This is another game in the series of the Yu-Gi-Oh: World Championship series. I own both 2006 and 2008, having gotten all cards on 2008 and having played a lot of 2006. And again, this game is fun, because I love the Yugioh card game. There’s so much variety, and because every release includes a whole bunch of new cards, it’s worth playing them every year.

This time, it’s not about the Yugioh GX like 08 was, but about Yugioh 5D’s, the new series. The game has a whole lot of new cards, including synchros (which were recently added to the game, it’s an entirely new game mechanic) and they even included something else.

Dueling on a motorbike. That’s right. In Yugioh 5D’s, they duel on motorbikes. It takes a while before you can finally do them (almost the end of the game), but they’re great. They solve one of the big problems in the Yugioh game: Powerful spells that can turn around the entire game. In Turbo duels, both players gain Speed counters every turn, and all spells either require a cost speed counters or simply have a requirement of having a number of them. This means that you can have very powerful spells that are not even overpowered. Remember Raigeki? In Turbo duels, it costs 12 speed counters to use them. That means you have to wait for at least 6 turns without using any other spells.

But actually, this is not what I wanted to make this blog about. Sure, the game is great, but they made some really, really terrible design decisions.

One of the problems is that your starter deck sucks, as usual. The problem this time is that it actually contains some really good cards, but it’s just a mess. There’s no strategy to be found anywhere. So while it’s possible to win with it, it will be hard.

Especially considering your opponents. Random opponents you can find on the streets in the story mode have really, really good decks compared to your starter deck. I don’t mind the challenge as a veteran, but any newcomer will hate it.

Another problem is that they introduced racing. That’s right, racing in a card game. There are times when you have to complete a lap in a certain amount of time, or escape from the cops. The racing is easy, but it’s so easy  to screw up. And if you want to improve your bike? You’ll have to pass up on getting new cards and pay for new parts.

But the worst of all? They included a stealth segment. A stealth segment where the guards have a huge line of sight and a huge radius around them that you can’t enter or you’re caught. And the worst part? It’s timed.

This part alone is so extremely frustrating that it’s unbelievable. You have to avoid guards that you cannot even see. Because their line of sight is as big as your entire screen.

Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's match commentator

The game has some really bad design decisions, but also some good ones. Ever wanted to have a yugioh match where this guy was providing comments? Hell yeah! It’s great!

You see, I wouldn’t consider myself a sadist, and it’s not even that I don’t like replaying games– I love to, especially with a “New Game+” option. I just don’t like the idea that all the strategies and plans and skills I’ve devised and employed could soon become redundant just by replaying the game on harder. This is why FE shocked me so much.

I’m sure if you’ve found this blog you’re aware Nintendo currently is wearing it’s casual gaming hat. Easy games aimed at your mother and your sister are being developed faster than Fanfiction can be written which is much to the chagrin of us more hardcore gamers. I’m sure you’re wondering whether I’ll get to the point by now, so here it is.

Do you see this on the left? This is the menu I was presented with. After choosing hard mode. That’s right kids, FIVE variations of Hard mode. Now, I want the full experience first time, so I chose Merciless (which will here-on out be referred to as h5). Little did I know, Nintendo are actually capable of making a difficult game. I begun playing it like Advance Wars. Moving the archer behind the meatshield etc ready for them to hit the meatshield so I could strike with him and the archer back. This was my first mistake.

This game, is not Advance Wars. This game, on h5 is the mother of all hardcore SRPGs. The first soldier came, and SWAM AROUND my meatshield, and double attacked my archer. He was dead. I was on a IRC network at the time, and I had asked if I just suck or this really is that hard, I was informed that I did not suck, and my archer would be dead. Permanently. After the battle, he was not going to be magically revived. He was dead forever because of a mistake I made. I was also informed that this happens even on NORMAL difficulty.

