Developer/Publisher: h.a.n.d./Square Enix
Genre: Action-RPG
Price: $35.00
Acquired: Provided by the publisher
Verdict:
Pros: Mysterious storyline, deep RPG and inventory system, character relationships
Cons: Repetitive gameplay, camera either under or over controlled
Why is this game still in my DS? What makes it compelling enough for me to keep wanting to play it? It’s not the DS graphical quality, by which I mean jaggedy and low-res. It’s not the characters that look like their robes have been painted on the same long cloth sack, like a Square Enix version of one of those skeleton t-shirts that used to be all the rage. It’s definitely not the repetitive fetch and button-mashing missions, or the incredibly old-school camera system. And it’s certainly not the emptiness of the different worlds Roxas travels to in his never ending set of missions.
What makes this game compelling to me is what is happening between the missions, in pre-rendered cut-scenes and tutorials. It’s the tantalizing glimpses of Disney worlds, characters, and storyline that hover just out of reach. I finish each set of missions with a grim satisfaction, not that I’ve done a good job or gotten yet another potion or slot to fill in my inventory backpack, but that I know that I *might* be rewarded with another cutscene that tells me about the intrigue in the Castle That Does Not Exist, or another half-glimpsed, staticy transmission filled with Goofy, Mickey, Donald and perhaps Roxas as a younger child. It’s compelling storytelling, perhaps made all the more interesting by the emptiness of the other parts of the game. I find myself wanting to play it more just for these little tidbits.
And when I say empty, I mean “the lack of other characters in the Disney worlds.” The conceit of the game, from my limited exposure to earlier entries in the series, is that you are one of the Heartless Nobody (without a heart, apparently – go figure), fighting corruption and monsters (these are called Heartless, for some reason) who have invaded many worlds, all drawn from the Disney oeuvre. There’s Agrabah, Toon Town, and many other Disney worlds. Each one has its own special map and challenges and enemies, yet they’re surprisingly devoid of actual Disney characters. Each town, perhaps due to technical constraints, is strangely unpopulated. There are no extras, no background characters, nor even milling, thronging masses of folks that make Disney movies so extra rich and entertaining. The first Disney characters we meet are Aladdin and Jasmine, in Agrabah. Roxas and his travelling companion, Alex, keep to the edges of the town to avoid being seen. This makes sense to the narrative, as the inhabitants of these worlds do not realize that they are all connected, or that the soldier Heartless move among them. I hoped for some voice acting, some Aladdin & Jasmine cutscenes with interesting story info, but all I got was the typical RPG-style text dialog with still graphics of the characters speaking. It’s still fun and interesting, but not what I had hoped for; perhaps my expectations are getting in the way.
This isn’t a pretty game by any means. The gameplay graphics are pixellated and blocky, but the animations are sound. Square knows how to make the best out of the Nintendo DS hardware, and it shows in the responsiveness of the gameplay animations. The controls are solid, the buttons work quickly and as advertised, and the touch controls are basically there as a secondary way to access the menus. I found myself only hauling the stylus out when loading my backpack for specific missions, as the d-pad and buttons just felt a little too old school.
The camera, however, is a beast. This is unfortunate, as much of the functionality of any platformer is being able to see where you are, where you want to go, and how to get there. The camera controls with the right shoulder button, snapping the viewpoint to front and center, facing the way Roxas faces. The other mode is a free-look mode, accessed by hitting the Select button. you can then use the d-pad to look around your immediate environment to find those out of the way goals and treasure locations. Which is fine and OK, and I found myself using that much of the time because of the horrible, awful touch screen camera control.
Supposedly, tapping the touchscreen to the left or right should rotate the camera around. It does so, but with amazing speed and craziness. Maximum chaos ensues, and there is NO way to do this while moving, unless you have four hands. And that’s not something I have. You would think that in this day and age, they’d figure out how to do a good 3D platform game with good camera controls. There is a chase camera that moves around as you run around but it’s nowhere near as helpful as a simple “rotate the camera as you run” system would be. Don’t get me started on the missions in which you need to keep Roxas’ target in sight while avoiding the target’s own field of vision. This becomes a comedy of tragic proportions as moving away from the target to avoid their field of vision focuses Roxas’ viewpoint totally away from the target. In other words, there is no way to get through the level without playing it through several times and memorizing how the target moves and making sure Roxas is SPOT ON in his pursuit. It’s a strategy worthy of Demon’s Souls, but is not welcome in a DS game built around Disney characters.
So, what do we have here? An intriguing storyline, interesting character relationships, a wistful moody score and a corny yet definite melancholy that only Square-Enix can pull off. Simple platforming with button mashing beat-em-up mission and fetch gameplay mechanics made all the more difficult by wonky camera controls. Were I a rating man, I’d give this a solid 6 out of 10, but since I’m not, I’m going to say rent it, try it, and see if the story is compelling enough to keep grinding through mission after mission.
Popularity: unranked [?]
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