Yes, let’s remember the flavor fail of Film Critic which makes sense in an Hollywood themed pack and no where else in the entire game. The more specific the flavor, the more odd it’s going to be when you see those cards in actual decks.
Some cards are for sure harder to justify thematically than others. For Film Critic though I always liked the idea that it’s this underground connection whose moniker is “Film Critic” not a literal film critic though obviously that’s a stretch.
I like that. She always stays in character, like a really pedestrian Princess Space Kitten. She’s usually just speaking in elaborate code when she refers to an agenda as a “screenplay” that her “gerbil” could write,
Everyone thinks it’s the worst shtick, but they humor her because she’s so good at her job.
I know this is a stretch, but outside of the set it makes sense by thinking of it as “I have a friend who happens to be a film critic and I’m storing the data at their house/on their computer.”
Breached Dome/Beach Party could be the same thing “I had a kickass time on vacation in Breaker Bay, but then I went back home to Mars the corp bastards tried to kill me!”
I think the internal reasoning of the deck/match and the story you could think of with the cards used is half the fun!
This might be controversial, but, until stated otherwise, I would rule BRE as remainder of the game. I get that it might not be the intention, but there is no ambiguity in how it operates based on the wording.
There’s something interesting in the we get our first advanceable Upgrade in this pack with Defense Construct. It suffers from the same 0-trash-cost disease that the other advanceable traps do, but it’s still an interesting space to play in. For a janky example, you can install a Snare, install Defense Construct, and advance the Construct once. Now the Snare! looks like a defensive upgrade, and the Construct looks like an agenda. Once they’re in, they take damage and a tag, and you get back a facedown card of your choice. It’s a damn shame it’s relagated to facedown cards, though. Still though, it feels like there might be some really good use of the fact it’s advanceable, yet not an asset or agenda. I’m having trouble thinking of a realistic best-case scenario for it at the moment, but I sure hope someone figures something out.
Ahhhhh snap. So this is way more restrictive than I’d hoped. I guess more often than not it’s just a blank upgrade that can be advanced. There’s still some play there, but it’s a whole lot less interesting than I’d initially thought =(
Honestly the only thing it does right now is encourage me to run Snare! out as an Asset installed. Because then I can bait a few turns later by IA’ing the upgrade there.
I’m hopeful to see if any others get printed. Especially what Jinteki’s might be.
It seems all right as an in-faction jackson replacement. A bit expensive, but Rumor Mill-resistant and able to bail you out of a failed ABT. Once he’s gone, the following options will be available for instant-speed removal of agendas from archives: