A Quick Look at Grand Archive
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- čas přidán 14. 08. 2023
- Grand Archive is another Kickstarted game that's making waves. I nabbed a starter deck to find... an interesting system pock-marked by some amateur mistakes.
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#tcg #tradingcardgame #gamedev #kickstarter - Hry
"It sounds like something from a video game" Yeah, Pokemon. They've been doing that for nearly 30 years already.
I thought it was normal because of how much pokemon I play
I'm gunna disagree having a bonus pack that contains a random foil or chase card is that if a beginner opens it , it's an immediate positive memory and according to alot of Japanese games turns them into life long customers
the foil card could just not be randomized... as he said in the video, thats what booster packs are for
First dose being free, huh?
I want to add some positivity in the comment section! I personally enjoy the game a lot. I get that some people don't like the resource system. It's unusual and does make you feel like your options are limited. However, when you get into it, you start to see why it works that way. There are a lot of mechanics and strategies that tie into memory and materials and each turn starts to feel like a little puzzle. The fact that Grand Archive is built on such a novel core system AND is seeing success in its launch is an achievement on its own. We need to wait and see if it and the other big KS TCGs outlast the 2-year curse, but for now I'm gonna enjoy the game.
A condensed turn order and set up to play. On each side of a single card. The full rules can be done on a QR code found on the box. A small paper stapled booklet should be included in starters. If someone else happens to pick up the booklet. People that are motivated to play based on mechanics may become a customer.
I want to say that with Sylvie, her hair color is grey, but the lighting is giving it that green hue.
I am wrong or is that chase card you pulled like 750usd?😮
I like the flavor of the deck. You're a beast tamer, and as you become a better tamer (level up) you have access to more beasts you can use. Some beginner mistakes for sure, but I'm cautiously optimistic
Based only on this video, "obey" seems like one of those axiomatic words that are just so central to the gameplay that defining them on even basic cards becomes clunky. Like "tap" in Magic or "summon" in Yu-Gi-Oh. It strikes me like objecting that the "haste" reminder text doesn't tell you what the little clockwise arrow or "attack" means.
To play devils advocate he does criticize the use of the word “tap” when talking about car game layout.
but attack and summon are straight to the point because they mean what they imply
Obey Seems two open ended, like If I didn’t hear the explanation I would assume it’s not obeying you means “ you cannot do anything with the card on the field”
The memory resource system actually works pretty well in my experience.
Its unfortunate that the boxes don't come with rules but that's life.
6:41 as for some Duel Masters starter decks now like DM23-SP1 Abyssbell Rush or DM23-SD1 Dragon Army of Bolshack, it's also has a chance to contain 1 gold-variant of the main card of the deck, although the basic variant has already included. I think as long as those special printed cards are also has its normal variants in the decks and it's definitely guaranteed, I think it's not so bad
Agreed. This is what Alpha Clash did with their starter deck clash kit. Every kit contains a special Mean-Streak card, but 1 in 10 kits had the card in a special foiling.
As a Vanguard player I’m going to have to disagree, by including Chase variance you’re going to encourage players to buy way more starter decks then normally expect it which could lead to other players simply not getting them because the players wanted to get the chase card bought them all.
this happened with me with the kai and itchy and I AM sitting here like “ Man it sucks that this store doesn’t go super hard on vanguard because of how unstable it is, end it sucks even more to learn a bunch of guys bought all the other decks the other day so now I can’t get one”
It sucked
I'm guessing the only reason they omitted rules text for "Obey" is because it's part of the larger explanation for "Pride". I agree, it should be explained, but I'm guessing that's the rationale.
I can't believe he's complaining about something that is so obvious. Like just reading the card makes it obvious what it does.
This is one of the best TCGS ive played in the 25 years ive been playing TCGS
6:20 Oh good I'm having Cardfight!! Vanguard G & V series war time flashbacks. So glad they don't do this anymore.
I'm so glad you made a video about this game. Grand Archive has absolutely exploded in my LGS, and it's been tough to find an in person community for it outside of there. I genuinely hope the game continues to improve as new sets are released!
Totally agree with QR codes. Why they do that? To save costs?
