Wild Card

WonderSwan Color · 2001 · JP

Squaresoft Squaresoft Role-playing (RPG)

Publisher: Squaresoft · Developer: Squaresoft · Genre: Role-playing (RPG)

Although made by Square, the famous Japanese RPG developer, "Wild Card" is a game that is very different from classic Asian RPGs. Most importantly, it is not story-driven. The game is based entirely on quests which are not connected by a story arc. You play a nameless character with no background and there is no plot information or development beside your own progress with the quests. The gameplay consists entirely of playing cards. In the beginning of the game, an enigmatic woman named Maria asks you a series of questions, to determine the cards you get. After that, your character begins an adventure in a town. Locations, other characters, inventory, your movement - everything appears in form of cards. To get quests, you must choose your correspondent cards when encountering different people. You can buy weapons and equipment, and also fight enemies in turn-based combat by choosing the cards from your deck. You gain levels and become stronger in a traditional RPG fashion.