At first, I was shocked and confused that such a thing could take place. I was angry at myself for not knowing that Gordin had met his fate so soon. I pressed the suspend button and restarted the battle. Clearly, Nintendo knew that if you choose Hard, you’re going to lose. As a result, all cutscenes can be skipped by pressing start making the time from quitting the FIRST battle to restarting it about 5 seconds long. Over a period of 24 battles, I devised strategies, formations, tactics all of which after every loss only made me more formidable. Soon I knew exactly what the AI would do if I moved Shiida into a certain square and lured them into the southern sea. I knew exactly who to rotate onto the fort and when to minimise downtime and maximise healing potential. Just to give you an idea of what I’m talking about, these strategies only cover the first 10 or so moves of the first battle. But I didn’t care. Onward I proceeded losing time and time again until it was me and the boss. Thankfully the Boss is incapable of movement (probably because if he did I could capture the throne and win the map.) and can only attack directly above, below and to the left and right. I set everyone who could hold a ranged weapon to hold one and after about 20 turns of misses and hits and regeneration, I got him to the point where Marth could run in and take the final slash, deciding the battle.

Marth ran in, sword in hand with the hopes of the entire company resting upon his caped shoulders. He swung and nay- it was not to be. The pirate leader evaded the attack and proceeded to kill Marth. Ending the mission. Six hours of effort and planning and failure, only to result in more failure. But I could feel the game overtaking me. It was a good pain. Eight battles later I had made it to the boss yet again, with only one loss (I’m sorry Shiida, I miss you and your winged horse but you were not strong enough for my army.) And finally..

Gazzak was slain, by no less than the brave warrior Cain.

The battle was over and I had felt a sense of accomplishment akin to that of finishing an entire game. When I realised that was the OPENING battle of the game. I smiled to myself, saved the game and went to bed.

Get it, and get it now.

N is an indie computer game developed by Metanet Software. It’s 100% free, and for a free game, it packs a hell of a lot of content. The levels are each unique and challenging and what I truley love about this title is that it’s just pure platforming. No storyline, no background story, no cutscenes, no bullshit. Just pure running and jumping.

So you play a ninja, or ninja shaped man-person, and your goal is to get to the exit door. Sounds easy enough right? Well now throw in some switches and buttons and some frustrating enemies, and hey, you have N. The enemies are very well designed, and well suited for each level, and the challenge each enemy offers is unique and often times frustrating. You have: Automated Robots, Lock-on Robots, Lock-on Missiles, Targeting Lasers, Snipers, Steel Thwomps, and Sliding Rocks. All of these can kill you, and you can’t do a damn thing about it except dodge and run. That’s what makes N unique from other platforming games, in most games you have the option to eliminate enemies, in N you must run to survive. Oh yeah, don’t forget the landmines, sit there waiting for you to fall or jump into them.

The levels range from a piece of pie, to a walk through the bowels of hell, and I wish I was kidding, some of the levels are so timed that it may take you 100 or more times to beat that single stage. Despite the complexity of some parts, each level is well designed in the way that it’s completely beatable, and it’s open to be beaten as you like. You wanna be that risky mofo that runs toward danger? That’s fine, you’ll still find a way to beat the level. You wanna be the cautious kid that takes it slow and logically? That’s fine too, you’ll probably do better than the risky mofo.

Top off all this platforming with some user-based content, and you’ve got yourself an A+ game. That’s right, you can access other people’s levels and play extra levels just for sheer fun. There is a huge range of levels to play, and level types range from ridiculously difficult, to do nothing to win, to even art created with blocks.

If you want to take N a bit farther, or you want more platforming goodness, there is also N+, available for the PSP, DS, and the XBL marketplace. With N+ you get portability to platform in the game, while you platform in real life, and more original content. Though N+ is not free, the game completely deserves it’s price. Either way, if you enjoy platforming, N or N+ should definitely be one of the titles you check out.

That’s essentially the rallying cry of the watchdog group Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, or CCFC. The name may ring a bell to those who follow the gaming news; those who don’t, well, really didn’t miss much. 

Once again the CCFC’s antics don’t fail to deliver on the entertainment value, and this time the object of their (pointless) ire is Lego Batman: The Videogame. Why, you ask? I don’t know either. 

Let’s try to rationalize the two basic components of Lego Batman: The Videogame:

• Lego = good, educational, mindless fun.
• Batman = awesome story revolving around the concept of justice and about how crime doesn’t pay. 

