Kartia: The Word of Fate

About Kartia: The Word of Fate

Kartia: The Word of Fate (1998), Rebus in Japan, is Atlus's PlayStation tactical RPG in which magical cards create whatever is written on them, told across two intertwined campaigns and best known for Yoshitaka Amano's art.

Kartia: The Word of Fate in Depth

The game is split into two volumes of 18 chapters each, one following the free knight Toxa Classico and the other Lacryma Christi of the Vigilance order. Each tells a complete story, but the two intertwine in one larger plot. Every chapter revolves around phantoms, beings summoned by certain humans using Kartia, magical cards that create whatever is written on them, such as Fire or Water. Players summon and command phantoms to fight for them, manage their supply of Kartia, cast magic with the cards and use them to make weapons for the human fighters, combining cards to create stronger spells and phantoms. Phantoms can die in battle, but if a human party member falls, the game is over and the chapter must be restarted.

In the world of Rebus, across Cross Land, Idorus, Nordia and Pentagram, Akueldo rebels smuggle the druid Mona, who carries a forbidden original Nothingness Kartia capable of destroying all existence. Toxa helps rescue her, while Lacryma, revealed as the daughter of the hero Kainas, is pressed to become an Inquirer, a Shrine warrior above the law. The rebels, led by Mona's half-elf twin Saradiart, seek the original Kartias needed to raise the floating paradise of Eden, and Lacryma learns that her supposedly dead father has joined them in the hope of reviving her mother.

Making Kartia: The Word of Fate

Kartia was made by Atlus's internal R&D1 studio, the team behind Megami Tensei, with series veterans including producer Kouji Okada, scenarist Kazunori Sakai and designer Shirō Takashima, and with art by Yoshitaka Amano, known for his Final Fantasy work. It sold 117,594 copies in Japan and 60,000 in the United States. Reviews were favourable: Famitsu gave it 31 out of 40, and Next Generation praised its excellent soundtrack, competent translation and "immersive and innovative features", saying Atlus could go up against the competition in RPGs and win. GameSpot liked its presentation, music and range of options but found it too linear and its battles slightly monotonous, and GamePro judged it not quite as good as Final Fantasy Tactics or Tactics Ogre, though its two-player mode and unique features made it worthwhile for strategy fans. It was re-released on the Japanese PlayStation Network in 2011.