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WILDCARD
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By Ace Mercury
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Everyone who claims the most important part of an RPG is the storyline: Please choke and die.
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PRESENTATION
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Graphics
It's 99% RTP from start to finish, and even the additions are things everyone's seen a thousand times before. So, no, this
isn't a visual powerhouse - but the maps have so much going on that they never look stark and empty, and only a few dungeons
ever seem repetitive. The fact almost everything is RTP makes it all look more cohesive, so you won't suddenly run across a
character who's drawn in a totally different style with a Chrono Cross faceset. This is assuming you don't count the cameos, of which there are many. Some are cute little easter eggs, like finding Mario in an out of the way corner of the map. Others, like a town called Kenobi in which Obi-Wan Kenobi actually lives and says "The elemental crystals will be with you, always", as well as there being a black mage and a moogle staying at the Inn, aren't so good.
Music & Sound Effects
Again, it's mostly RTP, which is mostly horrible-sounding. Except, here, it kind of blends in - synthesised bleep-blop-bloop
fits in better with the game than 'real' music would. It does use the Final Fantasy victory music, though, and a few other FF
rips (but no major tracks, and nothing from the more popular ones).
Originality
Nope. It's default, but at the same time, it isn't all blatantly stolen from Final Fantasy & co.
Extra stuff
There were a ton of minigames, sidequests and easter eggs. Combat was actually challenging. There was a merciful lack of long
cutscenes. The game was actually fun.
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STORYLINE & CHARACTERS
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Storyline
This is the single most generic, predictable and clichéd story you could possibly have in an RPG. Many years ago, a powerful
demon was sealed away using 8 elemental runestones, and For Some Reason (TM) only a kid and his friends can stop it from
being released again. Could the kid's mysterious dreams be the key?
Here's why I like it:
For starters, everything moves really quickly - there's no hour-long prologue, the final party is assembled after
about 15 minutes, and it's always clear where you have to go next. The characters are utterly one-dimensional, but they have
goals we understand, and remain true to their natures throughout. There's a love story sub-plot that is totally and utterly
unbelievable, except in the context of an RPG, where it fits right in. It's predictable and formulaic, but the game
knows this and doesn't get caught up in thinking it's literature and shove 15-minutes cutscenes down our throat. It doesn't
take itself remotely seriously, but isn't a self-aware parody. Objectively, this is a terrible, terrible story, but it's a
good (not great) story for an RPG, since it's always clear what's happening, why it's happening, what you're meant to do
next, and it never gets in the way of the actual gameplay. Everything else story-wise reflects this attitude - the characters, dialogue and cutscenes are 99% fat free with only a few pure 'story' moments in the entire game (which is complete). Since it all works so well together, they're getting higher points than they would on their own. The whole works better than the sum of its parts.
And, face it, it really isn't any worse as a story than every other RPGmaker game (or commercial release). The only
difference between Wildcard and, say, Power Trip (which I reviewed about 10 minutes ago), is that Wildcard has a derivative,
brainless story and knows it, whereas Power Trip has a derivative, brainless story and thinks it's an artistic and
intellectual tour de force. One was fun and light-hearted, one was a tiring slog through interminable pseudo-philosophical
bullshit. Slight story told well beats complicated story told badly, especially in the case of video games.
Could it have been better? Yeah, certainly; I like the execution, but it's still totally devoid of anything new. It wouldn't
have killed to have a more original premise than sealed demons & stone-collecting.
Characters
Not an ounce of angst is present, thank God. When the main characters' house is destroyed, their reaction is annoyance at the
fact their house is fucked, not to have an existential crisis. Going on a quest to save the world is basically a fun
distraction for them, since they don't have much else to do (and one of them's the chosen one). They all get one or two
little moments to themselves, but that's it: No flashbacks, no dark hidden pasts, and no cringe-inducing attempts at
'character depth'. The moment that best sums up the characters is when they're about to enter the final dungeon and face the
great evil. In any other game, there'd be a long-winded scene where everyone talks about what they've learned on the journey,
how this may be the last time they see each other alive, and that the fate of the world is in their hands. In Wildcard, they
say "That was fun. We should do it again some time!".
However, while they're likeable and I don't want to beat them to death (which is my usual reaction to RPG characters),
they're still not that memorable, and the only one who comes across as an individual is the mage. But, hey, its infinitely
preferable to a an adolescent whinefest.
Cut Scenes
Despite what I said about the plot being very slight, there are quite a lot of cutscenes in Wildcard, it's just that they're
extremely short. There's also very little animation, being that they're mostly conversations. OK, they're all conversations.
The only 'long' cutscene - which isn't really that long - gives you total control of the characters' dialogue, which keeps
you involved when it could have just degenerated into "Let's have a romance sub-plot for the sake of it".
Originality
Where?
Script
There aren't any errors or cut-off text. It's the usual stuff where they discuss plot points, but there's also a fair bit of
humour thrown in to stop it getting boring. Like the plot and characters, the 'less is more' approach really helps.
