Fragile Dreams

Not a new post, but the website i posted this on doesn't have a blog feature any more so i put it here instead :-) enjoy.

My thoughts on: Fragile Dreams

Posted: Dec. 11, 2010, 5:28 p.m.

Related to: Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon

I've been looking forward to playing this as soon as it was announced, unfortunately i didnt get it when it was released, it was a year later when i finally got a copy. so, where to start?...

The game starts with a lovely anime intro which sets the scene for the game (last person on earth) it shows the main character (Seto) walking around a barren land, it seems everyone is dead. and this theme continues throughout the whole game. along the way you meet several characters, a ghost named Sai and a boy called Crow.

Sai follows you around, floating eerily behind you like she is swimming through the air. you can put the wii remote to your ear to hear her talk, sometimes she will give you clues, although most of the time she will just say random things, such as "what is your bloodtype" ...

before you meet these two however, you are completely alone. the first thing you find is an old radio, which has A.I and can talk to you. it has a gentle voice and helps you at the beginning of the game. unfortunately its batteries run out soon, and with an emotion cut scene, you never hear from it again...

another character you meet is a mysterious silver haired girl. i wont tell you her name as it is left in secret until near the end.. you see her singing, sitting on a wall, she falls off and you run over and try to help her. then she runs off and most of the game is spent trying to find this girl, as she seems to be the only human left..

The mysterious silver haired girl...

there is a merchant who appears at the bonfires (which act as save points) who has a very mysterious past which is not fully explained until near the end of the game. he always wears a chicken suit and pushes a pram.

don't worry.. near the end, it does "Kinda" explain why he wears the chicken suit...

the story, as you might have guessed, is full of mystery and suspense. this is a really effective way to keep you interested, as throughout the game, small pieces of the plot being to be revealed and it slowly dawns on you why the world has ended up as it is. 

 the gameplay is a mix of adventure and action, it plays much like a survival horror game, you explore the ruins and collect items which go into your bag. the bag has limited space and you frequently have to re arrange the items, or walk back to a bonfire to empty some items out into the briefcase. the item management plays an important part in the game. 

the combat is very simple, simply face the enemy you want to hit and press the A button to use the weapon you have equiped. there are several different typed of weapons avaliable, sometimes you find them on the floor, other times you need to buy them from the merchant. they range from, swords, poles, bow and arrow (and other projectiles) and hammers / axes. each has different timing and strengths and weaknesses, its important to pick the right weapon for the situation. 

the graphics are beautiful, especially in the times where you get to explore outside, the characters are also extremely detailed and well animated. all this makes for a lovelly looking game with plenty of "wow" moments, for example, the first time you get outside, you walk along an empty rail road track, the sky is swirling with colour and the stars twinkle above, grass sways beneath your feet and you are the only person left in the world. its an amazing feeling to be wandering around such a desolate, yet beautiful place.

the music is eaqualy well done, most of the time it is silent, but as soon as you enter an important area or a battle orchectral music begins to play, it fits each scene extremely well. there is also a fully voiced introduction and ending song. the best bit about the audio though, is not the music, but the sound effects. not only are they extremely creepy, but also certain sounds come from the wii mote speaker, making the game a lot more immersive, for example, you are walking around an abandoned theme park, and there is a cat in the distance, you hear it meowing through the TV, you approach it slowly and as you do you can hear it begin to meow through the speaker on the wii remote. 

the best bit of the game for me, was collecting the "mystery items" throughout the game, these can be hiding around the world, or be found after killing an anemy, when you take the mystery item back to the bonfire, you can see if it was something to sell, an item (such as a health pack or weapon) or a short story. these stories are "memories" of people who have died. there are lots of these throughout the game and they are fully voiced (in japanese or english, depending on what language you chose) and are usually very well written and suprisingly emotional, at first they will not make sense, but once you discover the secret to how everyone dies, they suddenly become clear and its a very shocking truth, so i hope you will play the game and find out the truth for yourselves.

 There's a lot more i could mention about this game, such as the map system or how levelling up works, but im going to end this here before i get carried away.

Bottom line, its a fantastic adventure game with an amazing plot and likeable characters, and a great plot twist at the end, so if your looking for a good, and lengthy, game for the wii and don't mind a lot of reading, definitely get this. its a bit hard to find but well worth tracking down. another overlooked gem on wii. Thanks for reading.