Game:

Culdcept Saga (2006)

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"Culdcept" is the awesome and addictive lovechild of "Monopoly" and "Magic: The Gathering" with several twists and a clear Japanese flair that only the developers at OmiyaSoft could dish out. While the first English-Language "Culdcept" released back in 2002/2003 was actually the third entry in the series (aka "Culdcept II Expansion"), the world wouldn't see another entry for four years (and in the case of the U.S., EVEN LONGER) with Xbox 360's "Culdcept Saga". Published in America this time by Namco Bandai Games, the game was still released in fairly limited quantities and, again, never saw a PAL release (the only one to do so is currently "Culdcept Revolt"). It is succeeded by a Nintendo DS port (Culdcept DS, 2008) and two 3DS games ("Culdcept" in 2012 and "Culdcept Revolt" in 2016/2017).

The game's story begins with the player-named "Boy" (by default) protagonist selling himself into slavery to help his village. While leaving the village, he and his new owner encounter Princess Faustina, a mysterious woman who carries a deck of magical cards. The cards respond to the Boy's presence, and Faustina pleads with the slave trader to release him, calling him "the savior". The three are then attacked by a traveling bandit, Rilara, and protagonist learns that he is actually a Cepter, a powerful person who can control magical cards. After a mild skirmish with the female bandit, he is sold to an Arena in the city of Moulin where he must fight to earn his freedom and then decides to travel with Faustina to Alcyon, the capital of the Advatarian Empire where he will reshape his destiny as well as the destiny of the world. The plot is a little cliched and not the biggest focus of the game, but it's nonetheless an excellent companion to the top-tie addiction of the core game.

The general flow of the game is basically Monopoly crossed with MtG -- players roll die (or dice), collect properties, level them up (like adding houses in Monopoly), defend with monsters (MtG), visit landmarks and "Pass GO", and grow stronger as they make laps around the boards. However, players can engage in battles that are quite involved thanks to the game's comprehensive set of rules and steep learning curve that's easy to pick up but hard to master. Players can augment/buff cards with equipment and scrolls, but many rules and restrictions apply. The game allows players to build books/decks with 50 cards, but the freedom allowed in customizing your deck is extremely extensive, allowing you to come up with a nearly limitless number of strategies. The game upgrades the already beautiful illustrations of the PS2 with revised HD art and new artists and replaces the sprites with decent 3D models (which you can take or leave), adds local and online multiplayer (which is an easy way to get most of the games nearly 500 cards with some time and patience, making it the most accessible Culdcept game in the series... and a major exploit if you really want to break the game) and offers unlockable items to deck out your hero avatar with (the avatar themselves have MINIMAL customization and is actually a step down from the choice presented in the PS2 game).

This game is also nice because it contains short load times, a very reasonable save system (only one file per profile, but you can save several books and make several profiles if you want separate runs), a number of challenges to accomplish, many beautifully illustrated cards by many talented Japanese artists, multitap functionality for up to four players, a great story/tutorial mode that eases the players into the rules and mechanics with loads of in-game guides to read. The game also features an excellent soundtrack that continues to be helmed by the legendary Kenji Ito (best known for his work on the "SaGa" series, "Mana" series and "Smash Bros." series, among many others). Each stage has numerous base themes and there are various battle themes.

The localization has been improved since the PS2 Culdcept and also supports more spoken dialogue and an expanded English dub (Darrel Guilbeau does the voice of the hero plus the prolific Wendee Lee and Kate Higgins do the voices of Faustina and Rilara respectively... the game is not lacking in voice talent), but some portions are still a tad basic or perfunctory. Even so, the overall translation and script reads much better than before and is positive overall. For this style of the game, there are very few cons in which to speak of. The graphics are great for what it is. The soundtrack is great for what it is. The gameplay is SUPER great for what it is. Even the story and main campaign is great for what it is. CS is highly ambitious and I wish more card games were this way. This is a video showing several things recorded with the mClassic / EHD60X. Enjoy.

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