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Written 5 months ago
This is the second DLC released for this game and a pack with characters that I both enjoy. Do they hold up though? Let's find out.
[u]Kyousuke[/u]
Kyousuke is very much a defense oriented character with a stat-line of 5 HP -1 ATK +2 DEF 0 EVD and 5 REC. He is what I would describe as a "tank" character in this game, using their high HP and DEF to survive as long as possible while gathering stars and cards. Unlike most tanky characters in this game, he doesn't really have any kind of noticeable drawbacks or passives that weaken him besides his low ATK, which is pretty common for tanky characters anyway. With their decently high HP stat, good DEF, and neutral EVD, Kyousuke is a very solid choice if you want a more adaptable tank to use, even if they don't have quite as much DEF or HP as his competition.
If it ended there they would already be pretty good, but we can't end off there without talking about their hyper: Cast Off. Cast Off has the very simple effect of swapping the base ATK and DEF of whoever uses it until they either get KO'd or use Cast Off again. What this means for Kyousuke is that he goes from being a tank to being a squishy bully character that tries to steal other players stars. This hyper can be a nice plan B for when Kyousuke falls behind in a game, but it's also very risky as your chances of being KO'd are much higher. The safest way to use the hyper would be to have another copy of it for when you do KO somebody or have some way to self KO yourself without losing stars, both of which are not always practical.
Kyousuke has stood the test of time very well in the game and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Even if you don't get your hyper card in a game, you still have a good chance of winning if you play smart and RNG is on your side. Let's see what Saki can bring to the table.
[u]Saki[/u]
Right out of the gate, Saki does not have very impressive stats. She has 4 HP 0 ATK 0 DEF +1 EVD and 4 REC. Having an okay HP stat and relying on EVD, which can be notoriously unreliable leads to Saki being a pretty squishy character. Clearly she isn't designed for getting into battles so what does she do? Well that's where their hyper Big Bang Bell comes in. Big Bang Bell is a trap card that actually gets stronger the longer it's left on the field. It will initially cause 2 damage to whoever steps on it and anybody within a 2 panel-radius of the trap, but every 2 chapters this damage will go up by +1. If you do end up being KO'd by it, half of your stars will go to Saki.
Saki's entire game plan revolves around scaring people with this hyper. As soon as she hits Norma 3, any trap that she places on the field becomes much more intimidating to land on. She has numerous good spots that she can place traps too, such as on homes, on spaces where paths intersect, and even placing them on side paths to discourage people from taking them. Even if it's not a bell, there are still several traps that can be devastating to land on and with how uncommon trap cards are in general, odds are that there won't be any cards in the deck to help deal with the trap cards. If Saki places them on the main path of a board that you'll have to eventually travel through, there's a pretty good chance that you'll have no choice but to land on a trap if you're unlucky with your movement roll. That's not even including the fact that Saki can choose to run Path Blockers and now you have to worry about somebody using that card on you and forcing you to land on the next trap you move over.
For as strong as I made trap cards out to be, they're not the most reliable cards to use. Often times, the only traps you'll see are the ones Saki brings herself and that means everything that isn't Big Bang Bell has a chance to be drawn by other people and used against her. Saki is also very squishy as mentioned earlier which means even if she does KO somebody with her bell, she is still at risk of being KO'd herself and prone to bullying unless she can quickly end the game. Despite these flaws, I find Saki to be a very interesting character to try to make work. She doesn't have the most consistent play style, but when it works out you feel like a mastermind.
Despite how old this DLC is, both characters are pretty fun and have held up well despite how strong some of the more recent characters have been. I can highly recommend this character pack to anybody who's interested in a solid tank and/or a trap heavy play style.
