I’ve by no means actually been one for card video games, each out and in of video video games. Past amassing just a few Pokémon playing cards within the college playground, I used to play Gin Rummy with my grandad however he taught me such peculiar Devonshire guidelines I might by no means play with anybody else. The odd recreation of Uno at Christmas is about my restrict.
That every one modified in 2024 as I’ve spent a shocking period of time enjoying digital card video games, totally on my cellphone. For a lot of, Balatro has been a revelation this yr, turning poker fingers right into a tense roguelike. It wasn’t till its cell launch in September, although, that it actually clicked for me. I’ve all the time struggled with poker – partly I’ve a horrible poker face, however I also can by no means bear in mind the hierarchy of fingers – but Balatro had me almost lacking my practice cease on a number of events.
Balatro is a kind of easy concepts that simply works, however as soon as I discovered a way of success that simply clicked – unlock the checkered deck and go all in on flushes – and subsequently beat the ultimate blind, I began to lose curiosity. Then Pokémon TCG Pocket swooped in at simply the appropriate time. Its digital playing cards are stunning and journeying inside to see what’s occurring outdoors of their borders is a masterstroke. Greater than something it appears to have introduced out my superstitious tendencies: what number of instances do I spin the cardboard packs earlier than opening? Which Surprise Decide placement do I choose? And if I peel open a pack in an ideal straight line will I be extra more likely to discover a shiny? The preliminary pleasure has worn off, although, because the precise card recreation is repetitive and I as a substitute merely open packs robotically hoping for something however one other Ponyta.
No, there’s one other card recreation that actually caught my consideration this yr: Queen’s Blood. Ultimate Fantasy 7 Rebirth is principally a card recreation with a world-saving RPG hooked up as a bit of aspect quest. And from the second I first performed it, I knew that was it for me.
After all, there is a robust custom of card video games within the Ultimate Fantasy sequence. Ultimate Fantasy 8 had the enduring Triple Triad, later tailored into MMORPG Ultimate Fantasy 14, whereas Ultimate Fantasy 9 had the inferior Tetra Grasp. But none of those grabbed me in the way in which Queen’s Blood did. Maybe, with Rebirth being a remake, its core plot was much less central to my enjoyment. I used to be eager, as a substitute, to discover the world, meet its inhabitants, and take in the environment in every of its expanded cities and areas. I used to be eager, in brief, to play Queen’s Blood.
It is a easy sufficient premise. Performed on a 3 x 9 board, gamers duel by laying down playing cards alternately from opposing sides with the intention of filling it with the very best rating playing cards. Playing cards function a Tetris-style sample that dictates the place future playing cards could be positioned and I shortly discovered a simple technique in putting playing cards to dam opponents.
The sport is accompanied by an infectious jazz soundtrack: the mild lounge piano of card choice making approach for a Huge Band fanfare as the sport correctly begins. And as Cloud will get nearer to the win, the drums crescendo into an insistent, raucous clatter till victory. Like that music, the sport itself builds in complexity as you progress all over the world, gaining new playing cards with strategic skills. I wanted to gather all of them, to grow to be the easiest, like nobody ever was. And never a Ponyta in sight.
You see, Queen’s Blood is not nearly taking up the board as shortly as attainable, as I had initially suspected. Early video games had been enjoyable however shallow and I simply received. Later, new playing cards are added that buff others primarily based on extra fiddly Tetris shapes till finally playing cards that destroy others are launched. All of a sudden a brand new layer of technique opens up as filling the board with probably the most highly effective playing cards is not sufficient when you cannot solely destroy your opponent’s playing cards to disrupt their assault, however destroy your individual to spice up others and reveal new areas. Then deck administration turns into extra integral, balancing excessive and low energy playing cards, with playing cards to buff, de-buff, and destroy. It is like Marvel Snap with Ultimate Fantasy characters.
What I notably get pleasure from is the puzzle mode – very like the Remake trilogy itself, it is a good approach of reinterpreting the sport. Right here, as a substitute of a dwell opponent, you are given particular playing cards and a set variety of strikes with which to attain victory, forcing new pondering. For example, I distinctly bear in mind being given a set of playing cards with shapes aiming backwards as a substitute of forwards that had me utterly rethinking my tactical cost throughout the board. And when destroy playing cards had been launched, I wanted to rigorously select targets to maximise energy. I spent nearly as a lot time pondering Queen’s Blood puzzle methods as I did the sport’s convoluted conclusion.
The place Queen’s Blood actually excels, although, is in fleshing out the world. That, actually, is what the Remake trilogy has been all about. Certain, Ultimate Fantasy 7 is a sci-fi thriller of weird conspiracies and alien experiments and existential crises, nevertheless it’s additionally camp as hell. It is with the Queen’s Blood quest that the builders actually leaned into that silliness for some levity, proper up till its melodramatic finale. Nowhere else do you get to play a card recreation towards, amongst others: a crybaby grown man in tears earlier than you even start; a younger ventriloquist youngster who seems like she has a smoking downside; a steam-powered AI robotic; a large cranky rideable rooster (superb, a chocobo); or perhaps a canine. It is so weird, however so in-keeping with the bizarre spirit and tonal shifts of the unique recreation.
Of all Rebirth’s myriad minigames, it is Queen’s Blood I maintain coming again to. Certain, different card video games this yr might have intelligent joker twists and cute critters, however Queen’s Blood has the complexity and the flexibility to reinterpret itself in new methods to guarantee its longevity. Apart from, it is by way of a Queen’s Blood match we get to see over-sized fire-dog Purple XIII doing a Michael Jackson impression – what might presumably be higher?
