I have always had a passion for turn-based RPGs even before I knew what an RPG was. This started, as probably for a lot of people, with the Pokémon franchise but stuck with me for a lifetime. So with a new entry in the Voice of Cards series coming out called, The Forsaken Maiden, I had to try it.
Narrated tabletop experience
Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden is the second game in the unique Voice of Cards series. Check out our review of the first game, Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars, by clicking here. Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden is set on a remote chain of islands that have been protected by the maidens for generations, but which now face destruction. The hero of the story vows to save the islanders and sets sail for the high seas, together with Laty, a girl who failed to become a maiden.
The whole story of the game is narrated but is also subtitled for those who play without sound. You can change from English to Japanese voice-over if you do so prefer. This gives off major tabletop RPG vibes where the story is told through the game master. The narration is somewhat relaxing, like reading a book, but I however still miss the fact that the characters aren’t voiced. Like I book, I keep imagining what they would sound like.
Stunning cards, but a little flat
In this series, all game elements are presented as cards. From the landscape to the characters, heck even the menus. To me, this is a really great and interesting art style but to some can feel a bit lame and cheap. Environments can feel bland because everything is 2D. I think adding some 3D elements would have helped the game to feel less bland. I also wished there was some combination with animated cutscenes and the card-based esthetic for the rest but it doesn’t make the game bad. The animations of the (3D) elements are basic. I don’t know if it is a design choice but I preferred if they would have put in a little bit more effort here. The menu also moves a little bit too slow and is not snappy enough to be not bothered by it. This is probably done to hide some loading times.
I think even though it’s all card-based the artwork is really great. The cards are not just static imagines but change depending on the situation. The art and characters are designed by Kimihiko Fujisaka who worked as a character designer and made artwork for the Drakengard series, The Last Story & Terra Battle. The game is also made by other great minds Square Enix. Yoko Taro worked as (Creative) Director on the Nier & Dragongard franchise. Keiichi Okabe worked on the Tekken and Nier franchise as composer & Music Director.
Gameplay
The gameplay is a mix between a visual novel and an RPG. Don’t be mistaken, the game is not a deck-building card game where you pull out cards from a deck every turn. Everything is merely presented as cards. You will move around the table that has cards that are treated as tiles. These cards will be flipped face down and will be flipped right side up when walking on top of an adjacent tile. Stepping on these cards can give you a random encounter to fight or a random event. Luckily you don’t have the traverse the lands again if you don’t want to because you can warp from location to location which makes the random encounters more bearable. Cards that glow will trigger events that will progress you into the story.
Get ready for a turn-based fight
Your character has the usual stats; HP, attack, defense and speed. The damage you deal onto an enemy is the difference between your attack stat and their defense stat with the minimum of damage of 1hp being dealt. However, just like in Pokémon, for instance, there are a couple of RNG elements. For instance, you can randomly critical-hit, the HP output is a roll which can basically be a low, mid, or high roll and there are physical dice involved that add value randomly as well. On top of this, characters have abilities and there are 6 elements, fire, water, bolt, wind, light, and dark. Cards take more damage to elements they are weak to and less if they are resistant. This helps to keep every fight a bit more interesting instead of it playing out the same every time.
Your party takes turns attacking the enemy until its HP is depleted. Besides standard attacks, you have skills that you can use. These skills require the use of gems which is the MP system of the game. Every turn that passed you will gain a gem. When wanting to perform certain skills gems are needed. The number of gems needed is displayed on the cards. Have too little and you can’t play that card. You can save up to 10 gems per battle. Once the battle is over your gems will be reset, so no need to save them for another fight.
Stand-alone game
Both the first and second games in the series are pretty similar with not a lot of change in the formula. The gameplay and elements stay the same with some minor adjustments that make the game an overall better experience. Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden’s main story is roughly 15 hours long. Those looking to complete their collections, clear post-game content, and earn all trophies may need an additional 5 to 10 hours. This game is not a direct sequel to Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars. Both stories can be enjoyed as standalone game experiences. So no need to play the first game in the series. However, Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is available as a demo on Steam & PlayStation (sadly not the Switch yet). So if you are debating if the game is something you will like, see and try for yourself.
Conclusion
It is hard to judge this game. Let me start by saying if you don’t like the aesthetic with the art style and the story being told as a narrative, this game is probably not for you. If you are not bothered by this, the game is good fun. The combat is deep enough to be tactical but understandable and the narration and storytelling are excellent. The game can feel bland because of stiff animations and flat environments. If you are debating if the game is something for you check out the demo available on Steam & PlayStation.
