PSP World

Neverland Card Battles Review

Because I've never really been a fan of Trading Card Games, or even card games for that matter, when I popped the Neverland Card Battles UMD into my PSP and started playing, I thought I would be disappointed. While the game does have some flaws which could be addressed, the core game play is what will attract and ultimately keep players coming back to this unique game.

The game play is hard to describe without sounding too technical, but basically you assume the role of Galahad (how cliche), who's been summoned to the temple of an ancient god known as Hellgaia in order to keep him from breaking his bonds and consuming the entire earth in his rage. Egma is the temple keeper and you'll chat with him longer than necessary before you even get into any of the action. The introduction of the game did annoy me, as I sat and listened to dialog and poorly illustrated cut scenes for a good 10 minutes before I could even begin playing the game.

Once it does get under way, you'll immediately be thrown into battle with Egma in order to prove you're worthy to continue on your quest of preventing Hellgaia's bonds from breaking. This game is one in which you'll want to read the manual before you start, as you're given no instruction as Egma makes his first moves. If you're familiar with card based games, this process may be familiar to you, but to someone like me, it took a while to figure out how to move around, draw my cards, and ultimately, prevent the fight from being one-sided.

Once you understand how to draw your cards and move around, you'll have to think strategically in order to win battles in Neverland Card Battles. The game's A.I. is quite intelligent and uses cards to the best of their abilities, so you'll need to learn early on which cards are best for which situations. The cards you're given in your starter deck aren't the best available, so once you've beaten Egma, you'll definitely need to adjust your card deck in order to move on and continue winning battles.

Another interesting aspect of Neverland Card Battles is the fact that the game is essentially controlled by territory. Each move your character and summoned cards makes are limited, but if you move across neutral territory, that territory becomes yours, and enhances the amount of cards you can draw. You'll receive points each turn for squares which still remain in your possession, so you can continue to draw cards. Keeping your enemy locked out of territory is one way in which to win a card battle, but there are countless other ways. You'll need to keep this territory aspect in mind to keep your enemy from gaining too much ground, but also to keep your troops in the battle, as each turn costs upkeep to keep your troops on the field. If you don't have the upkeep it takes, you'll be asked to destroy one of your troops, moving it back to your deck.

Once you've won a battle, the game gives you a little 'break' screen where you can save your game, adjust your decks, and find out more information on the cards you hold. You have the option to create three different decks, and all of your cards can be in the three different decks since you can only wield one deck in battle. It's wise to have at least two different decks set up for an attack and defense strategy, so you can gauge the opponent with them before committing to serious battle.

You'll progress through 16 levels with a new Dominator on each level to beat before you can stop Hellgaia. These Dominators each have different tactics when it comes to winning a battle, so you'll need to adjust your own strategies, as well as your cards in order to win. I found it helpful to play through old levels which I had already beaten in order to earn more cards for the upcoming fight, since some cards you'll find will be all but useless.

There are a few problems which mar the game and keep it from becoming excellent. Most notably are the dated graphics used during gameplay. You can see the clear contrast from the wonderfully detailed graphics which are used on the cards' face and the poor looking 16 - bit animations which are used in battle sequences. Artistically, the card designs remind us a bit of medieval tarot cards, but with an anime flourish. Admittedly, a card game isn't where you'd go for cutting edge graphics, but Neverland Card Battles' graphics are so behind the times, it looks like a game that was converted from the SNES instead of the Playstation 2.

In addition, as I was playing through the game, I found that the game accessed the disc each time the cursor passes over one of the characters on the field, which caused a small delay in game play. While this might seem like a minor issue, when both you and your enemy have several cards in play which are close together, navigating around them can become a hellish experience in order to avoid the delay. This not only causes a bit of lag in game play, it also severely reduces the battery life on the PSP, which is not something you want when playing a game. Thinking this problem might be limited to the PSP-1000, I also tried the game with a PSP 2000 Slim. The same lag effect was still noticeable, but reduced.

Overall, if you're a player who doesn't mind out-dated graphics in favor of solid game play and a mediocre story line, you'll likely find fun in Neverland Card Battles. It definitely has some replay value, as you'll earn different cards for each battle you win, so if you're a completionist with a deck building complex, you'll be right at home in Neverland Card Battles.

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