The Double Dip Review - Dokapon Kingdom (ps2) + Culdcept (ps2)

[Blacksky]

The Double Dip Review - Dokapon Kingdom (ps2) + Culdcept (ps2)

VS

The Rundown:
Dokapon Kingdom - Board Game / RPG (1-4 players)
Culdcept - Board Game / Card Battle Game (1-4 players)

Intro:
Let me start by saying that both these games are very good in their own right. When i first played Dokapon i was amazed at how fun it was and vice versa for Culdcept. In this review, I’m going to go over how each game fairs individually and against each other as party games. So to start, let’s take a look at each game on its own merits.

Dokapon Kingdom

The Good:
-Creative concept
-Robbing stores and being outlawed adds an extra edge to the game play
-Class selection and unlockable classes adds a lot of depth in longer games
-Charming characters can make for lol moments
-Sub maps allow players to run away from the chaos of the main land
The Bad:
-Battles often come down to 1 hit or who ever strikes first
-Only 1 vast map (which contains sub maps) for the entire game
The Ugly:
-Enemies are sometimes madly over powered and since the battle system doesn’t leave much room for luck than your only option is to grind to beat them, or die…. A LOT
-Cheating A.I makes the game virtually unplayable in the single player

Culdcept

The Good
- Seemingly endless amount of cards make for a high level of customization
- All players rewarded with new cards at the end of a match (even losing ones)
- AI is intelligent and will use many strategies to gain the upper hand
- Awesome Soundtrack that is very suited for the game
- The art work during a match adds a lot to the scenery
- High replayability (unlockables + Lots of maps + Many AI options)
The Bad
-Maps really just come down to a variation of the same board elements
-long waits between turns in 3-4 player games.
-Many ways to cheaply get cards by making the AI play a game than trading their cards to your deck
-Card battles lack animation
The Ugly
-None

The Rundown:

Dokapon Kingdom

The biggest thing Dokapon has going for it is its charm. Lots can be forgiven if you can play a game and get a couple laughs out of it. If you play the story you’ll find yourself doing a lot of surreal quest like risking your life to save a dog. There are many characters you’ll meet through out your journey who are all semi goofy/stereotypical. Like the field map thief is a Frenchman who wears a cape and a long pointy hat. Simple yet fitting for such a game.

The second best thing about Dokapon is how you begin on a continent and slowly start to venture outwards, exploring other continents and many sub maps (which include volcanoes, caves etc). It reminds me of a mmo and how to start in a small part of the world and slowly make your way around once you lv. But you have to remember you are playing a Mario party like game here. So not only are you exploring a giant map but you are also duelling other players, using items, casting spells, laying traps etc..

Another important part of what makes Dokapon fun is its simple game play. You don’t need to have a big strategy or spend 15 min setting up the game. You pick your player and you play and see what the kingdom of Dokapon has in store for you. An important part of any party game.

If I had to breakdown my main issue with the game is that it’s lacking content. Games like Mario party have tons of mini games to support its repetitive game play of rolling a dice each round. Dokapon doesn’t have mini games but instead has a focus on fighting and buying equipment like a RPG. Yet, when you play a game that last 5-10hrs you’ll find yourself not being drawn into the game play. There just aren’t enough elements to vary each round. Its fun for playing short sessions but overall lacks depth to its game play.

My rating: 7.5/10

Culdcept:

Where to start… well, ill start by saying this game is A-MAZING! Maybe it’s my love for cards that makes this game seem so great but I highly doubt it. What truly makes this game in a class of its own is that it is structured and complete.

The card system is deep and leaves your deck open for many types of build. There are tons of cards including such types as monster, items and spells. If you ever played magic the gathering than you will be right at home. Hell, even if haven’t you noob out and build a random deck you can still be deadly on the field. It’s a good blend of luck + strategy which always gives you a chance to win. On the other hand, being ahead can give you a false sense of security since an entire game can change in one turn. Ive had so many games where it came down to a single dice roll or me drawing a specific card from my deck and this is after playing for like 30-40min. It’s very intense.

Now that was just the structured part. So what makes the game complete? The number one thing is the way the game rewards the player. Even if you lose a match you receive a certain amount of random cards at the end of the match. Furthermore, if certain requirements are met during a match than you can receive medals. These medals are accumulated and once you reach certain landmarks like 5 medals than you’ll get a reward like 5 new maps added to your VS mode. There are so many ways to earn new cards/content that you will find yourself playing Culdcept for hours on end.

One of my issues is the turn length in 3-4 player games. It really can’t be helped though since you have to watch every player’s action to manage your lands/cards to the best of your ability. But it can get very long when you have been playing a match for over an hour and you are in last place just waiting for someone to win to get your cards. Apart from that there is the complex nature of the card game which can be at times confusing when a multitude of actions are taking place at the same time. Just a little nit pick but definitely worth noting.

