Children of Zodiarcs Review

  Full disclosure, I kick started this game so I am coming from the bias of having wanted to like it. Take this review with a grain of salt.

  Still, this game made by first time to the market Cardboard Utopia is something to look at.

The Game:

  Children of Zodiarcs is a tactics RPG that utilizes card based attacks along with dice rolls.  The decks are set per character with cards being unlocked as the characters progress in level. There are combat dice that you bring with your character, with the ability to bring more the higher level they are. The die also comes with different faces that can count towards damage, defense, or trigger abilities. You can earn dice from winning fights or customize dice you have from sacrifices lesser dice.

  In battle, you will move your characters in a tactics manner.  The cards you have in hand will dictate what attacks you can make as well as what squares you hit.  Once the card is played you will use the character's dice to roll on the damage you do or if any of the cards special abilities proc.

 The world is an on rails world that directs you from one location to the next on a map with set nodes. Older nodes can be revisited for "Skirmishes", which are basically non-story driven fights. These are used to level up your characters and gain more dice.

My Thoughts:

  I don't tend to play games when they first come out but since I jumped on the Kickstarter for this one it will be one of the few reviews early on.  As a fan of Final Fantasy tactics and Disgaea I am always looking for the next one that keeps me entertained and when I saw the concept, I felt it had potential.  So how was my assumption?  Well, after spending just shy of twenty-one hours to beat it I still feel the same way.  It has potential.

  The battle system at the core of the game is solid.  There is enough control that you feel that all that is random is not hindering your progression.  There are also a good variety of moves that keep the game interesting and the enemies do not come off as unfair.  Since your initial hand, the cards you pick, and the dice rolls are all random it sets up moments where a mouse slam or a controller toss are in order.  There was "I need a beer" moments more than once where it looked like victory was all but secured but I couldn't roll an extra turn even if I had turned all my dice faces into lightning bolts(those mean free action in the game).    Another issue, which is just preference, is that you could hit your allies with an attack.  This lead to some frustrating moments where before checking the bottom of my screen for potential targets, I started the role phase only to see I was about to not only lay a beat down to the enemy but my ally who happened to be in a square slightly hidden by the camera angle.  Also, fuck bleed.  Why add something in the game you can't cure and it lasts the whole damn battle? (I get why but I mean why?) Hated that move. 

  I know one of most common complaints of the game was it's camera angle. This really isn't an issue since you can pan around and it looks like they are addressing this further in an upcoming patch.

  The pacing was pretty good.  I played on normal difficulty because I aint got time for the hard shit anymore.  I found myself more than once having to go back and do a skirmish or two to move forward but I didn't feel like I was grinding.  It wasn't tedious.  The level progression was spot on as well and you really get the sense of your character's strengths the further you get into the game.  The chain moves you can pull off later just leave you so satisfied about what you just did you want to do it again.  After a couple of fights in the late game I was tempted to strut down to the corner bar and tell the first woman I found there of my exploits but I had a game to finish.

Story Spoiler Upcoming:

  The story wasn't great.  I read and followed along with the happening of the land and the underlying mission was ok but the Pester's betrayal and then Nahmi just all of the sudden loving a robot didn't make much sense.  Each of those moves just didn't feel justified.  Pester kind of shows he would go in that direction early on but it still felt like the reason was a bit patch worked in.  Nahmi was an ok protagonist but I still am not sure where the love of the robot came from.  They were all sharing the same adventure as Brice but for some reason, Brice comes out the loser when it was her or the robot.  It was a twist without the windup and maybe I missed it but just it felt like there were no motivations behind it besides a split second emotional decision.  

  This is not a full priced game so a full price experience can't really be expected.  Don't take this is as me being let down, I wasn't.  It carried itself quite well with a really good core gameplay and some quality of life features (fast forwarding through enemy turns) that made this game a pleasant experience.  My feeling is that this game is just the surface of its potential.  While it delivers on its first experience if feels like you are tasting the frosting to a cake that you know could be delicious.  I really do hope this indie game gets enough love to see a second iteration. 

TL;DR:

  A pretty cool indie game that in my opinion fits the price tag.  Story is meh but has a great core gameplay mechanic.  It does enough right that if you like the genre you can enjoy the experience.