Pretty much all reviewers left out the Trait cards. I don’t completely blame them; out of the 100+ cards, only eight are Trait cards. Some reviewers mentioned that they didn’t care for the leveling-up system but no one ran an on-camera adventure using anything other than level zero heroes.
Is the leveling up as momentous as Warhammer Quest 1995? No.
Does leveling up unlock new and nastier monsters (other than boss fights)? No.
Can leveling up change the development path your character takes? No.
Will new levels unlock fun and exciting equipment? No.
Wait, I’m not selling this very well.
What I mean to say is that even though leveling up in Cursed City isn’t monumental, Trait cards add a lot to the game.
Most characters have two or three actions they can take every turn. Adding Traits greatly expands the thoughtfulness needed every activation. It’s fun imagining your characters in the fight, using their skills to outmaneuver their foes.
Here’s the pre-release Warhammer Community page about Traits: https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/03/23/how-to-get-even-faster-tougher-or-more-murder-y-in-warhammer-quest-cursed-city/
I feel that the lack of investigation into how Traits play lead to a flurry of knee-jerk bad reviews. Cursed City starts at the beginning of its own story, not as an addition to any other game or experience. I think people were subconsciously expecting a game that picked up where Blackstone Fortress left off, with well equipped heroes bristling with skills and equipment.
Now some criticism is completely valid. The game as designed is grindy, and the Empowerments are underwhelming. The launch, disappearance, resurfacing, and surprise expansions are perplexing. But those news stories have been well tread.
Of the various incarnations of Warhammer Quest, the 1995 version is still the champion of leveling up. It’s a big deal to step up to the next level. But in that game, you’re traveling for weeks, spending days in settlements and then back into the depths. The newer games timelines are definitely designed to represent a shorter timeline. Blackstone Fortress pretty much says it explicitly. You’re scouring the fortress for tech, you’re not growing from a novice adventurer to a grizzled warlord.
So rewind three years and understand the perspective of the first reviewers: they only played half a game at level zero and thought that was it. They didn’t dig deeper, and then Games Workshop made everything weird.
