Kartia: The Word of Fate

"Sometimes innovation can really makes a difference!"

Kartia is a strategy RPG brought to the states by my favorite game publisher, Atlus. Kartia is a game about a magic card that could destroy the world. In the world of Kartia, magic is held in special cards that can be created, mixed, or discovered. Special combinations create stronger magic. Someone has decided to track down special cards (or Kartia, hence the name of the game) in order to destroy the world, or something like that. Your job, whether you choose one of the two main characters at the beginning of the game, is to stop this silliness.

Kartia is similar to other strategy RPGs in that you have a group of characters who move on a grid and attack, within their turn, another group of enemy characters. Kartia has some of the enhanced features of new strategy RPGs in that elevation contributes to damages dealt and received, attacks from behind cause more damage, and units have affinities that can affect the damage received and delivered. It’s a solid combat system, in of itself, and should please most strategy RPG fans.

But Kartia does not stop at the benchmarks left by previous strategy RPGs. Kartia strives for innovation by introducing two new concepts. The first, and perhaps the best, is a feature that allows human characters to create monster units to assist in battle. You can make a limited variety of standard monsters to assist you, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Though you may walk into battle with only three human characters, you could end up making more characters, thus enjoying longer, more strategically oriented battles. You can even level up these “phantom” characters. Their use is ultimately limited, but it is a novel approach that should be seriously considered by other, future, strategy RPGs.

The second feature is Kartia’s magic system. The system consists of cards which hold magic power. The cards are represented by little icons with Chinese (?) symbols. Each icon represents something like fire, water, iron, tree, etc. Mixing and matching these icons is the key to making better, more powerful magic. Finding rare icons can help with this spell synthesis as well. Some icons can even be added to already existing spells to add additional damage or extra effects. It’s a good system, but it can be quite confusing. It definitely does not lend itself to a pick-up-and-play type of experience. You really have to learn and digest the system to become proficient in its use. I think this system would have been aided greatly had the icons been done in English or at least had a more recognizable representation than Chinese (or is Japanese alphabets?).

One really excellent point about the magic is that some spells can actually alter terrain. Some of the earth magic can raise or lower terrain levels, and some water magic can cause floods. These features don’t necessarily impacts the flow of battle as greatly as they could, but they are a nice touch.

Kartia’s only real low point is its graphics. The colors are washed out and the characters portraits are done by some revered Final Fantasy artist. I don’t see what is so special about that person’s art. I find it very unappealing. In any case, the animation is also kept to a minimum and the enormous amount of detail found in Final Fantasy Tactics is missing here. Despite this, Kartia delivers a solid presentation. Magic effects are nice and the game handles many more characters on screen than Final Fantasy Tactics. This alone makes up for the lack in visuals since more characters often times means more strategy, longer battles, and bloodier outcomes.

Perhaps the best feature of Kartia, in fact, a brilliant feature, is its verse mode. Here, two players can go head to head in a variety of missions. This is absolutely ingenious since strategy RPGs lend themselves very nicely to one on one battles. This feature will keep Kartia alive long after you have beaten both lengthy quests. As a matter of fact, I often forgo other “party” games when friends come over and stick to a nice long strategy battle with a friend (or foe, depending on how you look at it).

For Kartia alone, I give the game a seven. But because of the two player mode, something virtually nonexistent in most all other strategy RPGs, I give it an eight. And believe me, it truly deserves it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/29/03, Updated 07/29/03