<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nThere were times where I felt like I was playing a \u201cDungeons and Dragons\u201d style campaign with friends instead of a just a video game. There\u2019s even a DM-like character that reads most of the text for the player. He goes over establishing prose for each new area, describes the actions and movements of characters in cutscenes, and even does the dialogue between characters when they speak; albeit, he doesn\u2019t really act the roles out so much as just narrate the lines. This titular voice is such a huge part of the experience that the game even advises playing with the sound on to hear the narration if possible.<\/p>\n
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nHowever, what really highlights the narration and helps the \u201ctable top\u201d vibe of the game stick is its aesthetics. The dev team decided to make everything look like cards, and they drive this style to an incredible extreme. Characters look like trading cards, and the map the player moves on is a bunch of picture cards laid out on an old table. Unexplored parts of the map are obscured as the backside of a card until the player approaches them, where upon they flip over, complete with a little card-turning sound effect.<\/p>\n
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nThere\u2019s a high amount of love given to making the sound design in the game memorable to the point it seems tactile. In combat, the player uses \u201ccrystals\u201d as a resource to cast their spells, which are represented by a collection of stones handed out at the start of each turn. These crystals fall into a velvet-laced box with a satisfying little \u201ctink\u201d sound when given to the player, and will stack or bounce off each other. Even the little marker used to represent the player\u2019s party moves with a satisfying \u201cthump\u201d as it hops from card to card on the overworld or in a dungeon.<\/p>\n
Cards gain physical differences when hit with status ailments that line up more with their status as \u201ccards\u201d than they do as characters. A poisoned character will have a sticky green liquid spilt on them. Cards hit with defense-weakening spells will gain creases and flakes in their foiling. The seal status effect literally puts a bound wax seal on top of the card, these are just a few of my favorite examples, there\u2019re all kinds of other little touches that I\u2019d probably have to spend another 4 or 5 paragraphs to actively describe. Just know that everything in this game\u2019s presentation is absolutely charming, and pretty much carries the entire thing. If you\u2019ve ever been curious on what a game with great visual and auditory execution looks like, this is definitely one to check out.<\/p>\n
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nI\u2019m glad that the game\u2019s visuals, audio, and writing are so strong, because the gameplay just barely gets by without starting to feel redundant. I said earlier that parts of it feel like an 8 or 16-bit era JRPG, and that was including both the good and bad points of that time period. Battles are random encounters, and the encounter rate is insanely high. It\u2019s hard to move more than 4 or 5 steps without getting thrown into a battle, and the menu navigation is so slow that even easy encounters can drag out to a few minutes. I\u2019m sure that sounds like a pretty nitpicky gripe, but the time and mundanity adds up after you\u2019ve fought the same ents and goblins 6 times in the past 30 minutes. I really wish there was some kind of item that lowered the encounter rate on weaker enemies just so the game could speed along back to the parts that make it entertaining.<\/p>\n
I never really had to grind for levels because the natural encounter rate always ensured I was over-leveled by the time I reached the boss of whatever chapter I was on. The only thing I ever really needed to grind for was gold to buy equipment, which is all pretty damn expensive compared to the normal battle items. You absolutely need to buy equipment too. Combat is simplified to the point that the player really just wants to have the biggest number possible attached to their party\u2019s attack and defense values at all times. Leveling up will give characters access to new skills, but the bulk of their offensive and defensive stats come from gear.<\/p>\n