Children of Zodiarcs

May it be the likes of Shadow of the Colossus or Metal Gear Solid, if it’s quite there but not enough to push the boundaries, it’s still an awesome game.

Children of Zodiarcs is the game that story-driven SRPG fans have been waiting for. It's evident when playing through that the developers at Cardboard Utopia are passionate about delivering a product that could potentially fall in line with some of the genre's greats. However, by adding unique mechanics and a focus on character growth, Children of Zodiarcs stands out as simply a great SRPG.

Children of Zodiarcs is an RPG project I’ve had my eye on for quite some time, and I’m excited to see it finally come to fruition on the PlayStation 4. As one of the first titles brought into existence under the Square Enix Collective label, this hybrid of strategy RPG and games of luck piqued my interest. Since the initial pitch, it’s evolved in numerous ways and ultimately follows a spry group of children that aim to pull off their biggest heist to date at the requests of their patron, Zirchhoff. However, it’s slowly revealed that Zirchhoff might not be the patron saint these children should...

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All in all, Children of the Zodiarcs is a handsome merging of two beloved game types and one that manages to capture the best of them. Despite starting off slow, the game makes for it by tossing several challenging battles at you, which keeps you on your toes. The dice and playing cards system were an interesting touch, and I ended up enjoying it more than I originally thought. Hopefully, this can be expanded on in the sequel – that is if there is one.

The real issue with combat is that the story can feel like it gets in the way. Take the coward, Pester, for example. He occasionally isn’t there for fights because he ran off (through the door the enemies came from sometimes) or is just hiding, so you are down a character that you had in your strategy. He also doesn’t level up if he isn’t in a fight, so he ends up being under-powered and a liability later in the game. You can go back to previous levels to complete skirmishes to grind Pester up to a reasonable level but it quickly becomes dull repeating them, not to mention that the other chara...

RPGamer's own Anna Marie Privitere had a chance to look at this game recently, but another staffer's already finished his copy. Do they agree? Disagree? Well, they won't be drawing blades over it, at least.

We've seen turn-based strategy games and card-based RPG battle systems but here's a game that combines both. Children of Zodiarcs is a promising love letter to classic SRPGs with a few tricks up its sleeve so deal the cards, roll the dice, and let's check it out!

One to try for fans of strategy RPGs, Children of Zodiarcs has a solid combat system with an interesting hook. The game is let down by a poorly told story that fails to satisfy but it does have it's moments nonetheless.

Children of Zodiarcs is not your ordinary RPG.  A curse to many RPGs is a great story with repetitive game play – Children of Zodiarcs is pretty much the opposite. It is an enjoyable and inventive trading card tactical combat system combined with a fairly simple and linear storyline.

There are so many ways to customize and build out your squad that it’s a shame the story missions are so blase. It is easy enough to level grind that some of the story missions become inadvertently funny. In one, a couple of my characters were supposed to escape while another one bought them time, but everyone was overpowered enough that it was a cake walk. “Run! Escape while you can!” Why? We’re mopping the floor with these guys. I screwed up and cast regeneration on everyone including the bad guys and that just made things interesting.