Oh, hai Communitoid! Been awhile since I've been around, I know. My apologies for being a shadow in the mist. Rest assured, I'll be back to my old self again once things cool off in my life.

But, lend me your ear (or eye, as it were) for the moment, and let me blather about how insanely awesometastic Culdcept SAGA for the Xbox 360 turned out to be.

And by "turned out to be" I mean that I was rather surprised by it, since it came completely out of left field. Like most of you (some of you?) I downloaded the demo off XBL Marketplace, played it once or twice, and didn't think it was all that great. Then again, I had NO idea what the hell I was doing at that time. A few weeks past, and I randomly picked up the demo again and finally everything clicked once I read a review somewhere that said "Just think of it like Monopoly with a bunch of monsters for houses."

After playing the demo over and over, I was determined to rent the game to see if it would hold water (and be worth the psuedo-bargain pricetag of 40 bones.) Here's where my own plight begins -- I had it #1 in my GameFly GameQ -- but for whatever reason, GameFly flipped me the figurative bird and sent the #5 game in my queue (PGR4 for those curious.)

I called three rental joints around town -- none of them had the damn game to rent. What the hell? This game just came out in February! Disappointed, I realized I would have to wait for GameFly to come through.

But I'm a very impatient person, so I did what any gamer would do -- I bought the damn thing on a whim after seeing it at the mall. I was a bit worried that I might've blown my hard-earned $40, but after diving into the game headfirst for a good 8 hours over the past two days, I can delightfully report that the game is as addictive as[insert something REALLY addictive here]!

The game is rather time consuming, so don't be thinking you'll be blazing through encounters like Puzzle Quest. However, you can suspend your game in the middle, so no worries there. Nonetheless, once you get a handle on all the intricacies and complexities Culdcept SAGA has, you'll be hooked on building your Book (deck) and constantly begin thinking up new and interesting ways to make your opponent cry, curse, and complain.

All in all, the core mechanics of the game are really what drew me in. There's a steep learning curve here, but there is also a lot of rewarding fun to be had once you get over the hump. It's a shame that this game will fall through the cracks with so many gamers, but I figure I'd at least let'cha folks know how I feel.

If you've got a spare $40, I highly suggest giving this one a chance. It really is all its cracked up to be.

(Own this? Why not play me on Xbox Live? My 'tag is x Mikezilla x)