Guardian Cross has finally launch for Android. The sequel to it was also announced for the end of the year release: Deadman's Cross, which seems to have some form of first-person shooting within the game. I might give it a try when it is out.
Out of the card games I've tried, Ben 10 Slammers really caught my eye. It is a simple and fun card game in my opinion and don't let the fact that it is based on a children's show make you think that it is childish and only for children. I actually enjoyed it a lot and played for quite a while. The app is not free (US$1.99) but this is one of the few games where the in-app purchases were really optional and not to hook you into spending more. I was able to earn the in-game currency to unlock more Alien characters easily just by playing the campaign. (I first unlocked the most expensive ones as they supposedly will be the strongest)
The artwork is nice and looks like the cartoon. The game is basically King of Fighter arcade fighting game meets Marvel TCG Card games. You get 3 characters, call Slammers, and 1 is always active. There are no character specific cards but each Slammers have a set of cards tied to them. You'll unlock more cards using the in-game currency to level up the Slammer. Levelling will also unlock more abilities for the Slammers. You cannot swap Slammers to the backrow unless you use a card that allows it. There is no deck building required which simplifies things and the overall game and interface seem to be designed to work well for a tablet and smartphone screen.
I think there is a high replay value for this game and you don't have to be a fan of Ben 10 to enjoy it. Overall, the game has a pretty high quality production and content. Recently, some annoying bugs were fixed. (Card abilities could not be displayed) New Slammers were also periodically released so the developers are keeping the game updated with content and improvements. This game is definitely worth a try! One tip: I find Crabdozer broken due to its ability to attack twice.
iTunes App Store link: Ben 10 Slammers
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Games after I stopped playing Guardian Cross Part 1
Guardian Cross(GC) has been updated to 2.0 and brings with it many new features. I did not update but was please to know that I logged in once recently and found all my cards intact and my account not banned(for stop using?). On Yugioh video game news, there were surprisingly no more portable console games so far. The latest game was Decade Duels Plus for the PS3 and xbox360 which I read had bad reviews. There is a demo but I have yet to try. I think I have now forgotten most of the Yugioh rules!
The games I'm playing now is mostly League of Legends and the occasional Clash of Clan on iOS devices. Those are not digital card games which is the focus of this blog but I did try a few after GC.
Order & Chaos Duels(iOS Devices)
The game has some aspects of Yugioh in the use of the playing field. I played for maybe 1 hour before I stopped as it was quite boring to me.
iTunes App Store link: Order & Chaos Duels - Trading Card Game - Gameloft
Might & Magic Duel of Champions(iPad)
This game looks promising. I like that there are decks and boosters to buy in the store and thought this was going to be the next Magic: The Gathering Digital equivalent. However, I soon found out that the gameplay was similar to Order & Chaos Duels except it had a little bit more variation in that there is a minor real-time strategy in positioning of cards. The straw that broke the camel's back was that the version that I played at that time had a bug where you will get logged out after a period of time. It ended matches in a loss and make for a very unsatisfying gameplay experience. I stopped after a few hours of gameplay and subsequent updates didn't mention that this problem was solved and I slowly moved on anyway. The game is also available on PC.
iTunes App Store link:Might & Magic: Duel of Champions - Ubisoft Game has been removed
Tekken Card Tournament (iOS Devices)
This was a game I was looking forward to after hearing it reported on gaming sites. It didn't disappoint. The gameplay was simple enough like GC to pick up and yet has some deck building strategy as well. It is much deeper than just rock-scissor-paper mechanics on the surface.
Most of the cards are attainable other than the Super Rare cards which depended on availability in the Market with money, unlike in GC. Namco Bandai, the company of the game, also responded fast to players' feedbacks and respond. For example, hackers with instant win cheat was stopped in about 1-2 weeks.
I had quite a lot of fun and played for around 2 or so weeks. I managed to make 2 gold decks by spending 1/3 to 1/4 of what I pay for GC. You can also slowly grind and upgrade your cards from bronze to silver to gold. However, the tournament is somewhat like GC in which you have to keep on grinding matches to earn more tournament points, something I got tired of.
I thought of making posts about the game but didn't settle down to start it. The game has constant updates to the cards to balance things and the most recent update added a new character, Heihachi. I will provide some tips I gather from my short playing time:
iTunes App Store link: Tekken Card Tournament - NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe S.A.S.
