Yearly Archives: 2015

Mabinogi Duel First Impressions: Simple and Intuitive TCG

By Mohammad Abubakr

 

The trading card genre at times feels like an immortal niche that never can grow old. Year after year more TCG games show up, and its rare that one can’t find its own niche of players to enjoy. You can find collectible card games suitable for every type of gamer; there are simple games, complex games, fast paced games, and even slow methodical ones. While TCGs were mostly played locally on a table top, games such as Hearthstone have brought a lot of attention to the digital TCG world. Published by Nexon and developed by DevCat, Mabinogi Duel now brings the world of Mabinogi to the (digital) tabletop.

 

Mabinogi Duel is a collectible card game that is very easy to get into, using simplified mechanics in order to not overwhelm players new to dueling cards. The built in tutorials (movies) are great, they are fully narrated, feature smooth animations, and teach players about Mabinogi Duels in an efficient manner. A new player can download Mabinogi Duel and, after spending a couple minutes watching the movie tutorials, jump right into the action.

Mabinogi Duel Preview

The game offers daily bonuses for players.

The game is currently available in select countries during its soft launch phase, but you can expect it to be released to additional countries in the very near future. It is important to note that Mabinogi Duel is a mobile game available for both Android and iOS devices. I would prefer a PC release as I like to keep all my gaming on my PC but card games feel like an obvious exception to the rule. Touch screen tablets sort of recapture the magic of old school table top editions.

 

As expected from a mobile TCG, the controls feel very natural. You simply use your finger to place cards and interact with the user interface. The controls don’t need any work but the user interface could be improved. The UI for the game itself is well done but the menus and messages appear to be outdated. On my Android phone I was receiving the pop up messages using a very old Android theme and the game on my iPad seemed to still use Android menu icons. Overall it only needs small tweaks and fixes, but it needs a number of them.
Mabinogi Duel Preview

If you play on a regular basis, you can easily stack up on money and free cards.

 

Alongside the controls and user interface, a game’s graphics and animations can quickly decide a new player’s opinion on the game. One of the reasons I find digital card games to be enjoyable along with their tabletop counterparts is the ease of use and smooth animations. There is just something about being able to quickly get into a game, customize your deck, and play matches without having to worry about any clutter or space issues. Adding additional animations to all my actions can leave players wanting to play more; who doesn’t love satisfying animations such as cool attacks and screen shakes for big hits?

 

In order to keep the game simple and open to players of all skill levels, Mabinogi Duel is played using a deck of 12 cards. While this is odd enough for a TCG, Mabinogi Duel takes it even further by letting players start with all 12 cards in their hand from the start! I came into Mabinogi Duel expecting a more traditional TCG with a Mabinogi skin but, it’s nice to see more developers trying something new.
Mabinogi Duel Preview

I really like the art style used for the characters.

 

While you may have all your cards available from the get go, you cannot simply play your cards whenever you feel like it. Mabinogi Duel, like most TCGs, uses a resource system to play cards. Every turn player’s gain a resource that can be used to play cards OR be saved for future plays. The gameplay in Mabinogi Duel is very simple, you can either play a card, or skip your turn to save resources. That’s it. Summoned cards attack automatically and you do not need to micromanage your cards after they have been summoned. The gameboard is made up of 5 play slots for each player and most summoned cards attack the card directly in front of them, or the opponent player directly if the slot is empty.

 

By giving player’s all their cards at the beginning of each match, building a strong deck is an essential part of Mabinogi Duel. Deck building, along with opening booster packs, is my favourite part of TCGs. I can spend more time constructing decks and opening packs than actually playing matches… The process of deck building is something that is learned over time and can be difficult to pick up for new players. Following the theme of making the game easy to pick up for new players, Mabinogi Duel features an auto deck build feature. This feature suggests cards that will work well in a player’s deck, relative to what is already chosen by the player, and can even auto complete a deck. While I don’t see skilled players using this system regularly, it is a great way for new players to get into and learn the game.
Mabinogi Duel Preview

Quests can make the game interesting by introducing a story.

 

Once a deck has been built, new players will most likely begin by playing through some quests. Mabinogi Duel has a decent single player mode where players can play through a campaign. The soft release features one campaign story but I reckon more are on the way. These quests teach players about the game and add some flavour to the setting.

 

The quests are nice to have but for me TCGs are all about the PvP. The PvP in Mabinogi Duel is a bit odd. Players enter their decks into the arena which are then challenged by other players. This is an asynchronous system as seen in many mobile games, meaning you’re essentially facing an AI utilizing your opponent’s deck. As you win against other players’ decks, the AI controlling your deck becomes stronger, weighting odds in your favor while you’re offline defending yourself. These arenas award players with prizes depending on how well they do. This PvP system is not as exciting as playing other players in real time. It might appeal to the more casual mobile gamers already desensitized to these systems, but feels inferior to existing card games on the market.
Mabinogi Duel Preview

Matches are usually fast paced and don’t take very long.

