Foretales is a narrative-driven card game developed by Akemi Games and published by Dear Villagers for the Nintendo Switch and Windows PC on Steam. Unlike competitive card games such as Blizzard's Hearthstone, Foretales has a living, changing story that adjusts to players' choices and strategies in-game. By twisting RPG elements into a deck-building game, Foretales sets itself apart from other titles in the genre and emphasizes its unique features throughout regular gameplay.
Foretales takes place in the Harde Republic, a kingdom in the game's dying world doomed by a mysterious prophecy. Players must build their party (and card deck) to survive and progress throughout the story, with different outcomes available depending on how situations are resolved. Players control Volepain, a clever thief that can save or destroy the Harde Republic with his companions. In the first mission, Volepain obtains a Lyre from a local noblewoman, which grants him the power to view future events and how long he has to avert them. Unfortunately, claiming a happy ending is far more complicated than players may first anticipate.
The mission style and gameplay in Foretales is a unique combination of card game mechanics and RPG dialogue. A series of NPC and Location cards are turned over at the start of each round, prompting players to utilize their Skill Cards or Inventory Cards to progress to different areas or interact with characters. For example, speaking with a merchant, bribing guards, or using Fame can avoid violent confrontations, while attacking or making hostile actions against hostile NPCs initiates combat. Volepain can also collect Inventory Cards by using Skill Cards on different Locations or NPCs, but players must be careful to manage their resources. Once players run out of Skill Cards, they must use the Rest Deck to regain Skills while taking a specific debuff. Debuffs may involve adding more dangers to available Location slots or suffering damage, but once the Rest Deck is run dry, it's Game Over.
Foretales starts with two characters in the player's party: Leo and Volepain. The pair are thieves who've lived in Harde Republic for most of their life. Players gain access to the Skill Cards of Adventurers in their party, reflecting their total health in confrontations. Depending on the choices made during Missions, players can gain access to different Adventurers and permanently lose others. Players can find these decisions and impending Missions on the Fate page, where Volepain sees the various strands of Fate that impact the world. The Doom Counter in the top left of cards reflects how many turns players have left to avert these crises. This gameplay mechanic is another method to give players complete control over their adventure and sometimes forces Volepain to choose between two evils.
Foretales resembles Fable and other popular RPGs with its consequences, as players' actions and Graveyard have long-reaching impacts on Volepain's destiny. Should players choose to kill or destroy whatever obstacles come their way, karmic justice asserts itself in multiple ways. For example, players could find their reputation sabotaging potential relationships further into the game or gain additional challenges.
Foretales turns itself into a fantasy adventure early on, accompanying tales with a moving soundtrack and powerful voice-acted narrative. Its 2D cutscenes aren't the overly realistic, raytraced animation fantasy adventure fans are used to, but it resembles a simpler storytelling era akin to Disney's older animations. Christophe Héral, the composer responsible for Beyond Good & Evil and Rayman Legends, creates a beautiful soundtrack to accompany Volepain's journey. Additionally, Travis Willingham, a member of Critical Role's core cast and an immensely popular voice actor, is responsible for the story's narration.
Foretales is a refreshing addition to the deckbuilding game genre, blending interesting lore and meaningful player choices into its narrative. While the preview covers a beta version of the game and there are several bugs, Akemi Games intends to continue work until (and beyond) release. Deckbuilding game fans should keep their eyes on Foretales as it approaches release on PC and the Nintendo Switch.
Foretales is scheduled for a Summer 2022 release on Windows OS PCs and the Nintendo Switch. Screen Rant received a preview build for this article.