Sneak Peek: Vanguard Exiles (PC)

I was diving into the wacky world of Early Access today—yeah, that place where dreams either bloom or go thud. It’s funny how it used to be more like a swamp of half-baked ideas. You know, where devs kinda forgot their stuff there forever? Paid anyway, right? But hey, not knocking every developer, most are cool with it. Things have shifted, luckily, and there’s some real gold to be found there now. Vanguard Exiles? Oh boy, got high hopes there, and we’re gonna sneak a peek.

Alright, Vanguard Exiles is a brainchild of a dude from Magic: The Gathering. Yeah, those big brain folks. Weird though, zero cards here. Nada. It’s a hex-based fight thing that feels like you’re in some tabletop game. Expecting it to pop up in shiny boxes with pricey minis any moment now. If it happens, sign me up, I’m down.

Now, here’s the scoop—it’s still rough around the edges, because yeah, Early Access. So if I grumble a bit, just my random observations. Like, RNG—ugh, my love-hate there is legendary.

So in this game, picture this: you’re leading some mercenaries through trenches. Sounds epic? You have to hold rooms from baddies, and they all have different point values. Rack up eighty points and cha-ching—you win. Some rooms boost your strength or give you dough, but sometimes it’s just you facing off against an angry bear. Ain’t that life?

The whole thing’s kinda fun. But, oh here’s the catch—it’s an auto-battler. Yep, mixed feelings abound. Putting your pieces on the board is strategy in itself. Overrun one spot and risk everything else? Oh, decisions, my brain’s spinning. Spacing units works sometimes, but get ready—some could get splatted by the enemy tide. Auto-battle, neat but, you know, it’s got its quirks.

Also, units galore! Cards are random, buy with gold, yada yada. No gold? Don’t sweat it, free picks and easy gameplay. Not really a card game, just feels a bit like deployment shenanigans.

So, story mode? Nope, not yet. We’ve got tough dwarves, speedy elves, creepy cultists, but no clue what’s their beef. Seems like just cool units doing cool stuff for now. They need to fix this, backstory is the soul—like, give me lore!

Balancing though—crucial, and it’s got its hiccups. Sometimes it’s fair play, sometimes it’s like climbing a greasy pole. Hit 80 points or miss, who knows? Predicted my win or wipeout by round three so many times, it’s crazy. Would love to feel I’ve got a shot every time.

One gripe: unkillable units. Seriously. Some dwarves are tanks in armor, early game stalls big time because nobody can hurt these guys. It’s like watching a turtle race—forever. They’ve gotta iron this out, give us solutions or scale stuff better.

Beyond my own whining, Vanguard Exiles looks promising. Could totally be a big deal for strategy geeks. I’m sticking around to see where this goes till release. It’s an exciting ride already—if they fine-tune things, it could be stellar.

And yeah, played this on an Early Access copy. So, what’s next, world?