A Visit to Sunnydale in Legendary: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Go up against the Big Bad in a fight to save Sunnydale with familiar friends in Legendary: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
I dabbled in the world of Buffy when it was first released, and finally watched the entire series just a few years ago. It was a lot of fun, although I will say that I’m far from an expert on all the details! That knowledge is saved for The Golden Girls and Murder, She Wrote. Ha! Still, I was excited to dive into Legendary: Buffy the Vampire Slayer!
Game Overview
Game Name: Legendary: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Publication Year: 2017
Designers: Travis R. Chance and Nick Little
Artist: Uncredited
Publisher: Upper Deck Entertainment
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
With the help of recruited characters, the battle against a Big Bad and their minions decides the fate of Sunnydale. Courage tokens provide extra bonuses, while a dark and light track affects many elements. It’s a battle filled with twists and all the memorable scenes from the TV series!
First Play
August 8, 2022
Complexity
2
Latest Play
August 9, 2022
Expansions
0
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
3
Play Time
25 Minutes
High Score
35
Game Area
24" x 18"
Low Score
0
Angelus, the Big Bad
As with other games within this system, a main villain forms the general foundation for the adventure. Angelus was certainly looking mean… And a bit blurry!
Movie or TV stills in games are not my favorite visuals, but that’s quite subjective. I recognized a few scenes from the cards, which added some fun moments during setup.
Yet the content was limited. Compared to Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game, there were slim pickings.
That’s not to say there wasn’t any variety, but this didn’t feel like an expansive world with endless possibilities.
Scheme Twists
Along with the Big Bad, a specific scheme provided a way for twists to change things up. This one was quite nasty!
One element I’ve struggled with in the past about the system is the disconnect between myself as a player and all of the characters present within the turns.
Character cards are recruited, yet it’s never felt like I’m controlling those individuals. Nor does it feel like they’re forming an overarching story. Maybe that’s just me!
I was still excited to see what might happen to Sunnydale as I set out to protect it from the forces of darkness.
Light and Dark
A central element was that struggle between the light and dark, represented by a simple numerical track.
Reaching the top of the light granted courage tokens, which could act as +1 bonuses for attacking or recruiting.
Hitting the bottom of dark allowed the Big Bad to act in a unique way, which was never very nice. Lots of extra challenges were ahead with this simple mechanic.
As it played out, the track was sometimes more annoying than anything. This scheme could be brutal with some bad luck, and the dark definitely clung to the town.
Falling to Angelus
Just like that, the scheme gave Angelus a couple of very easy victories. It wasn’t that I didn’t manage the darkness: I couldn’t really do much with what I had.
Starting each play with a deck of basic cards made it kind of slow to build up anything decent, and then it turned into a matter of finding ways to remove those cards.
I had some clever turns, yet it felt very mechanical. No one was a major part of the story, and I was looking at icons.
Even the amazing cards I recruited only turned up a few times, and often at the most inopportune times. Oh, luck!
A Question of Where to Start with a Deck
As I reset everything between plays, I couldn’t quite get past the starting cards. They were extremely basic and never varied, so I had to rely on the available cards to recruit. Many games will have a starter deck, yet a lot of them feature cards that can remain useful. Here, I was glad to be rid of them if I had no wounds hanging around!
I think this also made me struggle with the theme. It wasn’t like my heroic trio of Anya, Faith, and Xander were anywhere to be found. Their cards might show up, yet who was I? Don’t get me wrong: I still had plenty of fun!
But this made me analyze some of my other deck-focused games. Even a simple draft can add a lot, as can a completely unique set of starting cards. I understood the reasoning here: The race to recruit cards coincided with the enemies filling up Sunnydale, threatening to escape and cause more mayhem. It just fell a bit flat for me, unfortunately.
At the same time, I would hope that fans of the TV show have a great time with this one! If I was more of a fan, I could see myself having an even better time. Give me Legendary: Labyrinth or Legendary: The Neverending Story, and I might never take it off my table. Ha ha! As we all know, we can’t love every game, yet there’s an audience somewhere!
Saving Herbert the Pig
My favorite moment was when I uncovered the random bystander shuffled into the deck… It was Herbert! Granted, it took me a little research to remember who this was.
But it was a pig! I was most thrilled to save him from the clutches of Angelus. And I even defeated a couple of tactics on the road to a pair of back-to-back losses.
The second lasted a mere 10 minutes, thanks to the dark track and the scheme twists. Not exactly a fun time!
Still, I had some enjoyable moments with the various card combinations and a handful of pretty awesome turns.
The Best of the Best
Although I struggled a lot with the first couple of plays, the third time was apparently the charm! It wasn’t even like I slightly pulled ahead, though… It was definitive.
Anya’s best card? In my deck. Xander’s best card? Also made it into my deck very early. And Faith’s best card? You guessed it: Purchased relatively easily!
This didn’t make this play any more enjoyable, though. It just sped things up until I pulled off the victory.
Despite some laughs and interesting turns, the overall system lacked a narrative and relied too much on luck.
Session Overview
Play Number: 1-3
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Anya, Faith, and Xander vs. Angelus
Outcome: 0, 0, and 35 (1 Win and 2 Losses)
I was most pleased about taking out that fake moustache from Angelus’s European days. Ha! I had limited ways to thin my deck, so I mostly just waited for the better turns to generate enough attack power. There are several other Big Bads and schemes to mix and match, not to mention more characters, but I’ll say that I saved Sunnydale for all eternity with a single victory. Sounds about right. Ha ha!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
5
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
6
Quality
Components & Rules
6
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
6
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
7
+ Pros (Positives)
- Awesome and exciting turns are possible with some of the card combinations, especially between characters.
- There are plenty of jokes and memorable scenes from the TV series shown across the many cards.
- A lot of text is on the smaller side, but the iconography is generally pretty clear and easy to see for a solo player.
- Random scenarios can be created, or a campaign can take place based on different early seasons and episodes.
- Choices are typically pretty straightforward with the main elements centered around attacking or recruiting.
- Some interesting combinations are possible when choosing characters, especially related to the light and dark.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Although movie or TV stills can work, the quality varies significantly with some appearing blurry or grainy.
- The starting deck never changes and provides very basic cards that quickly become rather unnecessary.
- Only a handful of content is included, which has some variety, but there isn’t an endless amount of scenarios.
- Managing the light and dark can be more of an annoyance, and losing can happen quickly simply due to luck.
Victory Conditions
Defeat the Big Bad
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 game against Angelus.
Win at least 1 game with 0 escaped villains.
Continue the Conversation
Have you played Legendary: Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Does it remind you of any other games? I certainly enjoyed returning to Sunnydale in this sense, but I think my nostalgia is best served with reruns. Just needed a little more of a story for me to really piece it together! Still, it was a fun one to try out and eventually defeat Angelus once and for all!
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