2 people found this review helpful
Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 14.3 hrs on record
Posted: 2 Nov, 2021 @ 3:36am
Updated: 24 Nov, 2021 @ 2:06pm

Can You Hear the Voices in the Cards?
Basic premise/Story

From developer studio Alim and directed by Maasa Mimura with creative director Yoko Taro. With the main composer being Oliver Good. A new tabletop jrpg emerges into the scene. Where you control a small band of adventurers as they hunt for the dragon who has threatened the safety of the realm.

Table-Top Card JRPG
Unique Gameplay

Gameplay in Voice of Cards. Is simple. You control three characters with each character taking an action like attacking or using a gem spell which is located to the top left of the screen. As you level up you will earn more spells/abilities which will consume more crystals. You can buy and find equipment out in the world. With random encounters in the overworld. You can flee battles as long as you attain the required dice roll number. Although this can vary depending on how weak or strong your enemies are. Each character has a health bar and you can use consumables while fighting in battles. Be careful, if all your party members are wiped out, you will need to reload your last save. Thankfully, the autosave saves periodically. As you travel in the overworld you may come across random events from helping a monster, to finding hidden clues to treasures. The exploration of the world isn’t that large, however, players may feel fatigued from traveling three steps then immediately going into a battle. Or six steps or more than a random encounter battle. This ruins the pacing a bit since I constantly wanted to move onto the next bit of the story only to become impeded by random encounters every time. However, it should be noted there is a ‘jump’ action for players whenever they mouse onto a card tile that the party has already uncovered in the overworld. Allowing players to jump far. This will save some time.

A Classic Story
Final thoughts/Ruminations

Throughout my 13 hour playthrough, I was enthralled in the beginning how simple and classic the story is. Hunt the dragon with your party members. And while you do gain more party members of which you can change whenever you’re out of combat. The game performs under a rinse and repeats formula, as you traverse through the overworld. Travel to battle, travel then battle, moving to the next main story event. Travel then battle. Dungeon then battle. Then countless battles later you face off a story boss. Then the cycle repeats. There just isn’t enough to keep the player engaged in a level to hook players continuously. And while I will admit during the last legs of the journey I raised my score quite a bit for going into areas I didn’t expect in a classic story. The game just doesn’t do enough to raise the game into a higher tier.

From developer studio Alim and directed by Maasa Mimura with creative director Yoko Taro. Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is a simple if not classic game from Square Enix. The game feels more like an experimental indie title looking to transform the mobile developer into a console/pc platform. And I for one welcome such a change. This is why it’s all the more painful to say, the game doesn’t blow you away to leave a lasting impression. The story is classic through and through, and while I did have moments that raised my eyebrow quite a bit. There wasn’t enough here to be memorable enough, since the trailers attached the notable Yoko Taro director of Nier/Drakengard fame. Music is splendid. Oliver Good does a decent job getting the soundtrack to be powerful in key moments. Gameplay is pretty simple and doesn’t require much thought. I do think there needs to be a no-encounters button to alleviate the boredom of battles constantly. It’s a short game. I would wait for a sale since the price is a bit too high for what players are getting. Would only recommend this game for Nier fans only and the lowest expectation possible.

To be fair, i still enjoyed my time with the game. A classic story is not inherently bad, and Voice of Cards creates a simple if not decently classic story through and through.

Total Times Beaten: 1
Score: 7/10
Date Finished: 11/1/21
Date Reviewed: 11/2/21
Hours Played: 13+
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