Culdcept Saga

[sleeve]

Played my first online match tonight with a couple of friends. Overall, play was pretty smooth, but some bizarre things start to happen once a person's connection starts to go bad. At one point we had two distinct games happening at the same time once the AI took control of one of the player characters. It was really weird.

You win cards at the end of online matches, so it's a much more interesting way to build your library than endlessly replaying story battles.

[Beefy Hits]

Bump to the top. I'll be on this mutherfucker all night tonite and most of tomorrow if anybody wants a game, just msg me.

[sleeve]

Some of my favorite cards thus far:

Revenant: Green creature, 20/50, costs 70 mana, turns into a Vampire during battle if he has an enchantment on him (Vampire is a green creature, 40/40 with First Attack, adds damage dealt during battle to his HP for the current round of battle, for those who can't remember). Excellently priced creature with a great bonus ability.

Barbarian: WTF happened to this guy? In the previous games he was a 40/50 colorless creature that dealt 30% of his ST to himself after battle. Useless. Now, he's a red creature, 50/40, costs 90 mana, plus the new Immediate ability, which means he can use territory commands on the same turn he's summoned. This guy is a beast. (EDIT: The colorless creature I was thinking of is Berserker. Not sure if he's still in the game.)

Thief: Same old Thief (30/40, colorless, steal opponent's item at beginning of battle), but her new art is much hotter.

Some interesting nerfs, too. Gremlin Amulet no longer exists. Instead, you have Gremlin Claw (destroys weapon, scroll, or tool at beginning of battle) and Gremlin Tooth (destroys armor, ????, or support creature at beginning of battle). This is probably a change for the better; the old Amulet was pretty overpowered.

[A Robot Bit Me]

Beefy, as soon as I accepted your invite, my Xbox froze and I couldn't sign back on to Live. I've also been booted out of a few matches citing poor connection speed, but have been able to talk to the remaining players as they beat the hell out of an AI representation of me. The netcode isn't exactly air tight.

This game really wants you to play dichromatic decks. Several of the items that formerly applied only to green have been expanded to accommodate red. Blue shares the same relationship with yellow. A huge percentage of the library has resultingly been made much more practical; Omiya Soft has done a great job balancing the game.

Lastly, wtf is TruSkill?

[Mikhal]

Xbox Live's matchmaking service.

Been trying to find a copy of this game used so I can use Gamestop's 25% off coupon + Edge card (paying $26 > $40). If I don't find one by the time it expires, I might just get a new copy.

[FuryFox]

Gah, I'm so pissed. My 360 Red-Ringed a couple days ago. Considering the original 360 sent to was DOA, that's a pretty poor track record. I'd be collecting cards and playing some online with you guys if I could, but I have to send it in and all that BS. Normally, with a game like DMC4 or something, it wouldn't be a big deal, but by the time I get on online, people will be dropping Sanctum Guards and Goudas on me and I'll be leather armor on my giant rat.

From what my brother's been telling me, it sounds like the creatures have been made a lot more interesting, some having 2 or 3 attributes. Sounds like the art is generally a step up from the PS2 version as well, although I find it curious how they chose which cards to keep the original art for.

ARBM: I thought TruSkill was some matchmaking program in XBL that tried to match people based on their rank/skill.

[Chux]

So hey, if I used to play Magic a lot, and I understand Monopoly I should be able to jump in, yeah?

[A Robot Bit Me]

by the time I get on online, people will be dropping Sanctum Guards and Goudas on me and I'll be leather armor on my giant rat.

That's what Blind Match is for! It evens the playing field for new players and awards you cards at the same time. It's too bad no one ever, ever wants to play it.

From what my brother's been telling me, it sounds like the creatures have been made a lot more interesting, some having 2 or 3 attributes.

Confirmed. A lot of the more basic creatures have inherited the "Evolve" Territory ability, which changes them into something entirely different until the end of their next battle. For example. Deathscythe (70/10) can Evolve into Mummy (30/40 Defense, I believe).

