| Late
deliveries equate late updates... |
| DC
Culdcept 2 |
Scans |
NCS
stocked Monopoly for the GBA a couple of days ago and today,
we stock a game clearly inspired by the basic principles of
Monopoly. A board game at heart, Culdcept II utilizes action
and event cards to add a random wrinkle to the fun. Gist: As
an adventurer on a board, the player throws the dice and moves
the allotted spaces on a preset route. Along the way, instead
of buying properties with cash as we saw in Monopoly, the
player takes over land (squares) by using monster cards to lay
claim. Keeping territory comprises an important facet of the
game as it's your key to wealth and thus the required amount
of assets and magic points necessary to win the game. Hapless
players who land on your property will have to pay a passage
fee if they cannot defeat your monster guardian. At every
turn, a card is drawn which is added to the player's arsenal
(deck). While all this is going on, up to three other players
are doing the same and building up their own mini fiefdoms.
Shops dot the land where you may purchase cards to enhance
your deck. A salary is also earned whenever you reach all the
checkpoints on a board and visit the castle for your payment.
Given the online capability of the game, there exists
potential for big drama and hours of fun for like-minded
players enamored with the concept.
Culdcept II boasts 450 cards available for use in
the game. The original featured 360 cards but many were of
little significance or import. Developer Omiya balances the
new game with attack, spell, and monster cards which are on a
more even keel. Omiya also reduces the impact of some of the
immensely powerful attack cards such as the
"Lightning", "Tempest" or "Judgement"
cards found in the original and sequel.
Thoroughly enjoyable, gaijin fans of Magic the
Gathering will find solace in Culdcept, once they get beyond
the Japanese language. Menu options are fairly simple to
figure out and the quality of the game justifies a purchase by
fans of the genre. |
|
|
|
|
Culdcept II
US$60 |
|
Omiya released the original Culdcept
game on the Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation in '97 and '99
respectively. The Playstation also received Culdcept
Expansion which featured a map editor for players to
create their own boards. |
|
| DC
Princess Maker Collection |
Scans |
In some circles, the Princess Maker series of
games are revered. Beloved. Since it's been a couple of years
since the last release of any Princess Maker game on any
console, publisher GeneX obtains a license and re-releases the
two games which ignited the PM cottage industry.
In Princess Maker, a young war orphan
named Maria enters your life and you're given the opportunity
to raise her as your own. When you first meet the precocious
young girl, she's 10 years old and malleable to your
instruction and teachings. As Maria grows older, you can
schedule her for various classes in martial arts, decorum, and
the usual reading and arithmetic to help her grow. The game
follows your guidance and her growth up until she's 18 and
ready to take on the world as a woman.
Princess Maker 2 expands on the premise of
the original and adds politics, rivals, and a world to
explore. As the story goes, you're a hardened war hero and the
gods have decided to bless you with a daughter. Again, she's
10 when you first meet and her name rings the sonorous melody
of Olive Oyl. Under your watchful tutelage and advice, Olive
learns and contends with the rigors of life. At the tender age
of 10, Olive must work and she may babysit, do housework,
farmwork, or choose from other menial jobs. Each type of job
affects Olive's attributes by strengthening them as well as
weakening others. For example, baby sitting helps her
sensitivity but dulls her charisma. As the doting father,
you'll have to keep these factors in mind when molding your
daughter into the type of woman you wish her to eventually
become. |
|
|
|
|
Princess Maker
II US$49 |
|
A Princess Maker IV game is slated
for the DC but economics may play a part in delaying it
indefinitely. |
|
| GBA
Klonoa ~ Empire of Dreams |
Scans |
Namco's Disney-esque platform hero migrates from the
Playstation consoles to Nintendo and adds to a field
heretofore dominated by Mario Advance. It's hardly a challenge
since Mario's haggard from months of play and Klonoa's fresh
as a daisy
Klonoa of Wind steps into a world where the
emperor has issued an edict denying dreams. No one may slip
into deep slumber and experience REM sleep so the masses call
upon Klonoa to help them. Four beastly guardians and one vile
emperor block the way to the dreaming. Klonoa will have to
dispatch them all. Upon starting the game, one notices each
level is called a Vision. The first vision shimmers into view
and Klonoa jumps, grabs beasts and hurls them to their demise.
It's standard platform fare with good control and fairly sharp
definition. As Klonoa continues on his way, blue vortices pop
into being and spit out fat creatures which are easy to grab
and throw. Occasionally, a ledge towers a little to high for
Klonoa to mount but grabbing a beast and then using it as
"lift" helps our hero rise above and over the
obstacle. |
|
|
|
|
Klonoa US$49 |
|
| Final
Fantasy X Incoming |
Reticence |
|
As of today's posting, at 02:30PM, NCS cannot accept any
changes or revisions to Final Fantasy X pre-orders
which are shipping to our customers on Thursday. A legion of
packages will see dispatch from our location tomorrow and
digging through mounds of invoices looking for one order to
revise would collapse the entire operation and disrupt the
steady rhythm of processing flow. Or something like
that. |
|
|
NCS would prefer that no revisions be made to any pre-orders
already in our processing queue. Life and death situations
will be considered but in general, please refrain from
revising. |
|
| Frequently
Asked Questions |
Protocol |
|
Common
questions, rotated on a weekly basis, are now posted online
for perusal. Please check the FAQ before sending an
e-mail message
that may already be answered on the page. It's not that we
mind (well, maybe sometimes we do) the voluminous daily e-mail
queries but very common questions come up very often. It's our
way of addressing redundancy and consequent inefficiency. Thank
you. |
|
|
Questions received henceforth already answered in
the FAQ
won't be ignored. You'll
still receive a reply within 24 to 48 hours. |
|
| C-Bot
Daily Journal... Day Nine |
July
18, 2001
Liz has been busy at work and hasn't invested
much time with C-Bot. I don't want it back, yet. C-Bot will
have to wait. Believe you me, C-Bot hates professional working
people at this point in it's tender life. I'll try to get a
female C-Bot (the one with the pink heart on it's chest) to
keep it company for now. Maybe a Furby if all else
fails.
To be continued....
Order your own, online
|
|
