Kartia: The Word of Fate

Kartia: The Word of Fate (known as Legend of Kartia in Europe) is a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Atlus for Sony's PlayStation video game console in 1998. It was originally released in Japan under the title Rebus, and was issued in Europe as Legend of Kartia. It is best known for the work of its art designer, Yoshitaka Amano, who had previously worked on the Final Fantasy series.

Gameplay
The game is divided into two "volumes," each centering around a different main character and their friends. The first volume tells the story of Toxa Classico and the second volume is about Lacryma Christi. While each volume tells a complete story, the storylines intertwine in one major plot.

Each "chapter" of both volumes revolves around phantoms, beings which can be summoned by certain humans using "Kartia", magical cards which create whatever is written on them, such as Fire or Water. The player must summon and control phantoms to fight for him/her, as well as managing Kartia supplies, casting magic with Kartia and creating weapons for the human combatants. Kartia cards can be combined to create more powerful spells or phantoms. While phantoms may die during battle, if a human party member dies, the game ends and the chapter must be restarted.

Development
Atlus USA originally released Kartia and Eggs of Steel as Blockbuster Video rental exclusives. They were both later released for retail sale. There is a slight variant in the packaging - the BBV rental version does not have foil lettering for the title "Kartia" on the front cover - it is a blue that nearly blends in with the background. The BBV rental version has a different disc number as well - it is PSRM-010600.

Reception
Kartia: The Word of Fate was praised by GameSpot for its presentation, music, and the number of options available during gameplay, but found it to be too linear and the battles slightly monotonous. The website scored it a 7.7 out of 10.