January 28, 2008

Luck Vs. Strategy for Namco Bandai’s Culdcept Saga
By Louis Bedigian

“Unlike standard RPGs, progression does not ultimately equate to strength.”

When creating the Culdcept series, Localization Producer Nobu Taguchi says that the original concept – combining the luck of a board game with the strategy of a card game – was pretty straightforward. “This idea was conceived 10 years ago when the first game in the series was released. The concept of having a board game with a card game was brilliant and at the same time challenging to meld, since the general concept of gameplay between these two genres were based on opposing spectrums: luck vs. strategy.”

“Hence, the balancing of these two elements was a key factor in ensuring that the game would not pivot towards one concept entirely. This balance was refined through the entire Culdcept series, and now we are happy to introduce Culdcept Saga, which we believe has attained that perfect balance that was sought from this marriage of genres for 10 years.”

Culdcept Saga's multiplayer mode extends to four players. Is this co-op or competitive? Two-on-two, one-on-three, or...?

Nobu Taguchi: The game features Alliance matches where you can go with any combination of teams – either the standard two-on-two, or if anyone is looking for some challenge, one-on-three.

New cards, of which there are nearly 500, are unlocked through both the single- and multiplayer modes in the game. Are certain cards assigned to each mode, or can you unlock all of them in either mode?

NT: The cards are unlocked as you win or lose battles both offline and online in various modes and settings. There are certain unique cards that are unlocked only through playing the single player mode. Hence, we strongly recommend people to give the single player mode a chance even though their first impulse might be to jump right on Xbox LIVE.

Also, there are cards which are unlocked through certain inventory criteria. I won't spoil the fun by saying it all, but I'm sure fans of the series and even those who immerse themselves in the game will get an idea of what may be the unlocking factor of those cards. Finally, there is also a betting function found in the Versus mode offline where one can come together with others to wager their cards in matches. All in all, we believe that the balance of how cards are attained is well-made to satisfy all our users.

What sort of weapons, equipment and/or powers (attributes) do the cards have?

NT: We have three different types of cards: Creatures, Items, and Magic. The Creature cards have not only elemental affinities, but also have special powers and attributes to make each one unique on its own. Some are capable of striking first in battle, whereas some have powers which can affect the opponent directly. Items are cards used during battle which generally directly affect the parameters of the Creature card, but some have much more unique powers enabling players to make combos during battle to take down the opponent or to defend their land.

The simplest way to think of Items are as weapons you bring to battle. Magic cards have the largest variety of effects, so much to the extent that each one is unique and affects a variety of areas, from lands to Creatures to even the players. Hence, with the variety of cards in-game, I invite all those to actually play the game and experience the enjoyment of unlocking cards and finding new attributes and learning how to utilize them to their advantage.

Each of the cards were illustrated by hand. Talk about this and how the artist(s) brought the game to life.

NT: The artists were each given different cards to illustrate and work on. Apart from basic information in relation to what those cards did and how they played in the game, they were given the freedom to work their artistic sense in creating the cards. What resulted were unique pieces of art which meld in extremely well with the game structure. Each card features the artist's artistic qualities, so we hope everyone will find enjoyment also in collecting each card and to enjoy viewing them as individual works of art.

Are there any grid elements that affect what you can and can't do? Ex: a fire grid that enhances fire attacks but reduces ice attacks.

NT: Each of the grids on the board, which we call "land," is given different elemental affinities. The 5 basic elements are: Neutral, Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. When a Creature is placed on a matching element land, the Creature gains bonus hit points during battle. Some Creatures are unable to be placed on to certain elemental lands. There are also other lands within the game of unique nature, such as the Morph lands and such, but we'd like everyone to actually find those and enjoy the dynamics of the land during the course of game play.

How does the minion/upgrade system work?

NT: There are two different types of upgrades. One is land leveling and the other is Creature evolution. Land leveling is a simple process of expending Magic points to level up the land. The benefit is essentially three-fold. One, the toll fees multiply in rate, making it very costly for opponents who may unfortunately land on them. Two, the land value increase also affects your total Magic point goal in clearing the game. Three, Creatures placed on such leveled land where the element matches gain greater hit point bonus during battle.

The other type called, "evolution," is a unique Creature ability which gives owners of such Creatures an opportunity to evolve their Creature into a different being. Most of the time, this equates to stronger Creatures, but each Creature has different abilities, hence, the choice of this is dependent on the user strategy. Similar to land leveling, Creature evolution requires Magic points, so the player must make decisions on whether they want to expend their Magic to evolve such Creatures without detriment to their plan for victory.

What can you tell us about the character customization features?

NT: Upon start-up, a player is provided a base avatar to customize. They initially set the character's hair style, and skin tone. As they progress through the game, players will unlock different parts for the avatar, enabling them to add outfits, head gear and more. The interesting part is that not only does your avatar get depicted appropriately on the playing board, but they also are depicted in the single player event scenes as well. As a hint, we suggest players to at least play through the single player game once. This will open doors to more customization with their avatars.

For character customization, new parts can be purchased on Xbox Live. What are these "parts," when will they be available, and have you settled on a price for them?

NT: Actually, we decided to opt out of creating downloadable avatar parts for the game. Since we did not have any immediate plans for downloadable content in other categories (such as cards or maps), it seemed out of place for us to offer only these customizable outfits. On the other hand, upon unlocking different character sets and parts in the game, your choices will become quite extensive, so hopefully this will serve as a better way to show of one's time spent within the game (some of the unlockables are quite challenging to unlock).

Though it may look like an RPG at first glance, the developers have not spoken about the game in that manner. What does this mean for the story and its presentation in the game?

NT: In a standard RPG, the game usually involves a process of seeing a controlled character become stronger as they progress in the game. The difference here is that unlike standard RPGs, progression does not ultimately equate to strength, since that is dependent on what cards are revealed and how these cards are being utilized by the player. Hence, it would be theoretically inappropriate to call the game a pure RPG. We prefer to call it a strategy game with RPG elements.

Of course, that does not mean we disregarded the single player story line. On the contrary, we actually have a quite renowned writer in Japan, Mr. Ubukata Tou, who has handled a number of known products, to be the scenario writer for the story (after all, RPG does mean "Role Playing Game," and you are playing a role within the game). It may seem somewhat standard at first, but as you progress and experience the entire story and play again, you will notice how well the story is laid to keep coherency in the battle and its progression.

Culdcept Saga won't be released till February 5 but the soundtrack is already available on iTunes. This is a huge change from the days of Final Fantasy VII when soundtracks weren't released at all. How do you think players will perceive the music if they hear it outside the game first?

NT: The game music was made to not only orchestrate in line with the play setting, but also to work outside of the game as well. Being composed by Mr. Kenji Ito and Joedown, we're sure everyone will find out how truly important sound is to the game, after all, the sound helps to greet players into the world they are enacting in and draws them closer to what is being displayed and projected to the player. Please give the music a chance. As you play the game, you'll notice how extremely well the music is made. I, for one, listen to the music on days when I want to get out of it all; a cup of tea and a book with music from Culdcept Saga, sounds good, doesn't it?

We'll see how this goes. Namco Bandai is always looking and searching for innovative ways to entertain the public. We're striving to go above and beyond, so we'd appreciate it if everyone gives us a thought every so often when you're interested in innovative and exciting games!

Any final, hidden details we should know about?

NT: Just would like to thank all those who are interested in Culdcept Saga and hope that everyone will find enjoyment in the game. For those that are looking for some hidden secrets, I'd suggest playing the single player twice over, or going back to stages at different times. Maybe some of you will discover something...

Hopefully! Thanks for your time Nobu.

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