## 2025-09-27 On the list of “shit you’ve never heard about but I’m sick for,” the **Cladun** series probably stands at the very top in terms of obscurity *and* obsession. The last game came out in 2017, and it has 11 reviews for its [[Steam]] release as of this writing. But I was there minute *one* when **Cladun X3** dropped and have 7 hours in it already. It’s immeidately the best **Cladun** in the series, and having poured 100s of hours into the previous games, I’ll probably be doing even more in **X3**. “That’s great and all, Mint, but what the *fuck* is a **Cladun**?” My bad my bad, let me explain. **Cladun** is a series developed by some of the gods of [[Goopy Goblin Gamer Brain|goopy gameplay]], Nippon Ichi Software — best known for **Disgaea**. It takes that series’ intricate customization and leveling systems, and shoves them into a top-down 2D dungeon crawler, complete with **Diablo**-levels of copious amounts of loot. That’s enough to get a mechanics-driven freak like me salivating, but the cherry on top is the extensive pixel editor. In the **Cladun** series, you can create your own little pixel hero, complete with weapons and armor. The game lets you edit every aspect of a character, from their running and walking animations, to the way their hair moves, their hurt and death poses, and more! And even better, you can share and download other people’s creations too. NIS has their own suite of [collab characters](https://www.nisamerica.com/cladun-x3/collab) you can download to give you an idea of how impressive the editor is, but there are dedicated Cladun players that have been making awesome characters and weapons for the past 15 years. And you can import those too! I’m going to be pulling in the Organization XIII guy (complete with keyblade of course) that I’ve been using since the PSP days into my game later today. ![[Cladun X3-1758993396179.webp]] **Cladun** is all about the grind. Your sole mission is to skate up the power curve like you’re Tony Hawk using every available perk in its multitude of upgrade systems so you can destroy its dungeons. The biggest of these systems is the Magic Circle system, aka crack condensed into a videogame mechanic. ![[Cladun X3-1758993566874.jpg]] Each Magic Circle is a path of squares that converge on the main character in its center. The characters you create effectively serve as conduits, with their mana stat determining how much you can take advantage of the squares that point towards your main character. These squares can do basic stuff, like increasing attack or defense…but as you unlock new Magic Circle, they can quickly balloon in complexity, with paths that can split in an “if → then” system. My Rogue has a Circle that changes her weapon when she’s standing in grass, as one example. These same circles also impact the growth of the sub-characters, as there are growth squares you can customize as well. I have my tank get more HP when they level up as a sub-character, while I make my more DPS-oriented characters increase their attack. You’re constantly encouraged to switch between characters and their Magic Circles, since doing so causes them to get more HP per level up. And that’s important, because the final — and funniest — part of the Magic Circle system is that your sub units serve as a shield that protects your main character! They all take damage first, so beefing them up is a good idea. This doesn’t even mention the fact that you can affix titles to weapons to enhance them, and other ways you can customize your party for your dungeon-delving. The loop is addictive, and only strengthened by the depth of content and complexity on display in **Cladun X3**. It’s deceptively simple, until you’re 40 levels deep into a randomized dungeon, wondering if you should keep pushing for higher tier loot to strengthen your army of freaks, or escape with what you’ve already got. It’s an absolutely huge game, and **X3** has the benefit of being super polished. The Steam port is way better than that of the previous games, and is a particularly enticing version to consider grabbing, because it lets you edit your characters using the pixel editor with a mouse now! I don’t normally leave a link to the games I play because these mfers don’t pay me…but I’m making **Cladun X3** the exception, because I think it deserves the hype. [Check it out](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3812660/Cladun_X3/)!