces that are going to help us uh repair the portal. Once we find them, we're going to have them appear on locations, and then we need to go to those locations, we need to trade in cards. Uh so we trade in cards to make them appear, and then we're going to trade in different types of cards to pick them up, uh bring them back to the portal, and then eventually actually attach them to the portal. Which this is going to take me longer than you all wanted it to take in this overview. For me to attach this tiny little piece to the portal. There we go.
Attach the pieces to the portal. Now, while this is all happening, this area in the sky or this island in the sky is slowly collapsing, so I have some cards over here. These tiles have been flipped over, um and as we go around and as we take our actions, we're going to need to try to flip them back to their color side, because if they ever come out of this deck again, they will actually go away and disappear. They will fall to the earth of doom. So we have over here on our handy-dandy player aid, this is going to tell you the basic turn structure. So you're going to take four actions, that's going to be stuff like moving, searching, repairing, those kind of things. You're going to draw two element cards, that's these cards up here. Uh these cards, they're going to sit in front of you, and you're going to hope that a time anomaly doesn't happen, uh but it will because there's three of these in the deck. And then finally, you'll draw threat cards, which is how we have these cards flip over into the dark side and eventually disappear.
So what is a time anomaly, you may ask? Well, if a time anomaly comes up in your turn, for one, you don't get one of these cool cards uh from that particular draw, but then you will increase the threat level, which makes this a little bit higher and this determines how many cards we're going to draw of the location deck. And then we're also going to shuffle the threat discard pile and put it on top of the threat draw pile. So we are going to take all of these cards that we have flipped over, all of these spaces that are struggling and might fall to their doom. We're going to flip them over, we're going to shuffle them and then we're going to place them back on top. So that when we come to the point of drawing, which is going to be the next step, we're going to draw stuff that we've already seen, like the Macinarium, which is right here and it is now gone. Goodbye Macinarium.
We miss you. All right, for a couple more specifics on the actions that you can take, I mentioned that you can move. You can also search, you can go to locations that have these lower tiles, which will give you special stickers that will go in your handy dandy little player book and say like in the future I will have quantum reflexes, but you don't know what that means yet. You can also come over here and you get these gear tiles, which are little special one-time use cards. Often times you can use them anytime that you need them and they're free actions. You can also give cards to people that are on the same space as you. You can repair tiles that you are on and adjacent to you, flipping them over, making them so that they're less likely to fall apart. You can locate stones, which means you have to look at the three elements of one of these buildings.
So let's talk about what elements mean. So when we look at these cards in front of me right here, we have wind and we have fire and so we have the wind element piece over here and the fire element piece right there. So what we need to do is we need to come to a tile that we have a one of the elements that we want to have appear. We want to have the number that matches the tile and the color. And then finally, we also need the shape. There we go. So, let's pretend this is what I have. So, I could trade in a diamond that is black and has a number three on it. I trade in these three and then I'm going to choose to have one of these elements show up. Let's say I want the wind to show up. I'm going to place it in that spot.
And then later, me or someone else can come back with some air cards. Doesn't matter what it is on the bottom, but we can come back with three air cards, trade those in, and then be able to pick up and add that element to our portal. Finally, once we've gotten all the stones and we've added them to the portal, then everybody needs to come back to the center and magically we have finished the game. Now, when you finally won, you will get a little sticker from the sticker panel and you will get to place it over here on your little comic book area and it'll let you finish the story for that particular game. Then you're going to open up your rulebook and the little field manual and you're going to get some upgrades and stuff that you'll get to add to the board. So, there you go.
That's generally how you play Forbidden Legacy. Let's go ahead and share our thoughts.
All right. So, let's begin talking about kind of the the setup and the components of it. I love the idea of that book and having it be like a multi-layered, pull stuff out of the book. You know exactly what chapter you want you're on, what chapter you've done before because stuff is missing. Um, and it just kind of like takes you through the story.
I agree. It's seven chapters and it's funny because that book looks very thick at the beginning.
