Musings: How and Why You Should Play Descent Journey Into The Dark 1st Edition

[@anthonyrivera3616]

Descent: The Road to Legend (2008) is still my favorite expansion for any game made as of lately. How it changed the original game was awesome.

[@BeatRag28]

i second this, ive said it before on this channel but nothing has even come close to that expasion. RtL Descent is the epitome of dungeon crawl campaign for me. Nothing is even close when going for that scale

[@paulharper7185]

@@BeatRag28 RTl for Descent 1 is extremely imbalanced, the way the act progression is structured has the overlord overpowered at the start of an act and the potential for the heroes to be overpowered at the end of an act, making for many, many, many unfun and unbalanced games. So much so that out of 3 playthroughs, our family has only completed one........Descent 1 single missions with all the expansions is pure gold however.

[@seahawk8601]

watch my video this Weds.

[@BeatRag28]

@@paulharper7185 Yeah I know it has balance issues. But the FAQ helps immensely, and even with all the balance problems, there still doesn’t exist a game that’s as close to being as good. I’ve been waiting 10 years for a replacement but nothing provides a global campaign with randomized encounters, the level of progression, itemization, and character customization that descent does. I was hoping dungeon universalis would do that for me but it doesn’t.

[@paulharper7185]

@@BeatRag28 fair enough, what about DU missed the mark, if I may ask?

[@mcashed]

The art in this game is so much better than 2nd edition.

[@seahawk8601]

i agree!

[@gananbionico355]

Overall, I'm agree, but I prefer the tiles of the 2nd Edition.

[@MussoGames]

Yeah definitely (although they did re-use lots of art) but the tiles are a lot better in 2nd. Much more detail and fun flavor, but I do find 1st Ed much more user-friendly. Not too much frilliness getting. In the way!

[@rickman1945]

I think both have their charm. I can’t start the art for legends in the dark, the new version though

[@MussoGames]

I got Descent 1st Ed. With all expansions Sittin in the closet for years, using just the minis for 2nd Ed. But man, I do miss the play style of 1st. 2nd is much more of a “race to your objective” style but still very good and I like the campaigns FFG made for it but each 1st Ed. quest feels like a full adventure. You’ve definitely inspired me to bring it out again! Can’t wait! Thanks Rob!

[@seahawk8601]

glad to hear!

[@CheddahSlammer]

I have the complete collection minus some of those promo heroes. I got everything when I was a kid and I have completed every single scenario with my mom. The only thing we didn't play but were planing to play is The Road to Legend and the Sea of Blood which changed the game up. We started that and we really didn't enjoy it, but its been years now so its probably better then we thought. Our personal favorite game is Runebound, but we love Descent 1st edition so much that I have all of 2nd edition and we haven't played it.

[@seahawk8601]

very cool my friend!!!

[@kens771]

So glad you did this. I've been thinking about revisiting 1st edition descent. I have everything except tomb of ice. It was so fun.

[@seahawk8601]

It's so good! thank you so much!!

[@pacoarcos8804]

This is the true successor of the great Heroquest board game, I'm so nostalgic!

[@seahawk8601]

very true

[@Utubesuxmycock]

actually that would be warhammer quest lol but yeah this is an awesome spiritual successor

[@allenkwest]

Thanks for giving the 1st edition some love. I had and painted everything for it except for a few metal miniatures and gave it to a friend. I so look forward to seeing your painting job and play through.

[@seahawk8601]

thank you!!!

[@malcolmdixon4626]

Just digging this game out again after years of it collecting dust on the shelf. Caught this video while looking for a refresher on the rules. Well presented and has got me fired up to get it back on the table. Thank you.

[@seahawk8601]

Thank you for the kind words

[@fantasticthriftyfox]

Descent 1st edition is just lovely! I got 2nd and it never got played. But 1st edition is still top notch. Road to Legend and Sea of Blood are just butter! So good! Thanks again Rob for bringing a classic once again to the light. I love these minis for what they are and I painted all of it back in the day. Enjoy painting these. Really adds to the game play experience to have fully painted minis on the board.

[@seahawk8601]

it's such a classic!!!

[@fantasticthriftyfox]

@@seahawk8601 it really is.

[@mikeknight1783]

Very nice video, can you do a full playthrough to see the game better?

