Faeria

Faeria Review

By, Marc Marasigan

Faeria is a 3D CCG tactics game where players battle each other in dynamic playing fields that each player constructs as the battle progresses. The game features cutesy cartoony 2D graphics not unlike that of Hearthstone and Chronicle: Runescape Legends, along with melodic epic fantasy-esque background music worthy of a Final Fantasy game. While the sound effects are good and well-made there’s nothing that sets it apart from other fantasy CCG’s. The game could also benefit from a few voice overs here and there.

Prologue

Before first-time players are granted access to the game’s main menu, they must first complete a 5-mission tutorial/prologue that will get them acquainted with the basics of the game, starting with land placement (a very important game concept) and quickly progressing to a full-blown card battle against a boss by the fifth mission. The game is very easy to pick up if you’ve played any CCG in the past, but a few more tutorial missions would’ve helped make things feel a little less rushed. It also doesn't feel like much of a prologue when there’s no actual story to introduce in the first place.

Land Is All You Need

Don’t let Faeria’s cute looks fool you. The game’s tactics-style gameplay, along with its land and resource setup gives it more complexity than your average collectible card game. Instead of playing cards down in an existing playing field like most CCG’s, players must build their own playing fields by placing up to two neutral land tiles, or one elemental land tile, per turn. Elemental land tiles are classified into Forests, Mountains, Lakes, and Deserts, and work the same way as land cards in Magic: The Gathering. They not only function as part of the playing field but also as another resource type.

Elemental cards such as Forest cards, for example, can only be summoned or played in any of the player’s Forest tiles and also require the player to have the indicated amount of elemental land tiles before they can be played. Unlike other CCG’s that rely on cards for victory, your tile placements, along with how aggressively you place them, can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Players can also opt to not place any land tiles in exchange for the chance to draw a card or earn additional Faeria, the game’s version of mana.

Faeria

In addition to land cards, summoning cards also requires the player to have the indicated amount of Faeria. What’s unique about Faeria’s mana system is that instead of having a certain amount of mana that refreshes every turn, each player earns a specific amount per turn and has the option to either use them or save them up to an indefinite amount in order to play a massive combo. This is one of the things that I like about the game and also what makes it that much harder to play than traditional CCG’s. It’s easier to read an opponent’s intentions and shatter their well-made plans to pieces when you can see them building up their forces as opposed to having a 5 or 6 card combo dropped on you from out of nowhere. Once summoned, cards can then be moved within the playing field much like a tactics game, with different cards having different movement points in addition to varying power and durability values.

Bigger Isn’t Always Better

Compared to other CCG’s, decks in Faeria contain far lesser cards. Players can only have a maximum of 30 cards, rather than the 50 to 70 card decks that we’ve come to expect from traditional CCG’s. Honestly, I’m torn with this concept. While having smaller decks makes it more likely that you’ll draw your favorite card combos, it does require you to come up with more specific and concentrated card and combo strategies with less room to place backup cards or smaller combos should your original plan fail. The game’s unique resource system helps a bit in landing those combos, unless of course, you go up against an opponent with a rush deck, at which point all your meticulously laid out plans might as well not have existed at all. And, unlike traditional CCG’s players can have any card in their deck without being limited to one or two elements. You can have all four elements along with neutral cards in one deck if that’s your cup of tea.

Pandora’s Box

Faeria features three game modes: Solo, Battle, and Pandora. In Solo mode, players go up against AI to complete a variety of quests and puzzles which reward them with in-game currency, cards, and the occasional booster pack. The puzzles are a breath of fresh air from the usual card game combat. Instead of having to sit through a whole match, Puzzle matches only require you to find a way to defeat the opponent in one turn using combos. Not only is it entertaining but also teaches players creative ways to use card effects.

Battle Mode works the same way as multiplayer matches in other CCG’s. Players can either choose to play Casual or Ranked matches with the latter offering better rewards not to mention more challenging competition. Players up for a real challenge can choose to play Pandora matches which are similar to Arena matches in Hearthstone or The Elder Scrolls: Legends. And, like their counterparts, also require payment to enter, using either in-game currency or real-world cash. In Pandora mode, players are given random sets of cards to choose from until they form a 30-card deck. They then battle it out with other players until they lose three times with each win granting them better rewards.

Cash Shop

Faeria’s cash shop contains the usual assortment of CCG knick-knacks that you’d expect to find in any online CCG cash shop, including booster packs, Pandora coins, and avatars. Like most online CCG’s the ability to buy booster packs using real-world money gives paying players a bit of an advantage over the free-playing community but the randomness of cards you get, not to mention, the skill and knowledge needed to win matches almost makes it negligible. That being said, there will always be that player with an entire deck of epic cards that will give you a run for your money.

Final Verdict – Great

Whether it’s survival games, MMORPG’s, or CCG’s there will always be that one game that innovates, revolutionizes, and turns a time-tested concept into something better. This is where Faeria shines; it takes traditional CCG elements and breathes new life into it with an array of innovative features, including their tactical land system, the resource system, and even the way decks are built. Honestly, I’m a big fan of old-school CCG’s like Hearthstone and The Elder Scrolls: Legends but the way Faeria’s unique features give an added degree of difficulty and complexity to an already challenging genre has got me sold right off the bat. Overall, a great game that I would highly recommend to hardcore CCG fans or even casual players looking for a fun and challenging way to spend their free time.

Faeria Screenshots

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Faeria Videos

Faeria Links

Faeria Official Site
Faeria Steam Page
Faeria Developer Site
Faeria Gamepedia Page

Faeria System Requirements

Minimum Requirements (Windows):

Operating System: Windows 7, 8, 8.1 & 10
CPU: 2.2GHz Dual Core
Video Card: 1Gb VRAM
Direct X: Version 9.0
RAM: 4 GB
Hard Disk Space: 3 GB available space

Minimum Requirements (MAC OS X):

OS: OSX 10+
Processor: 2.2GHz Dual CoreMemory: 4 GB
Graphics: OpenGL 2.0 compatible, 1 GB VRAM
Hard Disk Space: 3 GB available space

Faeria Music & Soundtrack

Coming Soon!

Faeria Additional Information

Developer(s): Abrakam SA
Publisher(s): Abrakam SA

Distributor: Steam

Closed Beta: September 25, 2013
Early Access: March 1, 2016

Release Date: March 08, 2017

Development History / Background:

Faeria is a 2D tactics-style collectible card game developed and published by Abrakam SA, a Belgian video game company. The company has been independently developing the game since 2010 and was initially funded through a Kickstarter campaign that raised $94,000. The game entered closed beta testing on September 25, 2013 which lasted for 8 months. Development continued on the game and was later released as an Early Access game on Steam on March 1, 2016. Faeria fully released over a year later on March 08, 2017.