It does. It's a little daunting.
Yeah, and then you realize, oh, this feels like a
four layers of cardboard per chapter.
Feels [clears throat] like a board book. Like when you read to your little kids, you're like, "Oh, this thing is thick." And that's because yeah, they what they've done is if you've played the Pandemic Legacy games, they took the dossier idea where, you know, at some point in the game it'll say, "You Oh, open up dossier B174." And you flip through these things and you rip them open.
Mhm.
It just put all of that into the book, which I think is
Yeah, it was great.
I think that's really smart because then you don't have to do what I just described, go through the box, dig for things, look for other stuff. It's all right there.
Because a lot of other legacy games, you would slowly unlock more things that you could unlock.
Yeah.
And so then you have like little mini pieces of paper that you also have to go through as well as the larger pieces of paper, and it just kind of became a lot. Whereas this, yeah, it's just all super contained.
Which I love all of that in the in the I keep saying Forbidden Legacy, in the Pandemic Legacies, Ticket [clears throat] to Ride Legacy, played a lot of games with these two designers as the legacy designers there. And I love all that in there. It is a bit of upkeep, but it's worth it for like a big legacy game. This is trying to be very approachable, and I think that honestly putting that all there together means yes, you have less branching, you have fewer branching moments and stuff. The story's going to be the story each time, but it makes it so approachable, which is perfect for this game.
I think so. And at Forbidden, like if we just step aside and just look at Forbidden Island versus Pandemic, you know, the original like the originals of them, I definitely think Forbidden is a little bit easier, it's a little easier to get into, there's less um just variety of things you have to do and get done. It's a little more straightforward, a little more family-friendly. And so having this be a little bit more straightforward, a little bit more family-friendly legacy game, I think makes perfect sense. It is not a kids game though, and I I want to make sure that that's very clear. This is family weight, but not kids. Meaning, you're going to need um someone who's good at reading, good at organizing, all that stuff, understanding the rules because every game is a little bit different. Um in fact, every game is a lot bit different.
Every game is a lot of bit different.
Yeah. If I and here is where I'm going to say my first negative is that I think that the rules could have been laid out a little bit better and a little bit more explicit sometimes. There's a few things like, well, I know how to fill in this gap because I've played Forbidden Island and and Jungle and some of these other ones. Like I know structurally, you know, what to do at this kind of moment. And it's not bad, but it's just kind of it it could have been a little bit more explicit and and well-written because someone does have to kind of be the person to go through the procedurality of well, what do you do when you reach the end of the game? You go through these steps. These are the legacy steps, but there's also some legacy steps before the start of the game. And little things like that that you got to know to do. And so I I do wish the rules were a bit more precising, but they work. They they definitely get the job done.
They do. And in fact, I think we played on hard mode one time cuz we definitely just kind of assumed one direction instead of the other.
Uh yes, there was a definitely a big rules question uh that I I saw online. There's a there's a thread and the good news is that if you're watching this video, you've and you can go to BoardGameGeek. Uh there are rules threads and stuff in there like, "Hey, can the specialty cables like split directions and stuff, right?" Oh, the answer is actually yes, not no. So, stuff like that, right? So, um yeah, there there's moments.
Yeah, there's definitely moments. Um one thing that I really enjoy about this particular um legacy game is that the amount of reading is very digestible. Um and so being at that family weight game, I don't want something that is just paragraphs and paragraphs and paragraphs and paragraphs of okay writing. But instead, because it does the comic book thing, our daughter was very excited to read it, and she's a reader anyways. Um, but she doesn't always enjoy reading out loud. Um, and so she was like all for being one of the people to read the story. You know, it's like three panels. It's not a ton. Um, but she was just excited to be the one that was in charge of reading that, you know.
