DS

The World Ends With You

March 31, 2009

DS / Reviews / by Chris Ingersoll Make a comment! / Tweet it!

For a company generally afflicted with an incurable case of sequels and remakes, Square-Enix took every risk possible when unleashing The World Ends With You (WEWY) on the gaming populace last year. Unrecognizable by any established Japanese RPG standards, WEWY is an amazing mix of new ideas and brilliant execution that adds up to one of the best DS experiences in the record-breaking handheld’s lifetime. 

Designed to make use of every one of the DS’s unique features, WEWY will throw simultaneous two-screen real-time combat at you, requiring use of the d-pad as well as the stylus (and sometimes the microphone) in a rub your stomach/pat your head manner. Fortunately, you can set your partner’s control to fully or even semi-automatic until you get the hang of things, but fully-manual control isn’t that difficult once you’re used to it; usually just spamming left or right while you work the bottom screen will get the job done, although paying attention to the top screen for combos is far from impossible. 

In fact, the defining feature of WEWY is scalability. Nearly every aspect of the game is adjustable to every skill level: besides setting the level of AI control over your partner, you only engage in random encounters when you want to (and a few times when you have to, but almost never randomly), you can set the difficulty from Easy to Ultimate (once you unlock each level), and you can even turn your experience level up or down (lower levels result in higher frequency of item drops). Along the way you’ll acquire a couple of hundred different pins (weapons, basically), each with their own command input, strength, number of uses, type of damage, and fashion brand; these pins gain levels and occasionally even evolve into different pins not unlike Pokémon. Further customization can be found in your threads (equipment), food (stat improvements… once you’ve digested them via combat, but only up to a certain amount per real-time day), and whether or not you pay attention to the ever-shifting trends in Shibuya which affect the strength of pins and equipment, with popular brands in a given area being stronger and the least popular brand being only half strength. 

It all adds up to a bizarre RPG that defies all expectations. Even the narrative is out-there, pitting you as 15-year-old Neku trapped in some sort of strange “game” being contested in the streets of Shibuya, Japan. You and your partner combat creatures called “Noise” as you jump through hoops set before you by beings called “Reapers”. The Game takes place over a week, and each day kicks off with you receiving a timed mission via your cell phone. Eventually you figure out that you are in a parallel dimension from the normal world, and although you can see and interact with it to a certain extent, nobody from that dimension can interact with you except in special circumstances (i.e., shops). The exact nature of the Game and its participants will also unfold as you progress, and rarely in ways that you anticipate. 

Don’t be too worried about those time limits, by the way. There is no actual in-game time restriction; even if your mission is to be completed in 15 minutes, you can safely spend hours grinding and exploring without penalty. In fact, this is the most enjoyable grinding that I have ever done in any RPG, thanks to the intense combat mechanics and the fact that I more or less choose which monsters to fight in a given area. And without spoiling too much, don’t worry that the game will be over after only seven in-game days, either (a quick read of the manual would have tipped you off about that anyway). 

Despite all of the amazing things this game does, there is at least one shortcoming, however. While the amount of information recorded and provided to you is impressive, the game never tells you that some pins require different types of experience if you want them to evolve. You see, in addition to Battle PP, the pins you currently have equipped will also earn experience while you’re not playing (Shutdown PP); there is also Mingle PP, gained by having your DS sit in wireless mode for a while and picking up signals from other WEWY players, other DS wi-fi signals, and miscellaneous other signals (“Aliens”). Even when you do evolve your pins, there’s never any indication of how you did so in case you want to make some more. Anyone seeking total Pin Mastery and a couple of other “totals” that are based on that will have to consult a FAQ, but most completionists are probably used to that. 

Once you’ve completed the main narrative, several post-game options become available to you, including the ability to jump to any one of the game’s chapters. Not quite a “new game+”, you can replay these days with all of your advanced equipment/skills/etc. to find certain items, and completing each of a day’s goals will unveil a piece of the backstory, which is a fascinating bonus. There’s also a bizarre “Another Day” chapter that takes place in a different universe but somehow all makes sense within the framework of the game’s world (especially as you read the Secret Reports). Finally, you can also play a Bakugan-style mini-game called “Tin Pin Slammer” with up to four players over local wireless; the game occasionally crops up in the main narrative as well, so you’ll at least have some exposure to it regardless. 

