Post by Bytor on Jul 3, 2012 11:53:06 GMT -5
-Visuals- 8.5/10
Sprites, sprites, sprites, sprites everywhere! And I might add, very well designed sprites. They all look very nice and are certainly individual. My only real complaint is what attention to detail there is, and it appears there is quite a bit, is somewhat hard to see because of the amount of stuff on the screen at once combined with the obvious size limitations of the DS screen makes things appear somewhat small. Not a really big deal but it is a factor. The backgrounds look nice, although I did get a bit tired of seeing the silhouette of the city in the top screen during battles and the various dungeons do seem to appear very, very similar. But because there is not a whole lot of back tracking you are looking at different locales for the majority of the time. Now, as always, you don't like sprites..well...you'll hate this game, lol.
-Sound- 8.5/10
This is labeled a "musical adventure", and I know that some reviewers feel this is certainly a misnomer. One the one hand I agree, on the other I disagree. Yes, I agree, while somewhat musical, in reality music has very little to do with the true gameplay (although there is a mini game where you can sing, or simply blow, into the mic on the DS and earn $$). On the other hand Cornet (name) does use a horn as her weapon and certainly there is plenty of music in the game, some really good, some OK and all somewhat cheesy, lol. The vocals in the music is the same, some of the tunes were nice, some OK an all cheesy sounding. No voice acting so be prepared to read, but (not really a sound issue but...) thankfully the scrolling is very fast and simple to read quickly.
-Gameplay- 8.0/10
You play as Cornet, a young girl who can talk to, and recruit, puppets (dolls) which can then be used in battles. A fun little system but nothing really makes you use different puppets unless you are bored. I found keeping the same ones I received in the beginning made the game easier as I didn't have to level the newer ones up. Old school turn based battles. Simple items to use and simple accessories which raise defense, attack, speed and intelligence. Exploration is pretty straightforward and the map allows you to take the direct route or explore the various areas of the dungeons. Exploration doesn't really reward that much though to be honest, other than leveling up through battles (which be warned are random) as items are very easy to find and for that matter to buy. The villages are all fun to look at and explore and I found the discussions with the NPC's to at times be simply hilarious, after all, who doesn't love sarcasm and toilet humor, lol. And for that matter discussion with NPC's is often the only way to figure out where to go next, which I admit, cause me quite a bit of issues at one point in the game.= (however, this might have been the best thing to happen as I went to the wrong area, explored it all and gained unreal levels which made battles through the rest of the game even easier than than they already were. Overall, absolutely nothing difficult or even very thought provoking about the gameplay, but, what it is designed to do it does perfectly well. So, while not innovative at all it does do exactly what the designers wanted the game to do.
^^^^ who doesn't love a cake attack (there's also a pancake one!)
-Story- 8.2/10
Cornet, a provincial village girl who has lost her mother falls in love with the Prince of a larger village and enters a contest in order to become his bride. A richer, prettier rival appears (actually an old childhood friend) and along the way an evil plot is revealed when the Prince is kidnapped. Cornet and her friends attempt to rescue the Prince and stop the rest of the plot from occurring. Nothing special here but the dialogue and cuteness of the story make it a really nice little tale.
You play as Cornet, a young girl who can talk to, and recruit, puppets (dolls) which can then be used in battles. A fun little system but nothing really makes you use different puppets unless you are bored. I found keeping the same ones I received in the beginning made the game easier as I didn't have to level the newer ones up.
-Overall- 8.5/10
This is a fun (I spent a little over 10 hours) little game. Nothing really stands out (other than the oft funny dialogues) but at the same time nothing is really bad either. It's simply solid and easy enough to be a nice change of pace as opposed to some of the more complex an harder RPG's (was a perfect little game for me after Dragon Age II as it was fun an yet let me give my brain a rest, lol. So...yes, I recommend it, but be forewarned it is what it is, simple, enjoyable and fun but not overly challenging.
