Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars

Genre: Top-Down Dungeon Crawler / Turn-Based JRPG

Players: 1, 1-4 Competitive Minigame (Local Alternating, Local Wireless Alternating)

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in Voice of Cards Trilogy along with Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden and Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden)

Voice of Cards is a Top-Down Dungeon Crawler and Turn-Based JRPG released on PC, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch in 2021. This game takes a somewhat minimal approach to the genre, with everything in the game represented by cards, dice rolls, and voiced narration, depicting a fairly typical medieval fantasy story about a group of would-be adventurers seeking to claim a bounty on a dragon that threatens the kingdom.

Despite the formulaic nature of the game’s plot, this game makes up for it with an abundance of charm, with great characters, and some really excellent narration by the unnamed Gamessmaster, who not only narrates, but speaks the voiced roles for all the characters in the game, and on occasion even tiptoes into fourth wall-breaking territory.

This voiced narration is joined by visuals that are… well, cards and dice, but with everything featuring lovely artwork and good lighting, as well as attacks and magic having actual effects fitting to what’s going on. Again, nothing special, but it adds to that “charm” I spoke of earlier. Add to this a decent soundtrack with a few standout tunes, most notably the hauntingly beautiful Voice of Journey’s Beginnings. All of these nice little touches take what is otherwise a formulaic story with unimpressive visuals and turn it into something that actually manages to feel like something ever so slightly magical.

The gameplay here is similarly pretty bog standard for the respective genres, with a few decent elements like a shared magic system to keep combat interesting, but nothing too out of the ordinary. There are nice little quality-of-life touches here and there, like being able to automatically move your characters to any spot on the map you’ve already uncovered (with this ability constrained a bit in dungeons). I should also note that this game makes very good use of the Nintendo Switch’s touchscreen in handheld mode, although the traditional gamepad controls also work fine. And there’s even an actual card game that players can play against the AI or even other players, although this is more of a minigame than a major part of the game.

However, mostly Voice of Cards is just a solid Dungeon Crawler and JRPG. If you’re looking for spectacle, you won’t find it here. Nor will you find any particularly clever game mechanics that set this game apart. What does set this game apart is its charming presentation, with great narration and lovely little touches to bring players into its card game aesthetic. If you’re a fan of the genres this game represents and if this game’s presentation appeals to you, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed in what amounts to a delightful game.

tl;dr – Voice of Cards is a Top-Down Dungeon Crawler and Turn-Based JRPG with a gimmick that everything in the game is represented by cards, dice rolls, and some quite excellent narration. This is not a game that’s going to impress anyone, but what it lacks in spectacle and clever game mechanics, it makes up for in charm. If you’re a fan of the genres this game represents, there’s a good chance you’ll find this game well worth your time.

Grade: B

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2021 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Best Voice Acting, Best RPG

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