The new – and now fourth – card set for Star Wars Unlimited is available. With "Switching to Lightspeed," Fantasy Flight Games brings back nostalgic feelings. The expansion, complete with new accessories and a collectible twist for fans, comes at just the right time.
Trading card games can be real money printing machines, as Ravensburger recently proved with Disney Lorcana impressive with a milestone underpinned. However, with trading card games, a point can quickly be reached where things can't really progress any further. There are many possible reasons: too much new content, which gives newcomers the feeling of being left behind; balancing problems that affect the metagame and the fun of the game; quotas that are too small, which leaves collectors perplexed; or simply content that ignores the player base. Fantasy Flight Games' title was on the verge of being a hit, at least for some Star Wars fans: After the furious opening with "The Spark of Rebellion" and a focus on classic content, the second and third sets followed - both centered around modern Star Wars. This wasn't any worse in terms of gameplay, quite the opposite. But in terms of content, The Clone Wars and the hit series The Mandalorian - despite the Grogu cuddle bonus - couldn't keep up with the debut.
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Star Wars: Unlimited - Fall of the Republic - Display Booster...* | 122,45 EUR |
Now, in its second year, Fantasy Flight Games has achieved a turnaround: "Jump to Lightspeed" enriches the collectible card game with over 250 new cards, introduces the keyword "piloting," which revolves around the tactically clever upgrading of vehicles. And the new set, with its Carbonite Edition boosters, appeals primarily to collectors who are happy to invest a few extra euros in a trading card game in order to acquire limited-edition collectibles. "Jump to Lightspeed," the English title of the card set, has Star Wars Unlimited at least partially revamped. In terms of gameplay, the development remains rather shallow, as with the previous sets: here, the creators continue to adhere to the TCG standard, expanding the game elements of Unlimited Set by Set.
What's much more important: Star Wars fans from the very beginning have another reason to throw themselves into the duels. Hans Solo and Luke Skywalker are there in their pilot's uniform, as are Wedge Antilles and Boba Fett, as well as other iconic figures who are closely associated with space in George Lucas' sci-fantasy universe - such as Admiral Piett or Admiral Ackbar. However, it's not just about characters from the classic trilogy. Fantasy Flight Games is taking a broad approach and mixing up the characters to bring a focus to space battles to the table. So modern characters like Admiral Holdo and Poe Dameron are also included. The same applies to the spaceships themselves - here too, the mix is mixed up, but the makers bring the feel-good factor back into the game with legendary battleships like the Executor or the Devastator. This is precisely a key component of the continued success of a franchise with such a palpable nostalgia factor as Star Wars. The simple reason: For many fans, the first three films are still the best—and this is precisely where the starting point lies for keeping the game interesting over time. Fantasy Flight Games' approach is quite clever: Instead of focusing on individual eras in the long history of Star Wars, they continually mix all the content together, with changing focuses. This appeals to fans of different generations.
Switching to lightspeed is also a real improvement in gameplay. The focus is now on the halved battlefield, on a part that has previously been neglected: space battles and the tactics surrounding them are clearly the focus. Fans will use this to design decks that utilize the new strengths and thus shift the focus to space combat. At the same time, players must be careful to keep their deck balanced to avoid being overrun on the ground. Switching to lightspeed reveals just how strongly the division of the battlefield into ground and space really is.
New accessories and premium packages
With the fourth set for Star Wars Unlimited, new accessories are also making their way onto the market. Gamegenic is not only bringing well-known items to market, but is also developing the Star Wars Unlimitedline meaningfully. Various collector's albums, a "damage pad" for the base (modern life point indicators), new acrylic tokens perfect for the Twin Suns format, and an extra-wide playmat are now available to accompany the release of Shift to Lightspeed.
Particularly exciting – even if only available in English – are the so-called Carbonite Edition boosters. Here, too, Fantasy Flight Games demonstrates its willingness and ability to broaden its focus. It primarily appeals to die-hard players or collectors who are willing to invest more than just the standard price for products.
The new premium packs ultimately contain the same number of cards as regular boosters, but every card in a Carbonite booster is special in some way. "This means that when you open a Carbonite Edition booster, every single card is guaranteed to be a collector's item, regardless of whether it's a foil, Hyperspace, Hyperspace Foil, Showcase, or the new, Carbonite Edition-exclusive Prestige variant," explains Fantasy Flight Games about the contents – and they charge a good price for it, too. Fans have to shell out around three times the price for the standard display. The exclusive card variants – some in limited and numbered numbers – can, however, fetch collector prices on the secondary market. So there is added value, in the case of the Carbonite Edition boosters even in terms of production: For each set – so there will also be special versions in the future – only a certain number are printed. If it's gone, it's gone – that's the motto. And that's quite bold, because it can certainly lead to resentment in the trading card scene when cards suddenly become unobtainable.
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Star Wars: Unlimited - Fall of the Republic - Prerelease Box...* | 34,29 EUR |
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I used to play Star Wars, but I got a bit bored. It's good that new cards are being introduced, but the game system itself should also be more varied. And it's possible, because I've found Legends of Elysium—a great strategic collectible card game for me. I'll happily return to Star Wars once I see the progress.