It’s hard to believe that Voice of Cards only came into existence less than a year ago in October. The third game of this tabletop-inspired RPG franchise, Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden, was recently released. This was interesting news to say the least, since three completely new standalone games in any franchise in under a year is practically unheard of in this day and age. While this seems like good news for fans of the new genre, one has to ask when the releases reach a point of oversaturation and if Beasts of Burden bring enough new content to the table to remain interesting with so many releases in such a short amount of time.
Voice of Cardsis known for being developed by NieR and Drakengard veterans including creative director Yoko Taro, composer Keiichi Okabe, executive producer Yosuke Saito and artist Kimihiko Fujisaka, but despite having thematic elements that make them appealing to fans of those other franchises, Voice of Cards games are of a completely different style. Voice of Cards games are traditional turn-based RPGs that are designed to emulate the feel of playing a tabletop game with dice and narration from a Game Master. The game world is made up entirely of cards, whether it be environments, equipment or characters. Despite the card aesthetic, it has never been a traditional deck-building game, though that statement is not entirely true with the newest entry.
The biggest change in The Beasts of Burden is players no longer gain action skills to use in battle when they level up. Instead they now have a plot device that turns monsters into cards. Each character can equip a set number of monster cards to use in battle and each monster carries out a specific action. Gargoyles attack all enemies with light, Furballs heal one party member, Wererats can unleash a powerful physical attack on a single enemy. These are a just a few examples of the cards that can be collected and used in battle. Like previous Voice of Cards games, complexity isn’t in the cards so the monster collecting and their usage in battle is simple. Because of the Pokemon-like nature of having to catch ‘em all, I was hoping for an appearance of an unholy Pikachu/Emil Frankensteinian amalgamation, but sadly no such creature exists.
Getting monsters for your deck is easy, but obtaining more powerful versions of the monsters you want can be a grind. Certain monsters come into the player’s possession through story progression and random events, but for the most part they are acquired as random treasure drops after battle. Sometimes after battle two or three treasures will appear. Some of these have items, some of them have monsters. A common distribute in the three treasures is one item, one weaker version and one stronger version of the same monster, though that isn’t always the case. Because Voice of Cards games aren’t exactly difficult, grinding for powerful versions of every monster isn’t necessary to complete to the game but grinding for the two star version of a specific monster is necessary for getting specific Trophies/Achievements.
Outside of the monster collection aspect, there isn’t a whole lot to explain about The Beasts of Burden to fans of the previous Voice of Cards games. There are some individual differences between the three games, but the core gameplay is virtually identical. The game is divided into seven different chapters. As with the previous entries, and well, any game that involves Yoko Taro, the story is wrought with depression inducing tragic events. The game world is covered in cards that are flipped over as the player explores. During the exploration they will run into hostile monsters that are battled in turn-based combat or other random events like traveling merchants or exploding rocks.
The tale begins with the main protagonist Al’e trying to celebrate her fourteenth birthday. The festivities are cut short when monsters invade her village. Having nearly lost the will to live after suffering such a tragedy, she’s rescued by a mysterious boy. The two of them set off on an adventure together, motivated by a common bond: they both hate monsters and a strong desire revenge is reason for their journey. Not long into their travels they learn that Al’e has a special gift where she can use monsters as cards in combat.
Based on my reviews of the previous games, it’s no secret that I’m a Voice of Cards fan. Even so seeing a third game in less than a year’s time did raise skepticism. Looking at any long-running franchise, whether it’s games, film or television, it’s hard to keep the momentum going strong for so long without running out of ideas. Anyone reading this can think of their own examples of such occurrences. That day may come for Voice of Cards, but today is not that day. The story might not carry the same emotional impact as The Isle Dragon Roars orThe Forsaken Maiden, but it’s still captivating from beginning to end, and does have plenty of tragic events to make the player feel for their card avatars. The monster collecting, while simplified compared to some other deck-building games, is a great addition to the gameplay that not only helps differentiate it from its predecessors, but just makes the game more enjoyable. Trying to build the perfect deck can be a grind due to how the random drop rate works, but collecting them to build a game-breaking deck is always enjoyable. Overall, The Beasts of Burden is largely the same Voice of Cards experience, but as with The Forsaken Maiden it’s stronger than the previous entry, making this arguably the best Voice of Cards game to date.
You know those games developed by FromSoftware that are notorious for being incredibly difficult? The exact opposite can be said about Voice of Cards. The Isle Dragon Roars is possibly the easiest game I played in my adult life. The Forsaken Maiden was slightly more difficult, but still would fall into the very easy category. The Beasts of Burden is more in line with the first game, but there are other factors that determine whether or not a game is enjoyable. These aren’t games that completion will grant any bragging rights, but still worth the journey regardless. These are games that are relaxing adventures, where a lot of the experience comes from enjoying the story while enjoying a simple yet worthwhile RPG.
There is one simple but welcome quality-of-life improvement in The Beasts of Burden and that’s a fast mode. This can be toggled at will on the world map and it helps with speeding up the animations of cards being overturned or the battle table getting set up. It sounds minor, but animations that are cool the first couple times become tedious after a couple hundred, so this was a welcome addition. On a tech level there aren’t any issues to complain about. Loading times are generally quick and controls are responsive. The graphics are simple on a technical level, but the artistic design helps give the game its charm. Many visual assets from the first two games are reused, which probably helps with the short time in between games. One of the main highlights is score which has been consistent across the franchise. The brilliant compositions never fail to evoke an emotional response.
Closing Comments:
Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden doesn’t stray far from what made its predecessors successful. The addition of capturing monsters to use in battle brings a fresh element to the gameplay. but otherwise plays just like the previous Voice of Cards titles. How many more times this formula can be successfully replicated is up for debate, but The Beasts of Burden is possibly the best Voice of Cards games to date. Compared to most JRPGs, it’s simple game in regards to its mechanics and difficulty. For many games this would sound like a condemnation, but these factors don’t work against Voice of Cards. Challenging it is not, but the gameplay is still enjoyable largely due to the story and accompanying soundtrack. Difficult games will always be fun, but for the times when a more relaxing game is in order, Voice of Cards is perfect for such an occasion.