That's most likely the reason. Remember: this came off of kickstarter. They probably don't have the budget for something that new players are gonna read only a handful of times then toss. Now if Konami pulled something like this or God forbid the "company-that-shall-not-be-named," That would be inexcusable.
@@silentprotagonist4436 Konami does this already. The Traptrix structure did not come with a rule booklet. There was a QR Code card instead.
Yes. In manufacturing each additional material type ups the price. By producing a QR code on a card, a material they were already using, it lowers the cost to manufacture. This is the same reason why Digimon's first release did it via reference cards.
@@silentprotagonist4436 I would think that it'd be just as practical if they could to just put instructions on a playmat. A playmat really should have been a fairly early stretch goal, I think.
Oddly enough, I concur with your take on chase cards in Starter Decks. Then again, that's mostly because the game I've been working on has me trying to wrap my head around how to make it viable in the Middle East. Massive market, yet seemingly no trading card games.
I had similar thoughts when I first heard about starter deck csrs. But in practice, what's happened is that collectors will repackage the dud cards and sell them at an extreme discount (or even give them away). Not everyone will have that experience, but it's been nice seeing the collector vs player symbiotic relationship actually work out in my area.
Pride is blasicly you can play it but it just sits there on the board and you can't do anything with just the card alone (aside from counter attacks aka deal dmg back to the attecker's card attcking it) till your champ hits the lvl for that card to work
(yes the keyword is annoying)
Aww this looks so cute. Sad to see the reception is negative
Its just bad that looks good
@@Rayquaza894 yeah reading the comments gave me that impression. Sometimes i miss card games but i have noone to play them with anymore so i live vicariously through this channel lol
@@casbalt7763I'd take what Rayquaza says with a grain of salt, they're basically a negative nancy towards ALL card games. Kohdoks video is really a critique pointing out a few specific things that he disagrees with. The game itself is quite good, wave one of product sold out basically everywhere, and they're in the middle of their first set of regionals and just had over 100 players attend last weekend in California.
That rant on QR codes.... lol
I think the electronic rulebook is way better because it can link to the most updated version.
Yeah, I think it's really ok. I have just the QR on the box but if you order the game from the official store, I include a larger printed rulebook. I also do hate when Restaurants don't have a physical menu though ;)
"Making friends is easy. Look, I'll show you!" ...said no one ever.
Pride has already been updated in the rules. You can now retaliate with a unit even if it's not "obeying" you. Good thing they didn't write it out! :P
That said, I agree that, given space on the card, it's an opportunity to actually explain the effect. But I actually like "obey" as a way to shorthand something that is common sense (or a reminder, once it's been explained to you once). Note that it's written in reminder text, not rules text, so I have no problem with a lack of technical writing there.
It is a nice box
Hope this game does well, it's like the opposite of Battle Spirits in that its main focus is fostering good will with TCG players specifically.
Call me jaded, but you gotta do a bit more to sell me than "anime card game w/o dedicated resource cards."
I have an idea for the QR Code, because I like the eco-friendliness of it. But it needs to be paired with a cost reduction in the starter deck.
1.) Create a Beginner Starter deck that come with the deck, an instruction foldable, as well as maybe any life tracker, tokens, die, or counters or other game pieces that are essential to play the deck. as well as a QR code to their website. It costs like $19.99
2.) Create an Intermediate starter deck, that comes with just the deck and qr code. It comes in a smaller package. It can be bought at $13.99
In this scenario, as a new player who doesn't want to invest in the game without trying it, why would i buy the "higher tier" version ? and once i have the cards of the "lower tier"one there is no way i am buying 20$ for a rulebook i already kinda have and some dices... my opinion tho
That's the wrong way round. The intro product should be cheaper than the intermediate product, or new players will buy the intermediate product and have a worse introductory experience. Or the price will be over their threshold and they'll ignore the game entirely.
I love this game :D It's tons of fun and has dethroned MtG and Pokemon for me. (Still play them casually at times but haven't built decks since April, too busy with GA).
If you don't want that character super rare I will gladly take it off your hands.
Hey Kohdok. I was rewatching your 7 Deadly Sins videos lately. Please do a video on NFL Rush Zone. PLEASE. I want to see how bad this bonkers tcg really is.
