Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars Reviews
In concept, Voice of Cards is exciting: a small game from a major designer (Yoko Taro is the game's creative director), released with little fanfare. It offers a lean framework for other RPGs and narrative games to come. Ultimately, though, it's far less effective at its core goals than the games it draws from. Voice of Cards positions itself as a more intelligent, if leaner, classic JRPG. In practice, it is a hollow echo of what came before.
Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is one of two recently released smaller scale games dropped by Square Enix last October with minimal promotion. More experienced gamers might bemoan the straightforward gameplay or lack of difficulty, but those who are interested in the charm and humour only need bring their cards to the table
Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is a great little gem to come out of this year. Where NieR is a good series though not quite for me, this absolutely is. The team have created a true sleeper hit that is well worth seeking out for NieR or fantasy adventure fans alike. The music and wondrous exploration on offer are engaging throughout. While other limitations in roleplaying are noticeable, they’re never enough to rob you of your enjoyment. What’s here is some clever and wonderful writing, a charming cast of characters and another weird world worth delving into. Yoko Taro and the team have done it again.
Voice of Cards mixed JRPG's and board games' elements to offer a fun pretty unique experience. It is improvable in and far from perfect, but its originality and world deserve appreciation.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars isn't truly a card game, but a traditional RPG that uses cards for everything.
Voice of Cards is a neat little RPG that, thanks to its excellent presentation, makes for a fun experience despite a tedious encounter rate and boring dungeon design.
Square Enix's attempt at a card-based game has come up all Aces! The spoken story and card mechanics are relaxing and entertaining. The JRPG-like artwork is beautiful and fits the presentation well. Everything about the game retains that Square Enix RPG charm we've come to expect! The game compels you to leave no card unturned and when all is said and done Voice Of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is a welcome break from the hectic and frantic pace of other game types!
There aren't many places to explore, random card events in dungeons and the overworld are repeated frequently, and everything comes to a close too soon. Without question, Voice of Cards represents a great entry point for RPG newcomers that employs a compelling and unique aesthetic. If you've shuffled your way through most of the RPGs on Switch, however, you might find this Isle Dragon more of a whimper.
There’s the basis for a really solid storytelling platform here — it just remains to be seen if that is part of the long-term plan for the game, or if it was always intended to be completely self-contained. Still, in the meantime we have a satisfying, enjoyable, beautifully presented, enormously atmospheric and delightfully unconventional RPG to enjoy — so if you like the idea of virtual tabletop fun, Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars should absolutely be part of your collection.
So, while Voice of Cards could be refined as a game, the vision is impeccable, and while the game's not as outrageous or subversive as NieR and its sequel, it still represents Yoko Taro's unique qualities as a game designer and narrative writer: he is forever experimenting and pushing boundaries. Voice of Cards is almost subtle in this, but the way that it aims to work collaboratively with players to share a story, rather than tell it, is a delightful departure from the norm for the JRPG. I don't think anyone expected him to follow up NieR with a "card game," but Yoko Taro has hit onto something very special here.
Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is another good game by Yoko Taro, with well-executed concepts worthy of the director's other works, although it doesn't reach the level established by bigger games due to its limitations.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars may be simple, but it does a fantastic job of delivering a card game RPG hybrid that’s an absolute delight to play. Its aesthetic is second-to-none, its storytelling is excellent (largely due to Haberkorn’s fantastic narration), and its gameplay is deeply satisfying thanks to character development, rewarding exploration and engaging battles. If you’d like an RPG experience that differs from the norm, Square Enix has nailed it once again.
Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is a quaint game that doesn't bring anything exceptionally new to the genre, but is undeniably charming.
Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is the sort of game that you'll play when you want a slow-paced and relaxing adventure; for that, it's an excellent experience. However, it can sometimes be bogged down by its gameplay's own indulgent vapidness.
Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars, the new game from NieR creator Yoko Taro, is a peculiar little game. It knows what it wants to be! And its aesthetics definitely come first. But if you’re at home in its slower pace and tavern feel, you’ll have a good time.
Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is highly enjoyable because of its classic JRPG roots paired with a fantastic audio-visual onslaught that results in a short but sweet adventure. While I wanted more out of the experience, I very much liked what I got plus it tickled my appetite for more NieR. The adventure was easy to get into and the collectibles kept me around until the eventual end.
In a lot of ways, I applaud the concept behind Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars. It’s different, commits fully, and absolutely captures the experience it wants to create. The problem is, a gimmick like that can make it a hard sell. Games as a medium have distinctly different advantages, as well as those games catering to different elements, making it more of a well-executed concept. Naturally, fans of Dungeons and Dragons will likely find the experience comforting and enjoyable, whereas most other players will see a unique-looking game that plays like a rather generic RPG.
Despite its lack of innovation and that it does not add anything that we have not seen before, Voices of Cards is a game that knows how to stay fresh and fun thanks to its story, dialogues and an attractive and functional combat system that does not we want to stop until we complete it. The soundtrack and its artistic design are also noteworthy and make up some of the best elements of this title.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The great thing about Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is that it is another delightful Yoko Taro game with all the subversion of known clichés it provides and it is presented using a unique visual aesthetic. But it is not without its faults as gameplay-wise it lacks any big innovation and the random encounters are just too much and sometimes even make your progression a little tiresome.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Overall, the game is unique and fun. It’s pretty, it’s short, and its sound design is amazing. The cards are gorgeous, the characters are well-drawn with fun costumes. Players will have fun for all 15 hours of this JRPG. That being said, the game was a bit of a letdown in the price department. Had the game been $10 USD cheaper, I would have hailed it as a great achievement and a fabulous JRPG for anyone who loves them. However, it just doesn’t feel like a $30 game to me. I would recommend this game to anyone who loves old-school RPGs with beautiful graphics and loves to replay games to complete all the content.