It all adds up to a truly staggering amount of content. I really hate the fact that Square-Enix charges $40 for their new DS games, but WEWY would almost have been worth it just to encourage new ideas from The House the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest Built. Fortunately it’s now available at most locations for only $30. At that price it was just a matter of finding time to actually play the game, which every RPG fan should do eventually. I don’t know if we’ll ever see a sequel to The World Ends With You (probably… the story can support it, sort of), but I’ve definitely never seen anything like it before. 

ESRB Rating: T for Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, and Mild Suggestive Themes. The usual.

Plays like: nothing else

Pros: A pile of unique ideas and DS-specific design combine to create one of the most enjoyable RPGs in a long time, on any system

Cons: Still suffers from some “Guide Dang It” design that plagues most RPGs, but most players probably won’t notice

 

 

Inkheart

March 28, 2009

DS / Reviews / by Michael Walbridge Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Some games just aren’t good ideas. A game is first conceived in theory in mind and in document and then shown in presentation to an agent, producer, publisher, or whomever, and if that person has any sense, he will automatically know not to make certain bad games.

Inkheart had one thing going for it in that instance, and that is the fact that it is based on a movie. However, that movie is based on a book, and that book is about books and reading and literature and the ideas they promote. It is a metaphysical book. It is over 500 pages long. There is action, but the characters are caught up in it.

So in the game, the first thing you do is ride a sled to get away from some guy who wants to talk to Brendan Fraser’s character, Mo, the dad, a guy who has superpowers enabling him to make books literally come to life. You ride the sled and dodge cars. When that’s over, it’s another long cutscene.

And that’s the irony: it’s a game based on a movie based on a book about a book, and the result is that there’s still a lot of reading.

There’s nothing wrong with reading or text in a game, but it shouldn’t be the majority of the game. The game should be a game. Why make this product? Read the book instead! If a game were based on a movie and had two hours of cutscenes and little gameplay, the criticism would be to go watch the movie and ditch the game.

Go read the book.

Inkheart is garbage. No matter how evil, virtuous, sexy, young, old, and no matter the size, the characters walk at the same speed and with the same animation, arms flopping around long and wide. The screens make you hold your DS the wrong way. That means that an already tiny screen that is dedicated to a point-and-touch text style adventure is covering an entire room. Meggie, the young girl, has a bedroom that is likely no larger than 10×12 feet. Yet you have to scroll to see it in its entirety.

There is very little action, and the point-and-touch plots are dull and contrive. Twice within the first 15-30 minutes of the game, Meggie sets out to eavesdrop on a conversation, and twice she must collect her own personal belongings. This isn’t just repetitive and lazy, it’s boring.

Inkheart for the DS is attempting to capture the magic of the movie based on the book (about a book), but the problem is that a video game, especially one with such terrible graphics, isn’t an appropriate medium to do so.

Pros: pictures of characters really look like the actors, lots of reading and attempts to preserve the movie’s message, reading level seems appropriate for the targeted kids
Cons: more text than game, and what little game is boring; graphics and animation are minimal and horrendous, controls are not intuitive, DS must be held sideways and vertically to play
ESRB: E. If the movie or book is fine, this game is fine. A little broody and dark in some parts.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

February 20, 2009

DS / Reviews / by Graham Russell Make a comment! / Tweet it!

The Fire Emblem series has had an interesting path of entry into the Western market. Using the inclusion of Marth and Roy in Super Smash Bros. Melee as a springboard, Nintendo of America released the Japanese Fire Emblem 7– a game that features neither Marth nor Roy. The title was still a success, and by the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Nintendo was able to include Ike, a character actually in a game the Western world could play.

But what about this Marth character? with his only appearances coming in the first three games in the series, those outside of Japan were left wondering about him. At least, until now.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon is a DS reworking of the series’ original Famicom title. Marth is a prince forced to flee his own country after an ally nation’s betrayal left it virtually defenseless. Over the course of the game, he and his ever-increasing army progress back via tactical battles to retake his homeland.