It was more than three panels. It's like a full page and then and it's it's so silly that you don't get the last panel until you complete the mission. And that's a nice touch, right? That is that's genuinely cool that you're like, "How does the story end? Find out." You know, and you play the mission and you're like, "Ooh, I earned it." And you put it right on there. It feels good. It's the right amount of stickering. It's not too much. Uh, and I think that it tells the story in a silly and silly but approachable enough away. I do find it odd that uh Kwanchai Moriya does the brilliant box cover for this game. Looks gorgeous. They have a different artist or maybe multiple different artists do the actual in-game components, which look good. They're not Kwanchai, but they're good. And then they had another artist do the graphic novel or the comic book part of it, and those three styles are very different from each other.
Mhm.
And not enough to like take me out of it, but like and and I get why the graphic novel is like uh you know, "Adventure!" and everything. I'm glad the whole game doesn't look that way. But it is just it it's an oddity, but our family got right through it and we just you know, we loved it anyway.
Yeah, we did enjoy it anyways. Uh, one little one little gripe that I think I have is in Forbidden Island, the base game, you understand that like tiles flip over and there's usually like a blue side to them. This time they decided make the backside gray, like a a black and white gray version of it. And um, I found it a little bit difficult to recognize is tiles had been flipped over versus not. Um, just because of the way that the art style was. It's not super big deal, um but it is something that I just noticed.
That's kind of emblematic of most of my little negatives for the game like
minor.
Like, oh, I noticed that. Uh but also, woo, we're just going to keep playing.
Yes. Um but for actual gameplay, the way that this included little touches from the four different Forbidden games, I really appreciated that. It never once like said, "You are playing this game." You know what I mean? Just this game and this game only. Like it definitely added fun legacy elements. It created unique game structures and systems to this Forbidden world. And so, I really appreciate that you you can find all the callbacks, but it's not just like, "Here, play Forbidden Island. Now we're going to play Forbidden Desert. Now we're going to play, you know?"
I and I was waiting for those like really blatant things because the first game, uh you the from out the gate from the kind of the rules explanation is quite a bit inspired by Forbidden Island.
Mhm.
And then I was pleasantly surprised that each subsequent game kind of shifted and morphed into its own thing. And so, yes, homage moments, but never like full recreations. Uh and each game is and you said this earlier and I kind of blew past the point. I really agree with you. Each game feels different from each other. Even the ones that are kind of clearly like callback kind of things. You're like, "Ooh, but now we're approaching it in a different way." And I I like how the story ties in with it. I like it mechanically what's going on in each subsequent chapter. And I was delightfully surprised every time.
Yeah, so I think if you like some of the games, you may not like some of the other games. You if you've been like, "Forbidden Sky has never worked out for me. I couldn't get the magnets to line up and that kind of stuff." Like, if you have some hits or some misses, I think this still might be a hit for you because it just I feel like each game was just very, very good.
And it kind of takes the best parts from the different games. Like some people I liked Forbidden Jungle a lot. A lot of people didn't. Well, they got rid of the weird, you know, like high upkeep kind of like rotating and and moving stuff and they just kept like the the parts of it that worked and that's the homage in a later chapter or whatever, right? So, it I think that it pays off very nicely if you've played all of them. If you haven't played them, you don't have to have that like background homework. It's not like, "Oh, I forgot to watch these seven MCU shows before watching the new Marvel movie, right?" it's not There's no homework required. This is just on and of itself, like on its own, a really solid legacy game. If you've played the other ones, it's just extra kind of like joyful to say like, "Oh, look at that. I love that."
What score are you coming in at?
I'm giving this one a nine. I really liked it. It is uh it is what what you said. This is a family weight legacy game. Is it my favorite legacy game? Does it punch as hard as uh Ticket to Ride Legacy and like Pandemic Legacy Season 2 and 0 and 1? No. And it was never meant to and so, as a family experience that we could go through and that we could go through pretty well, it throws a lot at you. Some of those missions are tough and are surprisingly tough even for us as gamers. Uh I think that if you are approaching this maybe as a little less experienced of a gamer, you are or if you just have a bad luck, you know, what every once in a while with like the way that the deck comes out, you'll lose. And it's okay to lose because as you as you replay a chapter, you get one little extra level up thing each time. I think that that kind of balances out. If you didn't hunt down certain upgrades during the course of the game, you're like, "Oh, no, I missed them forever." Well, there's the game's going to give you little opportunities to kind of make up for that. So, I even though I think it get pretty difficult at times, I think it's always winnable.
