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Pocket Card Jockey (eShop)

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Hold your horses, a belated PCJ review is UP!

 

N-Europe Review

 

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I guess a lot of people are going to disagree (at least here on the forums), but I've seen a number of people online having the same issue as I did. Do you guys think you are really in control or do you just cope with the random outcomes sometimes?

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It's a valid point, I can understand your frustration. There have been more than a few times when I've done the perfect race and yet there was nothing I could have actually done to secure victory.

 

It never really bothered me though. Maybe it's just the many hours I've wasted farming the same Monster on Monster Hunter and never getting the material I wanted. It's probably made me more tolerant of things like that.

 

The only thing I would disagree with is your rating on the Lifespan section, 2's a bit harsh. For an eShop game, this game has legs!

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I guess a lot of people are going to disagree (at least here on the forums), but I've seen a number of people online having the same issue as I did. Do you guys think you are really in control or do you just cope with the random outcomes sometimes?

 

Your review is spot on and pointed out everything I hated about the game.

 

I despise when i'm punished in a game for something that is beyond my control. The random winning element is a cheap way to lengthen the game. I have the same issues with the Mario Kart series and it's rubber banding AI. If i'm good at a game then it shouldn't be up to chance whether I secure victory or not.

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I don't think losing perfect races is particularly random or unfair, it's because of the horse. You wouldn't expect a donkey to win the Grand National no matter how good the jockey, the game even tells you it's better to save your cards and use them for experience if you don't think you have a chance of winning (I'd actually recommend not using them at all while training the horse). It's a bit like wandering off course and running into a high powered enemy in a JRPG, no matter how good you are you won't win. The idea is you keep improving your horses until you can.

 

Obviously it can be frustrating and I can see why a lot of people wouldn't enjoy this game, but at the same time if winning was purely down to how well you played solitaire there really wouldn't be much of a game.

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I can see the comparison with MH @Glen\-i, but still it feels different in this game. In MH at least you win, but don't always get awarded for it. Here it feels that you are not awarded at all. And glad you agree @Hero\-of\-Time, that means I am not the lone ranger (;)) here!

 

I don't think losing perfect races is particularly random or unfair, it's because of the horse. You wouldn't expect a donkey to win the Grand National no matter how good the jockey, the game even tells you it's better to save your cards and use them for experience if you don't think you have a chance of winning (I'd actually recommend not using them at all while training the horse). It's a bit like wandering off course and running into a high powered enemy in a JRPG, no matter how good you are you won't win. The idea is you keep improving your horses until you can.

 

Obviously it can be frustrating and I can see why a lot of people wouldn't enjoy this game, but at the same time if winning was purely down to how well you played solitaire there really wouldn't be much of a game.

 

But even with a solid horse in Mature Mode you have the same issue. And on your final remark, luckily it is not only solitaire and quite some insight is involved. Placing your horse, picking up boost cards, not get stuck behind a horse, etc. etc. It has quite some depth for a 7 euro eShop game. But that randomness, THAT RANDOMNESS!

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that means I am not the lone ranger (;)) here!

 

I think it's really telling of me as a person that my first thought was that was a Dillon's Rolling Western reference...

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But even with a solid horse in Mature Mode you have the same issue. And on your final remark, luckily it is not only solitaire and quite some insight is involved. Placing your horse, picking up boost cards, not get stuck behind a horse, etc. etc. It has quite some depth for a 7 euro eShop game.

 

I agree that there's a lot of depth to the racing but most of the challenge from that is because it throws so many new things at you at once. Once you've raised a few horses the racing part becomes fairly predictable, the start game is easy as long as you watch where the five star card goes, so it's basically down to how well your solitaire goes. Winning solitaire is always going to have an element of randomness even if you set yourself up well, but if you have a perfect race with a 3 star, max level horse with the puzzle bonuses I'd be surprised if you lost. Maybe I was just lucky but I was winning pretty consistently once I had 3 star horses. When I did lose I always felt it was my fault. I really don't think you're supposed to be able to win some of the races until you get the best horses.

