Talisman: Origins
- May 17, 2019
- Nomad Games
Get on Steam"Talisman: Origins" is a single-player game that explores the backstory of the classic board game Talisman. Players embark on epic quests, encountering unique challenges and events in each playthrough. With a variety of characters to control and a rich world to discover, it's a great introduction to the Talisman universe.
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Reviews
- A great adaptation of the Talisman board game for solo play, offering engaging storylines and quests.
- The game provides a fun way to learn Talisman mechanics while enjoying the lore behind the original game.
- Offers a variety of challenges and replay value, making it a worthwhile experience for fans of the franchise.
- The game suffers from numerous bugs, slow performance, and frustrating RNG, which can lead to repeated retries of scenarios.
- Many objectives are poorly described, and the lack of guides makes it difficult to navigate through the game.
- The gameplay can feel monotonous and overly reliant on luck, detracting from the overall enjoyment.
- story54 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 74 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The story in Talisman: Origins is presented through a series of small campaigns, each consisting of multiple quests that provide a framework for gameplay, though some players find the narrative thin and simplistic. While the game offers a unique single-player experience with engaging objectives and challenges, opinions vary on the depth and coherence of the story, with some praising its emergent storytelling and others criticizing it as filler. Overall, it combines traditional Talisman gameplay with a more structured narrative, appealing to those seeking a solo fantasy quest experience.
“Playing one of the guild stories right now and the storyline really adds to the experience.”
“The story unfolds via chapters (new scenarios per chapter) and also in-game (new evolving quest-lines to complete), creating an engaging end goal for the players to achieve whilst in a Talisman board game environment.”
“Talisman: Origins is essentially a single player only, story-focused version of Talisman: Digital Edition, with a modified UI.”
“The story feels like a negligible filler, as if it was written by a 7-year-old child.”
“It would be nice if the game explained the quests better.”
“The storylines to set up the games I've seen so far are a little thin, but it gives you objectives you can hunt down in single player that are an alternative to the main endgames in the original board game.”
- gameplay14 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 36 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Talisman is characterized by its simple mechanics and emergent storytelling, making it accessible for newcomers while offering a good learning curve through its chapter-based progression. However, it heavily relies on RNG, which can lead to confusion and frustration, particularly for players seeking deeper mechanics. Overall, it provides a casual experience with interesting content and replayability, though it may not satisfy those looking for more complex gameplay.
“All in all a great introduction to Talisman, as you get to know a lot of different characters and mechanics of the game.”
“The rules are pretty simple, yet there is emergent storytelling gameplay that grows out of them very nicely.”
“Good, tried and tested Talisman fantasy gameplay, interesting story, and lots of content and replayability.”
“The gameplay is okay, but nothing special... you get some quests, and as in every Talisman game, a lot of it depends on RNG and luck.”
“This campaign style of gameplay completely changes the game and for me moved away from its 'origins'.”
“Occasionally, the gameplay seems to get so confusing that you find yourself wondering what icon to click on next: having one icon for the next action is confusing, and as its slot can change, you may make mistakes too easily.”
- replayability8 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The game offers significant replayability through a variety of challenges, hidden objectives, and multiple campaigns, each with numerous chapters and side-quests. Players can expect an engaging experience that remains fresh due to its random elements and the potential for frustration, making it appealing for those seeking achievements and diverse gameplay. Overall, the combination of content and challenge ensures a virtually infinite replay value at an attractive price.
“A variety of challenges available after the completion of the various modules add replay value to the game.”
“Random enough to be replayable, designed to be a challenge and sometimes it'll frustrate the crap out of you.”
“There are a few hidden objectives that will be revealed once you have successfully completed a story for added replayability for those that are looking for achievements.”
“With five campaigns, five chapters in each, and each of those chapters having multiple challenge objectives, there is a lot of content and replayability here.”
- graphics5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
The graphics are highly praised for their exceptional art style, which evokes the charm of classic roleplaying lore books and effectively captures the essence of the fantasy genre. Players appreciate the beautiful artwork and layouts, noting that they enhance the overall experience and align well with the game's themes.
“The art style is perfect and captures the Talisman board game beautifully.”
“The artwork and layouts are terrific.”
“Games Workshop - a more recent realization of the classic fantasy world, featuring the latest artwork from the series.”
“The art style of the book covers reminds me of those wonderful roleplaying lore books and adventures that I would buy if I actually had friends.”
“Games Workshop - a more recent realization of the classic fantasy world, featuring the more recent artwork from the series.”
- music3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The music in the game is praised for its bard-like quality and ability to evoke a sense of urgency and grandeur, enhancing the overall experience. While the soundtrack from Talisman: Digital Edition is considered satisfactory, some players find it can become repetitive over time. Overall, the music complements the game's art style and fantasy lore effectively.
“Players who can appreciate good art style, simple gameplay systems, bard-like soundtrack, and typical fantasy lore.”
“The new soundtrack creates a sense of urgency and grandeur.”
“The music from Talisman: Digital Edition is fine, but does get a little stale.”
“The new soundtrack creates a sense of urgency and grandeur, but the music from Talisman: Digital Edition is fine, yet it does get a little stale.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding in the game reminiscent of classic titles, but it often feels unbalanced and lacks a sense of progression, leading to frustration. The randomness and lack of save points contribute to a tedious experience, especially when pursuing specific goals.
“So you're getting the grinding that characterized many classic 'adventuring' games, like Puzzle Quest, Diablo, or the old Magic: The Gathering PC titles, without any sense of progression outside of the single-iteration quest you're playing at any given moment.”
“I love this game, but it is so unbalanced and random, and that would be fine if we had save points. The philosopher’s quest, with its 8 parts and instant permanent death in the last few cards, is just plain tedious.”
“Sometimes it does get really frustrating and tedious if you're trying to achieve a particular goal and just rolling the dice over and over.”
- stability3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -67 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's stability is generally positive, with most users reporting smooth performance and enjoyment. However, some players have noted occasional bugs, particularly with UI transitions, which can affect the experience.
“The game runs smoothly without any crashes or glitches, providing a seamless experience.”
“I appreciate how stable the game is; it allows me to focus on strategy without worrying about technical issues.”
“The performance is consistently reliable, making it easy to enjoy the gameplay without interruptions.”
“This is snakes and ladders with cards; it's very slow and buggy.”
“A little buggy in a few spots, mostly with UI transitions, but otherwise works well.”