Objective view from when I tried the game with a little print&play free thing on their website. The hand/resource problem was terrible. The level system made it feel like I had to get rid of many of my cards in the early game so that I could play like the character was supposed to and the draw system just wasn't equipped for that. It felt like a disadvantage to play a card while also being at a disadvantage by not playing a card. I want to feel like I'm doing something when I'm playing a game and not just running through the motions like a piece of bad AI. Final review: The other card games on the market seem to run at a faster pace so they will likely attract more players than this game which will likely fall to the two-year curse according to what I'm seeing at the moment.
It depends on which deck you played. Rai WANTS to banish arcane spell cards intentionally. Lorraine can slow down a bit, or use Floating Memory mechanic.
Yeah the Floating Memory mechanic is there for a reason.
Seems like a harsh review for someone that seems to not have a complete knowledge of the rules. I get that it should be understandable at a glance but that’s also not completely realistic. Let me know if I’m misunderstanding here.
Bro, this guy is more cringe than a boss that asks you to come in on your day off and then makes you feel guilty about it when you say no.
You got the same thing wrong that me and my friend did about Floating Memory. It actually only lets you pay for costs of cards with the blue symbol for cost. They come from the material deck, so not the cards from hand. I wouldn't be surprised if most players got this wrong and it actually hurts their impression when they do. Because without it, you'd lose too many cards just leveling up or materializing anything which stagnates the gameplay.
It's one of many reasons I didn't have a good time playing this game. Too many warning bells going off. Oh, and did you ever look at the back of the card of Grand Archive next to Flesh and Blood?! It's one thing to think they were inspired by Flesh and Blood, but yikes!
Oh. Well that's baloney. I like my system better.
@@Kohdok If floating memory was, as you originally assumed, to pay for cards from hand, floating memory would inevitably cause you to empty your hand faster, and then you'd run out of cards and enter the "draw, pass" mode, which is not engaging gameplay. Instead, floating memory allows you to play a card for an effect, and then spend the card again when materializing, preserving your total hand size and allowing you to play more cards each turn over the course of the game.
The second set introduces the "reservable" keyword which works as Kohdok mentioned. It pays for cards from the hand.
@@QKlilx The reservable keyword really doesn't change too much, because if you think about it, you can either play the card and get to reserve 1 per turn...or you can just keep it in your hand and reserve it normally. That's why the assumption of floating memory to pay reserve costs like Kohdok initially assumed doesn't really change too much of how the game is played (if anything, it'd probably need a really crazy effect or body to justify banishing it just to get one extra reserve, instead of keeping in hand and letting it be used for multiple reserves).
@@wingmage1Bah! You're right. I forgot that reservable doesn't banish the card. That's a booboo on my part and actually makes me even more excited to utilize it!
I can forgive indie games giving QR code rulebooks. It's something you're only going to read a couple of times, that would actually be easier to reference later on if it was a searchable website. As long as the cards themselves are high quality, cutting costs on the rulebook is fine with me. Just don't make it an app. Chase cards in starter decks is fine too. Starter decks usually aren't the best decks anyway, and giving a player a lucky rare card before they've started playing the game is a great way to make them want to continue playing. Gacha games do it, and it's the reason I got into Force of Will. Anyone who wants it later can just get it from the secondary market, it's not like they're really being expected to grind starter decks for it.
Honestly, aside from the draw power problem - I don't like when games expect you to draw a lot of cards but don't have rules for it so you have to spend a major chunk of your deck space just on draw power - the criticisms in here just feel like cynical nitpicking, which is a really petty showing from a usually good channel.
Reminder text is rarely if ever rules text. Wild someone with this much tcg experience makes so many claims about rookie mistakes when its all easily covered if you simply read the rules and not just the cards... which is standard for all tcgs.
Ok, where are th rules then? Or do I have to keep my phone by my side at all times for searching for the most minute of details when these could easily been slapped in a rule book or even a rules reminder card the way Magic does the Turn Order reminder cards? I am playing physical card games to get away from my phone, not the reverse.
