Ranger Revenge!
| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| Nintendo DS | 7.50 |
| Overall | 7.50 |
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Since the launch of the Nintendo DS, the Pokemon franchise has seen some interesting iterations. Aside from the excellent Diamond/Pearl – each of the side games have also been really interesting, ranging from the interesting, such as Pokemon Trozei; to the best left forgotten, such as Pokemon Dash. Pokemon Ranger was one of the more interesting titles that combined the RPG elements of a main series Pokemon game with an unique capturing mechanic. With the release of the sequel, Shadows of Almia, the series continues its trend of being interesting, yet familiar at the same time. For those uninitiated with the series – here’s a brief primer. Developed in 2006 by HAL Laboratory (the developer behind the Kirby series, the Super Smash Bros series and much more), the game plays very similarly to a main series entry. Instead of catching Pokemon to aid you to become the best trainer, you catch Pokemon to help you solve puzzles and complete missions. The original game also employed a unique catching mechanic in which instead of battling Pokemon to catch them, you used an item known as the Capture Styler – which enabled you to draw circles around the Pokemon. After drawing enough circles, they get captured. It sounds stupid, but is surprisingly compelling. Captured Pokemon could also assist in catching other Pokemon by slowing them down, increasing the capture line or its strength and more. You start off Shadows of Almia in Pokemon Ranger school – learning the basics of becoming a Pokemon Ranger and making friends with other potential Rangers. From there, you graduate to becoming a full Pokemon Ranger, which is where the real game takes place. There’s actually a story in this game, compared to most of the other Pokemon games, but it’s mostly forgettable and stupid. Thankfully, you don’t need to have prior knowledge of the events of the first game to understand what’s going on in Shadows. There’s also been some big changes to the gameplay. The biggest comes in a change to the battle system – the addition of a ‘Friendship’ gauge. In the original Pokemon Ranger – players had to capture Pokemon by completing a certain amount of loops without removing the stylus from the screen. With this new system – every Pokemon has a gauge underneath them, and when it’s filled up (by completing loops) the Pokemon is captured. At any point, the player can stop looping in order to dodge attacks, but if left for too long, any progress in the friendship gauge beings to drop. It’s a big help – especially for some of the more frustrating enemies, but at times it feels like it makes the game easier. The other major addition are Quests – short tasks that can be completed between missions. Think of them as side missions in any RPG, and you’ll have a rough idea. They can range from picking up a certain Pokemon for a person, clearing a certain number of obstacles and other little tasks. Your reward in doing them are additional bonuses to defence, offence and more. Granted, you could play the game by completing only the quest that you have to do as part of the tutorial, but hey, defence and other bonuses are always appreciated. It does seem kind of silly that you can’t take on more than one quest at a time (as is the explanation for why you can’t), but otherwise – the system works. Aside from that, there really isn’t much else new to the game. You can now pick a starter Pokemon as your partner, as opposed to have one chosen based on gender. The last new change comes to the Ranger Net (where you take on additional missions). For starters, it’s available right from the start of the game, and now uses the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service to download additional missions to your game. These missions have nothing to do with the main storyline – and when completed, will add external bonuses to the game. For instance, one of the downloadable missions sees you rescue a Manaphy egg. It’s a short mission, but on completing it – you have the ability to send out the Manaphy egg to a copy of Pokemon Diamond/Pearl. It’s a neat feature – and if Nintendo keep adding to it regularly with bonuses like this, will be something awesome. With all that being said – the game isn’t perfect. The biggest problem with the game is practically the same problem that has plagued Pokemon, in that it basically feels like the EXACT same game as its predecessor. Granted, there are some new improvements to the game, and all of which are welcome, but it’s not enough to really differentiate it too much from the original Pokemon Ranger. Granted, the main story will take you a good while, but otherwise, if you played out all of the original game, then there’s little new here to tide you over. The other big problem with the game is the story. Not so much the actual storyline itself, but for some of the stupid things that it does. For instance, the game has a habit of introducing characters that you may think have some key part to play in the story, make them disappear for a long period of time, reintroduce them, and then completely forget about them again – and in the end, have no part to really play in the story. As well as that, there are plenty of instances where cutscenes go on for longer than they really should. Granted, Pokemon and story are two things that have never really mixed well, but with the emphasis on story and dialogue that Shadows of Almia places, it’s inexcusable. Graphically, the game looks alright. It’s colourful and vibrant – and everything is as detailed as it needs to be. The style of the game seems very similar to Pokemon Diamond/Pearl – but without all the 3D graphical elements or isometric camera. It works well enough – the game isn’t the best looking or stylish game on the DS, but it’s certainly far from the worst. Aurally , the game is also decent. The soundtrack consists of much of the same kind of triumphant Pokemon themes that have been a big part of the series. The sound effects are also a big point of contention – specifically the Pokemon noises. Developers Creatures Inc have reused the noises from previous Pokemon games – so if you hated the Game Boy-esque sounding Pokemon noises, then you’re not going to get salvation here. Otherwise, the game still sounds alright. Overall, Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia is a decent game. If you can get over the story and the little to no change compared to the original Pokemon Ranger – there’s still a decent game in there. If anything, it’ll be a decent Pokemon game to tide you over until the English release of Pokemon Platnium next year. |
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Posted by darthhomer Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:52:34
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