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So i've started this and predictably it's incredible. Played about ten hours in a few days and considering "I don't have time" for games this isn't bad. Far more deep than I expected it to be too.

 

I think I get all the mechanics but the one I can't seem to figure out how to control is pace during a race. I thought it was if you had forward momentum with your movement then it would speed up but if you sent your horse backwards it would slow down, it made sense. But I'm pretty sure that isn't the case, anyone know!?

 

Anyways, love it, and think I'm going to be insane hours into this,

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So i've started this and predictably it's incredible. Played about ten hours in a few days and considering "I don't have time" for games this isn't bad. Far more deep than I expected it to be too.

 

I think I get all the mechanics but the one I can't seem to figure out how to control is pace during a race. I thought it was if you had forward momentum with your movement then it would speed up but if you sent your horse backwards it would slow down, it made sense. But I'm pretty sure that isn't the case, anyone know!?

 

Anyways, love it, and think I'm going to be insane hours into this,

 

You're almost right, pace is based on the relevant position of all the horses, not just yours. So charging ahead can quicken the pace, but I would advise against that, building up energy/getting experience should be your priority.

I wouldn't worry too much about pace, just keep in mind that when going around corners, there's some kind of orange/red zigzag pattern that appears on the touch screen, unless you've got Super Unity, do your best to stay out of that, because your stamina will drain really fast if you're in that.

 

The higher the pace, the closer you have to stick to the bottom when going around corners.

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You're almost right, pace is based on the relevant position of all the horses, not just yours. So charging ahead can quicken the pace, but I would advise against that, building up energy/getting experience should be your priority.

I wouldn't worry too much about pace, just keep in mind that when going around corners, there's some kind of orange/red zigzag pattern that appears on the touch screen, unless you've got Super Unity, do your best to stay out of that, because your stamina will drain really fast if you're in that.

 

The higher the pace, the closer you have to stick to the bottom when going around corners.

 

Ah, so is pace the pace of the field as a whole rather than of your individual horse? That makes a lot of sense.

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bit late to the party... but I'm really liking this game. I've seen a few of the compaints, but to be honest I find it's an important part of the game... life isn't predictable and nor is this game. It doesn't feel entirely like random chance, but much like say a football team won't always win because it simply has the best players, nor will you win simply because you and your horse are decent. but yeah... nice little game!

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Game Freak have trademarked Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On!

Sequel? Port? Either way, it looks like something is on the cards for this IP.

Edited by Hero-of-Time
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On one hand, YES PLEASE! On the other hand, I wonder how it would work without touch controls, especially if it's a port.

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1 hour ago, Glen-i said:

On one hand, YES PLEASE! On the other hand, I wonder how it would work without touch controls, especially if it's a port.

Probably will be button controls in Docked mode, touch screen controls in Handheld mode.

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59 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

Probably will be button controls in Docked mode, touch screen controls in Handheld mode.

You know full well that touch controls are no guarantee with any Switch game.

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Fantastic! Exciting to know they haven’t given up on the series.  With how fast you need to move cards to do well in the later races it’ll be much tougher when not using touch controls.

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5 minutes ago, WackerJr said:

Fantastic! Exciting to know they haven’t given up on the series.  With how fast you need to move cards to do well in the later races it’ll be much tougher when not using touch controls.

If it's a sequel, they'll likely tweak it so that the disadvantage of controllers is offset somehow. More time or something like that.

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I have a feeling this will just be a smartphone port, and we're not going to see it on Switch.

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11 hours ago, Dufniall said:

I have a feeling this will just be a smartphone port, and we're not going to see it on Switch.

A smartphone port already exists (Japan-only), so that’s not it.

A Switch version is, by far, the most likely thing on the cards.

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The iOS version is out now and there's an interview with the director here:

 

 

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I gave the above digitaltrends article a read. The story refresher was welcome—I'd completely forgotten how mental the Pocket Card Jockey setup is. :laughing: They say the timing of the Ride On! release lining up with the 3DS eShop closure is entirely coincidental and that they'll base further improvements and bringing it to Switch (or anywhere else) on the reaction and feedback it gets.

Hopefully it works well on one screen and they find a way to convert it for docked play.

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