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Magic the Gathering meets Monopoly?

Culdcept. A quirky little game from Japan that combines all of the enjoyment of card collecting with the enjoyment and frustration of Monopoly (and the inherent ''luck of the roll'' aspect that can turn even the most well-crafted deck against you). It's a game I really love, and really hate at the same time. Read on if the concept intrigues you, and maybe if you don't. Trust me, there's a lot of replayability and enjoyment in this game, if you can get past a few hitches...

Story 7/10 - The story in this game revolves around Cepters, who have the ability to use the magic of creation cards made by Culdra (the creator of everything). You are an up and coming Cepter who has been chosen by Culdra's magical staff (yes, he's as corny as he sounds) to champion the cause of good before an evil Cepter destroys the universe as we know it. The story is solid enough to hold the game together as you move from map to map, but the gameplay itself is what will grab you, and keep you coming back for more.

Gameplay 8/10 - And with that wonderful segue, let's talk about gameplay, shall we? First off, some background on me. I've never been a card collector for any game. While the concept intrigued me, I didn't have friends who were into it, so there wasn't much point. I've played some console and PC rip-offs of Magic, The Gathering and really liked them, so I had to give Culdcept a try. The game doesn't disappoint in the card department. There are 480 total cards to collect, and you can battle both through story mode, as well as creating ''virtual games'' using your own created AI, or the story's characters, as well as trying out various extra maps (the game board) and their nuances. Whether you win or lose, you'll get cards, but you get more for winning, not to mention if you're playing the story mode, you don't advance the story until you win. In addition to cards, you can win medals for satisfying certain game criteria, like draining an opponent's magic and sending him back to the starting point, earning over 10,000 magic points by the end of the battle, etc. These medals will yield new maps and new cards to complete your collection. There are five element cards for creatures (fire, water, wind, earth, and neutral), as well as spell cards and item cards. The spaces you land on are either one of the elements, or a structure. You roll an imaginary ''die'' that varies on how high it rolls between 1 and X, and you move that amount of spaces, and are given the option to choose your path on some maps. It's pretty complicated, but not overly difficult once you start playing a bit. The gameplay is enjoyable, and it's also hair-pulling frustrating... If you know how to make a basic deck (50% or so creatures, and the rest items and spells), you can play, but your deck will be constantly changing. There is no ''perfect deck'' in this game that will net you a win every time. The strategies of your opponents will change your setup, mainly of your spells and items, while creatures tend to stay the same, only being replaced by better versions that you get later on, rather than being customized to the field. Of course, you CAN make decks that are uniquely suited to any battlefield. After being beaten a few times, you start to learn what sorts of things would offset your opponents, which brings me to a sticky point. It's VERY easy to lose. A few bad die rolls, a poorly laid out deck, or a combination of both can be enough to lose the game. Because of this, you'll spend a lot of time doing the same maps over and over again, because you either 1) have bad luck, 2) have your cards set up improperly, or 3) don't have a strong enough deck. If it's the first one, there's nothing to do but suck up the loss, or reset once you see that it's not going well. After you've played enough, you can figure that out within about 10-20 minutes, depending on the size of the map. The same is true for the second reason. The third, however, is a problem. If you need better cards, you can always restart the story mode. I think that's probably how the developers intended it to be played. That can be fun, but frustrating, as you're basically forced to do these same maps just so you can proceed. It takes away from the feel that you're this ''powerful cepter,'' because you keep either getting whupped, or restarting, time and time again. So, be prepared for some frustration, maybe a lot of frustration. I'll admit that I get irritated to no end when I go through 25+ rounds waiting for a certain card I REALLY need and it never shows up, while I'm slowly being outplayed because my whole strategy relies on this card (which I have 2 of in my deck). Anyway, enough on gameplay. Long story short, it's a heck of a lot of fun, but the turns of luck are borderline ''cheating'' by the AI and it's pretty noticeable.

Graphics 5/10 - Most of it is oldschool stuff. You'd think you were playing on the PS1, or maybe even an older console. The cards are nicely detailed though, and look very good. Overall, nothing fabulous, but they get the job done without being an eyesore.

Sound 5/10 - The music isn't that epic, and sometimes gets on your nerves. It's not richly orchestrated, it's basically straight MIDI, and it's passable, but less so than the graphics, by a small margin. There is no voice acting, so nothing to comment on there.

Replayability 9/10 - If you LIKE the game, and the premise, and the ebb and flow of how it works, you'll play quite a bit of this over time. It's easy to pick up and play a few rounds just for fun, or to tweak your custom decks. If you have someone to play WITH, it's even better, and you'll get a ton of enjoyment out of that. Once you have all the cards, you still have the fun of coming up with an ''optimal deck'' that is suitable for most scenarios, as well as a few custom decks designed around certain types of things. Any Magic fans already know about this, though.

Bottom Line: You'll probably have to buy this one (only $40), instead of renting, as I'm not sure if this niche title will be on the rental shelves or not. As of this writing, it wasn't at any of the places I go (Hastings, Blockbuster, Hollywood). However, for $40, I think any fan of card collecting is getting a really great deal. It's all the fun of collecting for one comparatively low price, and the card drops are all random, so if you wanted to, you could start all over again, and build a deck tailored around two or three other elements. As you probably can tell by my review, there's a LOT of meat to this game, and you'll want to see the different maps, try out different card combos, etc. The cards are well balanced enough that none of them are ever entirely useless, but you'll eventually start phasing out the more common ones for the more exotic, just because that's where all the nuances of the game come in. So what are you waiting for? Give it a try! While it WILL be frustrating, it's also rewarding, and the frustration is forgivable for all the fun it provides.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 22 January 2014 14:19