TGS 2024 | "Card-en-Ciel"
Normally, I’m not the kind of guy who dives into roguelite card games. And yet, Inti Creates’s upcoming Card-en-Ciel might finally be the game that makes me a fan of the genre. Featuring a who’s who of characters from past titles like Azure Striker Gunvolt, Gal*Gun, and Blaster Master Zero, Card-en-Ciel is shaping to be a celebration of all the cool and under-appreciated games under Inti Creates’s belt.
The Tokyo Game Show demo gives you a rundown of the story. You play Neon, the so-called “Gaming Chair Detective”. In a world where Full Dive games are the rage, people have been able to exploit these virtual worlds to commit fraud, money laundering, and all sorts of crimes. And since there are no laws against these things in a faux world, these criminals get away with it scot-free. That is, until Neon comes around.
Using cards based on other Inti Creates characters, Neon is able to use various attacks and defenses against any enemy he comes across. At times, said enemy may become someone Neon can recruit right afterwards, using their power and skills to take on future enemies. With the aid of a lone woman named Ancie, who aided in the development of the game Neon is full diving in, our unique hero aims to restore order to the virtual world of “Rust Tactics”. But sometimes, the enemies will have a trick up their sleeves, in the form of Mad Obstructive Data (MODs).
At times, the battles with enemies in Card-en-Ciel are fairly fast-paced. Only when you come across the ones with MODs will there be a strategy needed to take them on. You can combine cards, draw new ones, even sacrifice them to make a move away from an incoming enemy attack. It takes some brain power to figure out which cards to use or save for a much dire battle, something that I roughly 50/50 had the skills to do. Thankfully (in the demo, at least), the game was pretty forgiving if I died, resulting in me regaining my health and simply restarting the previous battle.
There’s a good amount of potential to be found in Card-en-Ciel. Although it’s normally not my kind of game, the story and characters featured in it are enticing enough for me to want to give it another go. A bountiful of characters and an imaginative world await for those wanting to experience what Inti Creates’s latest title has to offer, with a story rich on topics that — maybe in the next five years or so — could be something we may have to deal with when the full dive gaming scene really kicks off.
Card-en-Ciel arrives worldwide on October 24th on all consoles and PC.