Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden

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.

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.

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 doesn't stray far from what made its predecessors successful.

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.

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.

The third chapter of the series brings a breath of fresh air to a formula that risks to bore, without twisting its essence.

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.