Uh I think it's at a pretty good difficulty and it will kind of like juice you up a little bit as you replay chapters. Uh I'm surprised how much variety they're able to get out of a very simple little system, a little simple little loop, and I really enjoyed it, so it's a nine.
That's awesome. I'm going to give this a nine as well. I think that this is absolutely fabulous. Very likely one of the the best games I played this year, like so good. And obviously there's plenty more year left, but really enjoyed it, loved playing it as a family. I think that the campaign is the right length. It didn't go for an entire like 12-month sequence, but instead that that seven chapters I think was just right because we're playing a, you know, a couple here and there didn't feel too bad, and it didn't extend it past a point where like okay, we're sick of seeing this. I also think the variety in it is absolutely fabulous for how much it changes each game, and so you don't feel like you're playing that same thing over and over again in the same game over and over again. So, would I come back at the end of this legacy game and still play one of my forbidden games that I have at home? Yes, I would, and that I think is a big testament to how how this is different and a new experience. And so, yeah, nine for me, really enjoyed it.
All right, well, there you go.
So, seal of excellence for Forbidden Legacy. Both of us highly recommending it. If you've gotten a chance to play it, go ahead and and try to spoiler-free share some of your thoughts as well below.
All right, thanks for joining us today. I'm Wendy Yee.
And I'm Chris Yee.
And go do your legacy stuff.
To the skies.
Create a legacy.
Hey everybody, thanks for watching another video from The Dice Tower. Hey, you want to learn more about us, communicate with us? We have a Facebook group, we have a Discord channel, lots of different ways to get involved with The Dice Tower. You can find that in our link tree link below. So, just click that, it will take you, and you can communicate with us on Facebook, join our Facebook group. So, there's lots of cool things that you can find and become part of the Dice Tower. The
Thanks so much for watching. I'm Tom Vasel.
I don't want you near me. That is correct. That is I want that to be the takeaway from this section of the video.
Don't have Chris near me.
No, don't have Wendy near me.
Why can't I be near you? Why can't you be near me?
No, no. It's just the other way. It's just the second part. First part's allowed, the second part's not.
No, if one isn't allowed, the other isn't allowed.
Transitive property of addition.
Yes.
All right.
And subtraction.
[clears throat]
That was commutative. Which one's commutative and which one's transitive?
I don't remember. I'm just surprised I still remember those terms. I'm mostly surprised I still remember math.
One of them means like you can swap them.
Mhm. And the other one means that you can swap them.
Probably.
One is on opposite sides of the equal sign and the other is Is that right? And then the other one is
can be you can opposite sides it to get to the other side.
7 + 5 = 12, but you can also 12 = 7 + 5. Is that one of them? Cuz like the I know one of them is 5 + 7 also equals 12. And then you have the cumulative and transitive properties of multiplication where 5 * 7 still 12.
-b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus 4ac over 2a. Something like that. It's still there.
gosh.
I think.
3.14 seared in the noggin.
Mhm.
There forever.
Mhm.
Yeah, I memorized pi up to two digits.
Pi over two is something in trig. I remember that. Or was it two over pi? It was pi over two.
Pi over Pi over two is something in trig. Uh that's a half a circle or a quarter circle. Is that what it is?
two pi.
Uh two pi Two pi is tau. Right? Is that what you just said?
I want two pies.
Tau Tau two pi.
I would like an apple one and a strawberry cream cheese one. Oh, banana cream. Oh, I want my two pies.
Chocolate pudding with uh Reese's peanut butter underneath it. That is the best pie.
That's a very, very good pie.
It's the best pie. Two pie.
apple pie with a shortbread cookie crust?
Okay, what are we reviewing?
I don't remember.