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GAMEPLAY
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Event Programming
A lot of little things, none of them very complicated, but they all work fine and actually add something to the game instead
of just being there for the sake of it. There are plenty of minigames which, while they've been done better before, are still
fun and work fine. The 'steal' command is something a lot of people implement, but this is one of the rare occasions where
your agility plays a role in how successful you are, and there are items that specifically increase your ability to steal.
Likewise, you have a 'scan' spell, but instead of just giving you stats, you get a short paragraph that talks about
the monster itself, and, if you're wearing a specific item, you can read the monster's thoughts. This seems like a gimmick,
and in random encounters it pretty much is, but, by reading the thoughts of your adversaries, you gain insights into their
character - much, much less intrusive (and more believable) than having them tell their entire life story with their dying
breaths.
Fun Factor
It never slows down, combat is challenging without being stupidly difficult, the dungeons are (mostly) excellent, the
sidequests stop things getting monotonous, and the mood never changes from "Let's go on an adventure!". This is a complete
game that's very long, but I never had to force myself to finish it. A few dungeons seem quite rushed, but that's the
only complaint I have.
Combat
Reading your opponent's thoughts adds a narrative dimension to combat, which is a nice change from the cutscene-fight-
cutscene setup. Status-effect spells are mandatory if you want to get anywhere, but choosing the right ones for the right
moment isn't necessarily easy, so, amazing as it sounds, this is an RPG where you'll use tactics other than "Ice is weak
against Fire!". Not that elements don't have a place in combat - this is another area where the combat shines. Your mage has
access to all the elemental magic as soon as you get her, and none of them use up a great deal of MP, so you're really
encouraged to experiment with who's weak vs. what element(s) during fights. Also, each element has its own specific
properties - fire spells do more damage overall, lightning spells can stun opponents, water spells have very random damage,
dark spells absorb HP etc. On top of this, you can upgrade the spells by finding certain items, instead of just
learning Fire2 when you reach a certain level - it gives you an incentive to explore and stops your magic menu getting
cluttered up with obsolete spells.
Every character fulfils a role in the party - there's a fighter, a healer, a mage and a thief. Nothing new there, but what's
great about Wildcard is how well they work together. You have to play up the various strengths of each character to
cover the weaknesses of the others, or you're dead. Each one is also customisable thanks to the variable equipment - you can
max out certain stats, but it'll leave you vulnerable in some areas. Give the mage a wand, magic ring, robe and circlet and
watch her magic stats skyrocket... only her defence is going to suck, so you need to protect her. But, give her a bow,
armour, a helmet and she'll be able to take a lot of punishment, only her spells won't be that effective. Give the warrior a
spear and he'll become stronger, but won't be able to use his sword abilities. To be an effective thief requires high
agility, but most heavy armour makes you slower... but you'll die pretty quickly if you don't have decent armour. Stuff like
this is a such a fucking relief from the "Buy the equipment with the best stats, equip and forget" approach most RPGs have.
While the combat's great, it only really hits its stride when you're fighting bosses or high-level monsters. Most of the
random encounters can be beaten by lobbing your most powerful attacks at the enemy over and over, but, hey, "most of the
random encounters" is better than "every single fight in the game" by a mile.
Dungeons
There are a ton of them, and they all have some sort of gimmick that stops them just being a maze filled with monsters.
They're predictable gimmicks like slippery ice puzzles, mazes with a limited field of view, timed switches, damaging lava and
the like, but when most games don't even bother with them in the first place, I shouldn't complain. Two dungeons aren't even
really dungeons at all, and the quest revolves around how to get inside them, not what's inside them, which adds a lot of
variety to what could have just been another dungeon crawl. They all have a lot of optional treasure, some of which you can't
get the first time though, so that adds replay value to something that in most cases doesn't even have play value. The last
dungeon, and the way it's set up, is brilliant: It works as a dungeon, it works to introduce new characters without it
seeming forced, and by playing with the timeline, it adds tension.
Then again, there are downsides. A few of them seem rushed and incomplete, though still nowhere near as bad as "5
interconnecting rooms and a boring boss". Weirdly, one dungeon has touch-encounters, but none of the others do - I have no
idea why. The biggest issue I have, though, is the tendency to put random encounters in puzzle rooms. Trying to remember what
order to press switches in is enough; the addition of random monster fights is distracting and frustrating.
Puzzles & Minigames
Aside from the fishing and archery minigames, there's a waterfall ride that actually uses the characters' HP to work out how
many things you can hit instead of giving you an arbitrary 'health' stat (and it all comes full circle at the bottom, too).
The spell upgrading quest has the right mixture of easy and difficult clues. There are fighting tournaments you can enter, a
sidequest dungeon, weird monsters to hunt (a tree that gives you gold, but will kill you if you take too much; Gold slime
that's almost invincible but worth an insane amount of GP, etc.), all sorts of little touches that really add to the game
instead of simply being 'little touches'.
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OVERALL
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Wildcard is well made and fun. It flirts with being great, but the 'seen it all before' vibe and a few rough edges hold it
back. Definitely a worthwhile download, though.
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