OK just because reminder text aren’t rule text that does not excuse them for not properly explaining what they are reminding you about because if they’re not doing that then they are ultimately pointless
I actually really like the company name lol I thought it was fun
Just casually opening up a $500 card. Was this a borrowed deck? I didn't know CSRs came sleeved but, would be nice.
I'll agree with you though. I was all about this game until I played in the first regionals. This game is quite a mess to play. I would go into detail but, itd be an essay. I'm committed to buying second set since I preordered but, I'm slowly selling everything I have.
I miiiiiiight have opened the deck and looked at the contents before shooting...
Opened it before the unboxing but didn't bother to check basic rules about terms?? No TCG can be learned simply by reading the text on the cards lol. That comment about activating was hilarious, since its an easy distinction. Materialize is play from material deck. Activate is play from hand. You made so many wrong assumptions that are explained in the first paragraph of the rules doc.
An absolutely awesome game.
I bought the Rai and Lorraine decks and me and a friend had a couple of games and it was sooo fun.
It feels familiat but fresh which I think is exactly what they were going for.
I'm a huge anime fan but not a fan of the currently simplistic illustrations but that isn't enough to put me off the game and I really like the card frames and back.
No issues whatsoever with the QR code as I've read the rules online anyway.
I'm of two minds of the Memory system...
On one hand, it is a unique way of handling Cards As Resources. You can't really argue against sacking cards for memory as robbing you of being able to play them, and being able to get them back at the start of the next turn helps provide incentive to do it than just for dead or off-tempo cards. It also provides an elegant way of handling ramping, as denying yourself options for higher power does add to the slow and strategic nature of this game.
On the other hand, the entire process just looks clunky, much less playing it. Having to constantly pick back up your cards has to be whack and it makes any card that searches or draws feel bad because you sack your entire hand for it already, negating potential combos. Plus the whole "losing a memory card at random to play your Materials" sounds so weeeeeeeiiiiiiirrrrrrddddddddddd... There had to be a better way of handling that step than leaving it for the opponent's hands of fate there!
Really, a lot of the things feel unnecessary clunky and slow, like how you don't summon champions at the same time at the start of the game, but in each other's first turn. Or the Pack mechanic that forces you to get a bunch of Level stacks to do shit. Or how Floating Memory requires you to play a card and then sack it to play a card you actually want. I definitely see why, it gives ramping up a more dynamic-yet-manageable feel, as if you are building up a Grand Archive of cards and effects, but I definitely have to see for myself as to how this game supposed to be. Otherwise, I just feel overencumbered with it all.
Also, as a fan of anime styles, I can't necessarily say I like the look of GA. It's all very safe, static, it almost looks AI generated at points just from a cursory glance of the cards (not saying they are AI, I wouldn't personally mind. Just have a similar level of automated design). Force of Will and WiXoss have a lot more style to their approaches, like FoWs flat, desaturated colors or WiXoss overall insanity of effects and fanservice. Vanguard can be absolutely unreadable with its big boss monster character designs, but the more humanoid characters still have dynamic flairs, outfits, and overall recognizable personages. Grand Archive just feels very dry by comparison. There is a market for Weeb Magic, trying to brighten the drab western colors of MtG, but I feel like the appeal of the anime style goes beyond just having a cute girl in furry shoes and a saturation of 400%, if you get me.
One thing about memory that most people don't realize until after a few games under their belt is how nutty card draw gets by the time you unlock Champion level 3. You're constantly struggling with the hand size and trying to eke out small hand advantages to get to your level 3 champion, but once you pass that barrier, your whole deck opens up and draw combos become very strong, setting up a lot of OHKO type combos with how many cards you can draw in your turn.
@@wingmage1 Does sound fun, and expected from a game with such heavy focus on mana ramping, but also makes the whole 52 Pickup problem with memory all the more painful...
Feel like I'm gonna need one of those card holders should I play the game...
@@Treehouse22009 True, there's really no way around the pickup issue. What I generally do is just play my memory in a stack, and do my randomization by fanning it out to let them choose or shuffling my "memory pile" and just discarding from the top. But because hand size is so crucial to playing cards, a lot of decks really only ever play materialization through floating memory rather than the random banish method
@@wingmage1 Yeah, I feel like Floating Memory should have been the default method than...whatever the hell the random materialization mechanic is.