But what stands out for me is Culdcept’s soundtrack. Not only are there over about 75 songs but a majority of them are REALLY good. Especially the early campaign songs. Another thing I liked about the ost is how every map you play has 3 set songs. You have the first board theme which plays at the beginning of the match, the second board theme which plays from the midway to the end of the match and the battle theme. There are 13 map themes which means 13 battle themes and 26 board themes in total! And did I mention how amazing some of these songs are? If you don’t believe me, here are the 3 songs to the FIRST map of the game. That’s right, I’m not even gonna go through the whole game and pick out the best songs. Just the first map. Take a listen:

Culdcept 2 - Open The World (First Half) - Best board theme so far. I almost fell asleep to this song while playing one night lol. Its so calming.
Culdcept 2 - Open The World (Second Half) - Average
Culdcept 2 - Open The World (Battle) - Sick battle theme

Composed by Kenji Ito. He described his style as “music you can listen to while you relax”. I agree. Want to hear more? Here are some of my favs up to the coliseum map:

Culdcept 2 - Bomber Princess (First Half) - Happy much?
Culdcept 2 - Holding Revenge In My Heart (First Half) Emotional trumpet
Culdcept 2 - Sorceress Of Fate (Second Half) - Evil organ + Epic chant = WIN

My rating: 9/10

Conclusion:

Culdcept is by far the superior game. It feels complete and has an addictive quality to it that makes you want to keep playing and collecting cards. Its ost is also a very important factor in making it feel so complete.

But that doesn’t mean Dokapon Kingdom should be overlooked. Culdcept is the better game overall but Dokapon is definitely the easiest game to play and get used to. So although it lost in this Double Dip, I can safely say it won as being the simpler game to play with friends (good if you are making a drinking game of it.)

WINNER: Culdcept (ps2)

[supercatbarf :3]

Clearly not soon enough!

[DarkShadow14]

Dokapon doesn't look like the Atlus games I know Is it kind of like Mario Party, but instead of mini games you fight battles? I like the fact that you can rob stores , but I don't however like this concept of cheating A.I. ...sounds kind of cheap. unlike sandwiches at Edelwiess.

In the end my vote is that Dokapon Kingdong is the better game

[supercatbarf :3]

Yay for robbing stores which you can't do in real life! Well without some type of consequence other than cha-ching. lol moments are always the essential of a good game, if there isn't any it quickly becomes bad! I would hate not having luck as a factor esp. right after that fight with BIG Teddy in P4 and Yosuke and MC basically killed him from like quarter health with *BIG Teddy attacks* *tsing ching quang!* *attacks gets reflected back* like 10 times haha. Yeah I heard Dokapon Kingdom is a really good game so my vote is for DK so far!

[Blacksky]

That reminds me of my 2nd playthrough of p3 where i was fighting nyx avatar on hard and he had like 600 hp left and cast that cheap move that randomly ailments your team. Everyone on my team got charmed or confused and i was feared which makes you miss your turn like 70% of the time on hard +crit hit on you if your hit by physical. But luckily i got my turn but I was at 100hp and even if i healed using a soma i was dead next round since he was constantly spamming phys/almighty moves 2x per turn. So i decided to risk it and just throw up a magic mirror and his next turn he cast magarudyne lol. Odds of that all happening are 0.3(chance of getting a turn while feared)*0.5(since about half of his moves would have killed me)= 0.15 or 15%. Now thats lucky. That was after a 45min boss fight too so you could imagine how relieved i was.

Btw bumb on topic + ill be adding some songs from each game and a written review either tonight or some time this weekend

[Blacksky]

Review+Conclusion to the double dip is up! The review also includes some sweet new songs! Will Dokapon be the superior game? Read on ahead...

Btw: Culdcept (ps2) is actually culdcept 2 in Japan. Its one of those retarded "change the name for NA release" things they do like with the early FF games. So if you are looking for the ost for it then look under culdcept 2 or culdcept 2 deluxe.

[DarkShadow14]

Sweet review man! I definitely wasn't expecting Culdcept to come out with a score like that and crash the almighty Dokapon Kingdom, but after listening to some of those relaxing songs Mr. Ito put in I was a little less surprised. Gameplay sounds fun with the main likability factor for me being the numerous ways you can build your deck. (I like customization haHA) I think it'd be a game that would take some time for me to get into though. Either way though I think we should at least play Dokapon drinking game, since you said it's more playas friendly. I also think you should add a few of the Culdcept songs into your next version of ScrewOver as break songs or something... unless there's some super crazy intense filled song that deserves some actual game time playage.

btw don't get too addicted to card games unlike Mike who is addicted with a poker type game in Vespy haha. I'm pretty sure at least 3-4 hours were spent gambling

Keep 'em reviews coming!

[supercatbarf :3]

The music of Culdcept sounds pretty damn good with a imperial/medieval like theme to each one. The battle theme is nice with the kind of base drummy background in it. The princess one is like lalala little girl on the beach on her epic adventure of collecting sea shells and Sorceress one is a hit for me it has that always necessary epic organ in evil songs with a good theme tune to it and yet at the same time it has a relaxing melting feel to it. And music is a large part of what makes a good game so Culdcept sounds like the real deal! Cards are also a very nice addition to any game lol makes a nice upbeat change from the world ending or some similar thing like in most games because trying to prevent that can get to you esp. repetitive battles of same monsters trying to make you brain dead!

