Reviews

• 

  PdG

  Apr 28, 2022

  I am very torn: the game is beautiful, unfortunately the keyboard does not work on the steam deck and therefore it is not possible to create the characters. If you play on pc I recommend it, but if you have steam deck do not buy it.
• 

  Syovere

  Jun 20, 2022

  I wish I could recommend this game, I really do. It's genuinely quite fun. The problem is that it's also quite crash-prone. In fact, now it's crashing when I attempt to load my save.
• 

  Towerbooks3192

  Jun 7, 2017

  I took one for the team so Disgaea D2, 3,4, and 5 might see the light of day here on steam. I guess it would have been a tolerable game if they fix the face buttons in game. They show generic controller face buttons while tutorial refers to 360 controller buttons. I am going back to Disgaea 5 on switch til this is fixed. Update: I plan on keeping the game and giving them the benefit of a doubt. Somewhere in here must be a good and complex game that NISA usually dishes out. Not the same level of polish as Disgaea series. It is tricky to review NISA games since most of the time the story isn't their focus but the overall mechanics and the addictive grindfest presented in the random and postgame contents of their game. The negative review is only because for the price they are asking it really feels like a sloppy port. Heck cladun X2's text entry was better despite unwieldy since it merges well with the game whereas text entry here is a windows box that prompts you to type on your keyboard and cancel it. It is going to be forgiveable if the game charges less money but since it is a $40 game then I will evaluate it as such. I have seen indie games release their games for half the price and more polish than this game and to think this is also simultaneously released for PS4 and Vita. I support NISA's effort to release games on steam and wholeheartedly support it since most of their games are stuck on Sony and Nintendo consoles and I would love PC players to also see the great games NIS has especially the Disgaea series. I can't recommend the game at its current state because of my complaints plus it is a niche title that has a hefty price tag.
• 

  ShyGuyPanic

  Jun 8, 2017

  I really am enjoying it so far. It took a bit of getting used to, compared to X2.
• 

