Kongai: I Love the Smell of New Game In The Morning

I know I planned on putting up some content over the weekend. And, well, I didn't. It's not my fault. You see, there's this new game. I really like her. She's pretty and she smells of soft things.
In other words, I've fallen heads over heels for Kongai. It's been sucking up a lot of time and, now that I've gotten a few matches under my belt I'm confident it's going to be sucking up even more (Which is the last thing I need right now but, hey, that's just the way it goes.). I've still yet to rope someone in authority and ask them about the rules regarding what I can and can't say so I'll try and keep from getting all crunchy with it. I know that they don't want people posting screenshots because the "press" doesn't want to be deprived of their exclusives (I use the scare quotes because the gaming press in no way resembles actual journalism and is more like a subsidized echo chamber for hype and press releases. Also, some game companies consider bloggers as part of the press. Kept some folks I know out of some closed tests.). And, instead, I'll try and stick to the basic impressions.

Basically, the game is dead simple. It's like a fighting game. In card form. Online. It's weird but it works. You have a set number of cars and so does your opponent. These cards battle it out. Cards each have a special ability and can snap on another card, an item card, to gain another one. And each card has four different skills. Which can be anything from "You poke your opponent in the eye with a sharp stick, they take damage and are quite annoyed" to intricately complex buffs that pry open the game's system and insert interesting new wrinkles. There's a large mix of cards and skills already with the promise of more sets to come in the future. Cards have the standard health and armor and the energy to use their special skills and you set them out and have them fight each other to the death, one by one, until someone runs out of cards.

But that's just where the game is getting started. Because you don't have to stick with the card you've set out at all. You can, instead of attacking, switch it for any card still in your hand avoiding any attacks made against you in the process. Your old card goes into your hand to rest up for the next go-around and you set out another card to fight on.

But, at the same time, instead of attacking your opponent can choose to intercept. A move that does nothing except deliver a crushing blow to any card trying to escape and keeps them in play - if they're not already dead.

It becomes a complicated puzzle of trying to guess when your opponent is going to bug out and avoid your attacks. Or when they're going to stay because they know you're itching to catch them slipping away. All added on top of the game's already deep system of card fighting.

Even beyond that, there's a range system where before you can spend some energy to stay close or step away. Since some moves are restricted to certain ranges it becomes a question of whether you want to play keep away and blow your pool or save your energy to attack with.

The game's not without its problems. The matches can drag on a little long for my tastes. I'm a little worried about the way unlocks will be handled. And the balance is a little lacking (It's not awful but it's not as good as it could be. Trust me, I'm working on it.). Probably the most troubling is how it relies on random luck generators at precisely the wrong moments. But for a game that's still in development, it's strong and surprisingly engaging. For my tastes, anyways.

And although it's not perfect, it does seem perfectly suited to my tastes. Just the right combination of knowledge and preparation required to crunch numbers on the fly sprinkled through with elements that reward the unquantifiable elements. Because you can delve into the numbers and the stats and the descriptions and come up with a perfect strategy but since it's not all about the numbers, it still might not matter if you don't have nerves of steel. Brass ones help, too.

Honestly, I haven't been this thrilled about a game since Guild Wars. And I can't help but compare my experience these past few days with my early time with that game. That heady time when everything was fresh and new and exciting. There were stats to unravel and strats to uncover. No one knew what they were doing. No one would know for months just what they were wrong about just that they were. But, flush with the joy of a game we'd fallen for, we couldn't help but talk and chat and discuss and try to understand the game. On boards, in chats, and everywhere else we picked apart at the things we understood and guessed at the things we didn't. I'd like to think I helped that process along, somewhat.

Just as I'd like to think I have somehting to offer to the people playing and making Kongai. I might not be the best player. I might not be the smartest. But I am one of the wordiest. And when I'm engaged, when I'm involved, when my interest has been piqued and I'm aroused form the daily slumber that is my waking life, I'm not exactly shy about making my opinion known. It's fun. And, I think, in a lot of ways, I've been looking for a way back to that feeling of enjoyment I had, way back when. For other games, for other things, that so captivated me.

So, you'll forgive me if I've been a bit absent around here. It just takes time to play those games and make those posts and have those conversations. With the Frenzy starting - gulp - tomorrow, I'll likely have even less. Which is why I'm going to be posting a lot less around here. At least until I can get someone to tell me it's okay to post my twelve-part treatise on why Higashi is the best card ever where everyone can see.