Somehow I'm doubting anyone will get this before the review is out, thanks to the 800 price point. But it can't hurt to ask! I do love a good TCG, and the I found the FF8 and FF9 card games intriguing. Would like to hear people's opinions on this game if and when they get it.
I'm hoping for something big and high quality for 800 points. Lots of strategy, variety, good graphics and interface, good multiplayer.
I've always said a trading card game on the DSi would be awesome - especially if it had online play properly implemented, and the ability to buy booster decks of cards at 200 or so points a pop.
I really could see a strong community popping up around a game like that.
Here's the official trailer from their blog, but it's more of a video than a gameplay overview:
From their description, sounds like it'll be a good 10+ hour TCG campaign, but not replayable enough to be a legendary TCG. I'll probably get it, but I'm not in a hurry.
Hmm interesting. Thanks for that malnin. Hopefully there's more hidden in the game than at first glance - like how Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon has a lot of hidden features and challenges which give it depth and replayability.
Thanx for posting the link. You would think for 800 points they would give a tutorial.
Yes, but if you look at the file size (128 blocks) they were probably concerned about hitting the download limit. Not defending them, just saying that might be a reason. Also, if the manual is well-written, then it should suffice. I find though that these little indie studios usually do not put much time into the manual. I agree with jdarrell, it sounds like something to get in the future.
I've always said a trading card game on the DSi would be awesome - especially if it had online play properly implemented, and the ability to buy booster decks of cards at 200 or so points a pop.
I really could see a strong community popping up around a game like that.
I downloaded it and gave it a shot. I still have no idea what the heck I am doing. Hopefully a tutorial will pop up on the internets soon. It seems like a fun game, but it is not clicking with me yet.
@ Malnin Considering this game takes up 128 blocks (20mbs) of space which is the biggest DL file we can get from the DSIware shop, I think 500 points is pushing it a little. The biggest 500 pointer we have takes up 96 blocks of space. It would be nice though if Nintendo adjust some of these prices for their games, however, anything over that takes up more then 100 blocks I think sadly gets a automatic 800 point price tag. Hopefully in the future Nintendo proves me wrong @ Nintendo Please prove me wrong.......
@cheapo I think block counting is a pretty bad way to price the games though. It seems like games that offer DS Download Play like Base 10, Digidrive and Pop Island have inflated sizes due to this feature. Some games, like Fieldrunners, just seem to be large for no reason, particularly when you compare it to other DSiWare titles. (It has 5 stages, less than 10 enemy types and 7 towers? No multiplayer?) I think price should be determined by overall quality (i.e. length of time playable, production values, extra features like WFC)... But then again Nintendo's decision-making process has always been a mystery.
Still waiting for the review before I pick this up. Hopefully the manual is good enough that it explains everything clearly. Having no tutorial is a bit of a minus.
I downloaded it and gave it a shot. I still have no idea what the heck I am doing. Hopefully a tutorial will pop up on the internets soon. It seems like a fun game, but it is not clicking with me yet.
The first screen of story: "Long before mankind succeeded to dominate Earth, there was a time when the magical powers of nature ruled the world. Vast mountains rose, high waves pounded the shorelines and nature roamed freely, thus forming the face of earth due to its own will. This time was known as Elendior - the dawn of Earth."
The intro is nine screens, and each screen has three images of different sizes. And there's a lot more story as you go to different locations. The world map is very nice looking, but useless, but there seems to be different paths with extra story screens. Every card is a monster with a good size description. Personally I found the writing to be boring (dry,) not sure if someone who likes novels would enjoy it (or perhaps the German option is better?) I was in a rush to start playing, and it hit me with nine screens of text, I'm going to start over now and take my time through it.
Presentation: The top screen is mainly used for images, they're good. The card images during a match impressed me, but they only display for two seconds at a time. I like the music, it does a good job of setting a theme, but I notice a lot of people complain when DS music does that. Sound effects are loud and annoying, I turned down the volume for them. I was disappointed that there were no animation effects at all, etc., the flow of the game is unpolished. Overall I'd say there's a lot of content in the presentation, but you'll likely skip everything except the card images.
Gameplay: It's Triple Triad, except you choose a spell (such as double strength or rotate all cards). If you're not really lazy then it won't take you long to figure out how to play (you can just skim the images of the battle rules section in help, much better than a tutorial imo). It's a bit repetitive, I don't recommend playing too many games in a row. But other than that I think there's plenty of replay. Multiplayer isn't strategic enough for more than a couple games, especially given the hassle of going through ten screens to start a game.
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