CHILDREN OF ZODIARCS Review for PC

Children of Zodiarcs by developer Cardboard Utopia and publisher Square Enix Collective, is a tactical RPG with a sort of steampunk vibe and revolves around ancient artifacts called Zodiarcs. The initial plot of the story is about a group of thieves that are, you guessed it, stealing a Zodiarc. It takes off from there as they are trying to escape the place where they stole the artifact. The gameplay brings back memories of playing Final Fantasy Tactics back in the day. It’s the same basis as that, but with its own integration of playstyle. Also, the overall look of the game reflects the type and style of it.

The gameplay brings back memories of playing Final Fantasy Tactics back in the day. It’s the same basis as that, but with its own integration of playstyle. Also, the overall look of the game reflects the type and style of it.  The story starts off in a palace where a group of thieves from a guild are trying to steal an artifact called a Zodiarc. Not much is explained about this artifact except that it was used a long time ago, along with the other Zodiarcs. The main character is Nahmi, who is given the task of retrieving the artifact along with her guild member Pester. They inevitably end up getting caught by some guards and end up needing to fight their way out of the palace with the artifact.

The story takes off from there, leaving one battle to find yourself in another.  For those who remember the early Final Fantasy games, you know that there was a game called Final Fantasy Tactics released, and in my opinion, it was great. Children of Zodiarcs is similar to that type of game style. Players are on a limited three-dimensional battle area, where you can only move a certain number of squares at a time and attacks vary depending on how you position your character. Players can choose which type of move a character performs by the cards that are in their hand at that time. After choosing a card, the player is then given dice to role, this allows for a probability factor that can boost an attack, add health, or even activate a secret affect.

The only thing that I have to critique on this game style is that each side has to have their entire team do something before the other’s turn. This can be frustrating, because the enemy team can easily wipe you out if they surround you. I would have liked it if they did it how Final Fantasy Tactics did, where it was one character at a time.  As I said in the beginning, Children of Zodiarcs has a steampunk atmosphere, with rustic looking gadgets and outfits. It works well with the story though, especially the cutscene art style. It is not too fantasy-like, which in this type of style is good. The game overall was very fun, and at some points challenging,

Rate 8/10

Here is the Children of Zodiarcs Trailer:

Children of Zodiarcs will release on PC and Mac July 18, 2017. Here is the Steam page.

Harley Ketter

+ posts

I was first intrigued by video games when I was about 10 years old, starting with the Playstation 2 and the original Xbox. When I was thirteen I was able to get my own Playstation 3 and ever since then I have been an avid gamer. Though consoles are great, especially with the exclusives that they offer, I enjoy gaming on PC because it can offer so much more than consoles can. Last year I built my first PC and I can definitely say I will not be going back to console anytime soon.
I'm into just about any genre of games, but my all time favorite is of course first person shooters, that being said the game that I currently have the most hours played is Rainbow Six: Siege.

• Mirage: Arcane Warfare REVIEW for PC
• Tank Warfare: Tunisia 1943 Review for PC