I have to chime in here as well. The raised effect is very noticeable, but not to the detriment of the card feel. I expected these to be a novelty and, like Justin, I somewhat expected them to be a bit sticky. I backed the first MPS Kickstarter and while I was pleased with those, the feel of these is way better in every way. The stock feels better, the cut of the cards is cleaner, it's just a huge step forward in every way. At the risk of sounding blasphemous, I'd have to say that these feel very similar to other famous decks that I own. Wait for it...Jerry's Nugget cards (flame away, I can take it). I'm not a cardist, I can only go on the feel from a layman's perspective, but they are closer in shuffle and handling feel than any other deck that I have run across. USPCC's cards always seem incredibly slick, but these have a smooth, almost "broken-in" feel to them right out of the box. They have a mesh/crisscross/weave-like pattern on them that is very close to the pattern on the JNuggs. They just downright feel good, and are very easy to deal with. The raised effect is just right, as far as percentage of the card face that the effect is applied to. Not overboard with everything raised, and not too subtle, just right. They definitely attract attention and everyone asks me where they can buy them. Simply as a fun/unique deck, they are a big hit, but the overall feel really might surprise you. While the design isn't earth-shattering (Although I really like the perspective and layout of the courts), in all of my collection of several thousand decks, there are in my "overall favorites" category. They are, simply put, great, fun cards.
Pictures tend to exaggerate the raised effect, in my opinion. It looks thicker than it is, although it's definitely noticeable even from just a glance.