I certainly don’t see any problem with it; it looks like a winning formula when looked at from any angle. But of course, CCFC being a watchdog group that dedicates itself to the unneeded, unwanted, and unnecessary cause of taking commercialism away from childhood, they condemned Lego Batman as a virtual spawn of commercial Satan, including it in their list of Toys Oppressive and Destructive to Young Children. Check out their write-up:

How do you turn the ultimate creative toy into a symbol of commercialized childhood?  Begin by partnering with media companies to sell that toy in branded kits designed for recreating movies like Star Wars, rather than creative construction.  Then, dispense with hands-on building altogether by turning your toy into a video game so that instead of deciding what to build next, children choose which cyber weapons to use to beat up their opponent.  Finally, ignore the fact it was rated suitable for ages 10 & up and partner with McDonald’s for a Happy Meal toy giveaway to simultaneously promote the video game, junk food, and the violent Dark Knight movie series to preschoolers.

See, the root of the problem (and sadly, the existence) of CCFC lies with the misguided reasoning that commercialism is bad, bad, bad for children. Blame the people of older generations who wistfully say things beginning with “You know, in the old days we [insert nice but horribly outdated activity here].” This is not to say that old games rife with physical activities are passe; this is to say that things change as time passes. What’s interesting to kids now is decidedly different compared to what was awesome during the collective childhoods of the people who comprise the CCFC.

Let’s be open-minded here. Commercialism has become and now always will be a part of every childhood. There will always be the fictional heroes that children want to idolize, there will always be merchandise related to those “heroes” that children would want to have, to let them bring a piece of their beloved idol along wherever they go. Like the Lego Batman toys and their virtual counterpart, the videogame. 

We shouldn’t also forget about the people whose lives are sustained by this aspect of childhood, and included among them are those who work in the videogame industry, who are now sadly experiencing the brunt of the current economic crisis. But the CCFC doesn’t care, right? All they care about is thinking for the children, yes?

Which brings us to my next point: why bother thinking for the children when there’s a great, awesome invention already available for this very function? Yes, I am talking about the Parental Units, also known as Mum and Dad.

These self-professed watchdogs are the very reason why people nowadays don’t exercise their ability to think for themselves or to be accountable by their actions. At the risk of saying something that has been said ad nauseum, parents are responsible in looking out for their children. Watchdogs dedicating themselves to the noble cause of saving children are, in essence, good, but at the end of the day, the parents are the ones ultimately responsible for molding their children’s thinking, especially when some of the watchdogs in question are spouting inane statements such as:

Finally, ignore the fact it was rated suitable for ages 10 & up and partner with McDonald’s for a Happy Meal toy giveaway to simultaneously promote the video game, junk food, and the violent Dark Knight movie series to preschoolers.

Last time I heard, ESRB and ratings exist. Again, another horrible example of them assuming that parents don’t and can’t provide the much-needed guidance to their kids.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who watches the watchmen?

Now you’re probably wondering; just now? Yes, just now. I’ve only started to appreciate the home-brew world of the DS and not just the smattering of games one might acquire. Here’s my question; for an OS that’s composed completely of text, maybe you might want to leave it for a system that actually has a keyboard?

The reason I make note of this is that one of the first commands I had to put in was one to upgrade the font, which to my surprise was very very small. Now this is understandable, and they have a fix for it on the LinuxDS Website; http://dslinux.org, and this command is accompanied by a download – (consolechars -f /usr/share/consolefonts/alt-8×8.psf)

That’s a huge pain in the ass to type out with a stylus and virtual keyboard. Not to mention with no local-text box to edit, if you realize you left out the – on the -f, type the whole thing again, or hit backspace 20-30 times to get to the spot you messed up.

So after 20 minutes of yelling and screaming at the virtual keyboard, I realized it must be my fault. I’m attempting to type too fast and being sloppy, and nipped that in the bud. Afterward things became a bit smoother. Sure, commands went in slower, but they were accurate. This then lead me to the filing system.

Now to understand, I’m a networking major, in a Bachelor’s program to finish a degree in Computer Networking; I’m proficient in Linux/Unix. This however is just ham-fisted.

