Gwent: Rogue Mage Review

Gwent: Rogue Mage Review – In this Gwent: Rogue Mage Review, we are going to examine the Roguelite Deckbuilding game that caught us by surprise a few days ago! Last July 7, 2022, CD Projekt Red released the first Gwent single-player expansion, which combines familiar strategies seen in Gwent with Roguelite elements. Does the new deckbuilding formula work? How does it compare to their previous story-rich RPG card game, Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales? We will answer these questions and more!

Gwent: Rogue Mage is available on PC and mobile via Android and iOS.

Gwent: Rogue Mage Review

Gwent: Rogue Mage Review – Story and Setting

Gwent: Rogue Mage is set on the Continent, hundreds of years before the birth of Geralt of Rivia. Even back then, its citizens could not escape the horrors brought about by aggressive and hostile monsters roaming the world. Some attempted to put these vile creatures to their knees but were deemed unsuccessful, paying with their dear lives in the process. Amidst all of this chaos, there was hope. Hope in the form of Alzur and Lylianna.

For those who have played Gwent, the mage Alzur was once a Season Pass character back in November 2020. This time around, he is accompanied by Lily, a mage herself, as they dedicate their time and energy to wiping out the terrorizing monsters gripping the nation. However, magic is not enough to subjugate them because of their massive numbers.

As Alzur and Lily delved into science, they soon discovered a solution – using mutagens to create special beings who can go toe-to-toe against these creatures. Gwent: Rogue Mage will have you ravage the Continent of beasts to acquire more mutagens and further your experiments to design the ultimate slayer, the witcher. This deckbuilder does not focus on the story but the Roguelite gameplay elements above all else, making it very different from Thronebreaker. But as you gain more experience, you will eventually unlock the 5 remaining chapters of the game, each with its tale about the fate of these mages and their inhumane experiments.

Gwent: Rogue Mage Review – Gameplay and Combat

In Gwent: Rogue Mage, you play as Alzur and Lily as you both scour the overworld map of the Continent to become stronger by accumulating a wide range of cards. This is where you will be choosing the types of battle you wish to engage in and the path you want to take to either boost your cards or resources. Aside from the map, the other location in the game is the Lab. Note that you can go back to the Lab once you log back into the game, when you have been defeated in combat, or when you have successfully beat a boss.

Gwent: Rogue Mage Review – The Lab

The Lab is a comprehensive location showcasing everything you have collected and have yet to acquire in Gwent: Rogue Mage. It is comprised of the Notice Board, Alchemy Station, Treasure Chest, Grimoire, Liquid Tank, Map, and Portal. Let us go through them one by one. The Notice Board is similar to a Season Pass format in which you gain experience as you play Gwent: Rogue Mage more and more, taking both your wins and losses into consideration. Progressing down the line will reward you with additional reinforcements or units, Treasure Cards, Potions, Spell Cards, and more. You can also view the Achievements you have unlocked and your rank on the Leaderboard here.

Next is the Alchemy Station, which houses all of the potions available to you. You are only able to select one at the start of every run to make encounters more manageable. For instance, King’s Blood boosts every unit in your deck by 1 or you can opt to take Archmage’s Flask to increase your Energy by 25. Now as you progress further in the game, you unlock other cards that are shown in the Treasure Chest. You can get your hands on these per run when you are managing reinforcements or participating in Events. The Treasure Chest also shows Global Cards available to any deck, as well as the cards that you currently have for the decks you have access to.

Contrary to the Treasure Chest, the Grimoire contains Spell Cards that are triggered when you click on Alzur. For instance, every player starts with 3 of these, namely Thunder to deal damage, Cleanse to boost an ally, and Portal to create a random card and play it. Utilizing Spell Cards will cost a resource known as Energy, which is synonymous with Mana. These are potent, and can therefore make or break the match especially when you trigger them at the right time.

Meanwhile, the Liquid Tank shows the number of mutagens you currently have. To increase these mutagens, you must participate and win in Boss Battles. And finally, there is the Map to start a fresh run and the Portal, which will teleport you back to the Continent should you wish to continue your current run.

Gwent: Rogue Mage Review – The Continent

The Continent only features one map that changes visually depending on the time of day so you will see shades of dawn, day, and dusk. However, I wish that CD Projekt Red has added more map designs similar to the great varieties we had in Thronebreaker to add to the excitement of our journey. As such, exploration can feel repetitive at times since only the color hues are changing. When it comes to the constituent parts of the map, the Continent delivers because of its random elements requiring you to strategize even outside of combat, much like in Slay the Spire.

Before the beginning of a run, you will be selecting 1 of 4 decks, each with its prepopulated set of cards. The only cards you can change here are the Key or Hero Card and Spell or Special Cards. You will then be teleported to the map where you always begin your adventure by confronting regular enemies before selecting a Treasure Chest if you come out victorious. Afterward, you will be left to your own devices to choose the best path possible.

This is a great way to identify the things you wish to prioritize to build the best deck you can to succeed in combat. So you can opt to participate in Events, containing anecdotes of your minor adventures like drinking in a bar or buying a card from the marketplace. This is currently the lighter version of the ‘shopkeeper’ in Slay the Spire since you cannot technically choose from a huge pool of cards. In general, Events provide you with an avenue to upgrade some of your cards and gain extra Energy, to name a few. But you also have to be careful since not all of the activities here will benefit you. For example, you can be forced to give up one of three cards as a form of payment.

Next is the Place of Power to restore a portion of your Energy or to make use of a special ability depending on its color. If you travel to a Red Place of Power, you will be able to remove 1 card of your choice but if you visit a Blue Place of Power, you can duplicate a specific card from your deck. This is a good balance between improving your cards and generating additional resources to make use of Alzur’s Spell Cards in combat.

