Armello 2.0 Review

DISCLAIMER: I backed Armello on Kickstarter. I don’t think that fact affects my opinion of the game, but it would be irresponsible of me not to tell you.

Armello was originally released in September of 2015. Since then, the developers have released new content and refined existing content over 15 major updates, all free of charge, along with some paid DLC. In late February, League of Geeks, the developers, released “Armello’s largest update,” Armello 2.0. The update overhauls several systems and adds a few new features to the game.

For those of you who don’t know, Armello is a four-player board game set in a fantasy medieval kingdom populated entirely by anthropomorphic animals. The King of Armello has been infected by a magical, wasting disease known as The Rot and will soon be dead, so players take the roles of champions seeking to win the crown for their family, organization, or just for their own covetous desire. The King’s failing health means that the game is on a clock, and he will eventually die to The Rot if no one deals with him sooner, so players must make sure they focus on furthering their personal missions every turn. To do this, players gain weapons, magic spells, and cunning schemes by drawing cards and playing them to the board, to other players, or on themselves, as well as engaging in some classic hand-to-hand combat. Whenever two heroes end up in the same space, they clash through dice rolls. It plays like a fantastic board game, because it is. Tabletop gamers, such as myself, will get a lot out of Armello, but if you don’t care much for the random chance of dice and card draws, it might not be for you.

My favorite feature added in the 2.0 update is hero progression. Each time you complete a session, you gain experience for whichever character you played. As characters level up, you’ll unlock new ways to customize that character, including new lines for the multiplayer chat, new perk rings, new multiplayer badges, and even new character animations. You can additionally unlock new dice, which can be used by all characters. The reason this feature is the highlight of 2.0 is because it encourages players to branch out and try all of the characters. Beyond that, players are encouraged to give each character more than a passing glance by rewarding players with new customization options for other members of that character’s clan for reaching higher levels.

Another interesting feature is called the Clan Grounds, where players set up individual loudouts for each character. Much like almost every modern AAA multiplayer shooter, you set up your characters with specific perks, in the form of magical amulets and rings. On top of that, you can specify which of your dice sets each character will use, which doesn’t have any effect on gameplay, but is a fun bit of personalization. These loadouts become the default equipment set when selecting the characters in a game lobby, but can be changed for a single match, in case some experimental counter strategy strikes you.

The rest of the updates are less “cool additions” and more “catching up to modern expectations.” One of the most highly promoted features is the ability to rejoin multiplayer games if you get disconnected. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good that Armello has this feature, but this is something that should probably be in a multiplayer-focused game from the start. Other such lackluster additions include a character select screen where you can see all the characters at once, setting up multiplayer parties to find games with friends, and being able to see the effects of your amulets and rings without having to start a game lobby. I don’t want to come off as too harsh on the creators of Armello, judging by their website they have a team of only about 16 people, but the gaming industry has built up certain standards and falling short of those is never a good look.

Unfortunately 2.0 doesn’t polish every aspect of the game and fails to address a few minor dangling threads. The worst of these, though relatively not a big deal, is an incomplete cycle of character-specific challenges and achievements. For the first eight heroes, each character had a unique challenge players could aim for that helped players learn that hero’s personal power and playstyle. The subsequent 12 characters have been ignored for this, in spite of having excellent and creative powers. This particular issue is exacerbated in 2.0 as it introduced a new hall of fame-style gallery showing off your in-game achievements. Another minor frustration is that one clan, the Bandit Clan, has access to fewer rings than characters from other clans, limiting their play options and putting them at a disadvantage.

All of that being said, nothing exists in a vacuum, especially not a free update to a game. It’s absolutely true that some of Armello 2.0 is getting the game to a state it should have been in a while ago, but it’s equally true that 2.0 is the latest in a nearly constant stream of content updates that has kept Armello alive for nearly four years.

Buy this game on sale

It’s worth playing, just not at the price they’re asking