DS

Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road

December 9, 2009

DS / Reviews / by Shawn Vermette Make a comment! / Tweet it!

The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road is a strange game. Essentially, it is what The Wizard of Oz would have been if it was told by the Japanese: an interesting premise. Unfortunately, it rarely lives up to its potential.

The story of The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road diverges from the movie almost instantly. Your characters, Dorothy and Toto, are sucked into Oz by a tornado, but upon arriving there are no munchkins to sing to you. Instead you are greeted by a large and sinister shadow proclaiming himself the Wizard of Oz. He asks you to visit him at his palace in Emerald City, and then leaves you to find out how to get there. On the way you meet and fight the Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man, all of whom join your party for no apparent reason after you defeat them. Upon arriving in Emerald City you’re greeted by the Wizard of Oz, who explains to you why he wanted to meet you. He proclaims himself the all-powerful King of Oz, but says there are some witches who don’t like him being the self-proclaimed ruler and are fighting against him. Thus, he wants to send you to kill these witches. Once you do so, he’ll return you home.

From this point on you basically run through completely linear levels, fighting a somewhat diverse array of creatures, all of whom will either be very easy to kill, or very difficult. This is a long game, but mainly because of the distance you have to run through each of the 40 levels. There really aren’t any choices in this game either. Every member of your party has one class of weapon and armor they can use, they have one type of enemy they are effective against. You can’t wander off the Yellow Brick Road even if you wanted to.

The best thing that can be said about the battle system is it is unique. You have four slots you can fill with attacks from any of your four members you want. However, the Tin Man and the Lion use more than one slot when they attack. Their attacks are more powerful, but it will always be a trade-off you’ll have to make- power or more attacks. Unfortunately, this decision is largely rendered pointless because of the other half of the battle system. The second half of the battle system is comprised of a series of advantages against enemies. Each party member is particularly strong against a certain enemy. This leads to completely disregarding the strategy of the four slots system because the Tin Man and the Lion are not powerful enough to make it worth ignoring each character’s bonus against enemies.

The control system is very distinctive, and actually made the game much more enjoyable. In order to move, you must roll a trackball on the screen with the stylus. With this method, you can run by moving the trackball faster, and you can turn or even stop yourself instantly by changing the angle of the trackball’s movement or by stopping your stylus on top of the trackball. It takes a little bit of practice, but eventually you’ll be running across Oz like a wild man on steroids.

The graphics of Beyond the Yellow Brick Road are reasonably good for the DS. Everything is 3D and the environments are vibrant and fitting for each area. The character models are fairly unremarkable as well as the soundtrack.

Some of the design decisions in Oz are just confusing, as you can only save in Emerald City. Additionally, all shopping for items, weapons, and armor can only be done in Emerald City. It is amazingly hard to buy anything, though, because gold coins are very scarce. This makes the game take longer, as you’ll have to backtrack anytime you want to upgrade or save your progress.

The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road could have been a resounding success, especially considering the unusual take on such a classic story. Unfortunately, it never cashes in on its potential.

 

ESRB:  E for Mild Fantasy Violence-if you can watch the movie, you can play the game

Plays Like:  Well…it is a generic RPG, but it has a control scheme unlike any other

Pros: Controls are intuitive and responsive; Has lots of potential

Cons: Never fulfills potential; Plot feels rehashed; Unique story and location undone by poor design decisions 

 

 

Nostalgia

December 6, 2009

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

As I understand it, the original design for the game that would ultimately become Nostalgia was created about ten years ago. It was shelved as the developers took on other tasks (including the DS remake of Final Fantasy III), and when the opportunity presented itself they were able to add to their plans to make better use of the improvements of the intervening decade, like the DS itself. As a result, what we get is a curious blend of old-school RPG tropes with a few interesting twists.

The world of Nostalgia is an alternate-version 19th Century Earth, filled with steampunk, airships, magic, and above all an emphasis on exploration. The main character is Eddie Brown, son of famed adventurer (and thinly-veiled Indiana Jones knock-off) Gilbert Brown, who has gone missing. Before long Eddie has assembled the tradtional four-man band of himself (the fighter), Pad (the rogue), Melody (the wizard), and Fiona (the cleric) that sets off to eventually thwart a shadowy cabal of extremists like all 17-year-olds do in this genre. Along the way each will discover who they really are and reconnect with their parents, all while discovering ancient wonders and battling fantastic monsters.

