Ascension: Storm of Souls
Samael is dead, but a storm is still raging across Vigil. This November, Ascension: Storm of Souls™ takes players into the chaos following the Fallen One's demise. As Samael's monsters run wild and his minions conspire, the world is being slowly overtaken with souls that should have moved on. Are you ready for the new challenges that Vigil's future holds?
Ascension: Storm of Souls™ is the first full-sized expansion for the hit deck-building game from Gary Games. The 200-card set features tons of new cards and mechanics, in addition to a new Event card type, like Void Rising:
Adventure in a fantastic world where all new Event cards change the rules of the game as you play! Gain power by collecting exciting new Trophy rewards.
Features
- A complete 1-4 player game playable on its own or with other Ascension games!
- Combine with other Ascension games to play with up to 6 players!
- All the fun of an open-ended card game without buying limitless cards–everything's contained in one box!
- Setup in minutes with no unique pregame preparation
- Play in less than 30 minutes
User Reviews (5)
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Storm of Souls is the standalone expansion for the deck building card game Ascension. It can be played alone or added with the original and/or the other expansion Return of the Fallen.
During the game you basically build a deck from cards you acquire from the table that will allow you to have the most honor at the end of the game. You don’t fight the other players as much as you out maneuver them. Build a deck that performs better and you win. You can also play to prevent them from building a good deck so there is still some direct actions you can take against the other players.
The game is easy to learn and easy to play. This has become a favorite among my gamer friends. A typical game can be played in a fairly short amount of time but can be made longer with very simple house rules if desired. Even with a short play time you are still able to see a strategy emerge from your constructed deck fairly quickly which is gratifying.
There are some interesting strategies and combos with certain cards, but they are not required. Pick cards that might compliment each other and you will be able to compete. You don’t have to be an expert at the game to succeed which is always refreshing to a new player.
The addition of the new event cards are nice, but not a huge game changer. This is not really a bad thing as the game was amazingly enjoyable to begin with. When the event is beneficial to you, you are happy about it, when it’s not, you really don’t even notice it. I hope future expansions utilize more event cards though as I think it could become quite inventive. Even forgetting about the event cards, the new cards in this expansion are well thought out and add a lot of new flavor to the game.
Much of the art has also changed and I think it looks great. It is done by the same artist so it still matches with the previous releases. Even with some updated art it still mixes with the other two no problem.
Pros:
-Fast game play.
-Low learning curve.
-Accessible to new players.
-Good mix of luck and strategy.
Cons:
-Some games can go by to fast without house rules.
-The new event cards don’t seem to add a lot new, but don’t hurt either.
Conclusion:
Ascension is one of my favorite games, and Storm of Souls is my favorite expansion. As I stated earlier, this can be played by it’s self too without just adding to the original. In some ways I think it’s better than the original, but both offer their own flavor of a great game that still sticks with what works. If you are a fan of collectable card games such as magic, deck builder games or just want a fun game that has the nice mix of pick up and play and just enough strategy, I can’t recommend it enough.
This is a good addition to the Ascension family. If you are not familiar with the game this is a deck construction game where everyone starts with a deck of 10 cards and 5 of those are randomly drawn. At the start of your turn you draw 5 cards and try to use the cards to defeat or obtain cards from a row of face up cards. When you get a card a new one will be drawn to replace it. The card you obtained is put in your discard usually and will be shuffled into your deck for future draws when you shuffle the deck. The cards are worth varying amounts of points and at the end of the game the person with the most points wins. You will also earn points by killing monsters during the game and the game ends when all the crystals(bonus score rewards) have been claimed.
That is the basic concept of all Ascension games. This is a worthy expansion for the game which can be played as a stand alone game or mixed in to create a larger deck of cards to play with. This game also has trophy monsters which give a player a one time use reward and events, which when revealed interact with cards in the game in various ways. This version of the game does not really favor one faction over the other as some of the previous editions did. All in all a welcome and balanced addition to the system.
Storm of Souls is a great addition to the Ascension family. This time, in addition to a ton of new heroes, constructs & monster, we are treated to a new “Always Available” card and a new mechanism. The EVENT cards put a spin on the whole game that can be utilized through the new Fanatic card. (Think of the Fanatic as the Cultists cousin.) Currently there is one Event for each faction meaning they do not come up every game, especially if you are using all the sets together. Several of the new creatures are “Trophy Monsters” that give the player that defeats them a one time use ability.
I have not shuffled everything together as of yet. I find each set plays great on its own. Storm of Souls is a solid hit for me.
Expansions always add something to the original game, but it’s rare that they improve on them as a whole. This is definitely the case with Ascension:Storm of Souls, however. I’ve found that the expansion is not only more fun, but it’s also far better balanced than the original, without so many ‘just grab all the mechana constructs you can’ victories, and more overall balance.
I really like it, and strongly recommend it for any Ascension or Dominion fan. Also, you don’t need the original to play with this set, so if you haven’t gotten the original, I highly recommend starting here instead.
Standalone or Expansion? It’s great either way. Adds several new and exciting changes to the game.