Culdcept Saga - News & Links

[Lizardman]

TGS 06: Culdcept Saga Hands-On
We try Namco Bandai's card-battling board game on the Xbox 360.
By Ricardo Torres, GameSpot
Posted Sep 25, 2006 7:49 pm GMT
TOKYO--Culdcept Saga is the upcoming Xbox 360 entry in the long-running series that combines card battling and board gaming in one package. The series has been around for nearly 10 years, first appearing on Sega's Saturn system and making appearances on the PlayStation, Dreamcast, and PlayStation 2. While it hasn't had much exposure outside of Japan, the 2003 Culdcept title for the PlayStation 2 is a cult classic. We tried out the demo on display at TGS to see what the series is up to on the Xbox 360.

The game will feature an offline story mode as well as an online battle mode where you can take on up to three other players. The offline story mode will send you off to rescue a damsel in distress and will feature multiple endings. The online game will offer voice chat and let you wager cards against your opponents while fighting, which should help anyone aiming to collect all 400 unique cards in the game--the most yet in the Culdcept series. Also, the game will support downloadable content on Xbox Live Marketplace in the form of new cards, maps, and costumes for your online avatar.

The game plays out as a unique mix of board gaming (think Monopoly) and card battling (think Magic: The Gathering). Your goal is to venture round the squares on boards of varying configurations and earn a set amount of "magic" by taking over squares and battling your foe. Once you earn the required amount of magic, you'll need to reach the castle square on the map to win the match. It's a very simple concept that's dressed up by the card battles, which form the heart of the series. The card battles require some learning but aren't too hard to get a handle on. Cards come in one of three types: creatures, items, and spells. Within each category you'll find a wealth of subtypes that include modifiers such as elemental attributes. At its most basic, the card system is a rock-paper-scissors spin-off, with you trying to match or best the cards your opponent throws at you.

Unlike some of the other franchise-based titles for the Xbox 360 in Japan, Culdcept Saga is being billed as a new installment in the series for the Xbox 360 and reflects the latest refinements that have been introduced in the series over the years. Gameplay has been tweaked to offer a faster experience, and card usage has been refined to allow certain spell cards to be reused in battle.

The presentation in the game is primarily 2D, with the board and your avatar being sprite-based images. The cards you'll use in battle feature high-res imagery and a variety of different effects to reflect their various attacks, which helps spice up the presentation some. The audio sounds low-key so far, as the demo on display featured some innocuous tunes that didn't stand out much.

Based on what we saw, Culdcept Saga is shaping up to be a solid entry in the series and will likely be an acquired taste. That said, the game is very fun once you get the hang of it. Culdcept Saga is currently slated to ship this November in Japan and appears to be slated for a US release sometime in 2007. Look for more on the game in the coming months.

-GameSpot

[Lizardman]

New video on IGN

media.xbox360.ign.com/media/821/821704/vids_1.html

[ckazz]

I had the same surprise if not a little bit of shock, I'm seeing new cards and artwork to be sure, but in some cases I'm seeing what looks like the *exact same* cards of the ps2 version.

[Lizardman]

Some of the cards from the last Culdcept will have new artwork, some will remain the same.
Some with new, Anubias, Knight, Yeti, Giant Rat, Goblin, Odradek, Ba=Al, Lung, Haste, Magic Bolt, etc. Some staying the same, Lilith, Succubus, Woodfolk, Lizardman, Medusa, Mummy, Fighter, Minotaur, etc.

[ckazz]

huh in general I liked their 're-treatment', I'm a bit surprised they didn't redo them all. possibly higher-res anyways? have an idea how many changed/didn't change?

also in the thread there's mention of 400 unique cards and how its more than any other culdcept, didnt our ps2 game have 480/489?

not dissing - I'm beyond jazzed about the game, just a little disappointment we're not getting all new art and actually less cards.

[Lizardman]

I also noticed that there are less cards in this one than the last, even though the Gamespot article said that Saga will have the most. What i'm really excited about though is that there will be cards that you can download for the game. I don't know how many and how often they will be available but this was the one feature that I wanted most for the last Culdcept. I'm also not sure on how many cards artworks will be changed and how many will stay the same.

[Lizardman]

www.gametrailers.com/gamepage.php?fs=1&id=2621

GameTrailers.com has a new Culdcept Saga video up for download.

[ckazz]

thanks for the heads up tho it seems to be dl'ing amazingly slow for me - see what happens
edit - got the lower rez down but still great to see it in action, I like ;D

[Kuroi Kenshi]

As far as things go for what gamespot or ign or any of those dime a dozen sites say, I wouldn't take it to heart. They may have heard there are more cards but the stock list is 400, while you can unlock even more which they didn't realize.

