Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden Reviews
Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden is a delivery in which the sensation of a game made in a hurry and with little work to take advantage of its commercial pull is present at all times. There is no major news that justifies the launch of this sequel beyond the new plot. A more of the same that although it is allowed to play, it ends up disappointing in the long run if we have the first game recent -and it is impossible not to have it recent-.
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Anyone who liked Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars will similarly find much to enjoy in Forsaken Maiden. Those who felt that Isle Dragon Roars was a little too monotonous in its early-going should still attempt Forsaken Maiden, since its biggest strength is a streamlined approach to the game's major selling points. Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden is a lovely second proof-of-concept for what is an excellent gameplay design approach, and hopefully it inspires some similar risk-taking in other JRPG designs in the future.
It usually takes a while before we see a sequel to an RPG. Yet here we are with Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden arriving four months after The Isle Dragon Roars. Which means, well, things are going to feel similar! Not in terms of the story. This is a unique tale filled with warrior maidens, monsters, and high seas exploration. But given the brief gap between the two games, it will mechanically feel like a second verse of the same song.
I praised The Isle Dragon Roars for its ingenuity and design, and while Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden is still a delight, a mere three months after playing the first game some of the charm has worn off. I’m glad Square Enix is continuing to invest in smaller, offbeat titles, but something to set it apart from The Isle Dragon Roars would have been nice. As it is, it’s entirely more of the same. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if you’ve only just played the first, it may feel a little tiresome.
The Forsaken Maiden is a gentle game that challenges JRPG narratives, but despite its unconventional appearance, it comfortably sticks to what works with its gameplay.
Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden is a great follow up to the The Isle Dragon Roars. Many assets are reused and the core elements remain the same but the follow up makes some overall improvements.
Dividing the focus into multiple smaller stories may have hurt the overarching narrative, but this is still an RPG worth playing, with secrets and replay value for intrepid card sharks. I'll be interested to see how, and how quickly, Square Enix follows up with another Voice of Cards title. It seems like this series won't soon be silenced, and that's a good thing.