Post by TopCat on Oct 20, 2008 16:16:18 GMT -5
I've gotten a bit of time on the game and thought I'd give my impressions.
The game looks pretty good, in my opinion. The zoomed in, album level card art is really crisp. In game, when really small, it can be hard to quickly make out a particular card. Being able to pause the game by closing the DS is a very convenient feature. I'm sure this sleeps the network adapter, so that won't be an option in multiplayer. I also have had the game freeze on me when resuming so it's not perfectly implemented. For those not familiar with Expansion, there are no creature TAs, but there is a new layer added to the game with creature sub-types: humanoid, dragon, undead, animal, plant. It's pretty neat. I'm not sure if they have added TAs to Culd DS as I haven't run across a card with one yet.
It's been pretty easy to get into having played Saga and Second. Many of the cards have returned and it's awesome to get to use some of my old favs like Fly and Ninja. The game also moves smooth, which is nice after playing Saga so much.
The bottom screen shows the player totals that are normally part of the upper left hand side of the console releases. You can also touch a button on the screen to show the map, which, in this game, also shows the direction cepters are facing/moving. The res is kinda low, so one way to tell card types apart are by looking at the card borders. The buttons have generally the same functions as they did in the other games, so navigation will be natural.
I haven't had a chance to connect to wireless yet, local or infrastructure, so I'm not sure how well it'll perform. I have played local vs and that's been fine. One thing you'll notice is that locally you can only play against story chars, and they are AI. You can do things like set up alliances or change their books, however. When starting you don't have nearly the robust options that the other games had. I believe the rules are always standard (cuz of the AI), and when selecting a map you can only change the magic limit, number of rounds, BGM, round time, AI speech, sudden death, and beginning land level. Unfortunately, the lowest magic goal is map dependent and 5000 is the lowest and you can't change the kind of lands on a map. There is an option called Downloaded Maps, though, so hopefully a good number will be made available.
The best way I've been able to earn cards is to choose a map with many cards and 1 area, set the lands to level 2 (all lands will begin at lv2), and have a 3 on 1 in local vs. The one I'm currently using is a default map (Arena 7) with 12 cards and a 5000G lowest magic goal and it awards 2 rares on a win. I think it takes about 5-8 min depending on the AI. I imagine setting a game like this with 2p over wireless and tying will be faster (each person gets a victory in a tie).
Cards can be traded in a local wireless game (I've never played, but I've made a room). When making one, you choose rules before you go to the lobby. There are a 13 pre-made rules to choose from: normal, no E-cards, 2 specific Rs and no Es, no SRE cards, only Ns, 2 of any specific NSR cards, only 1 of any specific card, only 12 spells per book, only 10 Rs per book, no colored creatures, No NGY creatures, no NRB creatures, and normal no E-rule with a bunch of banned creatures. There is no way to create new rules that I've discovered.
Medals make their return. I haven't gotten any yet, but I imagine that they are pretty much the same general tasks that have always been in the games. Also, the prophet in this game doesn't allow you to choose the next card from a category; you instead get a choice of 4 cards, as per Foresight with fewer card choices. If I remember correctly, you can have up to 30 books created, which is very convenient.
That's what I remember so far. I'll post any additional comments as I play more.
The game looks pretty good, in my opinion. The zoomed in, album level card art is really crisp. In game, when really small, it can be hard to quickly make out a particular card. Being able to pause the game by closing the DS is a very convenient feature. I'm sure this sleeps the network adapter, so that won't be an option in multiplayer. I also have had the game freeze on me when resuming so it's not perfectly implemented. For those not familiar with Expansion, there are no creature TAs, but there is a new layer added to the game with creature sub-types: humanoid, dragon, undead, animal, plant. It's pretty neat. I'm not sure if they have added TAs to Culd DS as I haven't run across a card with one yet.
It's been pretty easy to get into having played Saga and Second. Many of the cards have returned and it's awesome to get to use some of my old favs like Fly and Ninja. The game also moves smooth, which is nice after playing Saga so much.
The bottom screen shows the player totals that are normally part of the upper left hand side of the console releases. You can also touch a button on the screen to show the map, which, in this game, also shows the direction cepters are facing/moving. The res is kinda low, so one way to tell card types apart are by looking at the card borders. The buttons have generally the same functions as they did in the other games, so navigation will be natural.
I haven't had a chance to connect to wireless yet, local or infrastructure, so I'm not sure how well it'll perform. I have played local vs and that's been fine. One thing you'll notice is that locally you can only play against story chars, and they are AI. You can do things like set up alliances or change their books, however. When starting you don't have nearly the robust options that the other games had. I believe the rules are always standard (cuz of the AI), and when selecting a map you can only change the magic limit, number of rounds, BGM, round time, AI speech, sudden death, and beginning land level. Unfortunately, the lowest magic goal is map dependent and 5000 is the lowest and you can't change the kind of lands on a map. There is an option called Downloaded Maps, though, so hopefully a good number will be made available.
The best way I've been able to earn cards is to choose a map with many cards and 1 area, set the lands to level 2 (all lands will begin at lv2), and have a 3 on 1 in local vs. The one I'm currently using is a default map (Arena 7) with 12 cards and a 5000G lowest magic goal and it awards 2 rares on a win. I think it takes about 5-8 min depending on the AI. I imagine setting a game like this with 2p over wireless and tying will be faster (each person gets a victory in a tie).
Cards can be traded in a local wireless game (I've never played, but I've made a room). When making one, you choose rules before you go to the lobby. There are a 13 pre-made rules to choose from: normal, no E-cards, 2 specific Rs and no Es, no SRE cards, only Ns, 2 of any specific NSR cards, only 1 of any specific card, only 12 spells per book, only 10 Rs per book, no colored creatures, No NGY creatures, no NRB creatures, and normal no E-rule with a bunch of banned creatures. There is no way to create new rules that I've discovered.
Medals make their return. I haven't gotten any yet, but I imagine that they are pretty much the same general tasks that have always been in the games. Also, the prophet in this game doesn't allow you to choose the next card from a category; you instead get a choice of 4 cards, as per Foresight with fewer card choices. If I remember correctly, you can have up to 30 books created, which is very convenient.
That's what I remember so far. I'll post any additional comments as I play more.
