Descent: Journeys in the Dark
It’s been a long, long time since I last played a good, solid dungeon crawl game. In fact the last one I played that was up to snuff was Warhammer Quest, back in ‘95, and that game was so programed that it could be played solo - this meant the “Dungeon Master’ was more or less unneeded. It also suffered from odd quirks and game balance issues - but it was still a pretty good game overall - definitely a step up from older dungeon crawls like Advanced Hero Quest, and it’s simpler sister game - Hero Quest both released in 1989. Hero Quest holds a special place in my heart as the game that got me into gaming in the first place. A Hero Quest skeleton was the first miniature I ever painted, but I digress.
So needless to say, I was quite excited when Descent: Journeys in the Dark hit the scene in 2005. After a few plays it quickly became apparent that it was the new dungeon crawl standard, and after incorporating the expansions, it becomes a truly epic adventure game - but I’ll review those at a later time. For now, I’d like to focus on the base game.
Descent comes in an infamous Fantasy Flight “Coffin Box” - in other words it’s massive. And trust me, you’ll need all the space you can get. In fact - if you choose to pick up a copy, plan on getting a couple of tackle box style storage trays - you’ll need them for all the various chits and counters you get, and having them cuts down on time trying to find wound markers, effect tokens, etc.
All of the cards, chits, and other paper components are of excellent quality, as is to be expected from Fantasy Flight. My only notable gripe - and it is a pretty big one, is the quality of the interlocking dungeon sections. The art depicting the various rooms and halls is sub-standard compared to the other pieces of art shown on the cards, rule books, etc. and is limited to a drab palette of browns. The puzzle piece connectors don’t fit together well, and some barely fit together at all without some force. This is something that needs to be corrected in my opinion.
The game comes with a ton of plastic miniatures, and all are sculpted with a nice amount of detail. They are cast in a soft plastic, as is standard with most modern board games which require miniatures, and thus are prone to some warping. This can be fixed, and I’ll write a tutorial on how to do so at a later date, but the soft plastic can make painting them difficult if you wish to do so. Admittedly, I haven’t tried to paint them yet, but plan on giving it a shot, so I’ll let yah know.
Unlike most dungeon crawls, Descent is meant to be played as a ”one-off” game. Characters get stronger as the game progresses by finding magic treasures and training to level up like in other similar games, but when the chosen quest is over - it’s over. There are some rules which allow players to use the same characters in multiple quests, but they are pretty weak - if you want this type of game, the Road to Legends expansion is exactly what you’re looking for - but I’ll cover that later. Now at first, this seems pretty lame - I mean the fun of the traditional dungeon crawl is building up a party of adventurers over a period of time. Watching the party get more and more powerful is half the fun of these types of games, and part of their appeal. However, there’s a big flaw with this type of system - the dungeon master running the game is there to create a fun and exciting experience for the hero players - unfortunately, this usually includes never killing anyone off. No one wants their character killed, especially after building them up for a while, and thus the threat of ultimate death is slim, and the excitement level suffers as a result.
In Descent, the player taking up the mantle of “Overlord” - the guy running the game, is out to win. It’s like most games out there in this regard, where there will be a clear winner and looser. There are no hurt feelings by killing off experienced characters who have been lovingly crafted over time, so the gloves come off - there is a constant sense of danger while playing, and this is how it should be. Players who are used to more ‘traditional’ dungeon crawls may be put off by the difficulty at first - but it’s easy to get over it once you realize that this game is a whole new beast, and ultimately, cut-throat tactics make the game more exciting to everyone playing - including the Overlord who is an active participant in the quest rather than simply a story teller.
There are 10 quests included in the game, and Fantasy Flight has released a quest editor on their site, as well as a community area where people can share their creations, and rate the quests made by other users - so your choice of missions is more or less limitless.
Though the rules are simple enough, play time for a single quest can stretch into 3-4 hours, so some time needs to be set aside to complete a game from start to end. You can drastically reduce playtime by having all the components well organized and at hand. A lot of time is spent looking up special rules, but this is reduced as players memorize them through play.
I’d recommend this game to anyone seeking a dungeon crawl fix - it won’t disappoint. But be ready for a bit of culture shock when the heroes first realize that the Overlord wants to win as badly as the heroes do - and this means the old days of hand holding the heroes through the dungeon, and going easy on the wounded wizard are long gone. Players seeking a more prolonged campaign system may be disappointed with the one-off nature of Descent, but trust me - when this game is coupled with it’s campaign based expansion “Road to Legend” you’ll be more that happy with the result.
DEACON
