Mega Man Battle Network-Inspired Card-en-Ciel in Development

Capcom-associated developer Inti Creates has announced a new IP, Card-en-Ciel, coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. No release date is available at this time.

Thanks to Gematsu, we learned that the developer has, however, given players a “Project Kickoff Trailer” for the game (below). Inti Creates also took a playable demo to PAX East 2024 in Boston this past weekend.

On the surface, Card-en-Ciel looks to be heavily influenced by the Mega Man Battle Network series, with an almost identical battle-grid, card-based battle system and a very similar node traversal structure.

Card-en-Ciel Description

Card-en-Ciel stars Neon, a gaming detective, as he collects and battles with over 300 cards on a deckbuilding RPG adventure. Players will adventure through over 10 different dungeons, earning character cards to strengthen their deck and unlock new techniques to use in ever-expanding roguelite card battles.

Special “Muse Cards” add another layer to the card battles, activating powerful abilities with their songs during battle, with 50 vocal tracks included in-game. Together with the Muses’ song abilities, players will use hidden card “glitches” and even enemies’ attacks against them to perform satisfying, full power combos with their unique decks.

Cards of a Suit, or Different Decks?

Connections to the Mega Man series aren’t limited to aesthetic and gameplay design. Inti Creates has worked very closely with Capcom over the last 25+ years, developing several games in the Mega Man Zero series, as well as Mega Man Battle Chip Challenge, a 2003 Game Boy Advance spinoff of the Battle Network series. There is, however, one distinct difference between the games, with Card-en-Ciel seemingly featuring quite a bit of fanservice; I will let the image gallery below illustrate this.

Given the relationship between the two companies, we might assume that Capcom is well aware of the liberties being taken with their game design elements. Given this tacit green light, I’m ready to raise two possibilities: (1) Either last year’s Mega Man Battle Network Collection (1.42 million units sold) was the sum total of Capcom’s plans for this IP and Inti Creates have been handed the torch with Card-en-Ciel, or (2) Card-en-Ciel is a further market test for a Battle Network reboot. Or… I’m completely pulling all this out of thin air and there’s really no connection whatsoever.

Were you at PAX East over the weekend? We’d love to hear about your experience with Card-en-Ciel or any other new games you may have tried there in the comments or over on our socials. We here at RPGFan will return the favour by continuing to bring you the best RPG news we get our hands on.

Source: Gematsu