Half the commands aren’t installed…yet? There is no clear, ‘ls’ just seemed to mock me and produce a blank line. I was not thrilled.

So, I went back to their website and checked up on what I was doing wrong, maybe they had their own variations of the command lines. Turns out this is not meant to be a stand alone Linux, but a wanna-be PSP adapter. Most of the functions of LinuxDS lean towards linking up to your computer (which should coincidentally have Linux as well.)

Tasks such as playing music straight from your computer, through your DS (excuse me LinuxDS,) via a wireless link and the Enlightened Sound Daemon, networking to share files and concepts with other LinuxDS users. That’s right: Networking capabilities, screw friend codes. E-mail as well with their ‘nail’ client. VPN connectivity, SSH, Telnet, Samba, FTP, the list goes on.

This is truly an amazing world we’ve come into on the DS; except one problem.

I don’t have Linux on my computer.

How bout a stand alone linuxDS, one that isn’t so attached at the hip like a suckling toddler to your computer?

With no other OS’s on the DS, you think maybe this would be the time for Linux to ‘convert’ some of us and give us a product that actually does something besides pat prior Linux users on the back.

-The Reverend Lei

It’s no surprise that Nintendo has won this gaming generation in terms of sales. Yes, we know about the shovelware and yes, we know that the Wii and the DS do have gimmicks, but even the most hardcore fanboy can’t deny the fact that Nintendo is literally making a killing, even with the recent economic crunch. Sony’s laying off people, Microsoft is planning to lay off people, Nintendo is in fact hiring more people to cart the ridiculous scads of money they’ve been making from the bank to their secret underground vaults, where they also store the world’s only supply of Nintendium. They’ve dominated each and every NPD chart since the history of forever, and it looks like they’re not stopping.

Take this latest NPD Group update, which tackles the sales of all videogame consoles last December (i.e. December of 2008). Here’s the actual list, first:

* Nintendo DS – 3,040,000
* Wii – 2,150,000
* Xbox 360 – 1,440,000
* PSP – 1,020,000
* PlayStation 3 – 726,000
* PlayStation 2 – 410,000

Oh, look, Nintendo’s at the top. No surprise there. What’s surprising is that for the entire month of December, Nintendo has sold over 5 million consoles. That’s both the Wii and the DS hardware sales combined. According to NPD, that makes a new record high – breaking the PlayStation 2’s record of 2.7 million sales for a month alone. And that’s just for the US. Nintendo is making so much money, it should be a crime.

Of course, now with all your money, Nintendo, isn’t it time to do something about your software? Come on. We’re literally eating right out of your hand. Take some risks! Be creative with your IPs! Super Mario Galaxy was great, Twilight Princess was pretty cool, but it’s always been more or the same. Ask Rockstar to help direct the next Zelda. Have Suda 51 develop the next Mario game, anything. Break the mold. PLEASE.

There is some wonderful nitty gritty to this adaptation of the Fire Emblem saga though; your characters can change classes. Yeah that’s right; the useless cavalier that you have 15 of? Pow, turn him into a backup healer. Now you can’t have more of a class than the game would normally have given you, plus one, so obviously you can’t turn all your footmen into cavaliers and have an entire horseback army, but you can come mighty close. Obviously heroes are an exception to this rule as well.

Your story is cliche and typical for a Fire Emblem. There is a bad guy, in this case a giant Dragon, who was stopped by one of your ancestors and of course has resurfaced with the intent to take over the world once again. As the last remaining descendant of said slayer of dragon, you must take up arms and kick some tuckus. Also your family has been murdered and you must rally the nations and old allies to your side.

Right, you’ve got all your other elements of a Fire Emblem in there as well; there are some sacred relic weapons you’ll need to find, some incredible mages whom have been hiding/lost for years. Also lets not forget that thing where pretty much every map has a character that you can convince to join your little rag-tag army whom is headed up by Marth (that’s right the guy from Brawl whom nobody knew where the hell he was from.)

Now I’m not saying this is old-hat by any means, it’s what we play Fire Emblem for. I’m just letting you know that if you’re expecting a lot of change you wont find it here. The game-play is still solid, the tactics are rough in spots and if you play like a perfectionist like me – not letting anyone die, ever – it does get very hard. Though they do give you plenty of extra characters, plenty, to compensate for any deaths you might have.

