Contact (spoilers Contained Within)

Otherwise known as the biggest "almost". I got this game a while ago, and beat it soon after. I still play it from time to time, but only in short bursts as the game just doesn't live up to what it was supposed to be. Early in it's development many people, myself included, were led to believe this was a second coming of Earthbound. Since I missed the first coming I was hoping to jump on the chance to play one of the world's most quirky games. This game is rather quirky, but not always in a good way.

Like I said above, this is one of gaming biggest examples of "almost". You can tell the developer's put a lot of energy and love into this game. The manual alone shows this. It's set up as an online blog that the professor keeps. It's pretty cool, and informs you of everything you really need to know about the game. Anyway, the story of the game is pretty much non-existent. It starts off with the Professor finally being able to contact someone, the player. Soon after this meeting he's attacked by a mysterious alien force. The ships energy source is dislocated and lands on a planet. The main character Terry is nearby and as the Professor retrieves it he kidnaps him pretty much.

So they race off, but the ship he has isn't built for evasive maneuvers and you're shot down again. This time the energy source is spilt up into five or six pieces. Of course you have to get them back to leave. The story never really goes anywhere though. The developers could have really created something special and expansive with this. Instead they make the planet you crashed on consist of about seven islands that are all relatively small in size and, while beautiful for the most part, boring.

The other greatest let down, at least in my opinion is the battle system. It's somewhat similar to most MMO's and other PC RPG's. You hit the B button to activate battle mode, then target an enemy and Terry attacks him as long as the enemy is in range. No control over basic weapon swings/strikes, but you can cast a multitude of spells depending on the clothes you're wearing. Leveling up is pretty cool actually, get hit more your defense goes up, attack more your strength increases. Of course the same goes for the spells, but you can only cast these a limited amount before you have to go back to regular attacks. The points used for spells regenerates, but only after, seemingly, random hits you land on the enemy.

The games difficulty is also ramped way up. Most bosses are only beatable if you level grind, for a long time. The final boss took a vast amount of potions to beat, which was rather annoying. Stand next to the boss until he flies into the background then run away and heal. Rinse and repeat. It gets boring really quickly, sadly the battle lasts for a while thanks to the boss' elongated health bar.

Anyway, after beating the final boss you're hoping that some sort of strange twist occurs that redeems the story, or you have to travel to more islands/planets or just something. Instead you're treated to (Ending spoiler here, though I think most people would prefer to just read it than wade through this game) your main character yelling at you for controlling him then you have to tap him on the bottom screen to death. Yeah. Once he passes out the leader of the bad guys takes him home, no real closure. In fact the ending makes you wonder what the hell is actually going on. Who's side was she on? Why did Terry wait until the end of the game to say something? What the fuck? (Spoiler is over)

To say the game is a disappointment is an understatement. The game was over before the story got off the ground. Nothing really redeemed it either. No funny enemies, no great graphics, the story wasn't a force to be reckoned with, nothing. Sadly, the one DS game I was anticipating a lot was the one I should have ignored.

The game isn't really worth a buy, but it's also not the worst DS game out there. If you don't mind the confusing and empty story or are just looking to waste about 15 hours then the game is worth picking up. I'd suggest finding it for a reduced price though.

Haha, this probably seems really unorganized
-Adam