Review
Release Date: 12.02.2003
Platform:
PlayStation 2Developer:
OmiyaSoftPublisher:
NEC CorporationReviewed by
Richard Brownell on 1.8.2004
| Review Rating: 9/10 | User Rating: 7.33/10 |
Believe it or not, it was with games like
Culdcept in mind that GAF was first created. Yes, the masterminds of Mickey Shannon, Dan Bailey, Jeremy Barnes and others came together in their love of niche gaming to form what you see before you today. Unfortunately, the niche game market is a dry one and it is few and far between that the strange oddity of a game eeks its way onto the shelves for casual gamers everywhere to gawk at. This dry spell has thankfully been broken for at least a short time by NEC, who saw the strange collectible card game/board game known as
Culdcept, snatched onto it, and then didn't tell a single soul that it would be released here!
You may recall (or rather not recall) that
Culdcept had almost no coverage at E3 2003. You couldn't have heard about it here. We didn't even see it until shortly before the show ended, but luckily a mental note to self and a nudge from fellow gamer and message board member Dave (Kabuki) has put this addictive little number into my hands.
Anybody who has played the insanely popular card game
Magic: the Gathering knows that card games can be complex, addicting, and expensive. In
Culdcept, the complex and addictive parts have been complimented by fun and board game aspects and getting new cards is as easy as playing the game. To be precise, there are almost 500 cards to collect. In addition to card game elements,
Culdcept has also "borrowed" from such games as
Monopoly. Each level contains a board-like layout and to win, players must take over spaces, which in turn change tolls to those who land on them. With the proper strategies, some spaces may be feared far more than Boardwalk or Park Place.
The gameplay of
Culdcept should not be described in a few small paragraphs. It is simply too complex, as some card games tend to be. There are many rules and some cards present exceptions to the rules or even create new rules. However, the game does not present the player with all rules at once. Rather, the first mission is a very simple one and introduces players to the very basics of the game. This is that player role a die (varying numbers depending on the map) and move that many spaces. At this point, the player will have landed on a location with one of four colors, which designates the land type. The player then has the choice to take over the land with a creature card or end her turn. Moving around the map is not simply to take over land, but rather to build up a certain amount of G (Manna...yeah, G does not stand for manna and the spelling is odd, go figure) and return to the castle (starting point). Each time a player returns to the castle, she is rewarded with more G, but she must visit each tower (which each give a small reward) before returning to the castle. It is this cycle that drives players to move around the map.
It is not as simple as collecting rewards and placing monsters though. At the beginning of each turn, ceptors (card users) have the option of using spell cards: each having a different effect. A simple one is Magic Bolt, which simply does 20 damage to a creature on the map. Later, a more powerful card you might find is Meteor, which takes a land down to its base level. Leveling lands is an option available to ceptors that have creatures on the map. Leveling costs G, but increases the value of the land and benefits the creature on that location as long as the creature is of the same element type (color) as the land. Leveling a land is one of many territory options, which include move creature, exchange creature (useful for putting the correct color of monster on a land), and a host of others depending on whether a creature has a special territory ability. To get the territory options, a ceptor must pass over her lands in a turn or land directly on a castle or tower, which gives territory access to all of the ceptor's lands.
The castle and tower spaces are only the first two special spaces in each map of
Culdcept. As the game progresses, other land types appear. The next players see is a Temple, which basically casts a random spell when landing directly upon it. Even later, other special spaces will appear, including a place to buy symbols, but getting into what symbols are and what they do is best left to the instruction manual, since you are likely wondering what happens when you land on a space that another ceptor has a creature on. The answer is, of course, is that the ceptor has two options: either pay the toll or battle the monster.
Combat in
Culdcept is probably the simplest part of the game. Both cards are shown. Each ceptor gets the ability to use a single item card, which range from swords and spears to magic scrolls. Then the battle ensues, which usually consist of the attacker attacking and then the defender attacking. If the defender is destroyed, the attacking creature is placed on that land and the land's value goes to the victor. If the attacker loses or is destroyed, the ceptor will still have to pay the toll in addition to already paying for the attacking creature and an item if used. Clearly, risks are taken constantly in
Culdcept. It is very important to assess whether your creature can beat an opponent's creature before battling.