[@seahawk8601]

I will see what I can do

[@contiki6277]

3 years later haha!! I am looking to buy the tomb of ice expansion but i cant find it anywhere. great game indeed

[@seahawk8601]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@contiki6277]

@@seahawk8601 today on christmas day i will play the basic game of decent first edition with a friend and i am super excited ,no need for these newer ones dungeons crawlers ,this game has everything a player needs ,thanks for the memories friend!

[@Thanos88888]

I just picked this game up from a used board games sale for $100. I enjoy painting miniatures and figured that this would be a neat game to try out. I had never heard of it before, but figured that with a box full of miniatures, tokens, and tiles, it should be a good investment. It didn't have the dice in it though, so I had to drop another $20 on Ebay for a set rather than 3d printing some. I'm looking forward to trying this out when those dice arrive in the mail. I've only played 1 "dungeon crawler" before and that was TMNT Shadows of the Past.

[@seahawk8601]

it is glorious!!

[@jonathanhillis638]

Thanks for making this video! I was given a copy of Descent with three expansions, so I'm stoked to try this.

[@seahawk8601]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@aviduke]

That's a great gift

[@dmcallahan32]

Agree Rob, I will never let this game go!

[@seahawk8601]

me either

[@MikeJohnson-xw9ig]

Thank you Rob for reviewing this classic game. I have second edition for about 5 years now and it just hasn't been a favorite. I look forward to picking this one up soon. Great video!

[@seahawk8601]

thank you!

[@timesup5105]

Salute! Yes respect this game. Thank you Rob. Really appreciate the passion you’re giving this Gem. This is my number 1 dungeon crawl. No other game comes complete like this as a stand alone base game. There’s hundreds of mission posted on BGG. I think I got the PDFs from a user. All the expansions are great and totally different. Getting swallowed and going inside the stomach is so fun. So much great loot and traps. Then RTL and SOB gives you another game mode. Don’t forget you can be a Yeti too :). Good content thank you buddy.

[@seahawk8601]

thank you my friend!!

[@MussoGames]

Let’s not forget about the Line of Sight in 1st edition compared to 2nd! 2nd makes no sense in some cases where 1st always makes sense. Great stuff and my god, the nostalgia for this one! Can’t wait to get it to the table again’

[@seahawk8601]

Good point!

[@noodlemans]

I'm pretty sure you had to spawn outside of the heroes LOS.

[@MussoGames]

@@noodlemans yes You do, I’m mainly talking about how los is from any corner to any corner in 2nd (leading to literally being able to see enemies through a wall directly in front of you) and 1st which is center square to center square.

[@Archytas-Leroy55]

Still have my 1st ed. Will never let it go. I use the minis for D&D and 2nd ed Descent. I like 1st ed better though....

[@seahawk8601]

Amen!

[@rachelandryan]

Thanks for this video. I'm thinking of bypassing Descent 3e and getting 1e or 2e. 1e looks great. I think 1 v many dungeon crawl started with Heroquest though :)

[@seahawk8601]

Glad I could help

[@denislamielle4183]

Hi Rob, First excuse me for my bad english, You know what? When i buy Descent second edition( i love so much this game), the market where i buy it make sale with first edition. So i play second edition and never with the first one, the box with 2 extentions are in my gaming room. Your video make me open the box and i want to give a chance with this one. I will enjoy next video you make with first edition. Greeting from Switzerland

[@seahawk8601]

i agree with this my friend!!!

[@bagger245]

just the right timing! about to buy a bnis descent 1e from a friend

[@seahawk8601]

nice!!!!

[@cheesedanishable]

Beautiful game. Obviously has it's own flaws but there's so much to it and it does dungeon crawling in such a great way it's an instant classic. I won't even say it's better or worse than 2nd edition, it's different and stands on it's own as an experience I haven't seen the like of since. Road to legend (and even Sea of blood) really turned it into a true campaign experience that's a beast almost like gloomhaven before there was gloomhaven

[@seahawk8601]

i agree

[@aviduke]

1ed still the best game

[@seahawk8601]

Yep

[@josemanuelaguero68]

What are the solo rules you referred to? I see several options in BGG

[@seahawk8601]

I will get back to you on this I need to check

[@Shorty_Lickens]

I bought this and played it once with friends. We never played again, cuz video games were interesting for them. Shame, its a lot of fun.

