A distinct feature of the video game medium that draws players in is customization. Many of the most popular games available allow you to customize the characters, vehicles, and other aspects to some extent, or even changing the music. Many people also create custom textures for games and upload them online for others to use. Being able to adjust a game to your liking is what keeps many playing, and it’s not hard to see why. That’s something that shines through in Cladun X3.

Cladun X3 is an action-adventure RPG and the latest entry in the Cladun series. The series’ gimmick is that you can customize almost everything. Your character, weapons, towns, and even the music. It also features dungeons to explore, combining action gameplay with classic RPG mechanics. Ultimately, you’re left with a pretty interesting game that may not appeal to everyone. The more I played, though, I felt myself becoming the type of fan this game was for. Sadly, it never fully clicked, but there’s still something here, even if it wasn’t for me.

To Arcanus Cella

In Cladun X3, you play a character transported to the world of Arcanus Cella, and upon your confusing arrival, you are greeted by Jellia. Jellia tells you that you are a villain, and she has gathered all the villains across all worlds to participate in a death game. She wants to rid all worlds of villains and find the evil Lord Foulplay. For this plan to succeed, she needs you to get stronger, so she has you fight through dangerous dungeons to do this. Along the way, you’ll meet interesting characters and strengthen the ability known as the magic circle.

The story here is fine, and although it isn’t the priority of the game, the narrative is a bit fun. Where the writing does shine is in the characters. Since this is a death game for villains, you meet some interesting characters. The biggest highlight is Hodrick, who has two personalities. One is a hot-headed hero who claims to have killed Lord Foulplay, and the other is a meek man who doesn’t know who he really is.

Other characters are Stabitha, a strange girl who doesn’t remember her past but knows she loves weapons. She is a fun character and gives some personality to the weapon shop she eventually opens. You also meet a nameless villager who seems to know more than they let on. Later, you meet Death Glutton, a comically large and evil-looking character who is just fun to look at. The village is also home to Hiyos, creatures that resemble baby chicks and provide different services. While the story is somewhat forgettable, I’m glad the characters aren’t.

Never Alone in the Dungeon

Cladun X3 is an action-adventure RPG with dungeon crawling. You explore different dungeons and fight enemies while trying to get to the end. How you play is up to you, and each character can have one of 10 different jobs. There are also six different weapon types to try out, so feel free to try all of them to see what works. The combat consists of basic attacks from your weapon, and up to six spells can be equipped as well. Experimentation is encouraged, as you will have to try different loadouts based on the dungeon. 

One system that separates this game from others in the RPG genre is the magic circle. You are not only allowed but encouraged to make multiple characters. If you are having trouble with a dungeon, swap or create another character with a different job and build. When you aren’t using these characters, they are still helpful. The magic circle system also lets you equip other characters you aren’t using to a board that buffs your main character. 

There are paths on a board that all lead to your main character. On those paths are spots to put characters you aren’t using, and their stats will decide what other buffs you can equip. When all spots on the path are filled, these buffs will go into effect. These buffs can increase your health, defense, attack, or even provide passive abilities. All the other characters on the board will also become a shield for you, so keep an eye on their stats as well. 

There is a lot of components to the magic circle system, especially when you combine it with classic RPG mechanics. It was pretty overwhelming at first, and it definitely didn’t click for me right away. While I didn’t dislike playing the game, the first couple of dungeons did drag for me. After a while, it did start to click for me, though, and I loved the magic circle. It let me level up all my characters while also turning them into human shields with ridiculous amounts of health. Dungeons also started becoming more interesting, and finishing them felt very rewarding, at least until the last few.

When I got to the last couple of dungeons, my complaints about the game started coming back. Enemy placement got ridiculous, and their AI made no sense. There was no consistency to how enemies acted. I would run the same dungeon multiple times and couldn’t predict how the enemies would move at all. It’s especially annoying because there is a clear path they are supposed to follow, but they rarely do. Combine this with the annoying placement, and the game became not only a drag but a bad time. 

Dungeon layouts also became annoying. Trap placements felt random, and the path to the end was never clear. Combine that with having to rely on enemies to progress some puzzles, and I was getting actively angry at some of these. It’s a real shame because for most of the playtime leading up to this, the game was pretty fun. Only in the last couple of dungeons does that built-up goodwill get thrown out, and I just wanted the game to end.

Make it Your Own

The biggest selling point of Cladun X3 is the customization. You can customize each aspect of your character. How the sprite looks, how they look facing each direction, the idle and walking animations, and you can even customize the dialogue. Weapons can also be adjusted at this level, all down to each pixel. Even the music can be customized, and I can easily see people spending hours changing the music alone. It helps that the game already looks and sounds great.

There is also a good amount of content outside of the customization. Outside of the main story dungeons, there are two other types of dungeons. There are Map-geons, which are randomly generated dungeons based on mystical maps you find. These maps decide the number of floors and area types. In addition, there are Ran-geons, which are 100-floor dungeons that are randomly generated. The amount of these is on par with the story dungeons, and you could easily spend all your playtime here. You can also make custom towns and share them with others or explore towns other players have made. Although the game may seem small, I was impressed with the amount of content it offers. 

Falls a Little Short

Cladun X3 is an interesting game, the amount of customization is impressive, and I can see many spending countless hours on it. I was also impressed with the amount of content in what feels like a small pixel RPG. You can spend as much time in the optional content as in the main story. Speaking of the main story, although it is mediocre, the characters are full of charm, and the game was fun for the most part. Even after all of that, I have trouble recommending this to most people.

After an overwhelming start, the in-game systems start to click, but that will be thrown out the window the closer you get to the end. Enemy placement and AI need some serious balancing as well. Dungeons go from being fun to annoying the further you progress. While I praise the customization and amount of content, that doesn’t do much for someone who lost interest by the end of the game. The final hours may have undone a lot of goodwill for me, but the game was fun for the most part. Cladun X3 isn’t for everyone, and I thought it would be for me before those final in-game hours hit me.

Disclaimer: NIS America provided a Steam key of Cladun X3 for review purposes.