For a series that typically has hardcore gamers throwing their systems in frustration–in easy mode–Nintendo has taken many steps to let new players into the experience. A tutorial-like prologue has been added to the beginning of the game to ease players in, and six difficulty levels ensure that advanced players don’t suffer as a result. Extra units are made available to players who have seen too many of their fighters see an early end. One-time-use save points are scattered here and there on difficult maps. Players can loan better-trained units to friends to help them out. There’s also an online store with constantly-changing inventory to buy a few hard-to-find weapons and items. For the button-shy, stylus support is also now available.

Experienced players get something new here too. Usually, in the Fire Emblem series, emphasis is placed on getting through levels without losing a single unit. Shadow Dragon features characters that can only be attained through many deaths, and rather than just tacking on new units, these people are fan favorites from Fire Emblem Gaiden, the second game in the series that takes place in the same time and world. Also, an online multiplayer mode allows players to raise up a 5-unit team and take it out to challenge others locally or globally with voice chat. This mode is more like Advance Wars than Fire Emblem, but the team-building aspect is enjoyable and winning battles net players “cards” that each offer a distinctive combat boost for the next skirmish.

Visually, Shadow Dragon is about what you would expect. The game runs on the same engine as Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, so those who have played that game will notice many similarities. The top screen is used to great effect, putting all the statistics usually hidden in menus out for constant use. Characters no longer have individual sprites (likely due to the game’s class change feature), but the hair color changes appropriately and the animations are smooth and interesting.

With Shadow Dragon, Nintendo pulled off what few thought was possible: an easily accessible Fire Emblem game. Series veterans may not find it to be their favorite ever, but the higher difficulties, online options and different event options will still keep them busy for a while. If you haven’t played Fire Emblem before, now’s the time to give it a try.

ESRB: E10+– As tame as it is, no game about killing people with swords and axes is ever going to get a pure E rating.
Pros: More accessible, Marth (finally)
Cons: Story not quite as deep or complex as others in series
Rating: Purchase (5/5)

Lock’s Quest

January 9, 2009

DS / Reviews / by Michael Walbridge Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Lock’s Quest is one of those games that crosses the boundaries of genre; in the strictest sense it is only strategy, but it also has elements of action, resulting in it being a “strategy-action” or “action-strategy” game. Whatever you call it, Lock’s Quest manages to amazingly blend turret-building, wall-repairing, character-positioning and special move attacks into a you-versus-the-world frenzy.

Lock is a young, blond, plain, Japanese-RPG kind of fellow who is branching out: he bears no sword, amnesia, magic, or great regrets, but he does have his village come under attack. Somewhere in the madness he loses track of his sister, but no other tragic events occur except the needed evacuation of the village.

Combat is patterned after tower defense games: hordes of robotic clockworks attack Lock’s position, making the selection and placement of towers and walls an important strategical element. Lock has 2 or 3 minutes to place these in the building stage. After this, the fight commences, which also lasts 2 or 3 minutes. Unlike in typical tower defense games, however, Lock himself remains on the battlefield to repair or to clash with the clockworks in person.

This is all done using the stylus. Lock’s Quest is commendable for managing to feel like a computer strategy game when everything about it takes advantage of the platform. Sometimes placement is a little uncomfortable, but the building stage gives enough time to make up for it.  Pathing, the system through which game units know the shortest route from point A to point B (and how to get around walls) is a bit flawed, at least where Lock is concerned; look away, and you may find he’s still in the same spot, running in place. Combat is also stylus-driven and requires a lot of coordination to really excel at it. Lock has four different kinds of attacks, all of which require unique stlyus manipulation. One of his later moves is a life-stealing attack: to perform it, a bar will appear with a tab on it. The direction the tab needs to be pulled will be random, so reflexes are key. After the first attack, two bars will appear, then three, and then it resets to one. All the moves are, in the strictest sense, easy to perform–but it is much harder to do them quickly when there are 4 towers that need to be repaired and 3 other sets of clockworks that are unattended.

