First off, I've got to apologize for the extremely common picture of Yuna. It's cool, but you guys are probably tired of seeing it by now. Still no luck on Yuna fan-art. Yuna seems to suffer the same fate as Rikku, in that people love drawing her X-2 self, while this card is meant to showcase her FFX self, specifically early Yuna, travelling from Besaid.
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As a leader ability, you may find Yuna's a little lacking, because it isn't that powerful from the get-go. Just as Yuna from the game relied almost entirely on her Guardians, she's at her most powerful alongside them in the card game.
But really, when you think about it, that's not really a bad thing. In Guardians, you already have a pretty balanced subtheme going, Auron and Khimari as Fighters, Wakka, Rikku, and Tidus as Rogues, and Lulu as your Black Mage. I can see the Yuna sub-theme getting pretty popular, because throw 3 guardians in there and you have a 1500 defense Summoner with White Magic. That's extremely hard to kill, assuming you get through, who says she doesn't have a cure?
However, it does take a little set-up to get this started, which is where the balance lies.
I haven't really tried to create too many cards that deliberately add synergy. As far as CCGs go, I'm more of a power player, than a combo, or thematic player. I'm just used to strong single cards with strong single abilities, and thus: like to create them. I should pay more attention to cards like this though, because it really does make it more fun in the end to be able to have a Yuna's Guardians deck, or what have you. I have a really cool idea for a key card in a Dalmascan deck. It's not in this set though, so you'll have to wait a bit. Unless you really want to see it :)
First off, there's no need to apologize for the art. I think that is the iconic Yuna pose, which works well considering Yuna is the iconic summoner. I don't think anyone else comes close to that role except perhaps Rydia.
ReplyDeleteAs I'm a continuous thorn in the side or stick in the mud I'm going to ask my usual twenty (give or take 18 or 19) questions:
How do you identify which abilities are "Leader"? Is it simply any abilities appearing on a character with that designation? Is it only the unique ability listed below standard ability types? I think this entry makes it clear in the context that "Retinue" only functions when Yuna is designated the leader - you could still use Summon and White magic if you appointed a different character, yes?
A Yuna sub-theme would be cool, but it wouldn't be a reliable set up - Even running 3 copies of Yuna/Tidus/Wakka/Auron/Lulu/Rikku/Khimari (3x7=21) is going to have you drop in at least 3 more characters to make that 30-card minimum. Not to mention the odds needed to pull Yuna in the relic phase are at best 60% (1 in 10 with 6 draws from a 30-card character deck)
I hope that despite your power player tendencies that you don't fully neglect the combo and theme aspects, to which I do like to personally dabble (It's really fun to set up obscure "Janky" combos in particular). From the revealed cards, it is obvious you haven't turned a blind eye yet, but just throwing that out there. I think that despite preferences, over time there will be natural combos and themes that form regardless. As I've outlined above, it is possible to get close to a full-fledged FFX team at the moment, and I can definitely see more thematic trends possible with future sets. An obvious one being a "Cid" deck, having seen teh sort of ideas you tossed around in an earlier entry.
Do you think you might eventually branch out into the Villains side of the games? It might require some reworking to power levels or allegiance rules, but I think it might be fun to toss around iconic faces from the other side of the morality line such as Garland, Kefka, or Ultimecia-Possessed-Edea. Yes, I know you've developed Sephiroth and Dark Knight Cecil as borderline and built-in drawback characters, but I was wonderng if you might explore this direction sometime in the future. After you've exhausted the many heroic characters, naturally.
While I'm off-topic, I also noticed no representation in the character lineup from FF2 or FF5 - not iconic or popular enough, personal preference, or simply the way the stars aligned?
Finally, it begs to ask - Will there be Chocobos?
How do you identify which abilities are "Leader"?
ReplyDelete-Yeah, you got it. Leader only limits your characters unique ability. Yuna would be able to cast white magic and summon as normal.
A Yuna sub-theme would be cool, but it wouldn't be a reliable set up...
-Hey, it's true. I'd say the biggest problem in that situation is pulling out Yuna, and then pulling out Summons. I don't know if you're too familiar with CCGs, but "trainer" cards are very common. These are cards that let you search through your entire deck and pull out what you need. FFTCG already has some of these, but I haven't revealed them yet. Regardless of whether you have them or not, you're right, it's not as reliable, because having key cards in the deck creates fragility. A lot of players live for this though, which is why I give them the option. I like Janky stuff too, so don't worry, you'll see some cool stuff :)
Do you think you might eventually branch out into the Villains side of the games?
-Oh hell yes. I've actually started this already. Some characters I've already created didn't make it into the base set, because they're based around the villain mechanic. Soon after, I will release an expansion that will clump the villains and matching mechanics together.
While I'm off-topic, I also noticed no representation in the character lineup from FF2 or FF5 - not iconic or popular enough, personal preference, or simply the way the stars aligned?
-Completely arbitrary. I've never played more than a few minutes of FF2, and I felt like the job system in 5 took away from the uniqueness of the characters. However, I think Faris (especially Amano's renditions) are cool as hell, so you'll be seeing Butz' group at some point in time. And as I've hinted with Balthier, you'll also see some FFT characters as well.
Finally, it begs to ask - Will there be Chocobos?
-Yessir! Card number 50 in the set, and probably many more.
Matt, you rock. Thanks for your interest.
I don't know if you're too familiar with CCGs, but "trainer" cards are very common.
ReplyDeleteAh, yes. More used to referring to them as "tutors" myself (after the very first one of its kind, the Demonic Tutor from Magic). Tutors are awesome, but they can enable some absolutely broken things if not kept in check. I'll be interested in seeing FFTCG's version(s).
Some characters I've already created didn't make it into the base set, because they're based around the villain mechanic. Soon after, I will release an expansion that will clump the villains and matching mechanics together.
Good to hear it. Could make a cool competitive subtype of Heroes vs Villains.
I felt like the job system in 5 took away from the uniqueness of the characters.
The job system does make it harder to really type the characters in any one class mechanically, but there are unique characteristics that can be used - Galuf being an older, experienced Warrior of Dawn; Reina's affinity with Hiryuus, Faris being an incognito princess, Bartz being...well... what is BArtz's character anyway, heh?
Finally, it begs to ask - Will there be Chocobos?
-Yessir! Card number 50 in the set, and probably many more.
How did I miss that? ^_^
Matt, you rock. Thanks for your interest.
Thanks for providing something interesting to have interest in.
Ohh, yeah. Tutors. Not "Trainers", wtf was I thinking?
ReplyDeleteIs it Bartz? I thought it was Butz, lol. I saw him as the definitive adventurer of the final fantasy series, at least from what I remember. Him and his Chocobo.
"Butz" is his official Japanese name, as it has been published as such in romanized lettering.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the official translated released (Anthology and the GBA version) use "Bartz" with no real explanation given for the change (popular rumor is it avoids having a character that sounds like his name is "Butts" :D)