  Fuhreak

  Jun 8, 2017

  [h1]Edit: Crashes[/h1] After getting over my burnout of the game, I currently am facing random crashes when changing floors in the dungeons or returning to town, you can't save in these locations so you can potentially lose several hours worth of work depending on how slowly you clear a dungeon. I have a [b]AMD Phenom II (6 cores) 1100T[/b] and a [b]Nvidia GTX 970[/b] (Nvidia branding) So if you have a similar setup be warned you might face crashing. It should be noted that before I changed GPUs (old one was AMD) I didn't have the crash issue. [h1]Cladun Returns: This is Sengoku[/h1] After having played the everloving crap out of Cladun/Cladun x2, I was surprised when I saw the sequel actually coming to steam. I had no intentions of buying a PSVita so the 40 dollar (33ish because I already owned Cladun x2) was worth it for me. If you don't love the series, or think that 40 is way too much for this kind of game (Retro graphics, etc) then wait for it to go on sale for 20~25 dollars, it's worth it. I personally think 40 is a fine price, because I know I'll be getting hundreds if not thousands of hours out of this game. When I give ratings to a game, I don't score based on personal tastes (Did I like the game? Did I hate it?) But rather on the potential used in the game itself. (Could they have done this better? Was the core-design good?) So I'll be scoring this game using that, rather than a straight up 1~10 system. To explain what I mean, we all have a game, somewhere in our childhood or something, that is a really bad game. We know it's bad. But we love the crap out of it. Rather than giving the clearly bad game a perfect 10/10, I would give it a 2.5/10 or something, because while I personally enjoy it, I know it could be a lot better. The reverse side of this is something like Cookie Clicker, I hate that "Game" if you can even call it that, but as far as that kind of game goes? You can't really add anything else to it. So as far as "Potential" goes, I'd have to give it a 10/10. I hope this makes sense. [h1]Graphics[/h1] Cladun isn't the most breathtaking game, don't get me wrong I think it looks good, but it isn't something you've never seen before. I think the graphics work for the game. Could they be better? Sure. Would I want them to be? Maybe, maybe not. I don't really mind the graphics, they're decent enough for me. After all, gameplay is more important here. I like some of the new monster sprites, but not all of them stick well with me. (The new spiders are great, but I prefer the old totems.) If I could get an option to use the old sprites over the new (Or even better, a toggle for each enemy) I would use it. Graphics: [b]6.5/10[/b] ([i]Good[/i], but not [b]Breathtaking[/b]) [h1]Audio[/h1] Cladun has always had amazing music. Recieving the free OST with the game is great. However, I feel like the new music isn't on par with the old. You can still play the old music in Ran-geons (Which is the only dungeon that matters, let's be honest.) But I feel that I'll be disabling most of the newer music as time goes on. Not much to say here, music is a bit too subjective for potential ratings. Audio [b]?.?/10[/b] (I think it's good, but not [b]Great/Fantastic[/b] like 1 and x2) (The quality of the music itself is fine. Nothing that sounds bad or clips as far as I can tell.) [h1]Story[/h1] I can't say much here, as I haven't beaten the game yet. But the story thus far is pretty standard. I don't want to give too much of an impression on this, as I haven't beaten it yet. Story: [b]?.?/10[/b] (Good thus far) [h1]Gameplay[/h1] Ah gameplay, this is what you've been waiting for. What transforms Cladun from being an okay looking game with good music, into a Fantastic game you can waste your life away on. Cladun's gameplay has been great since game one. x2 was a huge leap, so how did [b]Cladun Returns: This is Sengoku![/b] fair? Well let's see... Starting with the bread and the butter of the game, The [b]Magic Circle[/b] is improved pretty well. No longer is the game limited to 2 characters on each side. The merchant circle "Only One." is a great example of this. With 3 characters on each side, one in the front and one in the back, This is something that hasn't been seen yet. So they're still mixing it up here. It could possibly get confusing on which side is taking damage though, as they're not locked to the same x/y as the Character (Lord) For example, the circle "Master Craftsman" has a sub-character (Vassel) in a 8 point circle around the character, with 4 being aligned with the player horizontally/vertically, and the other 4 being alligned diagonally. Fame is much easier to get this time around with the introduction of quests. Quests can be done to obtain fame, items, gold, etc. Each quest has you go into a dungeon and do a specific thing. Once you finish, you return to the quest board and claim your prize. This means you don't have to re-run dungeons over and over again looking to improve your time by 1 second. There are two new weapon types introduced in Returns, I haven't messed with them too much, but they appear to be an alternate bow/spear. The shuriken is much faster than the bow. It can't be charged but you can equip a shield with it. The sickle is a spear with maybe twice the range, and it hits twice by default. This weapon can actually reach through 2 block thick walls. Good for sniping enemies from a safe distance. I may add more here later. Gameplay: [b]8.0/10[/b] (A nice little improvement, but not much changed since x2) [h1]Quality of Life[/h1] Normally you don't see people rate for this, but this is a huge part of what makes a game playable. Cladun Returns has a big town map. Bigger than Cladun and Cladun x2 Combined. But don't worry, they included a fast travel system that will let you jump around to everywhere you need to go. Smooth Text was pretty bad looking in Cladun x2, imo, but they've made it actually readable in Returns, meaning you can just pop that on if you don't like the retro text or it messes with your eyes. Dark Gates (Doom gates) can be set to always display. So no more accidently stepping on one and ruining your run. (You can leave them to appear as traps, like they used to, if you're into that.) New features make raising a new character up from creation much easier. You'll still want to use your best weapons on them, but they won't be completely gimped without access to the better magic circles. Quality of Life: [b]7.2/10[/b] (There's a pretty good overall feel to the game.) [h1]Overall Final Score: [b]7.4/10[/b][/h1] This is a good game, well worth the money. If you're not into the cladun series already, wait for a 40~50% sale. [spoiler]I can't tell you if this is a bad port or not, because I never had any issues (aside from a minor graphical glitch) on Cladun x2. If you had trouble with x2, you may want to be careful.[/spoiler]
• 

  BlaXun

  Jun 15, 2017

  God, I love this game! It looks very simplistic, but it actually has very deep systems that can become very complex if u want it to. It's a real number cruncher. I play this game for it's awesome systems which set it apart from other dungeon crawlers. I highly recommend this game!
• 

  Feindfeuer

  Jun 16, 2017

  5 hours in, unlock 'the grind begins' achievement. Nippon Ichi Software at its best.
• 