In addition to the Treasure Chest in the Lab, there are also Treasure Chests on the overworld map. These contain Treasure Cards that are either shuffled into your deck or activated at the start of every encounter. For example, if you have the Prism Pendant on the board, the Energy cost of your Spells will be cut in half every time you use them. Talk about a huge boost in performance!

And last but not least are the other types of encounters against special enemies, namely the Elite Battle and Boss Battle. In Elite Battles, you will fight difficult creatures that either have way too many Treasure Cards or can efficiently boost their cards while dealing huge damage. This is challenging, especially at the beginning when you are still understanding the patterns and optimal combinations of Gwent deckbuilding.

However, this battle type is essential because it is the only way to evolve your Key Card. Every deck has 1 Key Card, which features a hero with special abilities. The more evolved this type of hero is, the stronger they will perform during that run. In Gwent: Rogue Mage, upgraded Key Cards are not persistent after death but they are worth enhancing to improve your chances of winning against bosses.

In Boss Battles, on the other hand, you go against powerful and challenging monsters to acquire their respective mutagens should you come out victorious. Similar to Elite Battles, these encounters feel exhilarating due to how smart the AI is in dishing out intimidating card combinations that seem unbeatable at first glance.

Gwent: Rogue Mage Review – Combat

Gwent: Rogue Mage’s combat loop shares some similarities with the standalone Gwent card game in terms of descriptions and combinations. What’s starkly different is that matches last for 1 round as opposed to 3. It makes each encounter tougher since you only have a single round to come up with moves to outmaneuver your opponent rather than spreading out your actions over multiple rounds.

The game is also turn-based and it goes like this – you draw a card, play one from your hand, and activate the Order or action of any card on your side of the board. You can then choose to trigger one of Alzur’s Spell Cards, which costs Energy, or end your turn. Unlike in Slay the Spire, you will not have an idea of what the enemy is about to do next up until a certain point unless you have been playing Gwent for some time now.

At the end of every encounter, you will be able to “Manage Reinforcements”, which lets you add or remove a card from your deck. Alternatively, you can also skip this part if you are content with what’s already in your hand. The goal in Rogue Mage remains the same, that is, to accumulate as many points as possible against your opponent. It is a straightforward approach to combat that is made all the more fun due to the card combinations you can come up with.

This is where Gwent’s nuances come into full force since the card descriptions and actions themselves are mostly retained so you immediately have ideas of what cards you will be playing next… as long as you have played Gwent in the past.

My previous statement is crucial because if there is one thing I would change in Gwent: Rogue Mage, it is how tutorials are presented. They are not intuitive for people who are not familiar with the current state of Gwent, given how much it has changed since The Witcher 3 days. I imagine this game to be confusing at first since new players will go from one battle to the next, fumbling around with the meaning of every description. Since the tutorials are extremely basic, it will take some time to know the right cards to play in succession to gain the upper hand.

A practice encounter explaining common keywords such as Deploy, Order, Zeal, and Formation, and how they synergize with one another will definitely be useful to beginners. Despite this, the Roguelite elements of Gwent: Rogue Mage make the gameplay and combat loop addicting due to its progression path on top of the numerous enemies you will be dealing with. Persistent card types such as Key Cards, Potions, and Spell Cards that are selected before a run can drastically change the outcome of encounters.

Gwent: Rogue Mage Review – Audio, Visual, and Design

Gwent: Rogue Mage features similar audio and visual design styles as Gwent, making it a welcoming title for those who are fans of the standalone card game. It is also worth mentioning that the beautiful card art of the elite enemies and bosses has been made specifically for this game. Hopefully, they will also make their way in Gwent someday. Furthermore, the music, sound effects, and voice acting continue to be memorable and nostalgic as well as the cool animations of the cards themselves.

What’s a bit lackluster, however, are the overworld map and the Events UI. The map can use more details like in Thronebreaker, which looks more polished and refined even if it was released back in 2018. CD Projekt Red could have upgraded these assets to highlight design innovations this time around. The Events UI also seems to be an afterthought as huge texts are simply displayed on the screen without much flare. Overall, there is certainly some room for improvement in the design aspect of Gwent: Rogue Mage.

From a technical standpoint, I did not encounter an issue, big or small, throughout my entire playthrough, nor did the framerate dip at any point in time.

Replayability and Pricepoint

Gwent: Rogue Mage can take up to 25-30 hours to complete as you are learning the ins and outs of the game, the ways to properly build different decks, and the enemy patterns. One run takes approximately 30 minutes to an hour to finish including fighting the boss at the end.

This Roguelite Deckbuilder is priced at USD 9.99 for the standard edition, which is a decent price point since you will be spending a lot of hours playing it, and USD 19.99 for the premium edition to receive cosmetics that can be used in Gwent.

Final Thoughts

Gwent: Rogue Mage is a thrilling addition to The Witcher card game franchise. It does not play like Thronebreaker in the sense that there are no matches with specific objectives in mind such as saving X cards, for example. Instead, this game effectively synergizes Roguelite elements with the deckbuilding aspects and randomness of every encounter. So progression feels relevant because it influences how powerful your decks become. There is no shortage of card combinations to try since you are given avenues to experiment with them per run.

Battles also feel unique, fresh, and challenging even after several hours of playtime, making it a worthy single-player expansion to Gwent for those who want to experience something different outside of the standard PvP formula.

If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out our Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak Expansion Review and Elder Scrolls Online High Isle Review.