Nostalgia

Platform: Nintendo DS

My Playtime: 40+ hours

Genre: Turn Based Traditional RPG

Story: If you are an old-school RPGer like me, you will definitely enjoy Nostalgia.  Nostalgia is based about the 19th century, where our hero, Eddie Brown, lived in London.  His father, the great adventurer Gilbert Brown, has gone missing and Eddie was going to find and bring him home.  As he traveled all over the world, there were bigger events happening that his father was somehow involved in.  With a few friends he picked up along the way, Eddie was going to save his father and the world.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Story: The usual, predictable plot.  There is a group of people, who are looking to take over the world, by unlocking magically gates.  And the hero is looking innocently for his missing father.  But the hero realized that his father was involved with something big.  Of course, the enemies are soon coming after you as well.

Graphics: Despite being a newer DS game, the graphics are sub-par in comparison.  The characters are chibi styled, like Final Fantasy 3 & 4.  However, the graphics appeared rough around the edges.  More octagonal.  The close up of the characters aren’t very clean.  Other than that, the background and the battle scenes are pretty standard fair.  There are no FMV.

Gameplay/Handling: The learning curve is pretty simple.  It’s your basic turn-based JRPG.  Who goes first depended upon you and your enemies’ speed.  Whoever has the highest agility goes first and so on.  There is a pull down menu where you can choose to attack, use skills or items.  The menu is easily navigable.  The only thing I still have to figure out is the system for learning your attacks and support magic.  Each attack can be leveled up with SP that you receive after every battle.  As you increase the levels, the more SP you need.  The benefit by doing this is that you can decrease the MP you use and unlock new attacks after reaching a certain level.

Battles are random-based.  There are 2 kinds of battles: the normal monster fight and the airship battles.  Difficulty is not bad.  This is your experience grinding kind of game.  So as long your level is high enough, the bosses and enemies are pretty manageable.  On the other hand, the airship battles are still the hardest and the bane of my existence.  It’s tough to gauge sometimes since there is a mix easy and hard enemies throughout.  You can outfit your airship to make it have higher HP and increase your weapons and defense.  However, it’s never enough.  If you accidentally run into enemies that have high attack, you are dead in 4 hits.  Even support magic does not help.  So, save often before you hit the high skies.

The maps are great here.  Like Star Ocean, it’s beneficial to make sure you walk through every nook and cranny of a dungeon.  It completes your map and you might find hidden items.  The world map is a little harder to interpret.

Characters: Everyone has their own clichéd personality quirk.  Eddie wants to be an adventurer like his father.  Just like his father, he’s helpful and caring and uses the same sword style.  Pad is a loner but decided he could benefit with hanging with Eddie to learn about his past.  He’s the gunmen.  Melody is a wizard who is now seeking revenge against the Cabal.  She’s the black magic user.  Fiona, who does not remember why the Cabal is after her, is the healer.  There isn’t much development.  It’s like they meet and just go through the motions of completing their mission.  They don’t talk much to each other.  A cute thing is that all the characters pair up.  Very cute.

Extras/Quests:  I hate to compare again but if you have played Skies of Arcadia, it’s pretty much the same but a little bit tone down and wasn’t done as well.  If you haven’t played (you should), I’ll explained.  After completing your first dungeon, quests will be opened to you at the Adventurers’ Association.  Completing quests helps raise your rank and earn money.  It’s a great way to gain experience too.  So do them when they become available.  Another quest available later after a few dungeons you find hidden treasured throughout the world.  You talk to citizens in the cities and give hints of where a secret locations can be.  Then you can find it.  Let me tell you, it’s not easy.  Plus with enemies in the air that could easily kill you, this is a tedious task. 

Vocals/Music: If you have ever played Skies of Arcadia for Game Cube, the BGM is practically nostalgic.  If you listen closely to the fight BGM, it’s very similar to Skies of Arcadia’s.  And since I love Arcadia’s music, I love the music here as well.  There are no vocals.  When they are talking, you get a close-up of the character and their mouths are moving.  That’s about it.

Final Battle/Ending: Actually, I knew I was getting close to the end, but I didn't expect it was really the end.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it would.  The ending gave closure and you are allowed to save and continue where you left off.  You can finish any quests that you have missed and 2 new dungeons will be available.  The bosses are hard but worth the reward if you manage to defeat them.  But I did not have the patience to level up.  I got creamed a few times before I gave up before moving on to another game.

I’m addicted to this game.  I didn’t expect it to be good after reading some reviews, but I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I like it so far.  Nostalgia is not a perfect game, but it has all the elements I love in a game.  If you are a fan of the old school turn-based RPG, then this is up your alley.  There is a decent plot.  Nothing riveting or surprising.  Like the title dictates, it takes you back to simpler times.  Plus, if you have played Skies of Arcadia, this will definitely be your cup of tea.  However, if you are looking for a plot-intense game, skip it.  Or if you are looking for new innovation with great graphics, then you are barking up the wrong tree.