Wednesday, July 11, 2012

PSN Review: "Rainbow Moon"


Publisher: EastAsiaSoft
Developer: SideQuest Studios
Release Date: July 10, 2012 (USA)

Premise:
Rainbow Moon is a traditional, "old school" RPG; bringing in all of the elements from days gone by and putting them into Next-Gen settings with crisp visuals and an enthralling Gameplay experience.

Gameplay: 
The camera is always a Top-Down perspective. You control your main party character as he traverses the world he's in, completing many Side Quests/Missions along the way for all of the folks around the many towns you visit.

Combat is completely Turn-Based and "Action Point"-styled. Coming across enemies you have multiple choices as to battling them. Some are mandatory fights that are hard to dodge and others are "Random Encounters" you get. As you walk around you will see a popup saying there are enemies nearby and you have the choice of battling them or ignoring them, which is unlike most RPG's where you run around and automatically have to battle whoever you meet.

Following the On-Screen Tutorial/Hints really helps a lot.

Your character can earn "Turns" which allow the player to move around the battle field on a grid and also to attack. You use up your "Turns" as you move around and attack enemies, and your "Turns" replenish after you use them in battle. So, for example, in the beginning you get 1 "Turn" point, which means you can either move 1 space on your turn or use that turn to defend, use a skill or attack a nearby enemy.

As you progress in the game and level up, you will earn more "Turn" points. This means you will be able to do mutliple moves/attacks for your turn. Later on in the game you can find several other members to join your party. You can also increase your chance of using Turns more quickly in battle by upgrading your character's skills.






Aside from the Retro Turn-Based Combat, there's a whole lot more to this game. A pretty detailed Loot system, upgrade system, Merchants and much more really help you get dragged into the story without the want or desire to ever leave. You can complete many Side Missions throughout the game that can yield you additional pieces of equipment, spells/skills, money and other unique items you can use against your foes.

Graphics:
I was surprised at the overall Graphical Look of this game. It looks as if its Cel-Shaded at first-glance but it's not, and once your eyes open and you see the worlds for what they are, you'll be astounded. From deserts to jungles and everything in between, the journey you take in this game is designed beautifully from start to finish.

Sound:
The only big gripe I have with the game is the Sound. There is no way to adjust the volume of any of the sound in the game, you can only turn the SFX ON or OFF and the MUSIC to ON or OFF. So as you run around you have to listen to the same musical score for most the game, only changing when reaching cities and during battles.

Thankfully, though, you can disable the sound for the Music which can become annoying at times. All-in-All, the Sound FX really saved the game, as they really sound superb at bringing together the atmosphere

Length:
Rainbow Moon is advertised as an Open-World game, although the first part of the game is really based around training. As far as length goes, I've played for several hours and have yet to reach all of the worlds available for it. According to the Game Publishers/Developers, you can rack up over 100 hours of gameplay with the game, and others who've played more have said it's easy to get over 50 hours in if you choose to do all the side missions, which brings about even more entertainment.

Value:
I was a bit turned off at first by the game, but after seeing Gameplay footage and the Trailer I was excited, and decided to give it a download and I'm not regretting it. For $14.99 USD this game gives you a great value for your money. There are so many great games on PSN out there today, but you'll kick yourself later if you pass this amazing Action-RPG up.

Even though the story may be lacking in some people's minds, I find it more than good enough and would recommend this to anybody who's interested in a completely new take on the Action-RPG Genre.

I would highly recommend purchasing "Rainbow Moon" for all of the unique and amazing experiences the game offers, especially since it's only $14.99 and you get so much bang-for-your-buck.

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