Culdcept Saga

As the game begins, the player-nameable "Boy" protagonist sells himself into slavery to help his struggling village. While departing the village with his new owner, the two encounter a mysterious woman carrying a deck of magical cards which respond powerfully to the young man's presence. As the woman, Princess Faustina, pleads with the slaver to release the boy (whom she refers to as "the savior"), all three are set upon by Rilara, a traveling bandit. It is here that the young man, controlled by the player, learns that he is actually a Cepter, a powerful individual who can control magical cards. Using cards borrowed from Faustina, he defeats Rilara and begins his journey towards becoming a master Cepter.

The protagonist is sold by the slaver to an arena, and must fight other Cepters to earn his freedom. When he finally does, Faustina takes him to her home, the Advatarian Empire. Her father tells her to go to the four neighboring elementally-themed lands and negotiate for peace. However, after they finish doing this, it is revealed that the king only did it as a ploy to launch an all-out attack. The protagonist must flee along with Faustina to avoid execution. Soon after, Faustina is kidnapped by High Priest Sapphius, one of the world's most powerful Cepters, who seeks to destroy the Empire and the world.

Too weak to resist the High Priest, the protagonist is forced to undergo the Trials, an ancient proving grounds for Cepters overseen by Diarna, a former Imperial knight who became a hermit. He passes them, despite the interference of Rilara, and becomes a true Cepter, learning that a Cepter's purpose is to reassemble the cards into Culdcept, the book of creation. Meanwhile, the High Priest attacks and destroys the Empire. The protagonist can choose to travel to the Northern or Southern Continent to face the High Priest, but, each time, Faustina perishes, either by the hand of the High Priest or his own. Both times, he reassembles Culdcept, and is granted the power of a god by the world's goddess Zeromn, but he chooses to return to the past, as he finds creating a world pointless without Faustina alive.

Finally, the protagonist is able to choose a third option, going to the island between the continents. There, aided by Rilara, who has now become a true Cepter herself, the protagonist convinces Faustina, who had joined the High Priest, to rejoin him, and fights Sapphius. It is revealed that Sapphius was being manipulated by Baltias, an evil god who cast a curse on Culdcept. The protagonist defeats Baltias, and both he and Faustina become gods together, finally creating a new world.

Drawing a card at the start of a turn.

As in Monopoly, players in Culdcept Saga roll dice and move around a game board, attempting to claim spaces and assess fees against other Cepters who land there. Unlike Monopoly, squares are claimed by summoning creatures to guard them, and players who land on them can opt to challenge this creature with one of their own rather than pay the toll. If successful, the challenger claims ownership of the square. The winner of the game is the first player to return to the starting location after amassing a sufficient quantity of magic/mana.

The story for Culdcept Saga was written by Tow Ubukata, a science fiction and anime author.[3]

The main composer for the game's music was Kenji Ito, who worked previously on titles such as those in the SaGa series, as well as earlier Culdcept installments.[4] The massive soundtrack spans 4 CDs, and while not released outside Japan in any physical format, is available on iTunes.[3] Card artwork was provided by a large number of different artists from across Japan, each using their own style and imagination to come up with appropriate illustrations. The time required for the artists to complete their work and then have the images imported into the game totalled over a year.[4]

The game received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[5] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 34 out of 40, while Famitsu X360 gave it a score of one nine, two eights, and one seven for a total of 32 out of 40.[8]

IGN commented that game length can be quite excessive (4+ hours for a single match with multiple opponents) and that the game never really moves too far beyond the core "roll dice, play creature" mechanics.[17] However, they later named the game one of the "hidden gems" of 2008.[19] GameSpy shared concerns about the lengthy time required per match, and noted that the game could be quite frustrating when luck wasn't on one's side, although the review did note that the game included a "clever mix of strategy and good old-fashioned luck".[13] Both reviews expressed dismay and confusion over the way the game routinely shows what cards are in player's hands, observing that this limits elements of strategic surprise. 1Up.com, however, praised its depth and online play.[20]

Culdcept Saga sold 27,960 units in Japan as of November 30, 2008.[21]

GameSpot nominated it for Best Game No One Played.[22] Gaming Target selected it as one of their "40 Games We'll Still Be Playing From 2008."[23]

• Official Japanese Culdcept Saga website
• OmiyaSoft's website (Japanese)
• Culdcept Central (English)
• Culdcept Forum (English)
• Culdcept Saga at MobyGames