  Roda the Red

  Jun 18, 2017

  Cladun is a pretty hidden gem of a series, starting in the PSP made by Nippon Ichi (you may know them from their most popular games the Disgaea series) Cladun is an Action RPG with a pretty nice 8-bit pixel art, a combat system with tight controls and a HUMONGOUS depth that can make the more hardcore players feel interested. And Cladun Returns: This is Sengoku! is, at least on a technical level, the ultimate Cladun experience: Like mentioned before, the game's aesthetic is that of 8-bit pixel art, i know what are you thinking, ANOTHER retro looking game, just stick with me, because Cladun uses the 8-bit's simplicity on it's advantage to allow the players to customize their characters literally from head to toes. You can create your own faces pixel-by-pixel with the editor, and also create your own weapons and armor to have your characters entirely like you want (you can even make hair with motion animations, also there's a ton of pre-made stuff you can base yourself on), also even without this aspect, the pixel art of this game is rather pretty, with a nice vibrant color palette and many details. Gameplay, like is said before, this is basically the ultimate Cladun experience, on a first look, the game looks pretty simple simple and straightforward, but eventually you realize there's so much to it: the way your characters level up makes you constantly swap between them and making you experience multiple playstyles, the magic circle is an awesome mechanic that can make you spend HOURS making amazing setups that will make you really powerful and in the game also presents two new weapon types: Shurikens which are basically a weaker, faster version of the bow, and the Sickles, wich are a longer range version of the spear (and a lot stronger IMO). The enemy variety is pretty large with approximately 60 different enemies, and each having 6 different colored version which defines their properties ( Yellow = unremarkable; Green = High ATK; White = High DEF; Blue = Inmune to Ice; Red = Inmune to Fire; Black = powerful in every aspect). Dungeons are also filled to the brim with traps, this can range from simple arrow traps to quake traps or even summoning invincible enemies, but all traps are neutral so you can exploit them and use them to your advantage to defeat enemies. Overall Cladun has an amazing gameplay with fun mechanics and a ton of depth, heck, it even makes grinding fun! Music: Another remarkable aspect of the series, the music! Cladun is in my opinion the best sounding series in all Nippon Ichi, with great tracks that can range from fast-paced rock to catchy Tango. Sengoku, being themed on feudal Japan, it has a clear traditional japanese focus on the music, but it still manages to make some real cool remixes out of this music style and some tracks out of the traditional japanese that sound just great (like the Arena theme), i personally think that Cladun 1 still has the best overall soundtrack, but Sengoku did an amazing job on it's own. Story: To be honest, the story has been my biggest dissapointment with the game by far, it is a really poorly done and forgetable story. Now im not saying Cladun 1 and X2 had amazing stories, but at least they were enjoyable and interesting, and had a couple of memorable characters, here in Sengoku there is none of that, story cutsenes only happen at the start and the end of a chapter, so it barely feels like a story is going on. It does get a little bit better in the later chapters with some cutscenes during before and after bossfights, but still the story expects you to care about the characters when they are so forgetable and have so little screentime that i'ts really underwhelming. If you play games mostly for the plot, then for now i tell you to avoid this game like the plague. Veredict: Well, i love Cladun as a whole personally but i understand 40 dollars can be quite the amount for a game that has such an indie vibe, even more if you are expecting an interesting story. But if you liked Cladun 1 and/or X2 or even you want an ARPG with a lot of customization freedom and deep, satisfying gameplay, the Cladun Returns: This is Sengoku is without a doubt a great purchase.
• 

