Developed By: Nippon Ichi Software
Published By: NIS America
Category: RPG
Release Date: 09.26.25
Price: $39.99
*Game Download Code graciously provided for the purpose of review
A long time ago, Cladun was released for the PSP. Now Cladun X3 is available on the Nintendo Switch nearly 20 years later. The game itself is very simple and straightforward but has the potential to be the most complicated game you’ve ever played. I never played any of the older ones, but I knew I had to play it when I found out about all the customization options.
When the game begins, you create your character, and there are nearly a hundred presets to choose from, in addition to picking a job. But you also have the ability to completely overhaul each of your characters to your liking later. Mix and match different body parts, mess with their color palette, or change their dialogue. There’s also a full sprite editor, so you can manually edit every little thing about each character you create, one pixel at a time.
It’s not just your own character that you’re creating, make a bunch of minions to serve under you and have them all look and speak how you want. There are billions of possible combos for how to build each character, and you can build your minion army any way you like. The sub characters you create are very useful, but they also move into the hub area so you can interact with them.
The game has a lot going on for people who love customization, loot, and grinding, but what is Cladun X3 even about? You’re a villain, and you were transported to another world called Arcanus Cella. You’re summoned to participate in a death game against every villain ever. The idea is that having villains kill each other makes their respective worlds safer.
This is accomplished by blasting through dozens of short dozens while defeating enemies, avoiding traps, and collecting ungodly amounts of loot. Dungeons are fast-paced and bite sized, many of them take a minute or two to beat, if not less. I loved the combat just as much as I liked the customization because of how fast-paced and frantic dungeons are. However, I can also understand that some people might not like this aspect of gameplay.
After a while, the dungeon combat loop does become quite repetitive. You might also find yourself doing a lot of grinding. Because of this, some people might get bored after only a couple of hours. I also kind of felt the game was getting a little stale, but the magic circle mechanic helped a bit.
Magic circles are basically a giant flow chart that can get quite convoluted. You use them to place sub characters and artifacts so that you can get a variety of buffs. Utilizing magic circles makes you stronger, but it’s also a good excuse to create a bunch of custom characters. Personally, I really enjoyed the extra level of strategy that magic circles incorporated into the game.
Is Cladun X3 going to appeal to the casual RPG gamer? Probably not. The game does require a lot of patience because of all the grinding. Some people might also find the story to be too simple. I personally liked the game and think that it has a great amount of content for the $39.99 price tag, but it won’t be for everyone.
3.5/5
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