Now this information and my experience with it is based on the UK’s version, we won’t have it here state side till next month, the 16th of February. So make sure to go order yours now if you like the tactical RPG’s, there’s something satisfying about being able to take the strategy with you.

-The Reverend Lei

Let’s get down to content then shall we? Let’s start with what each can do briefly
(Not Included = Purchased Function)

So when someone looks at this they think “gee they seem similar”, well they are and they aren’t. The Nintendo DS is similar to the Wii in terms of games; there are good games there, most of which by Nintendo, but you have a library of kiddy shit. The Nintendo DS does feature some amazing titles such as Professor Layton, Phoenix Wright, Elite Beat Agents, etc, but much like the Wii you’ll find that the games are cartoon-y and sometimes childish, not that it’s a bad thing.

The Sony PSP is a pirate ship. I kid you not, the PSP modding community has grown so widely and done so much that the PSP is now a pirate’s best friend, next to a PC of course. The fact is, while the PSP may have a smaller library of good games, and features some games that are PS2 ports; you can easily obtain games from other consoles to play.

The bottom line is: the PSP is a handheld made more for functionality; the Nintendo DS is a handheld made more for games. So if you’re looking for more a less expensive media center in your pocket, go for a PSP, if you’re looking more for portable gaming, go for a DS.

As a bonus, here’s a list of recommended games for each handheld.

DS Recommended Games

PSP Recommended Games

]]> http://giantenemyblog.com/handhelds-ds-and-psp/feed/ 0 http://giantenemyblog.com/first-impressions-ragnarok-online-ds/ http://giantenemyblog.com/first-impressions-ragnarok-online-ds/#comments Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:06:11 +0000 Selrotta http://gamerblag.com/?p=2006

Finally managed to get my hands on Ragnarok Online DS, the miniature version of Gravity’s surprisingly resilient MMO. Despite my enthusiasm towards the concept of finally getting an RO experience (more or less) in the pocket, an hour or so of playtesting the game left me feeling a bit… “meh”. Not too awesome, but not too crappy.

(Author’s Note: Considering that I played the game’s Japanese release and I didn’t want to force myself to “read” moonspeak by squinting at the text for long periods of time in the hopes of understanding it, I may have missed some options that would have improved my gaming experience.)

Graphics: At first glance, the whole game looks like it’s been ripped out from the original PC version of Ragnarok Online. Now, this is good: imagine being able to walk through the familiar Pronteran fields with the same trees, the same pathways and waters, and the same plop-plopping Porings, all in the compact handheld console that is your DS. Fields and dungeons are broken down into small parts so the player can go through the environments piecemeal with minimal lagging between areas and/or slowdown.

Judging from the first dungeon I played through (DS exclusive; I’m not sure if I came across an underground dungeon solely populated with Porings and the Culvert theme playing in the background), expect some areas to be sparsely decorated. No pillars, no trees, no rocks; just you, the floor, and the poor Poring. Now, if you’re a nitpicker you’d certainly go anal-retentive at the sore lack of background elements.

But what really gets to me is how the sprites look crappy when you zoom out your view. Surprisingly, the GungHo Works managed to make the zoom in/out function available in the DS incarnation, but it pretty much gives a mediocre result. The 3D background and textures still looks more or less the same, whether zoomed in or out, but the sprites become horribly pixellated when you crank up the zoom out view. And when I say pixellated, I say disfigured beyond recognition.

All things considered, liking Ragnarok Online DS’ graphics its just a matter of nostalgia versus quality.

Interface/Controls: GungHo Works, the new division of Japanese MMO published GungHo Entertainment, certainly made an effort to mimic the user interface of the game, at least to a certain level. They implemented the shortcut bar (or however you call it), where players can opt to hotkey skills and/or items for use during battles. Like the later version of the shortcut bar, you can configure and swap between three bars with just a nudge of the stylus.