  Lord Tywin

  Jul 7, 2017

  Absolutly fantastic game worth every single penny.
• 

  9IR_nullfield

  Jul 18, 2017

  For those unfamiliar with NIS games, Cladun Returns fits their usual profile: it's a RPG second, grindathon and minmaxer's paradise first. The combat system and overall gameplay is deceptively simple. it's an action RPG vaguely similar to the Legend of Zelda series, where you control a character with a limited selection of abilities in a gridless battlefield filled with enemies and traps - most of the mind-numbing complexity comes from the insane amount of customization options and the Magic Circle system, which bolsters your main character's stats and abilities by using your other characters as something like equipment pieces. It's the same basic setup as previous entries in the Cladun series, but Cladun Returns packs in a lot of new extra features, such as additional randomly-generated dungeons, new weapon types, and new enemies. It's also a far more competent port than Cladun x2, its predecessor. NIS games can typically be played by those not interested in endless grinds, because those features usually start up after you've already finished the game. Cladun Returns is no different, and the main campaign can be finished with only minimal detours and grinding. Unfortunately, the additions from Cladun x2 aren't very noticeable in the main campaign, and the storyline in x2 is far more complete and interesting than the plot in Returns, for those who aren't well-versed in the Sengoku era of Japan (not that the plot is the main draw of either game, of course). Due to that, it's difficult to recommend Cladun Returns above Cladun x2 to casual fans of the series. Unfortunately, I can't recommend this above Cladun x2 to diehard fans of NIS games, numbercrunchers, or people looking for an endless grind either. The draw of the Cladun series is that the postgames transition to being intense roguelites all about slogging through randomly-generated 99-floor dungeons for loot and profit. Theoretically, the added dungeons, enemies, and customization features should make this a superior product to x2 in spite of its slightly weaker storyline - the main problem is the added content and especially the new customization features, which are often poorly playtested and sometimes downright gamebreaking. (For example: one of the new enemy types, a giant multi-headed serpent based on Yamata no Orochi, appears in the third chapter of the main storyline - due to its wonky stat scaling you can barely scratch it, so the "best" way to fight it is to stand directly behind it so it whiffs with all of its attacks and plink it to death over the course of 4 minutes. A lot of the other new content is equally tedious, with many of the new enemies relying on lengthy invulnerability phases - the only new content that seemed to be worthwhile and fun were the new weapon types, and to some extent the new dungeon varieties.) As far as the actual gamebreaking components go, the main culprits are the additions to the title system (which allows you to add prefixes to equipment to give yourself passive benefits). While titles in x2 typically gave useful bonuses but were almost never downright essential, some of the new titles introduced in Returns allow you to never trigger traps while walking on them (removing one of the biggest difficulties of the game), bring back all equipment earned from a dungeon run even if you get a Game Over (nullifying any real consequence for defeat), and increase all of your damage resistances to the point that you become completely immune to all attacks (nullifying every other challenge remaining). Due to the fact that Cladun Returns allows you to add these titles to sufficiently powerful weapons through a new feature at the blacksmith shop, it's very easy to achieve effective immortality very early into the postgame if you know what you're doing, making any further grinding completely pointless. Given the entire premise of NIS games is endlessly grinding in the postgame to grow stronger, the title additions undercut the game's entire premise - why take 300 hours to boost your stats to absurd levels, when you can be handed total immortality in 30? I love the Cladun series and I definitely enjoyed my time in Cladun Returns, so it's painful to give this game a review of Not Recommended. But as it stands, there's little reason to purchase this game over its (significantly cheaper) predecessor. Sometimes less is more.
• 

  Kosci ❤

  Nov 20, 2017

  The first ever game I filed refund :D - Go back up right now. - Type in search bar: Chronicon - Buy chronicon Forget this game. Their tutorials are the worst I've ever had. Soo u died inside dungeon? Sorry u gutta lose all those stuff too :")
• 

  OKT

  Nov 21, 2017

  This is *the* game for fans of the ClaDun series. If you liked x2 and the original, you will love this one. The title is not just for show; many of the assets carried over from x2 have been redrawn or modified to fit the theme. Edit: Notable New Features Deathgeon - Ten floor dungeon where enemies start at high levels and difficult types/traps are common. Loss only occurs when you run out of time, not when you become KO'd. Supposedly you fight bosses from previous ClaDun installments on the final floor. Mu-Geon - Technically not new, but it was not in ClaDun x2 and reappears in Returns with a caveat: Mu-Geons negate the effects of titles on equipment, artifacts, etc. The Arena - A dungeon that consists solely of a circular arena. Kill a wave of mobs to access two chests, the exit, and a portal to the next floor. Each floor forces you through a random gate. Great for using classes or builds that would normally be bad at sustaining themselves in a standard Rangeon. Great source of titles, but really poor exp farm. Ex Dungeons - Rearranged versions of the dungeons you played during the story. Generally more difficult but more rewarding. One unique recruitable character lives in each stage, so this is a great source of characters if you are feeling unimaginative and want some stock characters to round out your roster. The Castle - Basically a universal, secondary Magic Circle. Each space requires a somewhat expensive stone piece. The rarer the piece, the more stats it gives and the less likely it is to recieve a disenchantment. You can pay a decent sum of gold to remove these debuffs and keep the stone or just remove a stone entirely. Weapon Refinement - Weapons will get kill points the more you use them in dungeons. You can redeem these at the Blacksmith to attach weak titles in all four slots. You can use this system to quickly farm weak titles for your Armor and Shield. Quests - Yes quests! These can range from visiting old story dungeons to kill new enemies that have spawned in them or clearing certain stages in a certain amount of time. They are repeatable with diminishing returns and give gold, items, and even fame.
• 

