One day I decided to go through a bunch of old Nintendo Power magazines lying around the library in search of a new and exciting DS game to cure my boredom. I came upon a Game entitled “Nostalgia” that had received a decent score from Nintendo Power and I decided I'd give it a run the next time I was in my local EBGames (Thats “GamesStop” for all you Americans out there). I found It, I played it, I really tried to like it.
Anyways Nostalgia came out in 2009 and was published by Ignition Entertainment and its a turned based RPG which means your little characters just stand idle glaring at the enemies until you issue a command for them allowing them to shank the nearest sinisterly coloured knave. I have found in my small life that only a few video games can get away with turned based combat and make it fun too, Nostalgia is not one of those games. Lets get this over with.
Story:
Okay so your in the 19th century but its been (poorly) steampunked. If you don't know what that means than Google it because its too hard for me to explain. Moving on you play as Eddie an adventurer’s son and due to a twist of events he gets to go on an adventure himself and go search for his father while he's at it. So you get to fly your airship around visiting places around the world like China, America, ect collecting party members and discovering the real secret to Eddie's fathers disappearance. Yawn.
Points: 4 Good for a little kid I guess.
Characters:
Oh dear where to start? We have 4 main characters here. Eddie who's the typical gung-ho adventurer who trusts everyone and loves everyone. Then we have Pad a thief who has a soft spot for everyone but won't admit it. Melody is the next one up, she's a witch with an attitude problem. Finally we have Fiona the stereotypical healer of the group who gets kidnapped far to often. Good grief Japan I've seen these done so many times before and far better than this. Boring boring BORING.
Points: 3 If your going to copy something do it right
Graphics:
I'm torn on this. I really don't like the kiddy chibi (again Google it) character graphics but all the environments; the sky, the towns, the sewers.... look amazing on the DS. The Airship battles also look very nice despite the bright pastel colours the enemies decide to paint their ships.
Points: 6 Am I being to generous?
Sound:
This also has me torn. Some of the music is really well done in this game while others are so repetitive their beyond annoying. To be honest though all the tracks are forgettable except the battle music. Want to know why? Because you'll be in more battles than anything else. Oh that reminds me In the Japanese version of this game there was voice acting in the storyline cut scenes but in the English version they didn't bother to dub over them but instead took them out completely. So when you get to a riveting cliffhanger of a scene the character’s mouths are moving but theres only the sound of the back ground music. It looks a little odd to honest.
Points: 5 one little extra point because the Airship battle music was pretty cool
Mechanics:
Let me get this out of my system right now. I HATE random battles with a BURING passion. Granted most of my favourite games in involve random battles but I put up with them because I'm enjoying the game as a whole and willing to let go of its flaws. I prefer a game where I can physically see the enemy and decide whether or not I want to engage it in a life changing battle. I don't like walking around and getting mauled by invisible enemies that literally come out of thin air every 5 steps I take in a dungeon. Nostalgia is a random battle game, and if you’ve read above you can see I’m not enjoying this game very much so far. The random battles made it even worse for me. That is all.
Points: 2 Been here. Done that. Hate it.
Lasting appeal:
I didn't finish this game, does that answer your question?
Points: 3 Good for like, 2 hours maybe.
Overall:
Nostalgia had HUGE potential to one of the best DS JRPGs out there but instead they decided to rip off every game before it and do a horrible job while they were at it. I mean maybe i'm too hard on this game but I’m telling this from my mind thats telling you that this game was a complete snorefest. Maybe I would have enjoyed this game more if I had played the game it was “ripping off” the most 'Skies of Arcadia' because it seems everyone who played Skies of Arcadia loves this game to pieces but I have neither seen nor played it.
Points: 5 for its graphics and Airship Battle music
TOTAL: 28/70
Let it be know I was writing this review to the Airship Battle theme. Here give it a listen yourself and maybe you'll see why I liked it:
Other than that, I’ll see you tomorrow.
-Anna
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