(Page 1 of 4)
Developer: Jupiter
Publisher: Square Enix
Release Date: April 22, 2008
System: Nintendo DS
ESRB Rating: T
Official Web site
0:00 Amidst all the
GTA4 launch craziness, the
unexpected praise for this game somehow broke through to my consciousness. I had to at least give it a try.
0:01 A bunch of urban-looking kids stand around an urban-looking environment over a title screen with piano-infused beats. Catchy.
0:02 Since this is a rental copy, I have to delete the old saved game to start anew. The game asks me three times if I'm sure. "Once you DELETE your data, it's gone and
it ain't ever coming back." Fine by me. It's not my data.
0:03 Comic book panels of a hand-drawn city scene fly in from off screen. "Outta my face, you're blocking my view. Shut up. Stop talking. Just go the hell away. All the world needs is me. I've got my values, so you can keep yours, all right? I don't get people, never have, never will." Each line's delivered with real conviction and accompanied with bold text. Good stuff.
0:04 Our loner collapses on a busy Tokyo street. He has a skull amulet thing in his hand. "What the... I can hear voices in my head." The amulet thing is actually a pin, but the guy has no idea where it came from.
0:06 I'm in control. Tapping the pin on the bottom screen scans the crowd so I can read their thoughts. A lot of guys are thinking about girls, it seems. The one girl on the street is thinking about her grandfather. Aww.
0:07 "Voices! Definitely voices! But why?" our loner thinks. Because it's a good plot device? He gets a text message. "Reach 104. You have 60 minutes. Fall and face Erasure -- the Reapers." "It's like junk mail from hell," he thinks. Man, the spam I get is never that interesting.
0:09 A 60-minute countdown clock has burned into our protagonist's hand. Freaky. A big screen on a nearby building flashes "You have 7 days" and then there are frogs attacking him. I have no idea what's going on, but I have a strong interest in finding out.
0:10 My first battle is really just a tutorial on how to avoid frogs, which is useful in real life as well! Dragging the stylus moves Mr. Loner, with quick movements causing a dash across the screen. Easy enough, so far.
0:11 "What the hell is going on!?" At least I'm not the only one confused. My character is just as in the dark. Mr. Loner runs from the crowd in a well-animated cut scene. A random jumble of images and slow pans over characters I don't know plays over credits written in graffiti. I'm loving the J-techno music.
0:13 "Man, here we go again..." says random dude No. 1. "Stop whining, we haven't had work in like forever," says random girl No. 1. They haven't had work in a while, but "Day 1 has the most players" to rack up points. Intriguing. They propose a "player hunt" to make things more interesting. "Loser buys the winner a hot bowl of Ramen." That's it? What a lame wager.
0:15 At the Statue of Hachiko, some demonic runes appear and make a bunch of people disappear. Mr. Loner is again attacked by frogs. Suddenly, a girl comes up and demands that he "forge a pact" with her. Is that what the kids are calling it these days? "If we forge a pact we can beat the Noise." He agrees to her maniacal ramblings and she gives him a fire pin. I love that the game doesn't feel the need to over-explain things early on. Just go with the flow!