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For a F2P Game, It's Quite Exceptional & Worth Your Time - Hex: Shards of Fate Review

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129

imageFor a F2P Game, It's Quite Exceptional & Worth Your Time - Hex: Shards of Fate Review

I have to admit that on the back of Chronicle: Runescape Legends, I was well and truly looking forwards to playing Hex: Shards of Fate. I have to confess that I’d never played it before and had only briefly heard about it. As someone who thoroughly enjoys the likes of Hearthstone, but always found Magic the Gathering too daunting to delve too deeply into, Hex is potentially straddling both games and comes armed with a hefty Kickstarter war chest.

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Comments

  • lahnmirlahnmir Member LegendaryPosts: 5,054
    Literally agree with this entire review save the Shin'hare, they are amazing. Great write up touching on both the positive and the negative. As a Kickstarter backer I am extremely pleased with the end result. People complaining about how shallow and kiddie Heartstone is should try this.

    /Cheers,
    Lahnmir
    'the only way he could nail it any better is if he used a cross.'

    Kyleran on yours sincerely 


    'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'

    Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...



    'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless. 

    It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.

    It is just huge resource waste....'

    Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer

  • RPGMASTERGAMERRPGMASTERGAMER Member UncommonPosts: 516
    loving hearthstone more, duelyst, faeria , runes escape legend.

    they are overall better that hex to me but hex kinda not bad... that just after 3 games of this style i dont need another one
  • Sector13Sector13 Member UncommonPosts: 784
    Hex's drawback is literally that it's another MTG clone. If they went for a different game play style it might have been more popular then it is. Too many fanboys flock to Hearthstone despite it being the same exact style of game play but Hex at least treats their online card game like a real card game and you can trade and sell your cards unlike Hearthstone which will always remain just an online card game for the extra cash.
  • inmysightsinmysights Member UncommonPosts: 450
    I kickstarted HEX thinking that it was going to be an awesome game and i was right! it is awesome, but, yes it is just as expensive and money draining as MTG is. It is really depressing because I had such high hopes for this game. I dont even want to tell you the math on trying to get an entire set of cards without spending real money.

    I am so good, I backstabbed your face!

  • holdenhamletholdenhamlet Member EpicPosts: 3,772
    What is the point of the pic at the end of this review? To showcase that you played the game for 3 hours before writing the review?
  • GinazGinaz Member RarePosts: 2,572


    What is the point of the pic at the end of this review? To showcase that you played the game for 3 hours before writing the review?



    Probably to show the prices in the cash shop for platinum.

    Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?

    Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.

  • BoudewijnsBoudewijns Member UncommonPosts: 162
    i smell a pay off here ^^



  • PersistentWorldPersistentWorld Member UncommonPosts: 26
    edited July 2016


    What is the point of the pic at the end of this review? To showcase that you played the game for 3 hours before writing the review?



    I've played for around 40 hours in total - I think that's more than fair for a review of this type. Mechanically much of Hex is apparent from the start, the depth - similar to any card game - just comes from repeat exposure and learning the nuances. The screenshot in question was taken when I began playing just to show pricing. Sadly there's no conspiracy here.
    i smell a pay off here ^^
    I wish! Do you dislike HEX?
    Post edited by PersistentWorld on
  • acidbloodacidblood Member RarePosts: 878
    Looked at Hex a while back but I didn't take the plunge because while I like the PvE / PvP hybrid nature of Hex the F2P thing still puts me off. I know, I know, I could just try it, but even the possibility of hitting a endless pay wall just saps all motivation.

    I guess what I'm asking is: The Platinum may be moderately priced, but how much is it really worth (i.e. how much would it cost to build a (mostly) new, and good, deck)? Also, is it 'loot pack' based, or can individual cards be purchased for a sane price?
  • ChocmawChocmaw Member CommonPosts: 1
    @acidblood Currently, you can build decks for $20 - $40 that can help you grind the constructed ladder all the way to Cosmic tier. 3 ways to get said decks:

    1. Invest $10 in an Arena farming deck (PvE) Spend 40 hours grinding free currency (gold) and selling that to players in trade chat for premium currency (platinum) Current rate about 160 gold for 1 platinum
    2. Buying platinum from the game store and buying the individual cards off the in-game Auction House
    3. Buying cards from HexPrimal (third party store run by community members) for $

    The article fails to memtion that Hex has a free PvP ladder for the "Constructed" format where people can grind for rewards like gold and packs to enhance their collection.

    A "Limited" format ladder also exists along the same lines, but you need to pay to participate. You get to keep all the new cards you open, either in your collection or to sell on the in-game Auction House, so there are quite a few people who have managed to go "infinite" with their results.
  • PersistentWorldPersistentWorld Member UncommonPosts: 26

    acidblood said:

    Looked at Hex a while back but I didn't take the plunge because while I like the PvE / PvP hybrid nature of Hex the F2P thing still puts me off. I know, I know, I could just try it, but even the possibility of hitting a endless pay wall just saps all motivation.



    I guess what I'm asking is: The Platinum may be moderately priced, but how much is it really worth (i.e. how much would it cost to build a (mostly) new, and good, deck)? Also, is it 'loot pack' based, or can individual cards be purchased for a sane price?



