There have been a plethora of reviews for Eldritch Horror (EH) as of late, and no wonder. The Arkham Horror (AH) franchise is one of FFG's most popular and longstanding, and many of us were curious to see what would change with this new manifestation. Rather than do a lengthy review or even a detailed comparison (which I'm sure you can find elsewhere), let me tell you three quick things that I love about EH - and 3 things that still, admittedly unfairly, nag at me.
Positive #1: Exploring locations is fun and strategic
There's no doubt that <PERSON>. set out to deliver a more cohesive narrative experience in EH, and by all accounts, I think they've succeeded. Several factors contribute to this. A globetrotting romp through cities both familiar and exotic breaths new life into the classic "oh crap, here comes Cthulhu" experience. After years of exploration, Arkham was starting to feel a bit tight - constrained - vicious. The Unnamable? The Black Cave? The Graveyard? These don't sound like fun places to visit. And they weren't. You moved there to gather a clue token or two, but there was always a price to be paid. A pound of flesh or a slice of your soul, either way, nothing was free. But what motivation was there to visit the Newspaper or Velma's Diner? Given that clues rarely appeared at these locations and you were never certain of a reward, you'd rarely waste a turn even with those wackos at the Lodge. Furthermore, if you visited a shop or the Science Building or anyplace else to take an action, you couldn't draw an encounter and get a narrative experience. How many unique encounters did you have at the General Store?
In EH, you draw an encounter card at every location you visit. And every single one provides a unique narrative experience, building the story and providing new twists and turns. More importantly, most encounters are rewarding. Instead of, "You passed the skill test, nothing bad happens to you! (AH)", we now have, "You passed the skill test, here's something good! (EH)." At least, that's how it feels to me. And each city in the world is designed to provide a specific benefit. Monsters starting to overflow the board? Visit Tokyo. Need to bulk up your Influence, since you didn't realize how important it is? Visit Istanbul. 558
A nasty Mi-Go eating all your clues? Visit London. For this reason alone, EH feels less "random" to me than AH - even though I know that's a loaded term.
Positive #2: Fiddly-ness minimized
No more cash to collect (or closed gates or defeated monster tokens). Now you just roll Influence checks and see what you can afford. Desperately want that Carbine rifle? Take out a loan. Done. No more of those annoying skill sliders from AH. Sure, it was a (somewhat) interesting decision to make every turn - and I liked the concept of Focus as a gameplay mechanic - but was the benefit worth the fiddly-ness? Monster movement? Gone. The crazy rules surrounding Monster Surges, the Outskirts, Terror Level, and who knows what else? Gone. Thank god.
Turns move quickly, and more time is spent discussing options and cooperative strategy than managing the game system. Even the Mythos phase, which is still the most "rule-heavy", has been trimmed down a bit.
Positive #3: Tension builds and the entire game arc is satisfying
Even with the help of some expansions, I think many players of AH can agree that pacing and tension was always a problem. Things got ugly fast, but once you sealed a few gates, the endgame's tension dissipated. Houserules could alleviate this, but it was always a problem for me. Furthermore, sealing gates was a repetitive experience.
In EH, you build a unique Mythos deck for every GOO. The cards are sorted in such a way that the "easier" ones will be encountered first. Thus, a build-up in tension in designed into the game, requiring only minimal set-up. There are unique mystery decks for each GOO, so that how you win the game differs every time. Sure, closing gates is still absolutely important - but it's incredibly satisfying to be drawn in so many different directions by EH's multitude of obstacles. Do you spend your turn building your character, killing monsters, closing gates, dealing with rumors, going on expeditions, or solving mysteries? Everything is useful, everything is different, and everything is fun.
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So what are the missed opportunities here? Mind you, all of these are somewhat silly and a bit unfair, and that speaks to my overall feelings for EH at this time (very positive!).
1. Delayed vs. detained. Did we really need both of these? 884