Just to toss it out there, I think it's great that they will have LIVE, because if anything ends up being "broken" with the game system or card combo's that they may have missed, they can patch the game as well. This is a huge step in the right direction having the ability to update and add new cards to the game as well as maps can only be a good thing.

[ckazz]

Yeah and even add a little spice to the game along the way.

I'm not usually a DLC for $ fan where its abused (gamer pics, themes, cheesy expensive things they held back on/adds little value) but a ways down the road some new cards/maps and more could really give the game an injection and re-ignite some play.

And of course Live gives us the chance to have a card community to play with this time around!

[Lizardman]

Translation from the Xbox.com Japan page

Board game and [toredeingukadogemu] were made to fuse to become familiar cheapness” the series up-to-date work of the reaching high game “[karudoseputo]” where ““deep plitical tactics characteristic” is mixed. To tear the silence of four years, complete new work third feature “[karudoseputosaga]” finally with Xbox 360 appearance. Board game and [toredeingukadogemu] fuse. To become familiar cheapness” ““deep plitical tactics characteristic” was mixed, the reaching high game “[karudoseputo]” series up-to-date work. Everything such as story character [gemushisutemu] evolves. As for the online opposition with Xbox Live incandescence inevitability! The prayer works card ability, becoming “[seputa]”, while freely using the card of [kurichiya] item spelling, while the circumference to do the various maps, it competes entire bewitchment. While, how many thing element such as constitution of the advance card and the die which grasps fate operating complicated what, it fights with the group of people. With story mode, the story changes with the victory or defeat. With Live opposition, four people also it is possible the online simultaneously to oppose. 　
Feature of the game
* the numerous chestnut thornback tar which represents Japan making power collect, the high quality which is made to complete [gemushisutemu] story visual.
* In the next generation machine suitable high quality visual expression. Appointing “the Jishi monkey” person to the writer “冲 one even number” person and the illustrator in scenario charge. The story which is the charm which includes the multiple ending, being unique, the character which is force one after another appearance.
* Although series highest quality and the recording card (above the several 470 kinds) of volume which are drawn by the famous prominent illustrator
* fully loading the new element (new element and colorful rule etc such as MAP and new attribute which move), past continuing from the work at the time of game tuning, it is the Japanese only game special tuning unit, “monkey easy agency” participates.
* With when the net the Live correspondence which it can oppose. Not only 4 human opposition with the voice kyat, download of ranking and the data possibly.
* At the time of net opposition in order to be able to utilize the respective personality, introducing [abatashisutemu]. By game condition, are gathered [abata] and the book cover which with Xbox Live download possibly.

According to the translation there will be more than 470 cards, so it is safe to assume that Gamespot just posted the wrong amount. The story changes on whether you win or lose? Haven't heard that before.

[ckazz]

gotta love automated translation, I'm looking forward to “monkey easy agency” myself lmao
but yeah I wasnt too worried about the card count, I figured atleast/about the same rough amount as our beloved ps2 game which certainly is enough to get started - all this talk actually has me back to finishing off the final cards and medals I'm missing.

I'm just waiting for a real date, 1/1/07 sounds a bit like a shot in the dark?
Can't wait >

[someguy]

Guys, does anyone really care about better audio or even 3D graphics? Just hi-res, new 2D art is good enough for me. Though it's kind of a shame that some card art will be recycled. You can see Holy Llama and Fighter are still the same in the trailer, though I guess it's possible they could change (I never liked the art for either of those cards, especially Fighter).

And actually, didn't one of the artists, Tomohiro Saito, recently pass away?

[Lizardman]

I don't care if the game doesn't have the "next gen" graphics that some people on other forums require before buying a game. I can gaurentee that those people never played the PS2 version, they don't know what they will be missing out on. I'm not sure how many artists were in the last Culdcept but Culdcept Saga will feature artwork from like 28 of Japan's top fantasy artists! I can't wait to unlock the new cards from the booster packs awarded at the end of battle. I'm actually glad to see some art from the last game being used in this game. There were only a few cards that I would have liked to see the art changed on. Sadly, Tomohiro Saito passed away earlier this year, he was only 38.

[ckazz]

Since I played (and recently just went back to playing, lol) the crap out of the PS2 version, all new card art would have been sweet. Still some recycling isn't going to stop me from purchase, heck I bought Disgaea2, and as much as I like the series, talk about recycled :b lmao.