Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars

A card RPG with a great presentation and soundtrack; unfortunately the gameplay lacks in depth and, above all, Yoko Taro's special sauce.

The great presentation and music is what really makes the game shine, but the card battles could have done with some more thought.

When you’re climbing up to the fifth floor of a late-game dungeon while fighting battle after battle in a bland-looking environment, it’s tough to stay engaged or excited, even though it’s a relatively short experience overall.

Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars isn’t truly a card game, but a traditional RPG that uses cards for everything. The aesthetic choice doesn’t effect too much outside of the visuals but does give the title a unique identity. The gameplay of Voice of Cards is among the simplest and most straightforward to be seen in RPGs. It may be too simple, as battles end up feeling more like time -consuming chores due to the high encounter rate and lack of challenge or required strategy. But while the simple gameplay may not offer any challenge to RPG vets, the story and fantastic soundtrack help keep the game an enjoyable experience. The relatively short completion time is an asset in this case, making Voice of Cards a great choice when looking for a relaxing game to spend a weekend playing.

Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is a great wasted opportunity: a triumph of playing cards accompanied by a wonderful soundtrack and a wonderful atmosphere, which however does not have time to breathe and arrives too quickly to the credits , without expanding your own story. An experiment which from the aesthetic point of view is an absolute success but which becomes too repetitive in playful terms and not very interesting in a narrative key.

Voice of Cards is undeniably fun to follow, especially thanks to its frankly successful “board game” aesthetic. However, he fails to fully engage the player in his adventure, the fault of overly simplistic and intrusive fights. This leaves a very nice game, often funny and enjoyable to play, but unfortunately punctuated by moments of trouble.

Thankfully, the game's excellent presentation holds everything together, and at around 12 hours in length, Voice of Cards doesn't quite outstay its welcome. There are multiple endings to unlock as well, but additional playthroughs may be a tall order. Voice of Cards isn't the kind of RPG that you can rush through — its deliberately slow pace is part of the charm — but there is a slightly expanded New Game+ mode for those who fancy taking on the dragon all over again.

We wish Voice of Cards took the time to explore its gameplay ideas a bit more. We also wish there were a few menu options to accelerate battle pace when you know what you’re doing. But as-is? There’s a lot here to love, if you have the right temperament for it.

A traditional turn-based role-player which utilises its tabletop disguise with charm and polish, but isn’t long enough to fully capitalise on its ideas.

The Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is not what I expected and ultimately not what I wanted. I was hoping for a card game but a card game it is not. It's a classic RPG, simply presented solely in the medium of cards. But even taken for what it is, it falls too short of the running time of a good RPG, fails to deliver the challenge or strategy to make itself stand out in that genre, and tarnishes and excellent story with characters that struggle to redeem their faults.

Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is an entertaining and creative diversion while it lasts. It certainly sets itself apart with relative ease but it does suffer a bit from diminishing returns. It’s by no means lacking in merit and feels like much could be built around its robust framework in the future. But it is an experience limited by its own arbitrary boundaries, like the negligible challenge and the disproportionate amount of time one will needlessly spend in repetitive battles for few worthwhile rewards, particularly once all skills have been learned and levels are maxed out. Still, there are many lovely ideas at work here, and the package in which they’re presented is even lovelier, leaving me eagerly looking forward to further tales of this style that can be told down the road.