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One of the better table-top RPG themed games | Review - Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars

995 View2023-03-26

Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is an RPG game with table-top card-game inspired presentation and mechanics. Released in 2021 for the Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC, it has now been recently ported for Android and iOS mobile platforms.

🟩Pros

+Table-top RPG based aesthetic and gameplay

+Engaging turn-based combat system

+premium game with no ads, or pay-to-win mechanics, but there are purchasable cosmetics

🟥Cons

-non-table-top RPG players might find the game slow paced

Ever wanted to play a table-top RPG game, with all its aesthetic, charms, and allure? But want to do it at the comfort of your mobile phone? Complete with its own narrative, gamemaster, and setting packaged in an accessible video game form? Well you’re in luck with Voice of Cards.

Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is the first in a trilogy of Table-top RPG games developed by Square Enix titled Voice of Cards, from the acclaimed writer of the NieR and Drakengard series, which is known for his intricate and amazing worldbuilding and stories. A lot of aspects in this game speaks high production, from the voice acting to the storytelling. The game is fully narrated (with subtitles) by that serves as the game master of this alluring RPG card game.

The world is represented by cards, in fact everything is represented by cards; the characters, items, monsters, and the levels. Even when traversing the land and visiting towns, you are roaming around in a bundle of cards forming a tile-based representation of that area. You control your game piece and place it to whatever card/tile you want to interact with, be it the card of the town armorer, shop, or normal townspeople that you may need to interact with to progress the story.

The story picks off right at the middle of Chapter 0 (as told in the playable prelude Demo), a royal treasure wanted by the Queen has been retrieved by a trio of white-robed adventurers called the Ivory Order, and they are about to hunt a recently awakened Dragon next. Then, the game segues into the introduction of the player named main character and his animal companion Mar, both no-name adventurers who are also trying to hunt the aforementioned Dragon as well.

For the majority of the game, it mostly consists of either exploration, talking to NPCs, or combat. This is all done in card and table-top manner. Exploring the outside worlds will lead you into random combat encounters, and these happen in a turn-based card game instance. The combat is fairly challenging, with each character having their own deck of skills and abilities to choose from, complete with dice rolls and an elemental counter system. There are six different elemental attributes that form a six-way rock-paper-scissors weakness system.

The overall progression system felt adequate enough to support the narrative-first nature of the game. Not much revolutionary mechanics here and there, but ultimately it is fun enough to level up characters, unlock abilities, and acquire new gear to better trump enemies.

The game tries its best to be as immersive as a table-top RPG as possible, including taking its sweet time with its presentation and storytelling. Patience is key here, as many of the UI elements and animations are slower than the we are used to, and most of the game's narrative are via narration and dialogue, in which the slower pace can be a determining factor for more action-oriented audiences. There is in fact a high speed option in the settings, but overall, the game might still feel slow.

Overall, the game is amazing as a Table-top RPG experience packed in a video game format. The mobile nature is just perfect for bringing in with you a whole singleplayer table-top experience wherever you go. For the content it brings and for being a premium game with no pay-to-win mechanics, the $12 asking price is rightfully justified.

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