Now, here is where things go a bit wrong: it seems that in order for you to use skills, you have to tap the icon of your chosen skill in the shortcut bar, then immediately perform the needed motion to activate the skill. I see this as redundant – the developers could have opted a more streamlined control scheme akin to The World Ends With You, where players can just perform stylus motions anytime they like without having to push any buttons or tap any icons. I can see myself getting flustered at the game if ever I’ll encounter a higher-level mob, tapping icons and doing random stylus motions, and maybe break the touchscreen in frustration.

That said, the in-game controls of Ragnarok Online DS are mostly stylus-based, and the DS buttons are only used as shortcuts to the following windows:

Y – equip
B – stats
X – items
A – menu
R – notepad

The Notepad function is a cute yet useful addition to the game – I’m not sure if it’s main use is to let players scribble important notes for quests, but I used it as a nifty drawing tablet. Seriously, though, its a convenient touch and most RPGs should make use of a similar function (like Phantom Hourglass and Phantasy Star). Hey, that’s what the touchscreen and stylus is for.

Gameplay: I haven’t gotten that far into the game to give pertinent impressions about its gameplay, but suffice it to say that it has a decent combat system similar to Soma Bringer. You control your newbie character, while your party member (you get a Shaman at the first part of the game) is controlled by AI.

Since I couldn’t make heads or tails of the moonspeak menu, I’m also not so sure if you can assign certain actions or behavior patterns on your teammates. It would be nice if you can order your partner, who has less that 1/4 HP, to defend himself or to concentrate on healing the party. That would really be a big plus towards the game.

Like the original Ragnarok Online, you can assign stat points to attributes such as Str, Int, Vit, etc. Sadly the stat attributes are labelled in kanji, so I couldn’t tell which is which :/ I don’t think I’ll be able to play the game if my stats are stunted, so I think I’ll just have to keep an eye out for FAQs for reference before I play again from scratch.

Sounds: Not surprisingly, Ragnarok Online DS makes use of the same soundtrack found in the original PC version. However, the background music is midi-fied, meaning that instead of the awesome SoundTEMP-produced orchestra and guitars you’ll hear mostly techno bleeps and bops trying hard to emulate the original music, but they do a great job anyway. Except to hear the usual plop-plopping of Porings, and other sound clips that can’t be mistaken for anything else but Ragnarok Online.

Miscallaneous but still important: Here’s what really disappointed me about the game: I was duped by one of the game’s cutscenes into thinking that I could walk around Prontera, showing clips and scenes of familiar Pronteran streets and landmarks, such as the fountain. After the cutscene, however, it turns out that I couldn’t traverse the Pronteran alleyways (and maybe find a scamming vendor or two). To go to shops, inns, or go out of the city, all I have to do is talk to Ms. Pavianne, who would warp me to my chosen location.

What also ticked me off are the extremely long cutscenes. Sure, they’re needed to build the game’s story and all, but having to go through five full minutes of watching the characters talk, bump, or hit each other is nothing but tedious. Even more so when I’m allowed to do a short piece of actual game time after a lengthy cutscene, only to launch into another borefest again. I’m starting to think that Ragnarok Online DS is actually a parody of Metal Gear Solid 4, only without the Kojima touch. At least you can opt to skip cutscenes in his game.

Overall Impression: As I said before, it’s not great, but not bad either. Yes, it looks like I’m weaseling out in this review, but let me reiterate that I’m playing a Japanese version of the game; there’s a chance that I’ll actually like Ragnarok Online if I can actually understand the menu, etc.

Pros: Good job in retaining the look, feel, and sound of the original game; character customization is enabled to some extent (naming, equipment, stat assignment…not so sure about being able to play as other classes, though. All the screenshots I’ve seen is the main character wearing a knight sprite); small things such as the inclusion of zoom in/out function as well as the notepad.

Cons: Crappy sprites on zoom-out, redundant battle controls, extremely long cutscenes, not being able to explore cities like the original Ragnarok Online.

Release Date: February 28, 2008 (Japan), No US release scheduled.
Genre: Action RPG

(Names of sections stolen shamelessly from Gametrailers)

A game that has not yet graced the shores of the United States has recently graced my Nintendo DS which, before now, lay dormant on my shelf collecting a thin layer of dust.