    Honestly, it's more a case of you spending Platinum to take part in PvP tournaments, which then grant access to powerful cards. Alternatively you can build a pretty solid deck just by participating in PvE at which point you then stand a good chance of securing some wins in PvP. You really don't have to spend if you don't want to.
  • DrWigglyDrWiggly Member UncommonPosts: 26
    DMKano said:
    This game was such a complete ripoff of MTG that they got sued and settled with WotC.

    The thing is - it's still MTG basically, and MTG remains a much better game in the end.

    So my question remains - why would anyone play this instead of the superior MTG?


    Maybe because its not a "complete ripoff of MTG". You'd have to play the game though.

    Maybe you want to play a draft on a weekend in your underwear. Some of us remember doing that with MTG but it was in person.

    MTG is a bit more expensive.
  • PersistentWorldPersistentWorld Member UncommonPosts: 26
    edited July 2016

    DMKano said:

    This game was such a complete ripoff of MTG that they got sued and settled with WotC.

    The thing is - it's still MTG basically, and MTG remains a much better game in the end.

    So my question remains - why would anyone play this instead of the superior MTG?





    The PvE component is great, different artwork, slight differences mechanically, a different community, less heritage? There's no mistaking it's influenced from MTG though.
  • BrokenSilenceBrokenSilence Member UncommonPosts: 321
    Last time I played there was no way to earn packs like you can in Hearthstone and Magic Duels. Did they change their free 2 play model to make it similar to these to games or is it still a "entry level" F2P model?
  • gwei1984gwei1984 Member UncommonPosts: 413

    DMKano said:

    This game was such a complete ripoff of MTG that they got sued and settled with WotC.

    The thing is - it's still MTG basically, and MTG remains a much better game in the end.

    So my question remains - why would anyone play this instead of the superior MTG?





    Because WotC is so abysmal at providing any online version of its game. Of course, if you like the glorious shitty interface of magic online and want to play a game that feels like it was made 1984, go on. The single player Magic games are also not even remotely on an equal footing compared to Hex PVE campaign.

    Hodor!

  • PersistentWorldPersistentWorld Member UncommonPosts: 26

    gwei1984 said:



    DMKano said:


    This game was such a complete ripoff of MTG that they got sued and settled with WotC.

    The thing is - it's still MTG basically, and MTG remains a much better game in the end.

    So my question remains - why would anyone play this instead of the superior MTG?








    Because WotC is so abysmal at providing any online version of its game. Of course, if you like the glorious shitty interface of magic online and want to play a game that feels like it was made 1984, go on. The single player Magic games are also not even remotely on an equal footing compared to Hex PVE campaign.



    Have to agree there.
  • ForgrimmForgrimm Member EpicPosts: 3,069
    gwei1984 said:

    DMKano said:

    This game was such a complete ripoff of MTG that they got sued and settled with WotC.

    The thing is - it's still MTG basically, and MTG remains a much better game in the end.

    So my question remains - why would anyone play this instead of the superior MTG?




    Because WotC is so abysmal at providing any online version of its game. Of course, if you like the glorious shitty interface of magic online and want to play a game that feels like it was made 1984, go on. The single player Magic games are also not even remotely on an equal footing compared to Hex PVE campaign.
    This pretty much sums it up. Magic Online interface is atrocious. 
  • GinazGinaz Member RarePosts: 2,572
    edited July 2016
    DMKano said:
    This game was such a complete ripoff of MTG that they got sued and settled with WotC.

    The thing is - it's still MTG basically, and MTG remains a much better game in the end.

    So my question remains - why would anyone play this instead of the superior MTG?


    Because Magic Online is absolute garbage and still looks and plays the same as it did when it launched in 2002?  If they even had a halfway decent online experience, Hex wouldn't exist.  They have no one to blame but themselves if someone else cashes in on their failures.  The lawsuit was settled because WotC had no case and both sides wanted it to end.  The only major concessions Hex made was to the names of a few cards and some minor game tweaks like the hit points of champions.  WotC got their asses handed to them would have likely lost if they had seen it all the way through.

    Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?

    Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.

  • ThorssonThorsson Member UncommonPosts: 20
    Don't know about the game, but the review is very poorly written. For example, the first two sentences start, "I have to admit..." and "I have to confess...". Made my eyes bleed.
  • WizardryWizardry Member LegendaryPosts: 19,332
    "exceptional" as far as an advert site would call it but i have played it and it is nothing special at all.
    Same old same old,build a deck,attain some mana to play your cards,yep nothing new here at all.

    I actually did not like a few of the mechanics.
    What i had envisioned for his genre has never come true,all i see is very CHEAP game builds.

    I almost saw the light when SOE gave it a go,i saw so much potential there it wasn't funnny,but soon realized they did not care enough to put any effort into it and then it died.

    What i want and EXPECT is a better playing surface,a cheap board is simply not good enough.I want a world with similar animated characters like the SOE tcg had,only with a much bigger world.I also expected to see modding so that players can create large maps/worlds,taking the burden away from cheap lazy developers.I want to see typical basic expected GEAR,such as equipping weapons and armor and perhaps even mounts to allow for movement enhancements.I would like to see terrain movers/changers aka wizards and magicians that actually act like one.

    Soooo much more should be done with genre but instead they just want to make cheap games and sell us cards.

    Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.

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