by rilos
I just received the Deluxe edition to give this Christmas as an upgrade to the standard edition. I gotta say that I'm pretty disappointed in how Fun Forge handled the board right from the start.The standard edition of course comes with the smaller board, which is not big enough for the minis in the deluxe edition or accessory pack, without cramming them together on the board. As such, they really should have made only the larger board right from the beginning. That would have made it simple later to upgrade with the accessory pack. As it is, they claim the accessory pack brings you up to the deluxe edition, but that's untrue because the accessory pack doesn't include the larger board, thus making the minis much less desirable.
Since they chose to make 2 sizes of boards, they should at least have included the larger board with the accessory pack. Since they have now confirmed they are releasing the minis for Maturi later this year, that again isn't really an option for those with the standard board, leaving us further behind, when we could easily catch up by buying the accessory pack if it included the larger board.
I'm also a bit annoyed that the Deluxe edition contains the same misprint on the board and cards for the amulet as it did in the Collector's set. I would have thought they would have corrected the error but they did not. So if you buy the standard base game, and decide later to play on the bigger board with the minis, then you have to buy the Deluxe edition just to get the board, instead of just the accessory pack, and even then you get the misprint. The misprint is no big deal if you don't speak or read Japanese, but it still irks me that they didn't bother fixing it for a game as expensive as the Deluxe edition.
I'm also surprised the minis aren't more robust. They look great but I was expecting them to have a more solid feel and heft, again considering the price. As it is they are rather cheap plastic. The panoramic cards are also surprisingly cheap in quality, and I understand the cards in the Deluxe edition are also cheaper in quality than the standard edition.
It's still a beautiful game for sure and I know that my criticisms sound pretty harsh. I just hate to see what could have been a premium game experience hampered with mistakes, cheap card stock, and bad decisions involving the accessory pack. Am I being unfair?