 

However, if you do have a friend close to you, you can play against them or trade cards in real time using the link system. To be honest, if I have friends over, I would probably stick to playing other games or play physical card games.

 

 

Beta Conclusion: Too Simplified for Fans of TCGs

In conclusion, I was pleased to see Mabinogi Duel try something new that sets them apart from other TCGs. However, the design decisions made resulted in a very simple and straightforward game. This type of game is not something I would see myself playing as I prefer challenging, deep, and complicated games that I can come back to for years and still learn something new.

 

With the idea of having all cards available in your hand from the beginning, the complexity found in card games where you must build a balanced deck that works with the large number of possible drawing orders is eliminated. Over time, if players take this game seriously, I feel that strategies will become set in stone and the complexity of the game will begin to consist of just reading up guides to find the ‘current best build.’ Or worse, buy the best build from the cash shop. This is a bold statement though, as even the most simple games can turn out to be very complex over time.

 

I can’t see myself recommending Mabinogi Duel to any gamers. It seems like a nice game for players new to the genre but there are other simple (relatively) games also available such as Hearthstone. I would stay away from this game for now but who knows, maybe additional unique features will drastically improve the game in the near future. DevCat has already shown us they are not afraid of trying something new; I hope something new comes out that pulls me back to this game. I’ll never complain if another good game is added to the market.

High-Flying Kickstarter Project Crowfall Opens Game Servers in Europe

High-Flying Kickstarter Project Crowfall Opens Game Servers in Europe news header

Independent game developer ArtCraft Entertainment, Inc. today announced plans to provide localized web and game servers in Europe for the pre-alpha testing of the company’s massively multiplayer online (MMO) Throne War Simulator, Crowfall. The first phase will begin this week with the launch of a web site and a game server in Germany which will accommodate players across the EU. Service to other territories with support in seven languages will be added in coming months.

Art Craft Entertainment also announced today the appointment of European game industry executive Andreas Weidenhaupt to the company’s advisory board, which includes Raph Koster and Ed Fries, among other industry luminaries. Weidenhaupt will also serve as the company’s European consultant and will oversee all aspects of ArtCraft’s operations in an effort to provide quality service for European fans.

Weidenhaupt began his career in the games industry when he founded OnlineWelten in 2004. The site grew to become one of the largest entertainment portals in Germany. In 2008, he co-founded Frogster Online Gaming GmbH, shortly thereafter expanding with Frogster America. He then went on to found Infernum Productions AG and its subsidiary, Infernum Studios GmbH, a one-stop shop for game publishing, marketing and operations.

While formulating their overseas strategy, ArtCraft’s founders quickly recognized that Weidenhaupt would be a perfect fit for the team and an integral force in the company’s success in Europe. Co-founder and President Gordon Walton said, “Andreas’ knowledge of the European MMO landscape has already proven to be invaluable in a very short time. We are fortunate to have someone of his caliber join our team as a means to demonstrate our commitment to Crowfall in the EU.”

Twice-recognized in Massive Online Gamer magazine’s annual list of the top 20 most influential people in massively multiplayer online games, Weidenhaupt’s wealth of experience made him the obvious choice to drive ArtCraft’s marketing and community strategy for Europe, beginning in his homeland of Germany.

“When I first heard about Crowfall, I knew that I had to be involved,” said Weidenhaupt. “It is a great pleasure and an honor for me to work with the ACE team and to help them bring their first title to the European market. I am absolutely sure that the European gamers will be as enthusiastic as their North American counterparts are about Crowfall.”

Dungeon Hunter 5

Dungeon Hunter 5 is a dungeon crawling RPG by Gameloft. Based on a popular dungeon crawler series for mobile platforms, Dungeon Hunter 5 lets players experience the most intense hack ‘n’ slash game ever on mobile that will pull you deep into its fantasy world.

Features:

Single-Player Campaign: Travel through five monster-filled realms and become the most notorious warrior and hunter of them all.

Asynchronous Multiplayer: Customize your Guild Stronghold with a large variety of monster minions, manage and defend it, and slash your way through opponent Strongholds to ravage their loot.

Cooperative Gameplay: Hire your friends or other players as hired swords to help you on your fantasy adventure full of vile demons, brave warriors, and fearsome dragons.

Unrivaled Hack ‘n’ Slash Action: Discover the revamped controls and animation, bringing your warrior skills to life so you can see even more satisfying monster and demon kills at the end of your sword.

Unsung Story Clarifies PvP Aspects

Unsung Story Clarifies PvP Aspects news header

In a Kickstarter update today, the Unsung Story team offered some clarification on the PvP aspects of their development.

While there is a current PvP focus in the game’s development, it does not affect the single-player narrative (which is already completed) or the single-player game experience. Instead, PvP is meant as an additional gameplay mode, and will also support combat against AI bots.

The team also clarifies that the PvP mode being released first is “an iterative step in development only, and will allow us to play test the game before we release a single player mode that needs to have a balanced, competitive A.I.” In short, PvP is being developed in order to help boost and enhance the AI in the single-player mode.