Crazy-early impressions of Cladun X2

I've only played Cladun X2 for about an hour and a half thus far, but those 90 or so minutes were more than enough for me to form a few just-barely-educated opinions of this pixelated, PSP-based roguelike.

Here they are, in no particular order:

* This game's soundtrack is as sexy and jazzy as ever. Which is great, because there's nothing quite like racing through a dungeon full of foes while such tunes accompany every hack, slash and step.

* Although Cladun X2 features a number of new character and weapon sprites, the rest of its graphics are either identical to the ones seen in its predecessor or so similar that they may as well be identical. I don't have a problem with that, but I'm guessing some folks will be upset that this sequel isn't a bit more visually unique.

* I'm already in love with--and putting to good use--this game's expanded class and weapon options. Case in point: The very first character I created--something that is forced on the player this time around, by the way, and right off the bat too--was a pink-haired "saint" (whose special skill slays the undead) and one of the first weapons I found for her was a bow.

* I hate to admit this, but I'm finding myself a bit confused and even overwhelmed by all of the numbers that now crowd the game's heads-up display. The original game's HUD was clean and simple--the polar opposite of what I stare at (and attempt to decipher) while playing Cladun X2.

I'll share some slightly more informed opinions (as well as an actual review) of the game after I've spent more time with it, but in the meantime the ones above should give all of you Cladun-curious folks at least a bit of an idea as to what you can expect to encounter if you buy and play this System Prisma-developed title.

See also: Previous Cladun X2 posts

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?

Don't you hate it when a sequel is announced before you've had a chance to buy the original?

I sure do.

As such, I was a bit bummed when I read (here) that the dedicated staff at Nippon Ichi Software are busy prepping a sequel to Classic Dungeon: Fuyoku no Masoujin (ClaDun: This is an RPG in the States).



Apparently, Classic Dungeon 2 will feature more job classes, more magic and, most importantly, more loot. (I love loot, don't you?)

I guess this means I should buy the original sooner rather than later--especially if I want the sequel to show up on our shores.

Now, where'd I put that darn PSP ...

Attention American PSP owners (yes, all 350 of you): Atlus' ClaDun: This is an RPG (formerly known as Classic Dungeon) is now available on PSN.

Granted, I have yet to hand over my hard-earned $19.99 for the game--but that's only because neither my PSP nor any of my other systems are on line at the moment.



As soon as that changes, I'll buy and download ClaDun and, after putting the game through its paces, share my impressions with all of you. In the meantime, check out Diehard GameFan's in-depth review of this roguelike RPG.

See also: 'Finally, another reason to pull out my PSP'

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)