The games I'm playing now is mostly League of Legends and the occasional Clash of Clan on iOS devices. Those are not digital card games which is the focus of this blog but I did try a few after GC.
Order & Chaos Duels(iOS Devices)
The game has some aspects of Yugioh in the use of the playing field. I played for maybe 1 hour before I stopped as it was quite boring to me.
iTunes App Store link: Order & Chaos Duels - Trading Card Game - Gameloft
Might & Magic Duel of Champions(iPad)
This game looks promising. I like that there are decks and boosters to buy in the store and thought this was going to be the next Magic: The Gathering Digital equivalent. However, I soon found out that the gameplay was similar to Order & Chaos Duels except it had a little bit more variation in that there is a minor real-time strategy in positioning of cards. The straw that broke the camel's back was that the version that I played at that time had a bug where you will get logged out after a period of time. It ended matches in a loss and make for a very unsatisfying gameplay experience. I stopped after a few hours of gameplay and subsequent updates didn't mention that this problem was solved and I slowly moved on anyway. The game is also available on PC.
iTunes App Store link:
Tekken Card Tournament (iOS Devices)
This was a game I was looking forward to after hearing it reported on gaming sites. It didn't disappoint. The gameplay was simple enough like GC to pick up and yet has some deck building strategy as well. It is much deeper than just rock-scissor-paper mechanics on the surface.
Most of the cards are attainable other than the Super Rare cards which depended on availability in the Market with money, unlike in GC. Namco Bandai, the company of the game, also responded fast to players' feedbacks and respond. For example, hackers with instant win cheat was stopped in about 1-2 weeks.
I had quite a lot of fun and played for around 2 or so weeks. I managed to make 2 gold decks by spending 1/3 to 1/4 of what I pay for GC. You can also slowly grind and upgrade your cards from bronze to silver to gold. However, the tournament is somewhat like GC in which you have to keep on grinding matches to earn more tournament points, something I got tired of.
I thought of making posts about the game but didn't settle down to start it. The game has constant updates to the cards to balance things and the most recent update added a new character, Heihachi. I will provide some tips I gather from my short playing time:
- Not really a tip but I found the instructions and rules to be unclear about this. They are now in the FAQ(I think it was added later because I never saw them mentioned before) but really should be in the rules:
- U with a circle on the card stands for Unique which means 1-per-deck. I was thinking of some broken endless chain combo before I found out...
- Super Rare(SR) cards are 1-per-deck too! Don't buy more than 1! You can have 1 more SR Power Card in your deck though.
- I personally only buy Ultra Pack and use the gold to combine or buy cards. 3 Rare cards can be "exchanged" for 1 Rare card of your choice through selling and buying for gold.
- Best cards are normally the Unique ones and the one that grants an ability on appearance. Next are those that can force an ability based on opponent's action. Most of the tips on other card games can be applied here:
- Get the max number of a good card (1 or 3) in your deck to increase your chance of drawing it
- Know and memorise your deck. There are only 15 cards and you can easily predict your next draw
- This game requires quick mathematics calculation but don't forget to take into account the card abilities.
- The fighters all have a certain theme and strategy to build around. It is best to focus on 1 deck, building it to gold.
- Check this blog for more tips and guides. I think the fighter analysis (2 so far) are great and informative.
iTunes App Store link: Tekken Card Tournament - NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe S.A.S.
It is the same game as the previous years but the most notable inclusion is the drafting mode. You get to build a deck from opening packs and use it to complete the campaign or go multiplayer with it. It is free to try and you unlock 2 slots after purchasing the game. Additional slots can be bought and you can unlock up to 20. Each slot is fixed to the packs you opened and there were some complains about the way the mode is but I think the drafting feature is a very neat addition to the game. The game is available on the PC, PS3 and xbox 360.
With Hearthstone still some time away from launch, I'm not sure if I will play it too. Back to the Field of Justice in the League of Legends...
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft Card Game: the next game I'll be playing?
http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/
A new card game by Blizzard, the company behind Diablo, Warcraft and Starcraft. This is based on Warcraft with its graphic style. It definitely looks cool. The game is not out yet but you can catch some videos on their homepage.
