NONE OF THE FOLLOWING IS FACT EVEN IF I ASSERT MYSELF IN A WAY WHICH CONVINCES YOU THAT I'M EITHER RIGHT OR "KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT" IT IS ALL UNADULTERATED OPINION, ALSO YOU WILL LEARN NOTHING ABOUT THE RULES
I know, I'm kind of trolling with the subject line, but I just want to semi-objectively discuss this game in relationship both to <PERSON> fandom and Star Trek fandom, or rather, as fans of both, but not blinded by either, I'd like to put my thoughts.
Ok, so first of all, for those of you who are into Star Trek TNG/DS9/Voyager or any other iteration and are trying to understand whether or not to buy this:
1. This is a strategy game on the heavy side. Heavy both because it is a bit fiddly (bad, but not uncommon for those of you into Ameritrash games) and because the strategic and tactical puzzles for even the most minute action are deep. As a fan, if you look into Mage Knight and the actual gameplay itself doesn't appeal to you at all, pass on this game.
2. This theme (while in my opinion a superior fit than the original) is more or less pasted on to the already brilliant Mage Knight (with some notable tweaks), which does mean though that for those concerned with how the Prime Directive will play out, in a lot of ways, not so well. Personally, I couldn't possibly care less. So much fun playing as <PERSON> and bringing <PERSON> and <PERSON> onto my team to explore this region while blowing up Dominion space stations. Because...why not? That said, if that is just too distasteful to swallow, pass on this game.
3. If your a Star Trek game completist, word, that's your bag, do your thing, get this game.
For those of you who are active Mage Knight fans, own it and are considering getting Star Trek: Frontiers:
1. If you want a much different experience than you are getting from Mage Knight and already have all of the expansions, this is more or less a re-skin and you may want to just pass on this game.
2. If you are <PERSON> the board game mechanics completists by all means, get this game now!
Now, for many of you, the above list may not apply, and that's what the lists below will cover...
What makes ST:F better (in my opinion, of course) than Mage Knight
1. The streamlining of the mechanics of the game relative to MK (eliminating artifacts, cutting down on one magic crystal/data chip color, I'm sure there are others that would fall into the category) are for the most part just better rules. Sure they cut down on the brain burn (good thing) a bit, but really most of that was just trying to remember what the slew of attack and defense variants do (fiddly waste of cognitive energy if you ask me).
2. 366
All taste issues aside, the font and size of the cards is MUCH MUCH MUCH easier to read and as a result process, which is a good thing in hour 3+ when your brain is starting to get fried and your eyes dry from trying to parse through spells which you (I) haven't (and never will) memorize.
3. Star Trek is just fundamentally a more rich and interesting world than <PERSON> porny fantasy garbage. Not to mention superior gender and race politics. Though as with most nerd culture, they both have their problems and limitations in that regard.
4. As I alluded to earlier, the game mechanics work incredibly well with the theme, and the additional feature of away missions is a fun mechanic, and because of the superior thematic fit, the rules seem to simply make more sense. There's not really a better way to put it. There's much less rule book referencing in comparison to MK for me. But I feel fairly certain that the opinion that this game is considerably easier than Mage Knight is in considerable (if not, large) part due to the clarity of text and how much more intuitively the theme integrates into the rule set. Though it does seem somewhat easier to attack a Borg cube than to beat a castle. Luckily the difficulty is scaleable and if you're anything like me, you'll never beat all of the final baddies at the hardest level anyway, so it's cool. Seriously, chill...
What makes ST:F inFERIOR????
1. The brain burn is a little less gnarly, and as a result the accomplishments are are bit less dopamine inducing. In other words, it doesn't feel quiiiite as good to win.
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