It makes it feel closer to YGO in terms of elegant resource management systems.
Or at least let you chooes which card you want to sack...
Trading Card Game Sins Number 8: Thou shalt not send a QR code as your Quick Start Guide!
My confession, I use your vid's comment sections as my public opinion barometer, especially for games I've only heard of from online content creators (& from no one irl). When you give fair critiques on game systems & presentation, it seems that you have very "active" comment sections. This is starting to seem more prevalent with some of the kickstarted tcgs you've covered in the past. One could chalk this up as genuine gaming consumer intrigue, but when such a strong pushback comes from honest critiques, akin to putting a cigarette with a bathtub of water, it reeks of damage control & astroturfing.
Interesting, think I'll pass thou. Wixoss has grabbed the playgroup & became the preferred 1v1 cardgame experience. This game has been making the rounds on youtube but there really wasn't enough here to drive the purchase, especially with the slurry of design elements. This also just after the playgroup coming off the back to back heartbreak tcgs of FaB, MetaZ, & the My Hero game. Wallets & expectations are exhausted.
I hope this finds it's playerbase.
I've been meaning to get into WiXoss, sounds lit as hell. What are some good recommendations for a beginner?
@@CaptainMarvel4Ever any of the starter decks is a good but the dxm all foil deck has alot of nice upgrade lines, and the most recent urith's miasma has been some of the most fun with a self-mill tool boxy kind of feel
wait I dont understand the problem with the chase card
im not really good at this rarity thingy of card games because I mostly dont care
The box looks really bland but the cards look amazing.
Not providing a paper guide was a huge mistake.
However, I guess u were too harsh on them specially when criticizing mechanics u dont know much about yet. It's not like the two most popular TCGs Magic and Yugioh gives u all the information u need to know in a card. Some cards in MTG only have keywords without an explanation and players could adapt easily to it
My complaint was about the reminder text. You know, the text to tell you how an effect works?
People have been criticizing Yugioh for years over it being too precise with having all the necessary information on a card which results in card text being longer.
@@Zetact_ Yu-Gi-Oh cards often have unnecessary information.
@@alfredosaint-jean9660 Not really, everything even down to the PUNCTUATION has direct gameplay effects. Usually it isn't highly relevant but the PSCT language has cut down on the amount of text needed and really outside of streamlining a few specific effects or formatting to the way the Japanese cards are written there's not much that could be cut out of any given card without altering how the card itself works.
@@Zetact_ "When you special summon this monster, this special summoned monster... "
How is the second part necessary?
Hey Kohdok, huge fan of your opinions on TCGs I think you give a honest, yet brutally disarming and true review of games. I really would like to suggest you check out this TCG, Rise TCG which quality is really the best as well as a very original gameplay. Hope you could review it one day I think is severely underrated.
Hey kohdok can you please see Boboiboy galaxy card it's bad but manny people says its good
Floating Memory is just the Delve mechanic from Magic. Just that it's tied to the card in the graveyard rather than the spell being cast. Which overall makes it a worse mechanic to me. I feel like the Pride mechanic either shouldn't have been keyworded, or changed so that instead of restricting it on the field it restricted a card being played. Because from what I could discern that Pride 10 card is a completely dead card in most situations because levels are temporary. So if Pride restricted the ability to play a card rather than it's function on the board then the temporary levels would make much more sense. But that's just my opinion.
One of the best TCGs I've played in years and some of the most fun I've had. Competitive scene is phenomenal and you can tell the devs really care about the game
I'm very optimistic on the game's future
I knew next to nothing about this game when I picked up 2 starters for it. I heard the bits and pieces, but wasn't following the game.
A couple of things I heard about the game: The "investor" crowd got really mad when the kickstarter was going to open for a second round of support for more backer rewards. I heard from someone that they were still tinkering with summoner mechanics up to release, which is worrying if true. I also heard the pull rates for a box are not good (4 foils(?)), especially for the $90 the box costs.
My first impression of this game was awful. Copying the FaB card back aside, the cards feel nasty to touch. They have this weird material on the back that feels oddly sticky.