Haha its poker so of course its addicting and fake money just makes you want to keep playing because there isn't any consequence! Apart from having your life drift away. Starting from 4 chips to over 2 million chips in like half an hour+ is pretty nice and same with getting rare items for everyone and 99 supplies that most wont be used!

[Blacksky]

Thanks for the feedback guys! Took a long time to write but it looks like it came out alright.

Culdcept does take a LONG time to get used to thats for. But the reward of learning the hard way only makes the game that much better once you know it. Something i didnt add which would be fun to try in June is that the game allows you to create multiple characters with randomly selected starter decks. With these characters you can play VS mode where every player who plays gets awarded cards at the end of the match. Meaning, we could have our on league where we just play us 3 and continue to build our deck through 1v1v1 play. Maybe even find a drinking game out of that like everytime someone kills a monster or when we pass the castle (kinda like Go in monopoly). There is even an option where the losing player(s) have to give a certain amount of their cards to the winner. So with 40+ maps and 13 bgm combinations im pretty sure we could have some pretty intense games, although i would have the advantage of knowing everything pretty well

But ya when i start working on the our new screw over ill def be putting in some culdcept music. Ill also be calling on you guys for some new songs so start building your own fav song list! Is it just me or is there a whole new game inside vesperia that I didnt see when i played through it twice? lol. You guys keep finding new things. Poker in vespy would be sick. I would always play korol just to take his lunch money mhuah!! Karol hate never gets old.

I think the princess one is a def top 3 song from culdcept. The only thing that sucks is her other songs arent all that great. Thinking about making a top 10 of culdcept songs. The later part of the game didnt house a lot of awesome tracks but there were a few. But really i could fill a top 10 with just the first half of the campaign's songs. And i kinda laughed at your comment of how cards make it different than most games being about the world ending. Well... Culdcept is kindov about that lol. Just instead of using swords to fight and save the world you are throwing cards at each other while playing monopoly! Hell, some guys in game are dressed in complete armor and carry swords yet they accept "defeat" after you beat them in a card match. They must have some strange sense of fairplay lol

[supercatbarf :3]

Sounds like a card game deserving a chance to be tried as a drinking game although I have a feeling I will die as always. But you need to find something to forget the game after its made so you don't remember 'cause thats just not fair! Yeah def put some culdcept music, it would be really sweet to have our drinking games consists of a lot of completely different music that sounds amazing in their own way. Haha it is so addicting and great, I'm surprised they didn't "escort" me out for ruining their business lol. All these other mini games are on some random island basically called Namco Bandai Island (omgzorzbbq thats the makers of the game!) and its like a circus of random games and it has staged plays where you can get different costumes and its even more awesome 'cause Karol fag's costume is a toad hah! And we found some note hidden in a shoelocker which referred to Abyss which is pretty cool and made you go hmmmmmmm.

Well that's a peaceful concept of saving the world lol I would totally blow the cards away so he could never win! lol dressed in full armour and swords and they are like awww I lost the card game, well I guess there's nothing else I can do but accept defeat.

[Blacksky]

Post a vid of Namco Bandai Island! Would be cool to see you crippling vesperia casino's. Do you need to have a newgame+ to get there?

[supercatbarf :3]

Oh we will! I think ben taped some of poker but I'm not sure especially since it was morning and had genetics exam before then so my brain didn't have the capacity to do anything but switch or keep cards (texas hold'em is probably too pro to be put on a game sadly). Nawh it was in the first playthrough too but I just wanted to finish and get to the second playthrough. You only get to go to it when Duke makes his tower of repetitive electric guitar doom, it's that island in the very top left of the map with those explody red balloons that almost KO'd us the first time lol except it was hiding underwater so it could give enormous amounts of money to fishies too. AAAANNNDDD we are officially off topic rriiiighttt abbbbouutt now xD

[Blacksky]

Are you still breathing? lol. It felt like you said that paragraph in a split second and just passed out! But yeah i remember those red balloons of doom but didnt that place have nothing at it? I swear I explored that game inside and out and never found a casino. Damnit ben where be all the illegal gambling in vesperia!

[supercatbarf :3]

If you squint real hard (not hard for me though) the square with water looks like there's a building underwater and it only comes up after Tower of Tarqaron/Tartarus/Fish and Chips with Tartar Sauce is relinquished! (such a Yugioh word). Haha and I found the casino in Abyss but it's nowhere near as easy to bankrupt the casino :/

[Blacksky]

Fish and chips with tartar sauce... Mmmmmm! Sounds like a delicious casino haha. You think the casinos in Tales would have a set system where they wouldnt lose money in the long run but i guess not lol. Like, you're bankrupting every tales of casino out there! If the next tales game has a recession in it then its your fault man

[DarkShadow14]

There doesn't seem to be any lack of retarded NPC in Tales of the Abyss that would be willing to spend all teh moneyz at the casino. If it was just mike that played at the casino's then Vespy would have lost a shit ton of money and gone bankrupt a looooong time ago haha

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