A double dose of Cladun craziness

The focus of this two-part post: The fabulous, System Prisma-developed, NIS America-published Cladun: This is an RPG.

I've spent more than 10 hours playing this pixelated gem since I bought it last week and I have to say, if you like dungeon crawlers, roguelikes and RPGs (this game includes elements of all three genres), own a PSP and can afford to blow $19.99, you're sure to enjoy this game as much as I have so far.

Anyway, the point of this post isn't to talk about how much I'm loving Cladun; the point is to talk about how much I'm loving its soundtrack.

You see, when I first started playing Cladun, I opted to listen to its 8-bit-esque tunes rather than its standard ("real," according to the folks at NIS America) tunes. The former are appreciably chunky, but I'd be hard pressed to say they blew me away. Hoping to change things up a bit, I switched over to the game's standard tunes yesterday--and was astounded.

I'm especially fond of the following track, titled "Slicing the Wind":



For the sake of comparison, here's the 8-bit version of the song.

So, the focus of the first part of this post is Cladun's awesome soundtrack; what's the focus of the second part? NIS America's recently released trailer for the game's sequel, Cladun x2, which will hit the North American PlayStation Store sometime in August.




Sounds pretty fantastic, doesn't it? I mean, according to the trailer, Cladun x2, staying true to its title, will offer players more characters, more classes, more dungeons, more monsters and more weapons than its predecessors. It'll also give them more customization options by allowing them to alter their character's weapons and armor as well as their character's appearance.

The only thing that could make me look forward to this game more than I am already would be for the folks at NIS American to announce a physical, retail release that includes both Cladun and Cladun x2.

See also: 'File this under 'how in the hell did I miss this announcement?': Cladun x2 is coming to the States in August' and 'I spent my holiday weekend playing Cladun: This is an RPG, how'd you spend yours?'

I spent my holiday weekend playing Cladun: This is an RPG, how'd you spend yours?

So, the hubs and I traveled to Vancouver on Saturday--we came home yesterday afternoon--to celebrate our upcoming anniversary. (We were married in Toronto seven years ago--as of July 9.)

Don't worry, I didn't, as the headline above implies, actually spend the entire getaway playing NIS' quirky PSP game; in reality, I only played it while we were in the car. (OK, so I played it for a bit while we were in our hotel room--but only while David was showering or sleeping!)

Still, that was more than enough time for me to come to the conclusion that this is a great little dungeon crawler. Although I wasn't initially too keen on its mix-and-match graphics (the character sprites have a chunky, 8-bit look to them while the backgrounds are more lush, like something you'd see in a 16-bit game), they've since grown on me. The gameplay, which seemed bewilderingly and harrowingly complex at the beginning, has similarly wormed its way into my heart.



Speaking of Cladun's gameplay: It really is, as someone slyly suggested shortly after the title was released in Japan, a combination of Disgaea, Shiren the Wanderer and Ys. (It controls like Ys, features tons of dungeons--one of which has randomly generated floors--like Shiren and, uh, includes humorous story sequences like Disgaea.)

Anyway, that's how I spent my holiday weekend. How did all of you spend yours? Did you play any video games? If so, which ones? If not, how did you spend your time?

File this under 'how in the hell did I miss this announcement?': Cladun x2 is coming to the States in August

While looking for information on Cladun: This is an RPG, which was mentioned a few times in my last post, I came across a recent post (it was published in mid-May) on siliconera.com that suggests that game's sequel will be released stateside in August.

Sadly, it seems the creatively titled (or not) Cladun x2 will, like its predecessor, be a download-only release. Why is that sad? Well, for starters, it means North Americans won't get to own and ogle a case featuring the following, fabulous piece of cover art:

Although l'd rather see the folks at NIS America pull a What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord!? 2 and release both Cladun titles on a single UMD, I understand why they decided not to go that route.

Regardless, I plan on rewarding the company for its continued support of the all-but-dead PSP with my hard-earned cash as soon as Cladun x2 arrives on the PlayStation Store in August.

Screw Pac-Man Championship Edition, I'm going to play Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip instead

Remember how I said in this post that my next PSP purchase was likely to be Cladun: This is an RPG, Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip or Patchwork Heroes? Well, I was right: Late last week, while still lamenting the $4.99 I wasted on Pac-Man Championship Edition the week before, I bought a sealed copy of Hot Shots Tennis from someone on eBay for less than $10.

It was a tough decision to make, as I've had my eye on Cladun since it hit the PlayStation Store last fall and I've really enjoyed the time I've spent with the Patchwork Heroes demo over the last few days. So, what prompted me to pick up Hot Shots Tennis rather than those other under-consideration titles? For starters, I really wanted a physical as opposed to a digital-download release. Also, I'm currently in a tennis kind of mood thanks to "The Championships" (aka Wimbledon). Oh, and of course I liked Hot Shots Tennis' cheaper-than-cheap price tag.

Anyway, I played it for a few hours last night and I can already tell this is going to be my go-to game for the next few weeks. Its graphics are great, it controls like a dream (Nintendo fans: it feels like a Mario Tennis title) and, most importantly of all, it's a lot of fun. The only issue I have with the Clap Hanz-developed Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip at the moment is that it's far too easy. (I win most matches without losing a game.) Here's hoping the title's colorful cadre of characters begin to put up more of a fight before the closing credits roll.

Finally, another reason to pull out my PSP

I hate to admit it, but my PSP hasn't received much love since I picked it up earlier this year. In fact, I've bought just one game in the past five months: Patchwork Heroes.

That PSN-only title is about to have some company thanks to the impending release of Cladun: This is an RPG.



Don't worry if the name Cladun doesn't ring any bells; in Japan, the game was called Classic Dungeon.

Why am I going to buy this game, which will hit the PS Store on Sept. 7? Well, one gamer who played through the Japanese version described it as a mash-up of Disgaea, Shiren the Wanderer and Ys, three of my all-time-favorite titles.

(Via gamepro.com and rpgfan.com)