Recently in our Discord chat, we were talking about the excellent card artwork in the series, and I mentioned that I noticed several cards in Culdcept Revolt received updated artwork. I found it fascinating that they would revise the artwork on just a few cards.

I didn't think much more about it after that, but I thought it would make for a fun article topic for March. I decided to dig through Culdcept Revolt's card collection and was intrigued to discover that there's a pattern to it - the updated cards are all drawn by artist Ippei Soeda. As it turns out, there are 11 cards in the game with revised artwork, and I think each one is an improvement. Their changes range from very subtle tweaks to some pretty jaw-dropping effects.

Let's compare the cards side-by-side, with the great original artwork from Culdcept Saga on the left, and the even better update in Culdcept Revolt on the right. You can click or tap on each card to view it full-size. Think of it as a Culdcept version of 5 Spots. Haha.

I completely missed this card's subtle changes until I began writing this article. On the 3DS's small screen, Thief looks pretty much the same as before. It's not until you look at the artwork full-size that you realize there are actually several differences. First, she has a different, more angular face. Second, Her grip on the knife is tighter. Third, the knife itself now has a gleam to it. And finally, the foliage she's hiding in is much more dense, lush and vibrant than it was. There are probably more - I stopped counting at four.

You can clearly see Fay's dramatic makeover, and I love it. She's described in Culdcept Revolt as "a beautiful witch", and she now looks both more beautiful and more witchy, to me at least. Can you spot everything he altered and added? Here's just a few: 1) She's wearing a completely different camisole now. 2) The background is massively improved, with floating crystals and a mystical aura. 3) She's wearing what looks somewhat like a Power Bracelet, a tool card from Culdcept II. There's tons more - keep looking!

Here's another one I missed until now, and it's obvious why - it's almost identical to its artwork in Culdcept Saga. Almost. I think Soeda-san may have just been correcting what he felt was an error - the wall's "face" was tilted down and to the right before, and its straighter appearance now makes it look like its gaze is upon you. It also has more clearly defined nostrils now and the water around the wall has some finer detail.

Now we're talking. Lightning Dragon's new artwork blows my mind. This powerful creature card definitely looks the part now too. The dragon was hovering amongst the clouds before, but is amidst a storm now - presumably conjured into being by its magical nature. Everything about the new art is extra. More lightning, stronger light/shadow play, more aggressive scales, a nasal horn, and the list goes on. Outstanding.

With Sylph, he took an already great-looking card to a whole other level. Check out the subtle faerie dust falling from her wings, which themselves appear to be more vivid and more detailed. You can even see the faerie dust through her diaphanous dress. The sky is now a deeper blue, and the location change of her left arm makes her appear a touch more fierce, in keeping with her Secret Art where she evolves into the mighty Garuda. It's perfect.

Soeda-san's attention wasn't focused solely on Revolt's creatures. He gave a number of item cards a welcome facelift too. Interestingly, three of them are among the weakest and most ordinary in the game - but at least now their card artwork is considerably more interesting! Battle Axe's background used to look a bit like crumpled up rust-colored paper. Now, it's much more fitting - a stony surface covered in what appears to be dried blood. And yet, its spotless blade gleams much more brightly than before, despite the implied carnage. Hmm...

Texture is the new brown. Just a purplish mottled background with a stronger glow that reflects off the metal chain links. I kinda feel like he did just about all you could do to give a plain-Jane suit of chain mail some visual interest. That still doesn't mean I have any interest in using it, though! Hehe.

Here's a fun upgrade. Flip everyone's favorite Attacks First item to a hilt-down position, give it more detail and color on its grip, give the blade a nice gleam, and ditch the crumpled paper setting in favor of a tasteful gloomy-day effect. If you compare the Culdcept Saga version of Eagle Rapier to Battle Axe, you'll notice that it's the same backdrop, just with a different color.

Ah, Mace. Why is this silly thing even in Culdcept Revolt, when we're given free G every turn? The world may never know. That didn't prevent the artist from gracing it with upgraded art, though. He got rid of that same old crumpled paper background (and it was the same, just inverted and with some color variation) in favor of a splotchy earth-toned one. As with the other item cards, Mace's metal now has an eye-catching shine to it and its gold accents have more contrast. At least this "spiky metal ball on a stick" doesn't look like a free weapon now!

Blackout's changes make "subtle" seem like an overstatement. Go ahead and strain to spot them; I'll wait. (Hint: I found four.) Done? OK, well if you didn't find all of them, I'm not too surprised - all but one are very easily missed. Only the more vertical staff orientation stands out at all. The others? His eyebrows are now a bit darker, and the right side of his face is in the shadows now, as is his cloak and right leg. That's it. It does fit the theme of the card a bit better now, so there's that. On to the last card...

Let's conclude with my favorite card artwork upgrade in the bunch - the criminally underused and underappreciated mass-effect spell Ray of Law. It was visually appealing before, but it's absolutely awesome now. There are so many improvements on display here, ranging from the obvious (shattered card pieces everywhere!) to a myriad of changes in its incredibly fine detail (catch the book on her hip now?). Note how she's spellcasting with two raised fingers now, similar to how Zeneth and many other Cepters hold the cards. Amazing stuff.

So, by now, you're probably asking, "why would Soeda-san go to the trouble of redrawing all of these cards, when most of the changes are invisible to players?". I really don't have an answer for you, only guesses. Perhaps he felt his work in Saga wasn't up to his current level of excellence. I'd disagree if so, but the changes he made certainly do raise the bar. Maybe there was some sort of licensing problem. That could explain why the Holy Word spell card artwork is from Culdcept II and not from Culdcept Saga. Whatever the reason, Soeda-san's artwork upgrades are very welcome, and fit right in with the rest of Culdcept Revolt's laundry list of changes. You just gotta love how every game in the Culdcept series has its own unique flavor.