The latest Hearthstone expansion forgets everything that made the solo campaigns enjoyable. At least that is what Cortyn says and explains why the campaign simply does not excite.
The PvP component of Hearthstone, which is supposed to be the centerpiece of Blizzard’s card game, has brought me less joy in recent years. Instead, I have enjoyed the solo adventures that have captivated me with fun stories, interesting characters, and cool decks. I am all the more disappointed with the current expansion “Galakrond’s Awakening,” which entices with 35 new cards.
The last story expansions always had a “Dungeon” run. Here, you played one of the important characters or minions and accompanied them through several boss fights. You could unlock different starting decks, hero abilities, and even special treasure cards that you gradually gained access to. Additionally, after each fight, you had to choose a set of 3 cards from an offering of 3×3 cards. This allowed you to enhance and further develop your deck.
And to be completely honest, that was the perfect mix for me of challenge, decision-making, and attachment to the characters and decks that I enjoyed.
When I play a Hearthstone adventure, I have certain expectations:
- I want to be able to identify with the characters a bit, even though it is a card game.
- I want to hear funny comments from them and get to know them over several matches.
- I want to gradually build a deck that becomes stronger and where I have to make my own small decisions.
- I want to feel a sense of progress and enjoy the thrill of losing my current deck if I fail.
In the past, this was usually crowned by a boss fight, where all the great heroes came together to defeat the main villain. This way, the hero played and their abilities could change in the final battle.
But “Galakrond’s Awakening” does not have any of that.
No choice or way too much of it
In normal mode, each battle consists of a pre-made deck. There is no variety, and it is not necessary – because each deck is only played exactly once. This means that many cool combos that the developers intended are not seen at all. Additionally, the normal mode this time is so easy that strategic action is not necessary in most cases. You also accompany the played characters for exactly one battle and then take on the next role.
I am well aware that this is part of the story. It is supposed to depict the final battle between the League of Explorers and E.V.I.L., where as many characters as possible reappear. However, it feels to me like one of those Marvel movies where a ton of superheroes appear and each gets to say exactly three lines before the movie is over. I do not enjoy that.
In heroic mode, it is the other extreme. Here, you do not have pre-made decks but have to build your own deck for each fight. This, in most cases, is too much work for me and also linked to my collection. I do not want to craft cards to overcome a PvE challenge. I do not want to think of my own deck for each of the nearly two dozen battles.
Conclusion: Please more of the “old” dungeon design
In “Galakrond’s Awakening,” I only have the choice between “doing no effort at all” and simply rolling over the enemies or “putting in a crazy amount of effort” and spending hours fine-tuning each deck. That does not bring me joy.
Sure, at the end of the day, this kind of adventure was an experiment by the developers who wanted to cater to different needs of the community. But for me personally, the mix just does not work. From my perspective, Galakrond’s Awakening is the weakest story expansion of recent years because it discards all the good aspects that the solo adventures had in the past.
I hope that Hearthstone will take more from the dungeon or arena mode in the future. That has brought me much more enjoyment.
What do you think? Do you like the current adventure system? Or did you find the previous adventures better?
