Kinfire Chronicles Nights Fall

How bright is Kinfire?

Kinfire Chronicles: Night’s Fall is a campaign game in which we take on the roles of brave heroes defending the city of Din’Lux. During our adventures, we’ll explore the hidden corners of this great metropolis, battle various creatures, develop our card decks, and try to uncover who is behind the conspiracy aimed at bringing down our luminous refuge.

The gameplay is divided into several phases.

First comes the city Phase, where we’ll swap cards in our decks, visit various locations, purchase upgrades for our heroes, and use the knowledge we’ve gained during the adventure Phase to uncover story details. When we’re ready, we’ll assemble a team to complete one of the available quests.

During the adventure phase, we’ll uncover the game’s plot. We’ll make many choices, read successive paragraphs of the story, and complete challenges that will influence the progress of the entire quest.

At the end of each scenario, an epic boss battle awaits us, the outcome of which often depends on the choices made earlier in the phase.

After the battle is over, we’ll receive rewards, unlock new content for our heroes, and return to the city to continue uncovering the secrets hidden in Kinfire Chronicles Night’s Fall.

What I liked:

The Story

First of all, I really like the way the story is presented. Each main quest advances the plot and sheds light on new events. During these adventures, we also make various choices that will influence aspects of the game to a greater or lesser extent. We also collect items and clues that allow us to discover something new in the city phase.

The plot itself is lighthearted, enjoyable, and, most importantly, very cohesive. While playing through the campaign, we truly feel like we’re the heroes defending this metropolis. As the story unfolds, we’ll also uncover the heroes’ personal stories and complete numerous side quests that help us in our subsequent adventures.

The missions available in the game are interesting and very diverse. One moment we’ll have to run through a library, dodging attacks from small dragons. In the next mission, we’ll head to a pirate ship, where we’ll have to balance on the waves, and in another adventure, we’ll face cultists who will fiercely defend their leader. It’s literally just like a good RPG session.

Epic boss fight

As far as combat goes, it’s simply excellent. The main factor that fuels my excitement during battles is the fact that we can cooperatively enhance our teammates’ actions. By playing boosts, we increase their damage, provide defense, and help with card exchanges. This sense of cooperation is very noticeable here.

The effects on the cards are also very diverse. We can inflict various status effects on enemies, move them around the board, unleash powerful aoe attacks, and do all the things we love in digital RPGs. The developers really went out of their way to ensure that literally every card is useful and has a significant impact on our strategy. Additionally, heroes have their own special abilities and lanterns, which will also assist us during battles.

Combat is fast-paced, dynamic, and forces us to make many strategic decisions. Although we clash in confined arenas, our position on the board will often be of great importance. Opponents will also influence our actions due to their various abilities and effects. They can even change their behavior once they enter the second phase of the battle. Boss fight music is on.

Create a Hero

Another plus of Kinfire is the sheer number of character builds you can create. You can stunlock your enemies’ attacks, act as a tank that absorbs all damage, or play as a mage who sets opponents ablaze and hurls fireballs left and right. Virtually anything is possible. However, you must follow certain rules and restrictions when selecting cards. Nevertheless, the game still gives you a lot of freedom in this regard. Another positive aspect is that newly added cards will affect not only combat but also the adventure phase and your ability to pass challenges. If you enjoy creating builds and perfecting them, you’ll be very satisfied here.

Speaking of acquiring new items, the game literally showers us with gifts from all sides, and we’re constantly getting something new whether it’s new cards, tokens, locations, characters to visit, or clues for further adventures. This positive flood of loot makes the gaming experience a blast, especially when leveling up characters and opening booster packs with power-ups.

What I would complain about:

The first thing though it’s not a major drawback is the order of activation during combat. It’s determined by drawing initiative tokens from a shared bag. If you draw a hero token, that hero activates. If, on the other hand, you draw a token with a number on it, the ability of the opponent assigned to that number activates. The number of tokens in the bag is fairly even, so the chances of your team or your enemies activating are roughly 50/50. Of course, as heroes, we can influence which tokens are drawn. We can spend fate tokens or return tokens to the bag using certain action cards.

However, all of this leads to the main problem I have with this game the difficulty level. It’s very uneven. Let’s imagine a situation where the heroes have several turns in a row. This allows us to deal significant damage to the boss, and if things go well, even defeat it without it getting a turn. The opposite can happen as well, when enemies suddenly activate several times in a row. That’s when the stress really kicks in, and we try to use every means at our disposal to regain the initiative.

Without giving away any spoilers, I can only say that the final battles in the campaign will force us to use every ability we’ve acquired to successfully bring it to a close. It was simply epic and very unexpected. It definitely made playing on the „Easy” difficulty which this game offers me well worth it.

Game Duration and Number of Players

It takes about an hour to complete a single quest. On top of that, you have to factor in the city phase and the time needed to modify your deck. However, when we played several adventures in a row, things went very smoothly.

The number of players significantly affects boss battles. I played through two scenarios with just two characters, and I have to admit that the fighting was very tough. The bosses’ attacks focused solely on those two characters, and I couldn’t really take advantage of boosting the other heroes. That’s why we played through our campaign with four heroes. The combat was more balanced that way, and there were more opportunities for cooperative support which is what I love so much about Kinfire Chronicles Night’s Fall.

Quality and Components

The game’s production quality is simply mind-blowing. Let me start by saying that literally every single piece has its own spot in the insert. Everything is neatly organized, and if I had OCD, I literally wouldn’t have a single thing to complain about. The boxes containing the various quests also form a single cohesive image when viewed from the sides. Seriously, WOW! Another quality highlight is the characters depicted on acrylic tokens even the enemies on plain cardboard stands look amazing. Overall, I could write nothing but praise about the game’s production quality. Finally, I’ll just add that the box cover transforms into the game board we’ll be playing on. Who even does things like this?

Summary

Playing through the campaign in Kinfire Chronicles Night’s Fall was just a ton of fun. My wife and I would sit down at the table, play a few scenarios, and after each adventure ended, we’d just look at each other and ask, “So, how about one more quest?” The game really sucked us in, and we literally couldn’t wait for the next session. After each playthrough, we’d discuss what had happened, which cards we wanted to add to our deck, and what might await us later in the campaign. The Kinfire finale itself was literally epic! We didn’t expect that turn of events at all. Every decision we made in the game influenced that showdown, which only deepened our love for this title. It really was one of the best campaign games we’ve ever completed.

What I liked most was that the game constantly kept us on our toes with something new and kept us eager to explore its world. The battles were thrilling, and the options for building our decks had a major impact on what happened both during combat and in the story mode. Maybe the idea of drawing action tokens wasn’t the best, since it led to an uneven difficulty level, but at least you could feel the tension of wondering whether it would be our turn next or our opponents’? Or maybe that’s exactly how it was supposed to be?

Final verdict: Kinfire Chronicles Night’s Fall shines like a diamond and is one of the best campaign games we’ve ever played.

Pros
Exploring the city
Deck-building
Always something new
Dynamic combat
Boosting companions’ actions
Varied quests
That feeling of being a true hero

Cons
Slightly uneven difficulty
Best played with 4 heroes

[self bought]