ARBM: I thought TruSkill was some matchmaking program in XBL that tried to match people based on their rank/skill.

That makes sense. Thanks.

[sleeve]

Anyone else miss the Medals from previous games? Achievements are nice, but they look much less impressive than a case full of shiny virtual trinkets.

Collecting avatar parts makes up for the loss a tiny bit. Here's a list of currently discovered items, blatantly ripped from Gamefaqs (WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!):

Head Items - 13 of 20
Crown: Collect 500 cards.
Ninja Mask: Achieve victory with out paying a single toll.
Pirate Hat: Receive 20 tolls or more. Achieve victory.
Leather Helm: Pay 400 G or more in a single toll. Achieve victory.
Valkyrie Helm: Achieve victory (other than sudden death) when opponent(s) hold no land
Dwarven Helm: Achieve Victory after Chaining 10 or more territories
Snake Circlet: Achieve Victory using a book containing only neutral creatures.
Cowboy Hat : receive 3000G or more in a single toll
Chain Helm: fail 5 or more invasions
Mummy Mask: Achieve Victory having obtained a total magic of at least 90,000
Lions Helm: 200 HP or more creature and win
Brave Helmet: 200 ST or more creature and win
Jester Hood: Exhaust the opponent through tolls. Achieve victory.



Body Items - 13 of 20
Gladiator Mail: Complete "Santana Village" in story mode.
Soldier Armor: Complete "Alcyon the Imperial Capital" in story mode.
Storm Armor: change all squares to air and water elements and win
Magma Armor :change all lands to fire and earth elements and win
Training Coat : Complete "The Anchoress' Mansion on Mt. Etumer"
Leather Armor: Pay 5 or more tolls. Achieve Victory.
Dwarven Armor: Raise to level 5 at least one territory for each element and win
Ninja Armor: win a 2v2 with your ally never paying a toll
Cepter Robe: Complete " Provedin, Palace of the Sun" story mode
Chain Mail: lose 5 or more lands. Achieve victory
Shine Armor: ???
Plate Mail: ???
Darkness Robe: ???



Back Items - 8 of 10
Champions Cloak: Complete "Colosseum III" in story mode.
Water Cloak: a book using all water creatures with a goal of 10,000 or more win
Air Cloak : a book using all air creatures with a goal of 10,000 or more win
Earth Cloak: 10000 magic goal or more win with only earth monsters
Fire Cloak: 10000 magic goal or more win with only fire monsters
Neutral Cloak : Collect all the Neutral creature cards except E cards
Angel Wings: On a map with no temples obtain 3,000G or more using symbols and win
Black Cat's Tail: 10000 magic goal or more win with only 'N' rarity cards.



Hand Items - 15 of 20
Holder Blade: Complete "Alcyon the Imperial Capital" in story mode.
Mace: Receive 5 or more tolls. Achieve Victory.
Claymore: Steal land from the enemy 5 or more times. Achieve victory.
Blade of Culdra: get 1000 cards
Prismatic Wand: collect all item cards except E cards
Fire Shield: collect all fire cards except E cards
Tower Shield: collect over 1000G from tolls and have 0 items in your deck and win
Water Shield: Get all water creatures except for E cards
Air Shield: get all Air creatures but E cards
Earth Shield: get all earth creatures but E cards
Knight Shield: defend land from the enemy 20 times or more and achieve victory
Wizard Staff: Collect all spell cards except for E cards
Buckler: Defend land from the enemy 5 or more times. Achieve victory.
Trident: Achieve victory within 20 rounds other than by sudden death
Magic Shield: Achieve victory using a book with no spell cards.

[Compass]

Anyone else miss the Medals from previous games? Achievements are nice, but they look much less impressive than a case full of shiny virtual trinkets.

Yes.

You'll never find a more unreserved proponent of all things glittering and gleaming, while rotating and/or sparkling -- preferably golden in hue.