It has only been a month or so since I was introduced to the world of ROM Hacking and ever since I sought to play this game. The folks over at GBA Temp are host to many fan-based translation efforts for both the GBA and DS platforms. Through the magic of various kinds of hex editors and a massive number of hours, fans of games help those not literate in Japanese or other foreign languages to enjoy the games in their native language.

The catch is you need to have a ROM of the game – and by the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright Act of 1976, if you own a physical copy of the game you are entitled to own a single digital copy for archiving purposes. With the help of E-Bay I put my hands on a copy of this game and proceeded to download and patch the ROM.

You’ll need a flash card of whichever type you prefer to play the game, but putting that all aside I finally was able to enjoy the game I had heard about only through GBA Temp.

Story

Soma Bringer is, for all intents and purposes, impossible to place within a timeline relative to our own calendars. It takes place on a planet which is governed by magical energy called “Soma”. All technology is based on Soma energy and it is interwoven into the lives of all the inhabitants of the world. The story concerns itself with the 7th division of the military organization known as Pharzuph who have been called upon to deal with the arrival of beings known only as “Visitors”. On their first mission, the 7th division comes across a girl trapped inside a cocoon in the forest whose memory has been seemingly wiped clean. The girl, Idea, joins up with the 7th division on their investigation of the Visitors and the plot they uncover threatens to affect the entire world.

Every aspect of the story has been done before and there isn’t anything really groundbreaking here. The members of the 7th division have unique characters and it’s more than enough to entertain during cutscenes. You are introduced to the entire cast of characters from the get-go and though at first it may be hard to differentiate, before much time has gone by you come to make sense of everything.

Typical RPG story cliches follow leading up to a conclusion that completes the story without leaving you saying “..finally”. Overall I would say that some of the supporting characters lacked much arc throughout the story which detracted a bit, but I came to be at least emotionally involved enough to garner a satisfying feeling.

8/10

Design/Gameplay

Soma Bringer pulls the same kind of scheme that Ragnarok Online pulls but in reverse — similar to the PS1 era Final Fantasies. Characters, items, and enemies are 3D models while environments are 2D backgrounds. The two blend together quite well, as even the best 2D character sprites cant quite convey the same character detail. Environments range quite a bit throughout the games chapters and you never feel like you are in one place for too long.

Character development is big in this game and it really helps to keep the variety going throughout. There are 6 playable classes which represent the classic RPG archetypes, each with a multi-tiered skill point system. Each time you level up you get points to increase your base stats as well as skills. The great thing is that you aren’t bound to whatever spec that you choose. At any time you can remove and reassign points into different skills if you want to try out a different play style or if you find a new type of weapon for which you are not specialized.

Joining your character are two other members of the 7th division of Pharzuph whom you are able to select or change whenever you are in a main town. Aside from being able to select which team members you have you are able to select from a list of different skill specializations and AI behavior for each member. The party AI is pretty rudimentary, though severe errors are infrequent. I can only recall one instance in which my party member designated for healing decided it would be a better idea to melee than stand back and be supportive. You cannot change the equipment of your party members, instead their equipment is dictated by their skill presets.

There are a vast number of items and equipment in the game each with a slew of different possible enhancements. Loot is present in massive amounts stemming from creatures and randomly place chests. which brings back memories of Diablo 2, though there isn’t the same tedious inventory micromanagement. You are entitled to so many inventory slots on your character’s person and a handy storage system which can be accessed in main towns. You are able to send items to the storage from the field whenever you wish as to keep your bags a little lighter. Similarly to just about every MMORPG after World of Warcraft, items come in a variety of rarities ranging from common to legendary. Interestingly enough Unique items are not as good as Legendary items, though they have much cooler names.

My qualms with the items lie in the fact that there is simply TOO MUCH loot. There is so much loot in this game that after selling off all the excess I was left with such a hysterically large amount of gold that I wondered how my character managed to carry it all at once. There really isn’t a huge use for gold either. The equipment you find on the field is always better than what you can purchase from vendors, and the only time I found myself spending anything near a large amount of gold was when I was ditching my old potions for newer, better ones.