I've watched the "What is Hearthstone?" video and it sounds like it will be easy to pick up which is always a good thing to have. The game is close to Magic: The Gathering than Guardian Cross in my opinion and will be released on Windows, Mac initially with iPad coming a bit later. I'm looking forward to its release!
A new card game by Blizzard, the company behind Diablo, Warcraft and Starcraft. This is based on Warcraft with its graphic style. It definitely looks cool. The game is not out yet but you can catch some videos on their homepage.
I've watched the "What is Hearthstone?" video and it sounds like it will be easy to pick up which is always a good thing to have. The game is close to Magic: The Gathering than Guardian Cross in my opinion and will be released on Windows, Mac initially with iPad coming a bit later. I'm looking forward to its release!
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Guardian Cross: My Hunting ends
I've recently stopped logging on to the JP and Int. Guardian Cross app and probably stopped playing. I want to devote my time to other stuff in life. I was also getting tired of the "cycle" of the game; it's just endless weeks of coliseum and I cannot usually keep up to get a "Great" card and when I do, there's not much use to it. (I understand there is the new Coliseum in the next update but it will be back to the endless cycle of Coliseums week after week!)
For all future information on Guardian Cross, please check the Guardian Cross Forum. There are many contributors and valuable information there.
It's interesting how my trading card game history went from cardboard cards to digital cards. I'm not sure if I'll continue with a new card game. I hope my posts have been useful. Thank you all for reading!
For all future information on Guardian Cross, please check the Guardian Cross Forum. There are many contributors and valuable information there.
It's interesting how my trading card game history went from cardboard cards to digital cards. I'm not sure if I'll continue with a new card game. I hope my posts have been useful. Thank you all for reading!
Sunday, March 3, 2013
JP GC 1.4: New Coliseum Tiers
Update 10/03/2013: Next week's coliseum, courtesy of Tarothin from the guardiancross-forum, his post will be a weekly update of the Coliseum restrictions so it will be useful!
From the look of things, the Elite Coliseums are going to continue with the theme coliseum while Special is going to get the "extreme" themes. Next week is Fire only guardians!
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Update 04/03/2013: I was wrong about the 3* and below Coliseum rule continuing! It's no restriction Coliseum for special this week which means you can use any card and any number of repeated copies.
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Information in JP: http://cache.apja.guardiancross.net/info/30214008/record_20130225_2.html
Translation by Tarothin over at the guardiancross-forum: http://guardiancross-forum.com/Thread-1-4-version-notes?pid=683086#pid683086
Head over to the links above for more information. Lastly, I'll cover my thoughts on the new coliseum tiers.
iTunes App Store link: Guardian Cross - SQUARE ENIX
From the look of things, the Elite Coliseums are going to continue with the theme coliseum while Special is going to get the "extreme" themes. Next week is Fire only guardians!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update 04/03/2013: I was wrong about the 3* and below Coliseum rule continuing! It's no restriction Coliseum for special this week which means you can use any card and any number of repeated copies.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information in JP: http://cache.apja.guardiancross.net/info/30214008/record_20130225_2.html
Translation by Tarothin over at the guardiancross-forum: http://guardiancross-forum.com/Thread-1-4-version-notes?pid=683086#pid683086
Head over to the links above for more information. Lastly, I'll cover my thoughts on the new coliseum tiers.
New coliseums added
There are now 5 coliseums.
1. Elite coliseum - extreme
Coliseum for the most elite
2. Elite coliseum - master
Can use mighty and great guardians. Can win almighties. A coliseum for the upper ranks of the previous master coliseum and middle ranks of expert coliseum.
3. Master coliseum
Coliseum for the middle ranked master coliseum players.
4. Novice coliseum
Coliseum for beginners. In order to prevent multi account users, the rewards have been eliminated.
5. Special coliseum
Special conditions such as "Rare or lower". However the number of almighty slots are very small.
Comments:
Elite - extreme is the same as current Elite from what I can see; rewards and stat/skill stones and such.
Elite - master is the same as current Master except, S+ is Almighty card reward, A+ gets Mighty card reward, no skill stones here and slightly more stat stones than Master.
Master should be the same as current Master, I didn't compare.
Novice should be the same. Again, I did not compare.
