The Inside Scoop on Gaming

It looks like L5R. It has the logo. It claims that it's compatible. But the soul of the original Five Rings card game has been destroyed. New versions of the clan strongholds are here being more broken than the prior strongholds. Unicorn is a particularly bad offender.

Other changes include a definite move away from spells and to kiho. For those of you who don't know spells in L5R attach to sorcerers known as shugenja. Shugenja may have a number of spells attached equal to their chi rating. Kiho are played one time from the players hand and discrarded. The Shugenja is bowed (tapped) and life goes on. Kiho bothered me when they first came out since they moved some of the focus from what was on the table to what was in players' hands. The abundance of kiho in the new set makes this problem worse. L5R's distinctive flavor is lost and it becomes more like another M:tG rather than a card based wargame which was the strong feel when the game was first released.

Next there are many "reaction" cards now. When a given reaction goes off becomes more important and timing issues rear their head. Power cards like Yoshi (who can change the outcome of a duel he is in no way connected to) and a particular dagger that prevents it's wielder from being dishonored offer power to their users at the price of thematic consistency within the game.

This game is not what it once was. I suspect that the AEG dev team was replaced with a WotC dev team who applied their notions to the game, but I cannot be sure. In any case, this is to be avoided. I fear the only CCG that relied on more tactics than card combos and topdecking abilities is no more.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 1 (I Wasted My Money)

Hidden Emperor
Author: collaboration Category: CCG Company/Publisher: FRPG Cost: $9.99/starter Page count: n/a Playtest Review by Brian Watts on 11/20/98. Genre tags: Asian/Far_East	It looks like L5R. It has the logo. It claims that it's compatible. But the soul of the original Five Rings card game has been destroyed. New versions of the clan strongholds are here being more broken than the prior strongholds. Unicorn is a particularly bad offender. Other changes include a definite move away from spells and to kiho. For those of you who don't know spells in L5R attach to sorcerers known as shugenja. Shugenja may have a number of spells attached equal to their chi rating. Kiho are played one time from the players hand and discrarded. The Shugenja is bowed (tapped) and life goes on. Kiho bothered me when they first came out since they moved some of the focus from what was on the table to what was in players' hands. The abundance of kiho in the new set makes this problem worse. L5R's distinctive flavor is lost and it becomes more like another M:tG rather than a card based wargame which was the strong feel when the game was first released. Next there are many "reaction" cards now. When a given reaction goes off becomes more important and timing issues rear their head. Power cards like Yoshi (who can change the outcome of a duel he is in no way connected to) and a particular dagger that prevents it's wielder from being dishonored offer power to their users at the price of thematic consistency within the game. This game is not what it once was. I suspect that the AEG dev team was replaced with a WotC dev team who applied their notions to the game, but I cannot be sure. In any case, this is to be avoided. I fear the only CCG that relied on more tactics than card combos and topdecking abilities is no more. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 1 (I Wasted My Money)

Hidden Emperor