Batman: The Dark Knight Returns | Kickstarter Preview (with playthrough and impressions) | With Mike

[@davidko9289]

I'm impressed that the designers made it solo-only, which is a bold choice. And there seems to be a great balance between replayability, but also continuity from scenario to scenario.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I’m happy with the choice too. I imagine playing as Gordon or Robin would be a bit underwhelming if multiplayer was forced in.

[@alexakaa.charlesross8919]

I want to like this but I'm concerned it won't have much replayability. Although it is a solo game I think it would help and be fun to have a friend there with you to keep track of stuff or even take turns playing Batman.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I'm unsure of replay as well. I know there will be different set-ups for the tokens, different difficulties, and cards in different orders, but I worry that the strategy for a given scenario might be samey. Hard to tell from just what I've played.

[@yodennis2000]

I was listening to this review in the background and I thought you said "Batman has given up the cow"...

[@OneStopCoopShop]

He usually has a large bovine on his head, but NOT ANYMORE!!!

[@burnside986]

One thing that jumped out to me was the colored rings kinda look too similar to each other. I had a hard time telling the difference between the purples and pink shades.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Yes, agreed. I’m hoping they make some updates in the visual design (some are already different on the KS page).

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Kickstarter Link - www.kickstarter.com/projects/cze/the-dark-knight-returns-the-game - - - - - - 0:00​ - Introduction 1:19​ - Overview 8:34​ - Playthrough 42:02​ - Impressions

[@Urza216]

I mixed up the cards. Can I still play it? I’m so confused. They’re supposed to be separated by Chapter not category and the color of the back. I was looking through how cool everything looked. And I mixed up all the chapters together!

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Oh no! I’m not sure. I didn’t get a final copy of the game. Maybe ask on BGG, or the kickstarter’s forum?

[@Jeffs40K]

Skinned a game with batman theme to sell, doesn't feel like a Batman show/game play.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I agree with you on some of the mechanics, but I think the events, art, and characters reference the graphic novel well.

[@ericmaxham]

I'm definitely interested in this one. Thanks for sharing the playthrough!

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I'm there with you :)

[@BillySpenc]

the board bothers me so much and I'm not really sure it looks pretty busy but very colorful which just sticks out to me and not in the good way....will keep an eye out but right now I'm really not sure shame since TDKR is my all time favorite GN by Frank Miller

[@OneStopCoopShop]

My favorite of his too. The board didn't bother me once I was playing, but I agree it looks a bit odd on first glance :)

[@jtitus67]

How do you feel about the drawing directly on the board? It worries me on a not inexpensive game that it could be damaged pretty easily. I'd hate to only get a few playthroughs and need to replace.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Personally, I'd prefer tokens and such, and that doesn't seem like it would be hard to do, except for the bat paths. But I'm also the type of gamer who hates putting stickers on legacy games :) But I don't know what the final design and material used will look like, so it might work fine.

[@boardgametime3727]

Thank you for this!! :D Such a sucker for Batman! Appreciate the coverage Mike

[@OneStopCoopShop]

That's what I'm here for! :)

[@bernardbantang8310]

I'm tempted to ask This or Batman TAS Shadow of the Bat?

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Interesting question. The focus on the games is clearly very different. TAS I feel focuses more on competitive play (the coop felt less developed when I was playing it during the Kickstarter campaign). Dark Knight is solo-only. And of course TAS is over $100 at it's lowest level, and goes well over $200 if you want it all. That being said, I'm not sure how good the replay will be in Dark Knight, while TAS has a ton of stuff to play around with. But I'm not sure, with that much content, how much it will have been playtested consistently (that was a problem in TMNT in some scenarios). They are both games that I cautiously recommended when I covered them. Neither was a slam dunk, "You must back this" for me.

[@isaacm6052]

The enemies being mutants keeps on making me think this is a Batman X-Men crossover.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Hahaha, I wonder if Frank Miller was thinking of that, maybe as a marvel dig, when he dreamed up the story...

[@davidvelazquez677]

This isn’t Unmatched? 👀

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Indeed not, lol

[@bilanggoboy]

Interesting, thanks for posting! The theme seems tacked on right now, hoping they make it more Arkham horror and less... colorful!

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I think the theme is pretty good in the cards and events. The special abilities match major events and moments in the graphic novel well, and with the art there too I was pretty happy.

[@Brummie29]

Sold...

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Haha, nice, hope you enjoy it!

[@isaacm6052]

36:37 He likes the LCG.

[@ferver-san]

They had better get rid of the ''rolling'' tokens.Tokens are not meant to 'roll''.Should have learned that lesson from Runebound 2nd edition.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

If you check out the KS page, you'll see they are actually bat-a-rang dice. But I didn't get to try them out, so not sure how well they will work.

[@scottsirota4748]

Thanks for sharing this! What do you think about replayability? Is there enough variability in the setups to make it worth multiple playthroughs?

[@OneStopCoopShop]

It's hard to say at this point. I've only seen this one episode, and only this one set-up. They've said there are at least 3 difficulty levels with varied set-ups per episode, so theoretically that SHOULD increase variety. Also, the order the events and such come out will change. But a lot of that remains to be seen, for better or worse.

[@victorgonzalez2927]

I think you played the first event incorrectly.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Possibly! This video is pretty old and I haven't played the game since.

[@victorgonzalez2927]

Also you’re suppose to have all the tiles face up on the spawn track. Was using the video to learn some of the game.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

@@victorgonzalez2927 to be clear, this was a prototype play with rules that were still being changed and modified as I played the game. I would NOT use this as a learning tool. Try to find a playthrough video of the final published form of the game :)

[@mylor1066]

Great camera work! Love these books so that makes me interested right off the 'bat'! I like the art comic cells on the cards too. Guess I'm gonna keep an eye out for the ks!

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Should be up Tuesday. And yeah, the overall aesthetic is excellent. The art and quotes were reminding me of the same moments in the graphic novel :)