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Definitely "Best Game Nobody Played" Material

When I mention "card games" in local game and hobby shops, I get handed multiple different Yu-Gi-Oh disks, a deck of Pokemon cards, Magic: the Gathering - Battlegrounds, and Baten Kaidos, then get various objects hurled at my temples for bringing up a genre that's seen a flood of unoriginality and clones rivaling that of the RPG genre...

And that's the sad thing... When that happens, the occasional gem gets buried in the rubble. Culdcept is one such gem.

Gameplay: 9/10
Another review's tagline summed it up rather well: "YuGi-Monopoly, but tons better". The game is played on boards representing the land your character is currently battling in, with each tile set to one of four elements. Lands are claimed and protected by placed creatures. If a character lands on a claimed tile and fails to defeat the defending creature, a toll is paid to the tile's owner. The character that reaches the target magic total through tolls and lapping the board first is the winner. Furthermore, land can be upgraded for higher tolls and item and spell cards can be used to strengthen creatures and damage opponents. Controls and menus are simple, and there are extras (optional goals, art gallery, etc.) that add to the entire experience. One thing to note, unfortunately, is that there are quite a lot of noticeable grammar translation errors (engrish) in the menus and on the cards, but nothing is so bad that it can't be understood.

Sound: 8/10
Sound effects, such as creature attacks and spell effects, fit well and sound really nice, but tend to be overused (most female creatures use the same scream when they die, some different spells make the same sound, etc.) and give a mildly bland feel. Music, on the other hand, is well composed and performed, and its pairing to areas fits in nicely.

Graphics: 10/10
I honestly can't find any problems with the graphics of this game. The minor cutscenes before each battle that give you a feel for the environments are very pretty, the creature and board graphics never make it difficult to see what your doing while still giving good 2D detail, and battles, which give you a large view of the creature cards doing battle, show of the artistic detail of the cards, and even throws in 3D effects for attacks. In addition, the dialogue scenes before and after each story battle have well drawn sprites and backgrounds. What this game lacks in total 3D beauty, it makes up for equally in wonderful presentation of a classic 2D engine.

Replay Value: 10/10
With the ability to continue the game once beaten to collect more cards, to restart from the beginning with all of your cards from your previous game, and many optional goals to meet to unlock multiplayer arenas and special cards, you'll find yourself playing this game quite a bit. Also, as mentioned above, there's a multiplayer mode, allowing you to load up your character or even an AI you've built and battle against friends or the computer, giving you one more reason to keep playing.

Overall: 10/10
This is one of those wonderful games that got pushed to the back of the shelves to make room for the more hyped titles and, thusly, has missed much of the attention it deserves. Overall a great experience, if you have the chance to try it and like card games, definitely give Culdcept a shot.

Rent or Buy: Buy
With the rise of used game availability, this game can easily be found very cheap in some big name game retailers, and is definitely a good addition to any gamer's collection.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 22 January 2014 14:37