  Uszaty223

  Nov 24, 2017

  Awesome! The game is as charming as other Cladun games. Really great stuff.
• 

  NYC ftw

  Jul 10, 2018

  From all my years of gaming, I can say for sure NISA is by far THE most incompetent thing I have ever encontered. The way they handled YS VIII and Disgaea 5 port is really bad. About the game itself, it's too simple. You just auto-attack and that's it.
• 

  Wisker

  Jun 3, 2019

  Swindled by NIS, again. Got this game hoping to see some proper multiplayer co-op in ran-geons. Its ClaDun X2 with half-ass multiplayer. Its not worth 20 bucks.
• 

  TheRNGenius

  Jul 11, 2019

  Very fun title! A grindy dungeoncrawler with fun combat. The gameplay is the same as in ClaDun X2, Classes and enemies got renamed and there are like 5 new mobs. New Story Missions and new post game Dungeons give new challenges. Title drop rates are significantly better than in the prequal, which makes this game easier to beat and less frustrating. Big thumbs up, a title I'll go back to every couple of years!
• 

  Hakuso

  Jul 20, 2020

  Great game, if you're using a controller, but I have to say that the Keyboard controls are a real mess and make it very difficult to enjoy this game if you don't have a gamepad plugged in. Loved it on Vita, enjoyed the heck out of it here (Steam has a problem counting offline play, my hours are considerably higher than what is listed) while my 360 controller held out, but after that died I've pretty much completely stopped playing as it is a royal pain to do anything with Keyboard and Mouse. So, I will be checking the thumbs up since this is a really great game worth picking up by anyone interested in the genre, but I'm leaving this review with a warning that if you don't have a controller it's going to be less than ideal trying to actually play it. If you're playing with Keyboard and Mouse try looking at DragonFangZ or Touhou Genso Wanderer: Reloaded, they're fairly similar games but MUCH better optimized for play without a controller.
• 

  CelestialAfroJungle

  Aug 24, 2020

  I can't believe i paid about 15$ for this game. It's not that bad but it's not that good, the concept is good but the overall game is a bit disappointing. And the worst is that it uses the same content as the two previous games. Really NIS? Are you that incompetent and useless? I guess so. Gameplay is simple, game isn't that hard but there are some "wtf" moment which will be kind of annoying. Dungeons all looks the same. Magic isn't that fun to use. 4.2/10 - If interested, get only while on sale for about 2$, not more, especially if you have already played the previous titles which are pretty much the same as this one.
• 

  Kiru

  Sep 25, 2020

  While the game could've been okay, it's too buggy to recommend. -Magic Circles are bugged, so effects like mana x 3 don't actually always work. (Rather devastating for the circles where it doesn't, as this governs your overall strength quite a bit and basically weakens them by a lot) -Several titles are bugged and don't do anything, or just the negative part (think of it like modifiers on Weapons and whatnot, +x magic power or whatever) -Random crash to desktop without error, especially great given the 100 floor random dungeons without any saving. Prepare for losing all the things you found, including all money and exp not because you die, but because the game dies. -Wonky hit detection. When soundeffects stack up to really annoying levels, because something hits you once every frame or whatever, it was probably not intended. In general, the sprite designs are little more than a suggestion and often feel like they have little to do with what hits and what doesn't, which also doesn't help. The gamedesign is okay, but honestly not worth it given all the bugs. Too many just annoying elements are already there, things solely existing to be annoying, so add the bugs and it's not really worth it. There are much better games out there.
• 

  Milobadger

  Oct 15, 2020

  The best combination of action RPG/JRPG/Rogue-lite that you will find on the market. The downside is that the story is almost non-existent, especially for western audiences. If you want a game that will revolve around you generating and customising generations of characters and switching styles and general JRPG tropes, then this is the game for you. The action RPG elements also deserve significant praise, especially when combined with the mental aspects of building the right strategies for characters and their place in your team.