An interesting fact about this game is that it does not use the touchscreen at all. Instead it opts to use the lower screen for extra information display. The screen is utilized surprisingly well by the intuitive menu system that the game employs. On the main screen is all the relevant information about your character, and with a press of the shoulder buttons, you alternate between bag and battle mode. In bag mode you are able to bind four items to the face buttons of the DS and under battle mode you are able to bind four skills to the face buttons. There are 2 different sets of battle mode hotkeys which can be alternated between with a second press of the right shoulder button. The menu system works extremely well in every situation and is very easy to become accustomed to.

The battle system takes place entirely in real-time very similar to how a game such as Diablo or Dungeon Siege would operate. Enemies are placed singly or in small clusters throughout each map and after they are killed they do not respawn unless you quit and reload your game. You will face a very large number of enemies throughout the game whose types vary based on each location. Enemies each have skills and weaknesses which can be discovered through fighting them. Sprinkled into the mix of normal enemies are stronger variations of common enemies which offer better experience and always leave behind a chest as well as boss enemies with unique names and the best loot the game has to offer.

Story related bosses are quite frequent throughout the game though their difficulty doesn’t always reflect your position in the story. There were several occasions where I encountered a random boss in a dungeon that was several times more challenging than the story boss located at the end of the same dungeon. Small irregularities in the design like this are easy to look over however when you consider the obvious care put into designing the rest.

The penalty for death really isn’t all that great. When you die you are sent back to the most recent main town and must return to a headstone that was placed at your death site to recover some of the lost experience. This might sound daunting, however frequent warp gates that function as checkpoints ensure that you are never more than a couple screens away from where you died. In addition, enemies do not respawn making the runs back quite painless and they even seem to maintain the HP levels that they were at when you died making even the toughest of boss much less challenging.

There are a small number of side-quests which can be picked up in the main towns and they rarely take you too far away from where you’re supposed to be during a chapter. Overall interaction with NPCs is quite limited, there really isn’t much exploration involved in the main town areas, and the journal in your inventory always tells you exactly where you should be going and what you should be doing.

On top of the single player aspect there is a cooperative mode that is available over the DS’s wireless capabilities. I cannot speak for the functionality of these aspects as I could not find anyone to play the game with.

It is extremely obvious the level of care and time that went into designing this game. It is easy to pick up and put down without having to re-familiarize yourself with the game’s controls or nuances, it is highly customizable and beckons multiple playthroughs due to its interesting classes, and the length of the game is quite surprising for a handheld title. I sunk at least thirty hours into it before I finished the story, although I did take on the additional short side-dungeon as well.

9/10

Presentation

In terms of technical prowess the game doesn’t push the envelope of the Nintendo DS. That being said the games graphics are impressive. The models of characters, enemies, and especially items are wonderfully detailed. There are no generic weapon models in this game, each type looks different and genuinely awesome.

Spell effects are impressive, some featuring 3D models, others being sprite based. They are colorful and varied, though it isn’t terribly easy to distinguish certain spells from one another.

Animations are a little blocky in a PS1 feeling sort of way, though there aren’t any kind of game-breaking clipping problems or unrealistic movements.

The art style of the game incorporates high fantasy with a few steampunk-era notes in a few of the cities. The styles mesh together nicely in the wonderfully detailed and varied environments throughout the course of the game.

Overall the game does not push new ground, but manages to still impress at times despite the DS’s limited hardware capabilities.

8/10

Conclusions

I have to say that while I enjoyed my time playing Soma Bringer immensely, the hack and slash aspect got old for me around chapter 5 (of 6). There were simply too many enemies for me at that point and the dungeons became only increasingly larger as the game progressed. I had to put the game away for about a week before I came back to it to finish it off and the time away definitely helped ease some of the tedium.

Overall the game is a solid hack and slash RPG that, while it doesn’t do much to separate itself from the crowd in terms of story or technicality, is a fantastically designed and executed game that would appeal to anyone who is a fan of the genre. If you’re a hardcore turn-based RPG fan I’d still greatly suggest giving Soma Bringer a try, it may even swing you around to discover a great, albeit more casual, genre.

Story : 8/10
Design/Gameplay: 9/10
Presentation: 8/10

9/10 [Not an Average]