L5R is Like Sushi

By Kakita Shijin, in Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game

I thought I will hate sushi but I liked it when I tried.

I will say I am likely to miss having one giant army of a unit smashing provinces left and right (since the more attachments you invest, the more you end up suddenly losing when the character "meets her destiny"), but it's only one of the playstyles I preferred, and besides, the fate system, as well as the draw mechanic, sound like elements that will drastically alter the way this game is played, compared to the many other attack-defense customizable card games out there. It's likely that even veterans of L5R, let alone the CCG genre as a whole, will need to rediscover what playstyles fit them in this new environment, since it's so different from what has come before.

The smell of nori (seaweed wrap) makes my stomach turn so yeah, me and sushi don't mix. Without the seaweed, I tried it and kind of like it.

I am going to give the LCG a go even though the monthly pricing model I find quite intimidating. (I didn't play the CCG)

Edited by DarkHorse
3 hours ago, DarkHorse said:

The smell of nori (seaweed wrap) makes my stomach turn so yeah, me and sushi don't mix. Without the seaweed, I tried it and kind of like it.

I am going to give the LCG a go even though the monthly pricing model I find quite intimidating. (I didn't play the CCG)

Oh I love nori. I especially love nori snack, slightly roasted with a bit of salt and oil. In fact I just ate some nori recently, a packet of nori snacks to my side which I used to wrap around some pizza rolls. Why? Because I'm weird. :P

As for the game. I would love to pick this up, but I rarely have a group to play with (thank you FFG for AH LCG and LotR LCG btw).

11 hours ago, Kiseki said:

I rejected the idea that FFG could make a "real" L5R almost immediately. I'd never played any of their games, and didn't know anything about them. I ranted. I raved. I typed out posts and then deleted them.

I have some nostalgia and emotional attachments to the game even though I hadn't been actively playing for a few years. I'm eager to try L5R 2.0 even if I do still have some apprehension. I'm actively trying to avoid deciding I don't like things about it mechanically until I've had a chance to fully play it and make my decision. My public face is to stay cautiously optimistic, and go with the assumption that I'm going to enjoy it when I see the full picture. That might not turn out to be true, but if I don't come at it from that direction, I know that I might as well not even play.

L5R 2.0 or 1.5 or 3.01, LCG format is the key to me. As long as the game feels the same, even if form is different, I am ok with changes. Plus, it is easy to just save some money for a single core, give it a try and then have an opinion based in facts. Hopefully for good reasons. :D

For the record, I am not a fan of fish in general. But I am less of a fan of starvation.

Yeah, I don't like fish. But I really like crab sushi. :P

12 hours ago, Kakita Shijin said:

What do you think? How did you feel in 2015, and how do you feel now? Any change? No judgments, I'm just curious.

In 2015, I was sad for a number of story, RPG, and setting-related reasons... but also expected we'd get a more mechanically sound card game.

I'm less than wild about rebooting to an era that I personally have little interest in revisiting yet again when I wasn't that wild about it the first time.

I'm not thrilled by how twenty years of playerbase input on what their factions are and how they do things seems to have been merrily chucked out the window.

I'm worried that the basic plot will be the same stupid thing again without adequate course correction. (People carp about the story in later years, but let's face it, a lot of the hard-coded imbecilities of the setting arose during those first few plot arcs)

The design notes make me wonder if I'll be able to make a Phoenix deck that's even remotely capable of winning a military tussle- multiple paths to victory are merely cute when they're basically coded by faction.

I can't comment on the card game since I haven't gotten my hands on it yet. Previews tell you more when you understand the system, and I only have the broad strokes right now.

So... I think I was more optimistic two years ago than I am now. I sincerely hope my concerns are proven as valid as a deed for oceanfront property in Colorado.

Edited by Shiba Gunichi

In 2002 FFG opened their first Sushi restaurant, it served dishes randomly to its patrons. This restaurant was redesigned in 2008 to provide an a la carte menu to the delight of its customers.

FFG have since opened 7 more restaurants, each catering to subtlety different tastes. They reopened restaurants on prior locations that had fallen into disrepair to immense success.

With every step they appeared to learn from every previous endeavor, the Sushi served became more refined.

In 2015 they not only refurbished their original restaurant applying all the lessons learnt but also purchased one of the longest standing and beloved restaurant locations available.

Now in 2017 after 2 years of refurbishment this restaurant looks ready to open. The visual appeal of its Sushi is unquestionable, the passion among its chefs and management easily apparent. Its prior clientele seem enthusiastic at the very glimpse of its menu.

Personally this latest Sushi has always seemed unnecessarily spicy and the opening hours of the previous restaurant were unorthodox. But it is hard to imagine that applying the past 15 years of experience to the twenty year old techniques would not produce the freshest, and richest tasting Sushi ever devised. If ever there was a Sushi to be tasted beyond predetermined conclusion this might be it.

I shall frequent this restaurant as often as possible and perhaps along with all of its customer help decide the decor and menu for years to come. What a fine dining experience.

Now... I actually want sushi.

I had bowed out of the CCG version at the end of EE. I tried keeping up, but I wasn't playing enough games to make the investment worthwhile. Then there was the announcement that FFG was buying with the hint of it moving to the LCG model which I was a proponent of even during the CCG era. I was on the fence, knowing that there was mention of cutting back to the original clans (I assumed 5 or 6 clans at the time).

The other announcements hadn't piqued my interest and then they started the big mechanics reveals and I've gotten pretty excited. I hope it will meet my expectations, but at least, I'll be buying the core set and if they do the Mantis, I'm all in.

15 hours ago, Builder2 said:

Is it one of each conflict type per round? I was under the impression that you could issue two military challenges or two political challenges if you wished. As much as I favor the Ide family, I don't see the Unicorn Clan doing much politically, at least out of the core set.

Each player may make up to two attacks per turn, and they may only make one attack of each type.