Where Nostalgia does things a bit differently however is the overworld. As soon as you leave the starting town (and main hub) of London you are given your father’s airship. All travel in the overworld is done via an airship, and you can be attacked by other airships or flying monsters as you move from city to city (and, indeed, continent to continent). Ship combat is a bit different than normal dungeon combat, as each team member (wo)mans a different armament and acts independently, but you all share a single HP total. When you’re being triple-teamed, you either quickly learn to adopt a defensive stance or die. Eventually you gain the ability to climb to higher altitudes to bypass obstacles like mountains, but incredibly dangerous enemies lurk at those heights; expect several surprise Game Overs, as running away is usually not possible. Until you get some stronger gear, I advise you to stick to the lower altitudes unless necessary and save often.

Nostalgia’s other primary innovation is the visible turn order. Along the left side of the bottom screen you’ll see seven panels depicting your party and your enemies. Whoever is at the top is the one currently active, and the order goes down the list. Different moves (like magic) have longer wait times, and there are some moves you can use to add wait time to your enemies or grant additional speed to your own team. Shrewd management of this feature will allow you greater control over your battles.

Finally, Nostalgia uses a skill tree to learn new techniques. In addition to XP and GP, you will earn SP from battles. That SP can be spent on a character’s skill to improve it in some way (better effect, less MP cost, lower wait time, etc.). When certain skills are improved to a specific level, it will unlock a new (often related) skill, often well ahead of schedule compared to when the character would normally learn it. Some skills are more important than others, and knowing what you’re doing here can really affect the difficulty of the game. To the game’s credit, I never felt the need to grind up levels, cash, or skills, although hitting every side quest offered goes a long way towards that.

While all of that seems impressive, all of those innovations tend to meld into the background as you progress through the somewhat bland story. I didn’t really care about any of the developments in the plot, more than a few of which were fairly obvious to anyone even partially genre-savvy. It felt like I had played this game before, and in many ways I have. Nostalgia doesn’t really break enough new ground to stand out among the crowd, and there were several times where the only sense of nostalgia the game instilled in me was for the similar but superior Skies of Arkadia. Still, it’s a quality enough  title that should occupy you for about forty to fifty hours if you’re willing to overlook the inherently dated nature of most of it.

(…and if it will let you, that is. While I was playing the Nostalgia I learned about a game-breaking bug that is believed to affect about 1/3rd of all US carts. About 2/3rds of the way through the story, there is a two-part boss; in the bugged carts, the second part of the boss does not spawn, rendering the game impossible to complete; since the bug is apparently in the code and not something you can correct, you can’t even start over and try again. I was right near that point when I discovered this, and breathed a heavy sigh of relief when it was there as scheduled. I still think the game is worth picking up, but be aware that this problem exists, especially if buying a pre-owned version.)

ESRB: E10 for Mild Fantasy Violence. 19th Century Earth was a big time for hand pistols; every non-magic user who isn’t a sword-user is packing heat.

Pros: Some neat features, and a solid if unspectacular story

Cons: finding “Ancient Treasures” is nearly a pixel-hunt, ship combat is surprisingly lethal until late in the game

Plays like: most other turn-based RPGs

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky

November 23, 2009

DS / Reviews / by Shawn Vermette Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky is the latest in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. However, it is more like an expansion to Explorers of Darkness and Time than it is a new entry in the series. It adds a few extras to the mix, but not enough to justify a second purchase if you’ve already played through Explorers of Darkness or Time.

Explorers of Sky is played the same way as the previous games in the series. You’ll take on jobs from Wigglytuff’s Guild, and then while exploring ‘mystery dungeons’ you will attempt to complete the missions. A mystery dungeon is a dungeon that is randomly generated each time you enter one. This lends itself to the possibility of easier travel than a man-made dungeon because you’ll often descend a floor and find you don’t need to search for the stairs to the next floor- they’re in the same room as you. However, it does add replayability since the dungeons will be different every time you go into them. In the end, this is a good thing because you will be repeatedly descending into every single dungeon in the game numerous times.

