Gloomhaven - Jaws of the Lion Review Summary

Fun new characters and scenarios integrate well, but DLC bugs can render content unplayable, missions feel unbalanced, and multiplayer requires DLC ownership.

New scenarios and content: The DLC adds a wealth of new scenarios, enemies, items, and battle goals, greatly expanding the game's content. Many scenarios have unique mechanics and are well-designed.

Characters integrate well: The new characters are smoothly integrated into the base game, with tweaks to balance them for both campaign and Guildmaster modes. This allows for flexible party compositions.

New characters are fun: The four new JOTL characters are widely praised as fun, cool, and interesting to play. They add variety and excitement to the game.

Great addition to base game: Players consistently report that the DLC is a worthy and fantastic addition to Gloomhaven, especially for those who enjoy the base game. It integrates well and enhances the overall experience.

Excellent board game adaptation: The digital version faithfully adapts the Jaws of the Lion board game, capturing its mechanics and content. Many appreciate the seamless transition to digital.

DLC bugs render content unplayable: Numerous bugs in the DLC make large portions unplayable, including broken missions and abilities. The bug count is high and persistent, affecting overall enjoyment.

Unbalanced and frustrating missions: Missions range from trivial to impossibly difficult, with some requiring multiple attempts due to bugs or unfair mechanics. This uneven difficulty leads to frustration and tedium.

Multiplayer DLC ownership requirement: In multiplayer, every player must own the DLC for it to be used, regardless of who hosts. This restriction causes issues and is a significant downside for cooperative play.

Jaws of the Lion integration issues: The digital adaptation of Jaws of the Lion has problems, such as not being standalone, requiring replay of base scenarios, and mechanics that cause balance issues. It also has multiplayer ownership restrictions.

Tainted Blood scenario overly luck-based: The Tainted Blood scenario is heavily dependent on luck, even with optimal strategy, and introduces excessive enemies that curse, muddle, and poison. It is considered the hardest and most cruel scenario.

DLC Expansion Content: The DLC is an expansion that adds new content to the base game, such as characters, scenarios, and items. It is integrated into the base game rather than being standalone.

Four New Characters: The expansion introduces four new playable characters, sometimes called mercenaries or classes. These characters can be used in both the regular campaign and the Guildmaster campaign.

Scenario Variety: The game includes multiple scenarios with varying difficulty, from very easy to very hard. Some scenarios are specifically mentioned, like Scenario 15.

Multiplayer Support: The game supports multiplayer sessions with friends. However, all players must own the DLC to participate in co-op play.

Digital Board Game Adaptation: It is a digital adaptation of a board game, faithfully converting the board game's mechanisms to a digital format. The expansion is also adapted from a board game expansion.

Slow multiplayer and enemy lag: Players report slow multiplayer performance and enemy lag when a teammate has a slow computer. These latency issues disrupt gameplay flow.

Strong Overall Recommendation: Most reviewers highly recommend the game, with many using emphatic language such as 'highly recommend', 'buy this', and '10/10'. This indicates broad satisfaction and a positive general reception.

Wait for Sale or Discount: A recurring sentiment is to buy only on sale or at a discount, suggesting that the price may be too high for the amount or quality of content. Some reviewers specifically mention waiting for a price drop.

Recommended for Gloomhaven Fans: Multiple reviewers state that the DLC is a natural purchase for those who enjoy the base Gloomhaven game. It is seen as more of the same content and a no-brainer for fans.

Mixed Feelings on DLC Value: Opinions are divided on whether the DLC is worth it, with some saying it's mandatory while others say do not bother or it's not worth it even for free. This indicates a split in perceived value.

Bugs and Ability Cards Issue: Several reviewers mention bugs, particularly with ability cards, and recommend waiting until these are fixed before purchasing. This is a specific technical concern that affects the buying decision.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $18.00.

Game completion: 30.0h.

Story completion: 30.0h.

Session length: 3.0h.

The DLC becomes enjoyable mainly through gradual character progression and playing with friends, but early tedium, scenario design, bugs, and multiplayer ownership restrictions create friction. No review gives a clear minute-based time to fun.

Friction: New characters are extremely tedious to use; Scenarios are tedious and uninteresting compared with the base game; DLC introduces new bugs; Multiplayer use requires both players to own the DLC; Tutorial scenarios are as challenging as full scenarios.

Unlock drivers: Reworked tutorial missions into actual scenarios; New Mercs changed to integrate into the base Gloomhaven campaign; New Mercs went from mediocre to amazing with the changes; Playing new characters from level 1 and upgrading one level every two missions to enjoy progression.

Solo Gloomhaven Veteran: Solo campaign play with tactical combat and character progression. Motivation: Continue Gloomhaven campaigns solo with new characters and scenarios without requiring friends to buy DLC. Stance: buy.

Co-op Group Player: Multiplayer co-op campaign play with friends. Motivation: Play shared Gloomhaven campaigns with friends without each player rebuying DLC content. Stance: no buy.

Gloomhaven Franchise Enthusiast: Campaign play focused on tactical squad combat and character progression. Motivation: Experience more Gloomhaven content and tactical squad-based progression as an existing fan. Stance: buy.

Monetization: The reviews describe a traditional paid DLC expansion for Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion. Users praise its content and value at $18, with only minor complaints about DLC ownership requirements for multiplayer and pricing for using DLC characters in a normal campaign. There is no evidence of in-game purchases, real-money gacha, loot boxes, pay-to-win, or a cash shop. Under the traditional DLC rule, the monetization remains in the fair range.

Developer support and updates: The developers actively support the game with constant tweaks and updates, and are reachable on Discord. They have worked with the original creator on balance changes.

Expansion offers substantial content: The DLC adds about 30 hours of gameplay, including dozens of hours of new content such as 4 classes, quests, items, and monsters. This significantly extends the base game's 100+ hours.

Faithful to board game: The digital adaptation stays true to the original board game, with only minor tweaks and rebalances. Some changes, like the Demolitionist level 5 card, were approved by the creator.

Integrates into base campaign: Unlike the standalone board game, this DLC integrates into the base Gloomhaven campaign rather than being a separate campaign. Players must manually activate it on an existing campaign.

DLC requires multiplayer ownership: In multiplayer, all players must own the DLC for it to be used, even if they are not hosting. This means everyone in a co-op session must purchase it to play together.