Seeing the QR code with no paper playmat also immediately sent warning bells off in my head. I really don't want to pull up the website to learn how to play. I want to be able to see what the game board is supposed to look like. Also, the tutorial video has an old version of the card? iirc one of the spirit stone cards in the video had an effect about how the element gets inherited on future evolutions, but that effect wasn't on the cards in the starters, and I had to ask around for clarification.
Once I started playing the game with a friend, we didn't have fun. Sylvie felt clunky and slow when played against Lorraine, and I was really struggling with how I was supposed to keep up when I need to work twice as hard to maintain my allies. We played one game and said "that's enough for us" and put it away in the closet.
Compare this to other games I've tried fairly recently like FaB, Digimon, Wixoss, BSS, and Shadowverse. I know these games have bigger names behind them, but the new player experience for each of them was compelling enough for me to at least consider continuing with the games.
not even a game mat...
Hello I make a tcg
The Art is kinda cool, but everything else feels sacrilegious to the joy of TCGs. Fr, I never called quits this fast on a tcg. And I generally call quits at least a few months In before selling / giving in to my collector friends. Never played the video game tho.
I could go on a rant about how this game simply doesn't work but tbh I'm tired and hungry.
Nice vid tho!
I honestly love the game, and am reminded of the old fun in TCGs by it
What made you hate it so much?
It's not that I actively hate it. In my opinion, both as a player and a tcg creator myself, they make various mistakes that could have been easily avoided. The gameplay isn't very fun, rather it's often plain boring or leaves me frustrated and mad.
I totally understand that people can like it and have fun with it. You do you.
But my personal experience is one of frustration. So many things like life, creatures, the leveling up could have been handled so much better but it is what it is.
Also, it doesn't have anything to do with the player base. They were pretty chill and respectful.
Lol this dude treating a collector super rare like its nothing.. dude landed on a precious card lol
I also urge you to try the game.. its def. one of the better ones out there. Its engaging and not braindead like most of them out there. Nice video.
@joshpuno5957 Which ones are braindead?
you might want to look at the card pool kohdok there's some bs shit in there
Opening a booster box for this tcg is just so bland and boring. It feels like you just get bulk. I pulled above value and was underwhelmed
I agree with you, especially considering they have multiple versions of a lot of the cards. They are adjusting the ratios on some of the pulls, especially the memory deck cards but, opening Dawn of Ashes was awful. It's also the first card game where I wanted to use scissors to open the packs because I was afraid of damaging the cards if I used the pull tabs.
The wrappers were so bad. Not fun to open at all
I hated the company name since day 1. These guys are supposed to be professional and yet their name is a joke and one that immediately makes me want to tell them to touch grass. I get that they’re going for a certain market here but going by that name, the venn diagram of said market with the market for body pillow covers that are illegal in 50 countries is a circle. It makes me want to steer clear of that game and the more I hear of hiw the company operates, the more I don’t want to play. Their first regional was a disaster. They dabble in NFTs (from what I hear). And if I’m nit mistaken, I heard they do judging contests on collections where they just straight up pay whales for having a lot of shiny cardboard. The art is nice and the mechanics seem solid enough but that company man…
They asked during their kickstarter if their audience would be interested in nfts and it was a resounding no. That Collection contest is real though, and I expect the bubble to pop hard right after that occurs. The prices of the serialized cards are not sustainable.
@@ravdeepbagri1313 Okay, thanks for clarifying things! I can’t imagine what a feels bad moment it would be to drop thousands on a cool collection with the intent to win that collection contest only for someone who spent even more to win. Just seems like a bad idea to irritate your whales like that
U think this is bad...crack a box of Shadowverse Evolve
The aesthetics are great, but the card designs are clearly riffing on MTG
And the old Force of Will TCG
Thats their whole thing lol. They want anime mtg
@@Rayquaza894and ironically, MtG is gradually becoming anime MtG as they continue to make alt arts of newer and iconic cards in an anime style lol
@@MrZer093 i know! They so awesome
MtG is one of the best designed TCGs ever made; I see no problems with this
I didn't vibe with this game when a friend bade me try it. Just didn't seem fun.
The game itself looks fun, but the art is a no for me