Special is what I'm guessing to be the new home for special rules like "male/female/flying/Hunting Ground specific/etc" coliseum. It started with 3* and below only and below and I think it is continuing again next week. I'm guessing these 3* rule will be the usual rule whereas the other special rules will come by as and when. I think it is good as 3* finally get its own spotlight. The prize slots are really small though: 10 S+ slots getting Almighty, 40 S slots getting Mighty, 150 A+ getting Great. All ranks get 2 SHT, stat stones but no skill stones. This 3* coliseum seem to be more suitable for beginner than Novice.
iTunes App Store link: Guardian Cross - SQUARE ENIX
JP GC 1.4: "Improved" 5* drop-rate system
Information in JP: http://cache.apja.guardiancross.net/info/30214008/record_20130225_2.html
Translation by Tarothin over at the guardiancross-forum: http://guardiancross-forum.com/Thread-1-4-version-notes?pid=683086#pid683086
Head over to the links above for more information. I'll cover my thoughts on the new 5* drop-rate system next.
iTunes App Store link: Guardian Cross - SQUARE ENIX
Translation by Tarothin over at the guardiancross-forum: http://guardiancross-forum.com/Thread-1-4-version-notes?pid=683086#pid683086
Head over to the links above for more information. I'll cover my thoughts on the new 5* drop-rate system next.
Hunt increased chance system
A system where when a certain number of special hunts have occured without catching any UR's, the chance of catching UR's raises. Once you've caught a UR, it is reset.
10-19 times => UR x1.5
20-29 times => UR x2.0
30~ times => UR x3.0
For 9 or less times, the chance is the same as version 1.3.
UR = 5* by the way.
Comments:
Basically, SE is telling us that the drop-rate is probability-based and individual system-based, not what some of us are thinking: 5* dropping when a certain quota is reached, etc. My experience using SHT do tell otherwise as I remember getting my 5* after a number of tickets used and then shortly another 5* will drop but there are also people claiming to catch multiple 5* in a hunt so... Oh well...
Once your drop-rate increases, there will be an indicator on the bottom left of the Hunting "entrance" screen. It should stay until you catch a 5* so you do not have to use many SHT at a go. I can't comment on that as I have not been using any of my saved SHT because I kinda given up on them.
Interestingly for the last line, I imply that a 5* should drop normally after 10 hunts. I used to get that in the early parts of the game but not since Stormreach original Guardians/Glaverow New Guardians.
For International version, the anticipated double drop rate event did not materialize. I'll continue saving my SHT there for this update or if there is any special/limited edition guardian hunting event.
iTunes App Store link: Guardian Cross - SQUARE ENIX
JP GC 1.4: New 5* and skills
Information in JP: http://cache.apja.guardiancross.net/info/30214008/record_20130225_2.html
Translation by Tarothin over at the guardiancross-forum: http://guardiancross-forum.com/Thread-1-4-version-notes?pid=683086#pid683086
Head over to the links above for more information. I'll cover my thoughts on the new skills next but first, MetalStitch has summarised the new 5* at the guardiancross-forums. I won't be going through them.
iTunes App Store link: Guardian Cross - SQUARE ENIX
Translation by Tarothin over at the guardiancross-forum: http://guardiancross-forum.com/Thread-1-4-version-notes?pid=683086#pid683086
Head over to the links above for more information. I'll cover my thoughts on the new skills next but first, MetalStitch has summarised the new 5* at the guardiancross-forums. I won't be going through them.
Ability Lock
Chance of reducing enemy mp to 0
Comment: This is what Energy Drain was suppose to do! Energy Drain 2.0 Unsure if it takes place even before Quick Strike to prevent that.
High speed turn
Consume MP to dodge physical attacks
Comment: People are debating whether this is probability based. I think it might be a little broken if it is not!
Gigant slash
All or nothing one shot attack. When it hits it deals large amounts of damage regardless of defense.
Comment: Sounds like the physical version of Death skill. Nothing interesting except maybe the new attack animation.
Heaven's pulse
Dispels enemy buff abilities.
Comment: I think it only works on the first guardian. If it is the case, I don't think it is good. You are most probably only going to get a guarantee use if you are the first guardian.
iTunes App Store link: Guardian Cross - SQUARE ENIX
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