A Second Chapter of Descent – Is Betrayer’s War Worth It?

If you have had the pleasure of playing Descent: Legends of the Dark, then you know that to complete the entire campaign is going to take 40 – 50 hours of your time, which is a huge chunk. In our review of that game , we praised it for great components and fantastic storytelling. After we finished our last game and crossed over the 45 hour mark, we were pretty happy with our experience. But was it worth diving into another 30-40 hours? Let’s take a look!

In Betrayer’s War, the expansion to Legends of the Dark, everything is bigger and better than before. You have bigger miniatures, bigger storytelling, and bigger boards to play. Time after time, we find ourselves removing so much terrain from the box to complete the games we are playing, and we absolutely love it.

Let’s start with the miniatures. I think the sculpts in this box are so much better and more detailed than in the original core box. That is saying a lot, because the miniatures in the core box are phenomenal! Still, everything seems to be bigger and better this time around. The character miniatures are more detailed, and some of the new enemies you will encounter are phenomenal. I especially love getting the character with the giant bell on their back onto the board – it just looks so good!

The terrain quality matches that of the original. We now have taller pillars, which means even more verticality than ever before. There are also new items that players can interact with and use, such as fire, bells, and more. They are useful in different ways, but I especially love the introduction of fire mechanics. It’s not crazy, but fire works in various ways throughout your experience, both to your benefit and your detriment. It’s a love-hate relationship that, ultimately, I love.

I also love that Fantasy Flight Games is using the insert in the bottom of the box as more terrain. This would have been awesome in the first box, but to see it here is phenomenal. Again, with the taller pillars, it allows for even more verticality. While vertically does change each game, it also introduces new opportunities for better storytelling within each game. 

What’s most important, however, is that the game and story remain strong, and that is definitely apparent through our time with the expansion. The storytelling is next level, continuing on in a new city with new allies and enemies. There are new items to craft, new potions to get, and more. Fantasy Flight is charging a premium for this expansion, but are packing a ton of content into the box. From my standpoint, it is well worth the price of entry!

Overall, we cannot recommend this game enough – we will have more on this soon, but for now, if you are on the fence and worried about the price, I can say that if you enjoyed the first box, you will enjoy this!