Review - Card-en-Ciel

Developer: Inti Creates

Publisher: Inti Creates

Available On: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, & PC

Reviewed On: Nintendo Switch

THAT YOU, MEGA MAN?!

While at PAX East, I wandered to the Inti Creates booth to look at their latest release. Card-en-Ciel is an amalgamation of deck-building and RPG. From a glance, it very clearly takes inspiration from the Battle Network titles. I’ll be honest, when I received the press release for it, I felt indifferent. Hell, I didn’t even book an appointment but since I was there anyway, I knew I’d regret not trying. Well, if y’all needed proof of how useful demos can be, I left PAX ecstatic. I didn’t expect the degree of engagement that I had. Needless to say, the anticipation grew until it hit a fever pitch but will that glee persist after playing the full version?

Card-en-Ciel has that classic Inti Creates style and comes with a tinge of Rogue-like DNA. Sprinkle in waifu goodness and by that metric, it should bang. The ingredients to cook up a joyful romp have sizzled to the top of this potentially tasty casserole of genres, and boy, do I have a big appetite.

NOT MUCH HERE, EH?!

Chaos has fallen on the digital world and you, Neon Nanashika, have been summoned into a game that’s mid-development. In fact, it seems that several have been corrupted. As such, your task is gathering data from the Protagonists of their respective worlds. You won’t be alone, however, as you fight alongside a girl named Ancie. If that concept seems familiar, it’s probably because it takes inspiration from Sword Art Online. It has every tool necessary to weave an intriguing tale but Card-en-Ciel still manages to fumble the bag. I couldn’t invest myself due to how shallow it is - a byproduct of the narrative’s awful general pacing.

Simply put, because of the plot’s short length, points felt rushed and ill-explained. The attempts at shocking revelations lacked any luster, coming off with a whimper. That’s before even mentioning the many holes - if Card-en-Ciel were a kind of cheese, it would obviously be Swiss. It’s quite unsatisfying, and once credits rolled, I was left with questions upon questions with no sign of answers. Sure, I thought the brief snippets of banter were cute, if not cringe, but those glimpses of charm went on to amplify how devoid the story is. Bluntly, it felt like a rough draft that hadn’t seen refinement, coming across as basic and forgettable.

PICK A CARD!!

Regardless, it wasn’t the writing that impressed me when I previewed Card-en-Ciel at PAX. It was actually the gameplay that sunk its claws into my throat. Fortunately, my session had me as enthralled as I was back then. Despite the simplicity, I adore the degree of engagement it demands. It forces me to pay the utmost attention when deciding what to do. It’s quite involved as combat is tied to a grid system. My goal is evading attacks which sounds easy but my movement isn’t controlled by a joystick toggle. No, the cards have directions linked to them - up, down, left, or right. I have to be smart, planning my approach to avoid losing health.

The intricacies keep coming, too, because it might be that if I want to dodge, I’ve got to sacrifice cards. Suddenly, it’s a risk or reward type of thing in that I’ve got to pick my battles - do I absorb damage for a high powered strike of my own or do I cut my losses and live another day. For the majority of my session, I couldn’t get enough, but there’s the tiniest of issues that periodically sprouts. On occasion, RNG may not be on my side, leaving me stranded because I can’t get out of the way. Essentially, I lack the proper means to which is where strategy becomes a factor. I have to be careful of both my actions and picking my prize.

See, with winning, my reward is one of three cards, each with varying effects. I can inflict damage or I can break my enemy’s defenses. It’s not your typical shield, however, as depleting it doubles my lethality. In layman’s terms, 20 turns into 40, but if I don’t focus on shattering it, it remains 20. I can also lower the output of my foe so their next hit will feel like a feather. Oh, but don’t think that stacking my deck with the cream of the crop will suffice. I’m not able to attack all willy-nilly due to their cost to use. With only three points to spend, I’ve got to be conscious. There’s a shit load to balance and we’re just scratching the surface.

Sticking with the video game motif that Card-en-Ciel boasts, it’s also possible to gain a passive. It’s known as a Cheat Code and every card can hold upwards to, well, three - it seems that’s the magic number of this title. It further heightens the potency of whatever it’s attached to. It will grant me such perks as letting me draw or discard, or give me a buff. The problem is that I’m left to my own devices when it comes to discovering what said buffs do. There’s zero legend that outlines what the symbols mean. I had to learn as I was simultaneously trying to be victorious. Sadly, there’s an even bigger issue that’s plainly screaming self-sabotage.

I NEED TO SLOW DOWN!!

As a Rogue-Like, interspersed between dialogue is a dungeon. It’s a brief run that takes around 25 minutes. With 12 in total, minus bonus ones, expect to complete Card-en-Ciel fairly quickly. As a result, Inti Creates wants to encourage reruns. See, to get permanent upgrades, I have to earn Tokens which will occur when leveling. The higher I set the difficulty, the more EXP that I’m given. We have the typical Easy, Normal, and Hard modes, but then it’ll get into tougher territory with Hard +1, +2, and so on. Based on how well I do, I receive a grade out of, you guessed it, three. It’s how it arrives at that scoring that ends up being detrimental.

I can’t sugarcoat how demotivating it is. To have that rank tied to the number of turns that I’ve taken to beat a map is ridiculous. It means I’ve got to speed through as fast as possible, thus undermining what I consider to be the most interesting aspect of Card-en-Ciel; building a damn deck. I’ve got to forgo every encounter, relying on the crappy default cards the game gives me which are weak. Why it doesn’t depend on maybe a set limit of damage instead is beyond me. The method it employs is restrictive. I’ve got no desire to replay areas. It’s so boring, I outright ignored this feature. When that occurs, you know you’ve screwed the pooch.

PRETTY COLOURS!!

If we’re talking about graphics, they’re crisp. They look incredible on the OLED screen. Environments aren’t very detailed but that can’t be said about the sprites. They’re, without a doubt, well-done and have a lot of effort poured into their creation. The colors are vibrant and pop from the screen. My biggest praises, though, are reserved for the CGs that appear after activating what’s known as a Muse. With over 300 to witness, I, again, have to applaud the blood, sweat, and tears that Inti Creates put into Card-en-Ciel. There’s a charisma to the designs that I can’t ignore. Thankfully, that same energy carries into other avenues, like the music.

LISTEN CLOSELY!!

A compelling argument can be made that the overworld song is rather generic. I couldn’t disagree but in that same breath, I’d counter that it doesn’t need to be. In fact, it’s catchy, and as I sit here, it’s ringing in my head. I do agree it’s nothing special but when it gets stuck in your brain, that warrants a clap. Where the bar truly gets raised is with the Muses. The Japanese singing that accompanies those tracks made me sway back-and-forth, smiling like a dork. There’s a cheerful aura that can’t be denied. The voice-acting isn’t as superb but it isn’t terrible. I thought the delivery was adequate, but I can see the high pitch voices being a bother.

AND THE SHUFFLING VERDICT IS…

Card-en-Ciel is on the cusp of being the newest addictive drug but it’s held down by a handful of bad choices. Chief among them is tying the grading system to turns. To a lesser extent, it doesn’t do a good job at relaying what particular symbols imply either. Some are clear thanks to the image of a sword or cards but then there are those that I have to figure out on my own. Luckily, these gripes are some of the only ones I have. Moreover, they can be rectified with a hot fix. Otherwise, I’m a sucker for the notion behind the unlockable system that will have its full potential tapped once a patch is released. If you like titles such as Yu-Gi-Oh, it’s a straightforward recommendation. That said, hurry with the update, Inti Creates.

CARD-EN-CIEL IS RECOMMENDED!

A code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.