You will control one Pokémon. This Pokémon is chosen for you from a group of 19 based on how you answer a short personality test when you begin the game. After a Pokémon has been selected, you’ll get to pick a partner from the remaining starting Pokémon. You and your partner will be inseparable through the rest of the game, and if either of you get knocked out in a dungeon you’ll be penalized half of your items and money. Eventually you’ll also be able to recruit various other Pokémon you defeat in the dungeons. You can have up to two recruits join you and your partner in the dungeons. Unfortunately, the dungeon designs and the AI of the Pokémon tend to work against having a team of any size larger than two; in the majority of fights you’ll only need two Pokémon, and in the ones that you do need more teammates, the extras will invariably get stuck in a corridor and be useless in the fight anyway.

You can choose to simply follow the storyline of the game or take on jobs, collect items, and grind your Pokémon to higher and higher levels before continuing the story. No matter how urgent the next story mission seems, you can always put it off to explore a random dungeon or rescue a lost Pokémon.

The biggest addition to Explorers of Sky is the inclusion of a series of five special episodes that you can play through in addition to the main story. Each special episode places you in the shoes of another member of Wigglytuff’s Guild and allows you to participate in an important period of their lives. This gives you more insight into the personality of each guild member as well as showing more of the history of the Guild featured in the main story.

A couple new Pokémon are added to Explorers of Sky, increasing its Pokémon count to 492. Some new optional dungeons have been added as well, giving you more of a challenge at higher levels. The last addition to Explorers of Sky is Spinda’s Café, an underground area in Treasure Town that you can go to and receive new jobs, take part in some prize drawings for new items, and also increase the potency of the many gummies (items that increase the intelligence of your teammates) you’ll collect throughout your adventures.

While there are quite a few additions to Explorers of Sky, unless you are a hardcore fan of Pokémon or mystery dungeon games, it just isn’t enough to justify another purchase before the price drops. If you never played Explorers of Darkness or Time, but were thinking of getting one of them, it may be worth getting Explorers of Sky instead for the extra content. Explorers of Sky feels like a premium version of Explorers of Darkness and Time. It’s just a shame that over a year after the release of Explorers of Darkness and Time we get a retread of the same story with a few bonuses added instead of a completely new game.

ESRB: E for Everyone- If you can play Pokémon, you can play this.

Plays Like: Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Dungeon; Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness; Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time

Pros: Special episodes are enjoyable glimpses into the main NPCs; Music is better than standard Pokémon games

Cons: Same story as previous Mystery Dungeon games; Pokémon are very similar in use and stats; hard for a team of more than two to actually be used

Fossil Fighters

October 30, 2009

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

Fossil Fighters is two-parts-Spectrobes, one-part-Pokemon with group battles, turn-based battles, and a narrower range of creatures.

Wish the review could be done now. So okay, what else? Instead of fighting Pokemon to level up and capturing the ones you want, you only fight other Pokemon trainers. I mean, Fossil Fighters. And instead of capturing Pokemon, you dig up dinosaur bones, like in Spectrobes. Had this also not been done before, it would be one of the more novel aspects of the game—as you go through the barebones story (“Someone stole my stuff! The villain!” “You can beat this guy! I know it! You’re the best around! To be an awesome Fossil Fighter is your destinnnyyyy”), you are permitted to explore other parts of Vivosaur Island to dig for higher level vivosaur (vivosaur = dead dinosaur you reanimate with a machine) fossils to add to your collection. You then take the fossils to a machine where you use a hammer and drill to get through the rock and to the bones without damaging them. The amount of damage will affect the vivosaur’s stats, so it’s important to do it well. This minigame will probably enthrall young kids, but will become a unique, skill-based kind of grind for anyone older, especially since you can only hold 8 fossils in your bag at once.

