Why Is It Called Rebus in Japan and Kartia in the West?

Japan named it for its world. The West named it for its cards.

In the fiction, Rebus is the world itself, a land whose civilization runs on Kartia, cards inscribed with texts in a divine script. Write the right words on a card and the thing written becomes real. The Japanese title names the stage; the Western titles name the tool, and Europe added a Legend to make it sound like the fantasy epic it also is.

The word Rebus carries the game's thesis. Atlus explained in a 1997 Famitsu interview that in the ancient Roman tongue it means combination, or joining together: the game is about combining single written characters into stronger texts, weapons, spells, and creatures. The same interview was careful to say the idea was not borrowed from Megami Tensei's demon fusion, the other famous combination system in the building.

THE THREE TITLES

One game, three boxes

Rebus · Japan, 1998

The world's name, in big red letters over a collage of the cards themselves. The cover is the argument: this is a game about a place where writing makes reality.

Kartia: The Word of Fate · North America, 1998

Atlus USA led with the cards and added a subtitle about words and destiny. The title on the box, the disc, and the Prima guide all read The Word of Fate.

Legend of Kartia · Europe, 1999

Konami's European release kept the Western name and dressed it as a legend, the period's standard costume for a fantasy RPG in PAL shops.

A BUYER'S WARNING

The fourth title that does not exist

The Word of Providence

Some catalogues and listings give the subtitle as The Word of Providence. It appears on no box, disc, or guide: the American game is The Word of Fate, and the difference is worth checking when a listing's title and photo disagree.

Rebus is not a different game

Japanese copies under the Rebus name are the same Kartia, usually cheaper than the American pressing, and the only way to own Amano's original cover art. See Collecting Kartia for editions and prices.

The Kartia Gallery The Two Covers

Why Is It Called Rebus in Japan and Kartia in the West?

THE THREE TITLES

A BUYER'S WARNING

THE FIRST WORD