Card En Ciel Demo: First Impressions

While scrolling Bluesky, I stumbled upon a post about a video game called Card-En-Ciel. Once I saw the similarities to Capcom’s Mega Man Battle Network, I immediately downloaded the demo on my Switch and started playing. Mark your calendars for October 24th when Card-En-Ciel launches on Nintendo Switch, PS4 & PS5, Xbox, and Steam.

Developed by Inti Creates, Card-En-Ciel is a roguelike card-battling RPG with over 300 cards and 50 unique vocal songs. You play as Neon, “the gaming chair detective” famous for solving net crimes, as he encounters a strange new case within an in-development game world. Characters from different games are showing up in this world, corrupted by glitches from an unknown source. It's up to Neon and his support character to get to the bottom of this mystery and return the game to its original form.

As you may have noticed from my previous articles, I enjoy card-battling video games. The game caught my attention because it reminded me of Mega Man Battle Network games with its 6x6 grid battles and card-based combat. That game formed the template for the Mega Man Starforce series, the third game of which I played, and while I have yet to beat it, I always wanted to try a similar game if the chance came along.

At first glance, Card En Ciel seems like a clone of Battle Network, albeit with characters from various Inti Creates games like Azure Strikers Gunvolt and Gal Guardians Demon Purge. Neon explores various dungeons featuring characters from those games and engages in battles with them on a grid where you can move, use various cards for different effects, and attack. However, this is where the similarities end.

One of Card-En-Ciel’s unique aspects is that the cards are a mix of fictional game characters who make up attack cards, defense break cards, action cards, and Muse cards. Attack cards let you do a certain amount of damage, while defense break cards let you slowly whittle down an enemy's defense. When an enemy’s break number reaches 0, you can prevent them from taking action and deal major damage. Action cards are best activated when an enemy takes action, as it can let you withstand the damage. Finally, Muse Cards are special cards obtained after battling a Muse character and grant various card effects through the power of song.

When it comes to how to play the cards, it takes a certain number of turn play points (you start with five) to play certain cards. For example, you could play an attack card that does major damage but uses up three play points. Another factor you have to keep mind is that you need to save cards for moving out of range for enemy attacks. Moving costs no play points but costs you a card so you have to use your best judgment with them.

Outside of battle, you explore a certain number of floors to collect cards, fight various game characters and Muses, and eventually make your way to the dungeon's boss. This is where the rouge-like part comes in; if you are playing on normal mode and you fall in battle, you have to do the entire dungeon over again.

Furthermore, the deck resets during each run, so you never use the same cards each time. It’s not a grueling experience since you have the option to heal the HP you’ve lost in between encounters and playing on Easy Mode grants you a few chances to continue a battle if you fall in battle. But if you avoid battles too often a purple bar on the screen will slowly increase. The more the bar increases, the harder it will be to avoid battles.

While the card battle aspect is fun and fast-paced, the demo had some glaring issues that hampered the experience. You cannot manually save in a dungeon, only outside at your base, and although the game auto-saves your progress, exiting the game without manually saving at the base results in you having to replay the entire dungeon again.

Another minor issue is that there is a bit of fanservice involving certain female characters in and out of battle. One Muse card I activated in battle showed an image of a guy staring up the Muse’s skirt. When you’re outside the dungeon at your base, Neon’s guide Ancile is almost 3D, with her breasts given particular emphasis. She will also sometimes sit suggestively while looking at the player. I know this is meant to appeal to the male gamer demographic, but as someone not male, it just annoys me.

Between the lack of manual saving and the fanservice, I did not enjoy the demo as much as I had hoped. However, I might consider the full game on sale someday. Despite the flaws, the gameplay is still fun.