As with most card games, the powerful players know that the key to winning is having a good deck. Though the randomness of using dice will cause many a player to be frustrated, building a quality deck (or many good decks to choose from) will definitely help achieve victory. A deck in
Culdcept consists of 50 cards and normally consists of a spread of about 30 creatures, 10 items, and 10 spells. It may seem like not many cards, but it doesn't feel that way in action and, in the case of running out of cards, all the used cards are reshuffled and inserted back into the deck.
The story of
Culdcept is an epic one. In the universe, an endless cycle exists in which a new world is created and, in that world, people live out their lives. Some of these people become ceptors and after a time, one ceptor will rise in power to become a god. At this point, that ceptor is meant to become the creator of her own world, but Culdra, the goddess of the entire universe, has foreseen a dark day in which one ceptor will rise to overtake her power rather than create a new world. This ceptor, Geminigh (pronounced like the constellation), will appear on the world known as Soltaria and a mystic staff has been sent to guide a ceptor (you) to stop Geminigh. The story is actually quite light-hearted: many times you fight good characters that are fighting you for the wrong reason. Of course, beating them shows them the error of thier ways. The unique part of
Culdcept's story is that you have a large selection of characters to choose from, male and female, and no matter who you pick, the story will be the same. You pick a name and your character never speaks, but the story continues around you.
Some things do occasionally make the game frustrating. The very nature of the gameplay involves not only the randomness of the deck, but also of the dice. Strategy is indeed very important, but many a battle is lost or won simply based on luck. While card game fans are now slapping their heads saying "Well, DUH!" it does indeed get quite frustrating to repeat the same battle 5-6 times before winning only to then do the next battle just as many times. It becomes very important to optimize not only one deck, but have multiple decks to choose from. The frustration continues as sometimes you want the enemy to do their turn faster or slower. When an enemy uses a card, it can be helpful to SEE what they used, which isn't always possible. With spells, which cause effects on monsters, ceptors, or lands, if it is possible to see what effect has been cast, it is still a wonder as to what "Diseased" may mean in a card game.
That being simply a flaw of the game itself, occasionally the translation can cause confusion as well. The translation by NEC was done excellently as the story and dialogue execute quite smoothly. However, the cards themselves are another matter. The descriptions sometimes do not adequately describe what the cards do or other times are merely ambiguous.
However, none of this stops the game from being quite enjoyable. It is clear that the
Culdcept we are seeing is not the first (it's
Culdcept 2 for those who are wondering), as the game is very balanced. At no point will it feel like you have a card that is too powerful or too weak as almost any card can be useful in some way. The cards themselves have beautiful illustrations that do add a certain amount of appeal to the game. It's always amusing to see the cutesy sprite representation of a fierce Minotaur of raging Leveler (freaky giant elephant in layman's terms). The graphics may not stun players, but they do a beautiful job, particularly in the backgrounds.
The music is no step less, though it would have been nice to have longer clips. Since a single battle can last over an hour, it can be very frustrating to hear the same two minute clip over an over (particularly in one stage). The music itself is very nice and usually fits the feel of the map it is on. Once a ceptor has gotten past the halfway point of the goal, the music changes to a more intense feel. The only real problem is the shortness of it and, considering the quality, it would have been very nice to have more of it.
Whether or not you play collectible card games or have a knack for playing board games,
Culdcept consistantly provides fun and addictive gaming. Players have the unique abilities to change the AI rules for multiplayer and create an AI for their own character. The multiplayer options allow you to trade your cards and battle ceptors against each other in any of the maps you have played. It may take a little time to get your friends up to your level, but it's all worth it to have furious death matches. Multiple players can play with any number of controllers, so no need to buy a multitap just for this game. And parents, this is a good one for your kids; it sure doesn't have the horrid realistic violence that
Manhunt does.
