The Elder Scrolls: Legends - Heroes of Skyrim -

With the recent release of Heroes of Skyrim I felt the need to give this TCG a try, in general I think its a good game, although it is blatantly clear that it is just Hearthstone with a Bethesda twist. The twist is nice though, one of my biggest problems with Hearthstone is the game is just too simple, well let me tell you something TES: Legends puts that complexity in a TCG and I like it. Instead of a one board fight the battlefield is split between two lanes, both have unique attributes to them if given the choice. The standard settings of play involve one lane being the shadow lane while the other is a plane field with nothing special. The shadow lane provides any card in its lane to be unattackable while under the effects of cloak, cloak is provided on the entry of play and remains on the target for one turn. Cards under the effects of cloak can still be attacked by spells and abilities. As you can see, just a simple game play change can add huge complexities when it comes to strategy of play and I believe that is what drives this game so well.

Choosing A Race and Portrait:
When you first start up the game you will be tasked with choosing a race, in all there are 10 races in total each having their own unique gains. For example if you choose the Redguard you will more quickly collect weapon-related cards. Once you have found the race of your choice you get to select one of four images to represent your avatar. If for some reason you are unhappy with your decision then there is no need to worry you can change both your race and portrait at anytime in the profile menu.

Story Mode:
The intro campaign is 20 chapters in length, with every battle consisting of one chapter. Everything in the campaign is voiced while also carrying a small motion comic scene for every chapter. In all it was a very fun experience with a decent story and unique battle stages. I have personally only played the free opener campaign with the 20 chapters, there is however another story campaign called the Dark Brotherhood. The first part of this campaign can be unlocked with a very large amount of gold, or it can be fully unlocked with real money.

The Deck Builder:
Here you get to create your own grand strategies, starting with choosing two of the 5 traits including ; Strength, Intellect, Willpower, Agility, and Endurance. Once you have your two traits selected you may put any of the cards under the selected traits into your deck, as well as any neutral cards and the limited multi-trait cards. Along with building a deck this is also where you can construct cards you don't own as well. The cards you do not own can be constructed using soul gems, soul gems can be obtained by deconstructing cards or rewards from your battles. The Required amount of gems for each card is determined by magika cost and rarity.

The Play:
Choosing this option presents you with three options including; casual, ranked, and practice battles. If you choose the casual game type then their is nothing to loose, and is a game type to either test your newly constructed decks or to simply just have fun. If you chose the ranked option then your competitive drive might just get the best of you, this is where people go to climb the ladder of ranks, to prove that they are the best of the best, if you do not have a very refined deck or at least a decently crafted one then I highly suggest that you find a different game mode. Choosing practice battles is a wonderful way to learn the basic mechanics of the game as well as trying out new decks to flourish you TCG mind. The practice battles come in three different difficulties so you can really feel where your deck is lacking and where it thrives.

The Arenas:
The solo arena.
To enter the solo arena you must pay 150 gold coins or you can choose to spend an event ticket. Once you pay your way in you will be given a choice between three different archetypes. After you have chosen the archetype of your choice the deck building process begins you will be presented with three cards, of which you will only be able to pick one. This process is repeated until you have a total of 30 cards. Once you have constructed your deck you must choose between eight mini bosses, all of which are specialized in their own path to victory. If you manage to defeat all eight opponents then the main boss will unlock, defeating him will gift you the highest rewards possible. In this arena you will be given three lives, once those run out your wins will be added up and the appropriate award will be given to you.
The versus arena.
Like the solo arena it costs 150 gold or an event ticket to enter, your archetypes and deck building is the same as well. Once you have your deck you will be going up against Individuals that have done the same thing as you. Then the ultimate show down commences, an epic show down until you obtain either 9 wins, or three losses. Same as before once one of those objectives have been achieved your wins will be totaled and an appropriate reward will be given to you.

The Store:
This is where all your micro transactions are located at, separated into four options including; packs, stories, event tickets,
and special offers. Not all the deals here are through real money, individual packs and a select few of the special offers are all dealt with gold.

My honest opinion is The Elder Scrolls: Legends is a great game, and honestly if you enjoyed hearthstone then you will enjoy this title as well. There is one tip I will give to anyone wanting to try this game, never buy a card pack, I am not sure why the game is set up this way but it is a trap. Just a simple theory a card pack is 100 gold coins, instead of buying that for six cards get yourself into the solo arena or verses arena, even if you win one game you will triple your rewards. Not only this but you will also learn about cards that you have never seen before, and play with decks you are not use to seeing, but the most important thing, is it forces you to build a deck with random cards which is one of the top skills in a TCG.

         Once again my name is Zachary Jamison, but you may call me PlayBook