Inti Creates has revealed the release date for upcoming card battler Card-en-Ciel, which essentially looks like a less RPG-ified version of Mega Man Battle Network.
The game is launching in October, and in a new trailer, Inti Creates shows off some Card-en-Ciel gameplay, and it looks…well, a whole lot like Mega Man Battle Network, actually, right down to the grid style and isometric viewpoint.
However, where Battle Network also featured JRPG-style trappings, including an overworld in which you could talk to NPCs and watch the story unfold, Card-en-Ciel looks to be stripping things back for a more roguelite-inspired take on the genre.
Card-en-Ciel revolves around Neon, a “gaming detective” (yes, that’s Inti Creates’ actual wording) who must collect and utilize cards to do battle with a range of enemies.
The game will offer more than 10 different dungeons, each of which is full of monsters to fight, cards to collect, and new synergies to find. You can also look forward to special “Muse Cards”, which activate special abilities soundtracked by 50 vocal tracks present in the game.
Along the way, you’ll also discover the story of Neon and his friends, although it’ll be told largely through visual novel-style static scenes rather than overworld exploration, it seems.
You can check out the trailer for Card-en-Ciel right here if you want to get a sense for what the gameplay is like.
Card-en-Ciel comes to us from Inti Creates, the studio responsible for franchises like Azure Striker Gunvolt and the Blaster Master revivals, as well as, uh, cheesecake-tastic games like Gal Gun.
It looks like the studio is essentially seeking to marry its two great loves in Card-en-Ciel; it’s a very Mega Man-esque game with some pretty gratuitous-feeling anime fanservice in it.
You’ll be able to check out Card-en-Ciel when it launches across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch on October 24th.
