My submission topic was destroyed along with my impressions, so I might as well post some of them here:
Most gorgeous 3D DS game if I'm not mistaken. I've never seen as much of a focus on detail as here. Environments are just spectacular. Words cannot describe this game. You MUST see it in action:
It looks much better in game. This game will truly make you a believer in the DS' ability to do good 3D. The way they handled the detail was by making a short draw distance though. Environment objects sometimes pop into view from a relative short distance away. It's smooth popup though as objects fade into and out of view with a transparent effect. Many PS1 and Saturn games did this as well, but the graphics here really impress. And I like the over-the-shoulder view employed here. I'm a little tired of the overuse of top-views in many DS RPG's.
The sound fits the mood. It's fun to listen to and works well to drive the game, but it's nothing too special. I like how the title screen teases you with a very short sound byte from the 1939 film. Other than that, I can't really hear any other music from the film.
Gameplay is pretty standard. Walk around, fight enemies, rinse and repeat. The field I explored seems linear. You literally follow the yellow brick road and can't seem to go off the road. A shame, but it might change later in the game. I played through the initial part, walking along the yellow brick road. Along the way, you meet the Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Woodsman. When you meet them, they fight you. I assume they're testing you or something. If you win, they join you. I made it to the Emerald City and the Wizard, which is funny since it's at the beginning, instead of nearer the end like the movie.
Battles take place in the 1st person perspective like Dragon Quest. It's a little disappointing due to the 1st person. I love Dragon Quest, but after seeing the rest of this game, the battles look a bit bland. But the combat system is slightly different:
In battle, you can make a total of 4 moves per turn. And any character can be used for each of those moves. Here's some examples:
Single round:
- Dorothy
- Lion
- Scarecrow
- Tinman
Single round:
- Dorothy
- Dorothy
- Dorothy
- Dorothy
Single round:
- Tinman
- Lion
- Lion
- Scarecrow
So as you can see, in the 4 moves per round, you can allocate a move to any character. You can even set a single character to use all 4 moves in the turn. There is a certain strategic part to this too though. Whichever characters you set to perform during the round will also be the ones to take damage from the enemies. If you chose to use the Lion 4 times at once, he'll be the sole target of attack. So it's not a good idea to only use one character unless you want your character to get ass-raped and pwned by the enemies!
The good news is that I'm fairly certain that if you don't use a character in a turn, they seem safe from attack. But even if you don't use a character in battle, they all seem to get experience.
In another thing, I'm a bit confused. Is it just me, or are some characters unable to perform 4 times in a row. I had Tinman, but I think I was only able to attack twice at once with him... I'm not sure. I need to play the game some more to get it.
One thing I didn't like were the controls. You control Dorothy using the stylus. That would work pretty well, but they decided to add a spinning track-ball style device. To move, you must constantly spin the ball using the stylus. This is tiring and a bit annoying. You spin faster to run faster. Turning is a bit of a chore sometimes, if you don't want to lose speed. Menus work well though. You cannot use the buttons or Dpad. I wouldn't mind seeing a button AR code hack like Zelda PH. It is possible to get used to the controls though, and there's nothing in the game that requires lightning-fast reflexes.
This game is fully in Japanese, so if you don't understand the language, you won't be able to understand some of the plot elements. The GOOD news though is that if you've watched the movie or read the story, you'll probably understand the main story of how Dorothy got to Oz, and who the characters are! There seems to be a new plot however, where you travel to the north, south, east, and west. It's something to do with the witches. I'm unsure whether they're evil or not. And Dorothy doesn't land a house on anyone (bummer, that was badass) and I'm not sure about any ruby slippers (or other colors since I realize they were not ruby in the books).
This seems like a fun game. I'll hold off on a final true judgement until I play more. But I'll give it a temporary score:
Graphics: 9/10 (docked one point due to the battles being a bit bland compared to the rest of the game)
Sound: 8/10 (nothing special, but good)
Control: 6/10 (takes some time to get used to it)
Gameplay: 8/10 (need to play more to get a good idea, this might change)
I'd suggest trying this game out. It's certainly one of the prettiest DS games. It's also a very interesting concept to take the Wizard of Oz and turn it into a game.