Fortunately, the game lets you save anywhere so you can simply reload it if you aren’t happy with the results. And your character moves lightning fast, meaning you won’t take a lot of time to travel around the island doing your errands and rushing from quest objective to quest objective. And if you find a bone you don’t need or get a duplicate that ends up with lesser stats than your best dinosaur, it ends up being a donation, and donations earn points that you can use to trade for better goods.

The game has an enjoyable challenge level to it, but is still easy, as would be expected considering its target audience. The battles are the bright spot, as it feels more like a strategy RPG than a regular one. Instead of switching out your dinosaurs in an extended 1v1 battle, you simply have one 3v3 battle with field position being a strategic choice. The front dinosaur can attack any of the dinosaurs save any resting in the back, while being able to be attacked by any dinosaur, while the supporting two play the exact opposite role. Each dinosaur has a small set of moves and has various roles. Each move also costs a certain number of points, meaning that not necessarily every dinosaur will be able to attack, so the using of moves has to be planned carefully. The front dinosaur can rotate to a back spot where it can’t attack or be attacked at all, resting for a couple of rounds. The concepts and selection of vivosaurs are easy enough to understand while still being complex enough to allow some creativity and challenge for younger players.

The world here is not as rich as Pokemon’s or even Spectrobes’. Kids may appreciate Fossil Fighters’ few unique qualities and improvements, but this is no stick of dynamite at the moment. Again, adults will find it too cutesy and easy; the writing is trite, the story is simple, and the whole thing doesn’t have much depth as many other strategy or RPG titles.

Where’s Waldo? The Fantastic Journey

October 26, 2009

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

Where’s Waldo? The Fantastic Journey is a game about the difference between digital and analog. In the book, you have a list of characters, scenes, and objects to look for, all while enjoying the sights and scenery.

This isn’t the place for a deep discussion, but the point is important: Where’s Waldo? in video game form turns looking into Waldo into a pass/fail test with a timer, with access to future content in the game being relegated only to those who pass. The book does not do this; if you are tired of searching for something in one picture, you can simply pick any of the pictures from any of your books that you want. This is the smallest microcosm in existence that one can point to illustrate how poorly or awkwardly video games often attempt translate other mediums.

It’s clear that I’m on the side of the books, since that’s what I grew up with, but it must be admitted that there are some people who have a sort of preference for this thing.

The point is salient because the content of this game is solely based on the pictures in the book. The exact pictures are all here, but with a twist: Waldo is not in the same spot. In fact, he has more than one spot. That number is finite, but at least it’s more than one. When Martin Handford was creating his pictures of crowds, he stuck in Waldo as an afterthought, and Waldo then ended up becoming the public’s main interest. In software, it is surprising how easily and consistently Waldo looks like he naturally belongs where he belongs, even though he was stuck there randomly by the computer.

So far, so good, but the DS imposes limitations from which the game can’t escape. In every case, you must use the stylus to pore over the image. The entire image can’t be done justice in such a tiny screen, so you must scroll. Again, it just doesn’t seem as good as the real thing.

Each picture has three levels, and it’s odd to go back and look for things you’ve already seen the first time through. The “spot the difference” levels are quite challenging and a nice exception; they are actually pretty challenging, changes being extremely small and difficult to detect. The Odlaw levels, on the other hand, are extremely easy or difficult (usually the latter) because of the different color tones each level has. He places 15 animals, all which have yellow and black stripes, throughout the scenes, and they are tiny and don’t fit in as well as Waldo or Wenda do. I once found a monkey in the middle of some rocks and a snake just sticking out of the ground and jutting into the air at an awkward angle.

There is barely an ending to the game, and with the exception of some occasional animation of Handford’s work, there really is nothing here you can’t see elsewhere. It’s clear the game is designed for kids and Waldo-lovers, and if those kids would love the digital version of a Waldo activity book, there is plenty to do, especially with highly different difficulty levels. Otherwise, stick with the books.

ESRB: E for Everyone. Do the Waldo books offend you? It’s straight out of those.

Pros: You can turn the annoying voices off, cool to see animated art from the world of Waldo, easy to replay, doesn’t stick everything in the same spot every time

Cons: Software limitations become obvious quickly, practically no ending, either too easy or too hard

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