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Talisman Prologue
PC (Steam)
Putting the ‘Bored’ in Board Games
2/5 stars
Being the semi-humongous tabletop game nerd that I am (I say ‘semi-humongous’ because my dedication to the medium of tabletop gaming pales in comparison to those die-hards who spend every evening at comic shops actually playing tabletop games with others of their ilk), I have a somewhat reserved fondness for Games Workshop. Indeed, Games Workshop, via a licensing deal with Milton Bradley games back in the early 1990s, is what started me down the long, dark road to nerd-dom with “HeroQuest.” Later my love of “HeroQuest” led me to the world of “Advanced HeroQuest” and the ‘Warhammer Fantasy Battle’ universe of miniatures, perpetually-outdated army codices, and esoteric dice tables. While it wasn’t long before I abandoned all of Games Workshop’s products in favor of TSR’s (later Wizards of the Coast’s) Dungeons & Dragons material, there were still Games Workshop products that managed to hold my attention. Outside of the smaller-scale skirmish-based wargames, I was always intrigued by a game called “Talisman,” which was long out of print before I ever got into tabletop gaming. With the impending digital re-release of this ancestral tabletop game, I figured it was about time I finally experienced “Talisman” first-hand. While I was intending to buy the deluxe digital edition of the full game to play with my friends, the taste I got in “Talisman Prologue” (which was discounted to $1.75 on Steam) quickly changed my mind.
Presentation
“Talisman Prologue” looks just like an old fantasy board game from the late 1980s. The board, the fate cards, the dice, and the miniatures are all 100% authentic. Unfortunately, the miniatures are presented in their unpainted leaden state, which is just lazy. The fact that the game uses nothing but flat images of old art assets makes it look both authentic and incredibly cheap/lazy. There are no fancy animations added and, outside of a few glowing highlight effects, literally looks like a physical board game. While there are plenty of positive things to say about being faithful to the source material, “Talisman Prologue” is a bit TOO faithful, leaving the final product looking like a no-budget Flash game rather than a digital upgrade to one of the glorious Games Workshop’s oldest products.
Not even the sound is particularly inspired. The music is low key and forgettable, while the few added sound effects either directly mimic those heard on a real tabletop (dice rolling, cards flopping) or add an inflated sense of tension via gongs or dramatic chords.
Story
Honestly, I didn’t really know how “Talisman” worked going into the experience. I was expecting something akin to “HeroQuest” or “Warhammer Quest.” Unfortunately, “Talisman” isn’t in the same league as those games. Instead of resembling a simplified take on a true tabletop RPG, “Talisman” is more like a fantasy take on “Monopoly” or “The Game of Life.” As such, there are a number of playable characters, each with a handful of different scenarios. Each scenario provides a set of goals for the player to achieve in order, but none of these are particularly story-intense. In short, because “Talisman Prologue” is a board game and NOT a tabletop RPG, it has little of merit in the way of story. But the fact that it has ANY story at all is somewhat remarkable for a board game.
Gameplay
Pick a character and start rolling 6-sided dice. Those are really the only significant gameplay elements in “Talisman Prologue.” The game board is setup in three concentric rings, and the player is free to move their character clockwise or counter-clockwise with each roll of the die. Upon landing on a square, the player does whatever the square dictates – usually drawing a number of cards from the fate deck or rolling one or more dice on a table.
Upon picking a character, the player must also pick one of that character’s scenarios as their end objective. Thanks to the influence of smartphone games, “Talisman Prologue” rates the player on a scale of 1-3 talismans depending on how many turns it takes to achieve the end objective. And that’s pretty much all there is to it.
While is it possible to develop a character during the course of a game – increasing stats, gaining equipment, and whatnot – none of this development carries over into subsequent games… not even in subsequent scenarios that directly follow the preceding scenario!
Overall
“Talisman Prologue” is mildly interesting as a museum piece in the development of tabletop fantasy games. While my expectations were of a game higher on the evolutionary scale, “Talisman Prologue” serves as a fine example of just how boring the 1980s were for nerds and geeks (it is a decade I remember as a stomach-churning knot of sheer boredom). With its 100% chance-based gameplay and lack of durable character progression, “Talisman Prologue” might be a fun way to introduce very young children to fantasy gaming without overwhelming them with rules. But for my group of friends, “Talisman” is just too simplistic to remain entertaining for very long.
Presentation: 3/5
Story: 1/5
Gameplay: 2/5
Overall (not an average): 2/5
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