45 new cards in all
Blizzard does a great job with its single-player expansions for Hearthstone. I dug Naxxramasdespite the high price point, and I really enjoyed Blackrock.
League of Explorers, by comparison, is a bit less straight-faced, aping films like Indiana Jonesat every turn, and it’s all the better for it.
Blizzard is trying something slightly different this time. Instead of the typical five-wing setup, there’s only four, and it actually works out better for me personally. As a result, the price is dropped from $24.99 to $19.99, which is a bit more digestible. With one less wing, it’s one less week to wait for each part to unlock. Plus it delivers more cards in the long run, with 45 in all, including some legendaries.
The missions are a bit more inventive, too. The first quest involves a genie who grants you wishes each turn in the form of cards that you can spend for zero mana; these grant you random rewards, which are not bound to your current deck or class. The second fight is with an Anubis-like boss who holds an immunity staff, forcing players to attack it to gain its power — and then defend it at all costs.
But the third quest is by far my favorite, and probably the most original encounter yet. Framed around an escape from a crumbling temple, you have 10 turns to survive, essentially. What unfolds from there is a choose your own adventure of sorts, where you can pick from one of two buffs, or in some cases, two bad choices (take five damage now, or go for a 50% chance to take 10 damage, or none at all). It’s really, really fun, and although I didn’t have to make a specific deck to best it, I opted to replay it multiple times with different choices just to see how it played out. Class challenges are back too, with the Warrior and Warlock variety available as of today. They alsoreward you with cards.
League of Explorer‘s story remains tongue-in-cheek the entire time, and it looks like each wing will feature a different adventurer guiding you along the way. The first is led by Reno (third from the left in the above picture), who is a clear Indiana Jones reference, mixed with a bit of Kronk from Emperor’s New Groove for good measure. Blizzard is also teasing an overarching storyline featuring the Staff of Origination, which you build piece by piece during each episode.
Right now, only the first wing is open, with the others set to arrive over the course of the next three weeks. Once all of them are available, I’ll provide a full review of the expansion.