Developer: Sting

Publisher: Atlus

Release Date: June 2, 2009

System: Nintendo DS

ESRB Rating: T

Official Web site

0:00 In my experience, knights don't usually show up in the nightmares, but in good dreams. Buff, sparkling knights, with broad shoulders and rippling pecs, rescuing me from ... well ... perhaps I've said too much.

0:01 A story scrolls by WAY too fast for me to read it. All I caught was something about the "Island of St. Celestina." Anyway, we're off watching a woman in white hover down a lavish hallway, battling enemies as she goes. "I must hurry ... before the nightmare engulfs me. Before the wisp of hope is lost. I have to survive! ... To regain what was lost." As she escapes into the night, a crowd of voices calls out that they have to find her. The fast-paced music transitions to gentle piano and strings as the title comes up over a red castle in the distance. Powerful!

0:03 Let's go with "Teachings" before starting the game. "First Steps" is for first time players, and has 10 sub-categories. Good lord!

0:06 Interesting ... moving the stylus around on the touch-screen moves a little white "wisp" on the top screen, which can be used to select characters on an isometric grid. Hold it there to charge up an attack, then point in the direction of an enemy and FIRE! "Ready ... I'll cut you in two! It worked!" says my character with genuine surprise in his voice.

0:08 Hmmm ... enemies shoot bullets that don't hurt my character but DO hurt the stylus-controlled wisp. All the twitchy action of a shoot-'em-up with all the strategy of a tactical RPG. I like it!

0:10 I drag an axe from my item box onto my knight and do a big "Calamity Strike." Great name for a rock band, by the way. "I will corrupt your soul," says my fighter as he unleashes the strike. Hey, that could be the band's first single!

0:11 To beat the stage, I have to use defeated enemies to line up lights in a grid. So it's a puzzle game too? Jeez, pick a genre, game!

0:12 Enemies release gems that you grab out of the air by moving the wisp around with your stylus! I haven't had this much fun since Crystal Quest on my Macintosh Jr.

0:14 I have to change the entire environment between "Law" and "Chaos" modes to keep away fog that limits my ability to collect crystals. OK, this is beginning to get complex.

0:16 Changing the environs also changes the shape of my warrior's attack, from a sideways line to a three-way split shot. OK, now it's getting REALLY complex...

0:18 Apparently most weapons only work in Law or Chaos, not both. The interface doesn't make it exceptionally clear which are which, unfortunately.

0:20 I can charge up attacks and hold them in a "ready state" to unleash later. Nice touch, especially if I plan to be way too busy dodging enemies later.

0:24 Hitting objects releases items which can be used to recruit new knights. The game describes this process extremely pedantically in four minutes.

0:25 That's it for "First Steps." There's a tutorial and a "Tips" section too but at this point I just want to get in there!

0:26 The difficulty selection screen suggests that I "select a fitting challenge." Uh ... yeah ... what else would I do? I go with Normal, "the basic difficulty setting for brave warriors." That's me!

0:27 A text story goes on about a conflicted age, law and chaos, a time of strife, a great king that couldn't see coming change, blah blah blah. "Scene #01: The Awakening of the Chosen." In the front garden of the castle. "Anything on that side?" asks One-Eyed Knight. "I didn't find anything," replies Timid Priestess. These are the actual names given by the game, adjectives and all. Is everyone in the game gonna be named like this?

0:28 Cut to Armored Maiden in an Abandoned Church. She sets a glowing orb atop a pedestal and waits. Someone's coming! "I need to stall for time before he awakes ... this may assist him in the battle a bit. ... How will you fare, scion of the arbitrator." Who of the what now?

0:30 Quote of the moment, from a slimy monster: "Sqlorb..."

0:31 "Leave this place, discover where you are ... your urge to fight is rising. BATTLE START!" But first, I get to "set tactics." I've got a whole boatload of items ... Beast Fangs, Bloody Rapiers, Frozen Axes and something called "Darkish." It's not fully dark ... just dark-ish ... I guess. I pick out a quartet of the most powerful ones available, and we're off.

0:35 Well that was ... interesting. There's so much happening on both screens that it's a bit hard to keep up. Apparently most of the weapons I chose aren't actually usable. NOW they tell me. So I end up using regular attacks, which do next to nothing. I do collect a bunch of crystals, raising my MP, but to what end, I have no idea. I dodge most of the enemy attacks. When time's up, I get a stat update. I did 32 damage in 40.48 seconds and got 41 experience points. A grade of "B-" for my "drive tech." So is it over? Did I lose?

0:39 Ah, no, I use a roulette wheel to choose new monsters for the next round of battle. But I accidentally start the battle without changing my weapons. Why do they make my basic attack so useless? I can't even kill a basic goo with it, or open the chest that's sitting right there. Also, why can't I move from my spot in the corner? I just sit there, lobbing ineffective attacks as the enemies crisscross the room. Lame. I rank a mere "C+" this time.

0:42 All right ... I change up my weapons this time, making sure everything can be used by a Level 2 character. During the fight, though, only the Frozen Axe seems to actually work. That's OK, it does tons of damage... 3,565 in 23.50 seconds, according to the stats. I killed the two monsters and got TONS of experience. I also opened the chest and got a bunch of items, including ... a letter opener and a knitted scarf. Those don't seem very useful in battle... Also: I ranked "A-" this time. Woohoo!

0:45 When I use the scarf in battle, I get a pointless little cut scene where my warrior mentions that "my mother hand knit this scarf. It's very warm." Um ... that's nice?

0:47 Two more guys killed easily with the Frozen Axe, this time in only 18.43 seconds. I've finally figured out why I can't use the other weapons ... they're not made for Warriors! I've got to say, that wasn't clear at all. Oh well, I finally got a true "A" in battle!

0:50 I kill two more enemies in record time, 7.13 seconds, and I've completed my line and won the day! Dying Monster Quote of the moment: "Blaaaarb..."

0:51 Stats! I did 34 actions in 5 turns, collected 86.38% of the floating stuff and lost 55 seconds to getting hit. Also a little graph of my damage ... I love the way it shoots up when I realize how to use my Frozen Axe. Also: "A knight's soul has awoken." He's Johann! "If someone like me can be of any help..." Oh you can. You CAN!

0:53 Cut scene time: "The Past Revisited: Midnight - one day before the attack on Renieburg." In the abandoned church, all sepia-toned, a young knight is looking for his missing companions, telling them dinner's ready. A medusa-looking monster sneaks up behind him and turns him into a white outline. Well ... now I know how he ended up in that church. I can't say I feel much more connected with him, though.

0:55 Lots of menu options between battles, here. Let's look at "Strengthen Weapon" first. OK, I can strengthen only a few ... including the Frozen Axe I've been using. Seems I can strengthen it as many times as I want. Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4. Wha? It broke? Whaaa?!?!?! Apparently if you upgrade past the durability, you break the weapon. ARGH!

0:56 Weapons can be fused together to increase durability. They can also be broken down for materials. Wow, this micromanaging of inventory is really not my style.

0:58 I use my exp points to pump Johann up to Level 5. Now he's almost as buff as my dream knights. ALMOST!

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes.


Why? While it's taken me the better part of an hour to figure it out, now that I have I like what I'm seeing. It's a bit crazy, but it's my kind of crazy.

This column is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.



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