[@seahawk8601]

it sure is fun i agree

[@zackdreak1870]

Hi Rob I have a HUGE favor to ask you, before you start painting, could you please make a video soon just talking about the solo variant? Something similar to this video? Showing a quick turn with the solo rules. I’m asking because following your recommendation I found a copy in good condition with all 5 expansions for $300 I think that’s a good price? And I don’t want to wait for too long someone might pick it up before you start playing the game lol I just want to make sure what I’m getting before buying it because right now it’s hard to decide even after taking a look at the variants lol.

[@seahawk8601]

i will see what i can do

[@zackdreak1870]

@@seahawk8601 Thank you so much 😊

[@GregorioN]

You can always use the minatures from second edition in the first edition. But even then, the first edition miniatures are okay and were fun to paint.

[@seahawk8601]

Yep

[@zielonykrolik22]

Hey, which solo variant are you using? There are several on BGG and all seam to have pros and cons to use.

[@seahawk8601]

I will look and see

[@tiron9916]

Great video, more descent 1e content please! Just busted out my base game and bought wod and toi after watching this🙏

[@seahawk8601]

Thank you sir

[@zackdreak1870]

I do own all of descent second edition and going to play it solo. About the first edition how are the solo variants with the other expansions? From what I heard expansions also add overland board? Does the solo variants work on those too?

[@seahawk8601]

yes they do!

[@zackdreak1870]

@@seahawk8601 WOW now you got my full attention lol. I love some good old dungeon crawlers :D

[@timesup5105]

There’s also a warhammer quest solo variant. You can buy pro printed cards for it. It’s great.

[@zackdreak1870]

@@timesup5105 do you have any link for it? LOL I love dungeon crawlers but nothing new showing up is interesting so I’m looking at older dungeon crawlers I could play solo :D

[@giuseppedefreitas242]

I’ve only played the solo missions with my friends. I think it’s a great game att all. Much, much better than the second edition. The first one is more a dungeon crawl, the second one is more a race - both, overlord and players have their own goals and whoever finish it first wins, not even talking about the huge flaw that is for this kind of game to have all the enemies as all other stuff posted behind the doors before the first turn. I’m still looking here for a successor for the great father of all: HeroQuest - it had secret doors, traps to be found and disarmed (not cards to play at will to screw the players), spell to go through walls, to open and move thins from distance and all those 3D stuff to populate your board. And all at the 80s. Descent: Legends of dark is bringing cardboard 3D minis for the environment now. HeroQuest Will never be beaten. I’d love to see some sessions of the road lo legend (for first edition) be played. Thanks for showing the value of first edition to people.

[@seahawk8601]

Very cool my friend

[@giuseppedefreitas242]

@@seahawk8601 I want to give a try to the road to legend with my friends, now that the pandemic is finally ending. Could you please make some sessions playing it? It would be really helpful to understand the weeks thing, treachery, visit to towns seeing someone who knows how to play this. There isn’t a single video with road to legend first edition on KZbin. 🙌🏻

[@Rekkless]

Great review, but FYI Piko is a red panda, not a fox.

[@seahawk8601]

ok

[@gazzaroony]

Full size card decks are always a box ticked for me 👍

[@seahawk8601]

Same here!

[@ronjames1153]

I played this a when it came out, and had high hopes, but my friends and I simply could not get into it. We were expecting a "campaign" style game, with characters that improved gradually over time by accumulating better skills, equipment and magic items. It just felt strange to accelerate to high power at the end of the first dungeon where you find and use awesome magic items from the gold chests, but then surrender all of that bounty at the end, and start with basic items at the entrance to the next dungeon. Maybe this could be fun if that's type of game you are looking for, but it was not for us.

[@seahawk8601]

It changed with expansion

[@noodlemans]

This is exactly what was awesome about it. No campaign. Just one off sessions that were epic!

[@AdvancedSquadLeader]

I was lucky to pick up D1 with all expansions about 10 years ago. Actually started a campaign but we never finished. IA is more streamlined and is easier to get to the table. Will probably do a campaign sometime in the future when the kids are older :) The thing with D1 is, nothing is dumbed down. There is A LOT

[@seahawk8601]

Nice

[@noodlemans]

I really regret selling this game. I had the entire collection and I sold it about halfway through collecting second edition, which IMO is such an inferior game.

[@seahawk8601]

It’s just so good

[@richardgalati1323]

Another game I regret selling.

[@seahawk8601]

i just cant part with this

[@richardgalati1323]

I definitely think 1st edition was the best version of this game.