The level of challenge here is one of the best features of Lock’s Quest. For a DS strategy game that is going for broad appeal, Lock’s Quest manages to nail it. Success is not out of the reach of children, at least intelligent or older ones, and adults can still find it challenging. I managed to find strategies that worked consistently, but learning those strategies took time, and it was time well-enjoyed. I’m 27 years old, I’ve played over a thousand matches of Starcraft online and won over half of them, and yet a few of these levels beat me more than once.

The icing on the cake for Lock’s Quest is the story—Lock and his sister Emi lack depth in personality, but the rest of the characters are surrounded in mystery. There are 100 “days” to get through to get to the end of Lock’s Quest, and at day 96, I thought I knew the rest of the story, but the plot twists and surprises continue through to the very end. There’s nothing deep here, but it was engaging enough to keep me curious as to what would happen, and there were some armchair philosophy and juvenile-lit lectures to boot. This is likely the only other game this year besides The World Ends With You that tells a tale you hope teenagers see; if Final Fantasy feels like a soap opera, Lock’s Quest feels like a darker Disney Movie.

Lock’s Quest manages to cross strategy and deliberation at the speed of pencil and paper with live combat, then add an involving story where every single character has a secret or surprise. To do all this and make it appealing and fun for a broad audience across genre-preferences and age is no small feat. Lock’s Quest is one of the best reasons to buy a DS.

Plays like: Zelda, PC real-time strategy, and tower defense all at the same time.
ESRB: E for everyone. Some serious themes here, including death and life, but nothing offensive.
Pros: Good for both extended and quick play, story is unique and well-told, lots of opportunity for creativity, very well-balanced challenge that engages both young and old, newbie and expert
Cons: Lock’s pathing is sometimes off, placement is awkward, seems like there are only six music tracks, and they get old quickly; sprites hardly have faces

 

Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades

December 30, 2008

DS / Reviews / by Tim Stevens Make a comment! / Tweet it!

It’s hard to not be charmed by the idea of playing Guitar Hero anywhere you go, or of strumming your DS with wild abandon, faux pick in hand and lip askew like a geeky Billy Idol. Whimsical charm only gets you so far in the face of frustrating issues, though, of which Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades has plenty. Just as we found in our review of the original On Tour, those issues can be a real pain – usually in the wrist area. 

Decades offers more of the same, utilizing a virtually unchanged in-game engine and fret/cartridge accessory to offer 28 new tunes for your rocking enjoyment. All the tracks are from the original masters (no more touring with cover bands) and they’ve been categorized into decades, starting with “modern” for anything in the past few years and then running all the way back to the ‘70s to deliver a little Lynrd Skynrd action. 

While the songs do tend to get better as you progress through the campaign (assuming you’d rather listen to Blondie than Paramour), Decades tosses all notions of its predecessors gradually increasing difficulty aside. Instead of getting progressively harder as you work through the campaign the songs just get progressively older, meaning completing this one doesn’t lead to much of a feeling of accomplishment. However, the new ability to run through that campaign playing the rhythm/bass tracks as well gives Decades significantly more single-player shelf-life than On Tour.

Multiplayer longevity is boosted too thanks to WiFi compatibility with the original On Tour, enabling gamers with either cart to play the all the tracks from the other when connected wirelessly. That’s great if you have a friend who won’t be bothered to upgrade to the new one, but chances are you still aren’t totally sold that you should be making the upgrade yourself.

Primary among things to consider before buying is the unchanged fret attachment: if you can’t get comfortable with it you’ll be in pain long before you even hit the ‘90s. Also, with the same in-game engine you’ll still see bands that aren’t really playing along, hear sound that isn’t crystal clear, and deal with a touch-screen strumming mechanic that at its best takes a good bit of getting used to and at its worst isn’t responsive enough for technical riffs. Ultimately Decades is a better game than the first On Tour, and both games can be genuinely entertaining. But, it’s hard to see this as anything more than a 28-track expansion pack, and $35 ($50 if you get the bundle with the fret attachment) seems like a bit much for that.

ESRB: E10+, for lyrics
Plays Like: Guitar Hero On Tour
Pros: Reasonably faithful experience; new campaign mode adds some life; solid multiplayer
Cons: Still uncomfortable for most; looks, plays, and feels exactly like last On Tour

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