Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden
A card-based RPG about revenge, monsters, and a starless world.
Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden is a 2022 role-playing video game developed by Alim and published by Square Enix for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Windows, with Android and iOS ports in 2023. It is the third game in the Voice of Cards series, which presents its world, characters, and battles using a tabletop role-playing game aesthetic. The player controls a woman seeking revenge against the monsters that destroyed her home, and the game features a darker narrative and visual tone compared to earlier entries.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Alim
- Publisher
- Square Enix
- Director
- Maasa Mimura, Yoko Taro
- Writer
- Yoshiho Akabane
- Agata Rokuro
- Yoko Taro
- Artist
- Kimihiko Fujiysaka
- Composer
- Oliver Good
- Shotaro Seo
- Keiichi Okabe
- Platforms
- Nintendo Switch
- PlayStation 4
- Windows
- Android
- iOS
- Series
- Voice of Cards
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The Beasts of Burden is set in a world without stars where humans live underground and have waged a millennium-long war against monsters. The protagonist Al'e is rescued by L'gol after her village is destroyed by a large monster, and she is sent to capture a rampaging entity called the Steel Primal. The party grows to include Pulche, a scholar studying monsters, and Tralis, a half-monster beast tamer. Their journey reveals that monsters were once humans who mutated to survive biological weapons, and that the hatred between the two sides is deeply rooted. The story ends with Al'e and her companions seeking to restore night and the stars, offering hope for eventual peace.
Reader's Guide
Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden is notable as the third and darkest entry in the Voice of Cards trilogy, introducing a female protagonist and monster-capturing mechanics. The game retains the series' signature card-based tabletop aesthetic while deepening its narrative themes of moral ambiguity and the cyclical nature of hatred. Returning staff from earlier titles, including Yoko Taro, Yosuke Saito, and Maasa Mimura, contributed to its development, with Yoko co-writing the scenario due to development pressures. The soundtrack, handled by Monaca with composers Oliver Good and Shotaro Seo, blends Latin American and Northern European ethnic instruments to match the game's morose tone. The English gamemaster was voiced by Carin Gilfry, and the Japanese version by Yui Ishikawa, marking a deliberate shift from male narrators. The game was released digitally on September 13, 2022, with a Deluxe Digital Edition featuring Nier Reincarnation-themed content, and was later ported to mobile platforms in 2023. A bundle of all three Voice of Cards titles was released on the same day as the mobile port.
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