Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden Reviews
Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden doesn't stray far from what made its predecessors successful.
Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden is an excellent entry in this quirky new franchise, pulling together a darker story, a new battle mechanic, and that ever-present cozy atmosphere to make for a hypnotizing and immersive experience. Though some may be miffed at this being yet another one of these games in a relatively short window, we feel that Yoko Taro and company have moved the series forward another (single) step with this new entry. If you enjoyed the last couple of games or are just looking for a new JRPG that doesn't require a ton of investment, we would certainly give this one a recommendation; it's easily worth both your time and money.
The third chapter of the series brings a breath of fresh air to a formula that risks to bore, without twisting its essence.
Review in Italian | Read full review
If you are a fan of JRPGs, then playing Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden is a no-brainer. The new monster-catching mechanic is very addictive. And the Yoko Taro story twists alone are worth the price of admission. Fans of the Voice of Cards series will find The Beasts of Burden to be darker, more episodic, and more streamlined. None of those are bad things, they just differentiate The Beasts of Burden from the other games in the series, and keep things fresh enough, without changing the core game mechanics too much. I loved this game, and if you’re a fan of old-school JRPGs, you probably will too.
A bit of JRPG with cards, a bit of a board game, the last piece of a very particular set of three is not a narrative masterpiece nor a memorable challenge, it is a melancholy JRPG in which everything is lived through the cards, it can entertain as long as you accept its merits, defects and quirks.
Review in Italian | Read full review
By maintaining its easily accessible JRPG mechanics, gorgeous tabletop aesthetic and engrossing narration, Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden manages to elevate itself above its Voice of Cards brethren thanks to a neat, Pokémon style monster collection mechanic. Much more than just a token inclusion, this new monster collecting mechanic not only expands the player's arsenal in battle, but provides ample additional incentive to explore The Beasts of Burden's painterly, card-flipped lands far and wide in search of rare monsters to recruit.
Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden hits with just enough originality to distinguish itself from the other games in the Voice of Cards series. This game is all about story and mechanics over presentation, though what is there will feel familiar and welcoming to long-time JRPG fans. With a great narrative, The Beasts of Burden is a great place to jump into this series and learn it's not-too-complicated ropes.
Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden recycles aesthetics and ideas from the two predecessors, and a plot devoid of bite is likely to fail to involve players in the events of the warrior and her companions.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden is a well-polished traditional JRPG experience with a creatively unique presentation and a thoughtful narrative.
Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden is an overall more streamlined experience than other entries. With the frequency of releases in the series compared to the number of improvements made, the cards are starting to wear a bit thin.
Three games down in quick succession, Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden manages to mostly avoid that infamous and known series fatigue. That's largely thanks to yet another compelling fantasy story and enchanting immersion of a tabletop campaign journey. It's in fact my favourite story of the trilogy, complete with a new and welcome mechanic that is monster collecting. It just is ever so slightly barred from being great due to more obvious padding and traipsing around until it reaches its wondrous conclusion. Regardless, we have another good entry in this weird little Square Enix series. That voice inviting you to play cards? Trust it. It's as enjoyable as ever.
Voice of Cards has such a unique concept that it still feels entertaining after three episodes, but this series surely needs to find something fresh for the sake of its own future.
Review in Italian | Read full review
If you enjoyed The Isle Dragon Roars or The Forsaken Maiden, you’ll undoubtedly love Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden just as much. If not more. The narrative on offer here got its hooks in us right off the bat, and following our interesting protagonist on her journey has been a joy. The presentation, narration and visual design is just as beautiful as ever, too. It may simply be more of the same, but we’re so glad the Voice of Cards series continues to exist – and to shine.
Even though an RPG lover since an early age, the thought of a stripped down, bare bones experience raised a lot of questions. The answer, however, is that Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden is an absolute treat on a handheld console. Easy to pick up and bash out for a quick half hour, but still allowing you to fall in love with a beautiful world and its cast of characters, as well as retaining every factor that makes an RPG great. There is certainly no burden giving this one your time.
Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden is an irregular game. The combat system is very addictive and fun, and the history is attractive due the characters and plot twists. However, there are a lot of rough corners. The exploration is boring and tedious, while the random fights are very annoying. And there are no innovations. If you can ignore the flaws, you'll find a classic and charming JRPG. Otherwise, turn around and look for a more ambitious game.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
At about 15 hours in length Beasts of Burden respects your time and moves beautifully from plot highlight to highlight. It’s the perfect “Sunday morning gaming” game to unwind with while enjoying a coffee and there’s a humble warmth and love for the genre that makes it difficult to criticise those small things that don’t quite work in its favour. Thanks to the monster collecting, this is the finest in the Voice of Cards series so far, but you really should play them all.
Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden is another great dose from the series, delivering its best gameplay and best story so far, with a game much more focused in its execution. Some old issues are still present, but it is a great JRPG for fans of the genre with little time available, but willing to test unique and fun games.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
At the end of the day, Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden is the same basic game as the last two, only with a different story. It really doesn't do anything to break the mold except be incredibly dark and depressing. If you found yourself enjoying the last two games, then you'll almost certainly enjoy this one, but if any of the previous game's flaws dragged down things, then you probably won't change your mind here. It's a nice, low-budget JRPG with some interesting story beats, but the consistent flaws between games have started to wear out their welcome.
Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden is the best entry in the series so far with its satisfying monster card collecting progression system. With that in mind, it doesn't really do much else to break out of the mould that its predecessors were forged in.
Despite again reusing many features of the predecessors in its series and the level design not having evolved (even regressed in some aspects), the audiovisual remains fresh and brings a good balance of previous experiences in the series. In addition, combat is more customizable and the new capture mechanic is worked intelligently and critically into the game's narrative.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review