Good game, manages to take Gwent and shape it in a more fun, focused direction fit to be the vehicle through which the game's conflicts unfold. At first, I was a bit disappointed that there is no punishment for failure, or different consequences for, say, succeeding at an assault versus flubbing it. After finishing the game, though, I've come to see it as necessary, since your draws are random. A particularly bad starting hand can mean watching the battle fail in slow-motion if you don't outright forfeit. The option to resign at any time (even in the middle of the AI's turn) and immediately retry is appreciated.

A lot of the gameplay is Gwent, as special matches with story cards and unique objectives, head-scratching puzzle fights, and classic 3-round card battles. There are a lot of Gwent battles - probably a few too many, though you have the option to walk past plenty of them too, which should make repeated playthroughs quicker should you choose to skip some content. There is also the option, on the easy difficulty, to skip the Gwent battles completely and get on with the story. I think this removes some of the narrative weight of victory, though, and it will probably start to feel contrived that Meve wins battle after battle so effortlessly if you don't put the effort in yourself as the player. I don't recommend this game to anyone who dislikes turn-based strategy games. Make no mistake - the story here is worth it, but so are the cards. They should be enjoyed, to the best of one's ability, as a package.

Player dialogue choices exist but do not drastically divert the narrative's direction, like they can (sometimes) do in the first two Witcher games. Instead, they can affect your Gwent deck (the in-game analogy for Meve's army), either by adjusting the resources with which you can make new basic cards, or upgrading and removing special Hero cards (that represent the side characters in the story). Like the other Witcher games, Thronebreaker has multiple ending variations based on the choices you've made in the story. Many choices will, in the classic Witcher fashion, have you picking between two or more evils. There is something to be said about Meve's status and perspective as a monarch as it relates to these choices, though. Unlike a witcher, Meve does not have the privilege of being neutral. In some respects, she has more capacity than anyone to be kind, but players will often find themselves feeling that cruelty - to enemies, but also to turncoats and deserters - is the more responsible choice.

The enemy, Nilfgaard, is itself an unflinchingly cruel invading force hell-bent on bringing the Northern Realms to their knees, enslaving their people, and resettling their lands. It is a refreshing, more lore-accurate depiction of the empire after the weirdly whitewashed version of it seen in the Witcher 3. Even so, the game manages to invoke moral tension in player decisions regarding Nilfgaard's subjects. In fact, these are some of the stronger and more memorable choices you can make.

One point of criticism I have is regarding AI deck variety: there are a lot of fights against Nilfgaard, especially near the end of the game. A lot of these battles feature very similar decks, if not actually the same. It doesn't help that some Nilfgaard cards are themselves anti-fun, having abilities that punish you for using special orders or placing units on certain rows. The units that don't do this tend to have rather boring abilities anyway (e.g. boost all copies of this card by 2 when played, damage an opponent by 2 each turn, etc.). I found battles against the Scoia'tael and Monsters decks to be much more cerebral and entertaining.

All that said, this is a fantastic game with an unwarranted amount of developer love and care poured into it. The visual novel sections are delightful, the card puzzles are thoughtful, and the voice acting is perfect. The soundtrack is likewise impressive, and will give you earworms for days after playing.

If you plan on playing the standalone multiplayer Gwent game, though, consider buying this game on GoG, since the exclusive cards you can unlock for multiplayer Gwent from this game only carry over on that platform.