In a video game market saturated by virtual card games, it is often hard for these games to gain a foothold against their competition. “Hearthstone,” the most popular of these games, was released by Blizzard in March of 2014, and has been the game everyone uses as a comparison ever since. So how does Bethesda’s “The Elder Scrolls: Legends” compare to its better known competitor?

Surprisingly, it may become strong competition.

The graphics are purposefully simple, and convey the same medieval-esque style as the other “Elder Scrolls” games. The cards are easy to read and identify, while also being artistically stimulating. Unlike most virtual trading card games, “Elder Scrolls: Legends” has a campaign. The campaign is wonderfully voice-acted, and even has important player choices that not only change the story, but the play style as well. The first act of the campaign acts as a very slow tutorial, making sure to hash out almost every rule of the game in a different scenario, so as to avoid overwhelming the player.

“Legends” also contains card upgrades and skill decks that help players morph their own play style, as there are not different characters that sport differing skills. There isn’t much to be done with these skill decks yet, but hopefully they will be expanded in the near future. The game even changes its rules to avoid fitting the stereotype by adding in different “lanes,” or areas, to put down cards. Creatures can only attack the enemy creatures in the same line, while also only being able to support friendly creatures in the same lane.

 “The Elder Scrolls: Legends,” while still in beta, is leagues beyond most of the virtual card games thrown out onto the market nowadays. While the game definitely needs work, Bethesda has done a great job in staking a claim to this genre, and for the price of nothing, it is absolutely worth checking out.
Final Rating: A-

Platforms: PC

Price: Free