Contact - DS

[Spatial]

Got this in the post today and have only managed to play it for around an hour or so.

From the official blurb:

The klaxon alarm is shrieking! Something is wrong! The Professor wrestles his damaged spaceship to a crash landing on a mysterious planet.

In the aftermath of the crash, The Professor discovers that the power sources of his ship, known as Cells, have been scattered across the surface of this strange world. To retrieve them all, The Professor enlists the aid of a brave young man named Terry ? and a brave video game player known as you! The Professor and Terry will ask for your help during the course of the adventure, using the Nintendo DS to "contact" you along the way.

Will The Professor gather the Cells and return to outer space? Will you learn the goal of the mysterious organization that seeks to gather the Cells for itself? The future of an entire world has been placed in your hands!

Graphicaly the game is lush - the two styles of the worlds for Terry and the Professor are really nice. It seems to have a lovely retro 16-bit feel about it all (no doubt helped by the pixel art used to represent the Proff's ship).



Gameplay wise it's hard to judge on such a short play time. There seems lots to do and there's a ton of stats thrown at you about the main character, all of which can be modified. It's even got stats as too how full a particular food makes the main characters stomach?!

It doesn't seem to be the type of game to guide you by the hand either and throws you right in the deep end in terms of what you need to do.

Not really feeling the stylus control of the character, but the way you can peel off stickers and rub them down onto the play area is quite nice (even if it is a bit hit and miss as to what happens when you do it).Seems like a game which'll have a lot to offer those who want to explore and discover things for themselves.

The Wifi Island online bit intrigues me but seems a bit confusing to get your head around without actually diving in to tackle it. So to grab the bull by the horns I'm off to the Online folder to see if I can get some friends codes swapping started

[stainboy]

Haven't played nearly long enough yet, my DS needs charging go I'm gonna get back into it in a min. I was using the stylus to control it at first but it's too easy to accidently hit Terry which brings up the attack option. I like the battling, it's not random or turn-based but more like World of Warcraft in that you target an enemy, select attack mode and Terry will fight them automatically. Looks like there's room for a lot of different weapons and attacks as well. You're also warned by the professor not to attack everything you see or you might get a reputation for being violent. I killed a sheep and a pig but go loot from them so I felt guilty and didn't do it again.

I actually thought the professor and Terry were going to be from two different worlds and used the DS to contact each other, I didn't know they were travelling together on the same ship. But I hadn't read anything about the game recently because I wanted it to be a suprise.

There's some nice touches so far: while Terry is asleep you get control of the professor's screen and can poke him and his dog (who wants to be a cat) Mochi. Even the manual is nice, it's all written like the Prof's blog so is worth a read.

All I've done so far is explore the island and caves, I've found a cell but need something to pick it up with.

Will add my friend code to the online folder in a bit, it sounds interesting that people you connect with end up as NPC's on an island.

[englishbob]

Played it in my lunch hour. Presentation is top class. Cannot form a proper and just opinion on it yet from the first hour. However I hope more save points become available. I can see returning to the ship to save each time turning into a right pain in the arse.

[Spatial]

Having had another hours go this evening (before my DS' battery ran out) I can confirm that there are thankfully lots of save points (beds) and health restore points (baths) scattered around the world.

[Emir]

Nice to hear some impressions on this. I wanna get my hands on this but I haven't even ordered it yet. >_< Where d'you peeps get it from so quickly? *Edit* Movietyme, huh? (just seen shipping thread)

Also, what's the soundtrack like?

[MattyD]

I never play RPGs and couldn't even force myself to get pass the first disc of FFVII so I was glad to find this doesn't have turn-based combat. Your character attacks at set intervals (which I assume are governed by one of the dizzying two-screen-filling array of stats) but you can select and launch special attacks or use the stickers at any time.

Like other people I found using the stylus to move Terry around a bit weird so I'm just using the D-pad and buttons at the moment, but the stat screens are far easier to navigate with the stylus so I'm having to keep that between my fingers, which is a bit of a pain.

I'm really only playing this for the mooted post-modernism and wit and so far it's met my expectations so I'm pleased. Even the box is offbeat, self-referential and funny:

"Things you WON'T find in Contact: A guy with spikey hair and / or amnesia. Dramatic monologues. The same battles you've been fighting since the 16-bit era.

Things you WILL find in Contact: Deeper meaning in life* (*Results may vary)."

There's also a bit of Engrish in the opening credits which, since the game was localised by Atlus USA, was almost certainly intentional Anyone else spot it?

[MattyD]

Also, what's the soundtrack like?

Prrrrroper video game music like back in the day Think lots of synth sounds and catchy FM-modulated melodies

[Spatial]

Also, what's the soundtrack like?

It's not bad but it hasn't left a big impact on me yet - again it's very inkeeping with the kind of retro style of the graphics and the whole 16-bit image.

The sound effects are very good though - the key tapping in the main menu reminds me of my old PC days

[Emir]

16 - bit synth sounds? I can't wait.

Really looking forward to interacting with teh dawg. Sooo cute.
Look at his lil self.

[FreelancePolice]

i ordered from VG+ ages ago but its still winging its way here. Im lurking in the thread for more impressions!

[stainboy]

Weird that the beds and baths are all the same, the beds outside on the islands should be hammocks or something but then we might not recognise them I guess.

People like getting their clothes off in this game! Met the Neked Chef who decided I could keep his clothes after I rescued them from a monkey. And got a "rock mole" suit from a miner, who took it off for a rest.

Had a little go at cooking but so far have only cooked some meat on it's own. Nothing will combine yet it just says "He can't cook that yet" or "Those won't cook"

Oh yeah and I meant to say before - I love the title screen menus 8) The keyboard reminds me of the C64.

[Len]

Well I?ve played just under an hour or so and managed to get the first cell, gain a new costume, get a rusty blade, a msg in a bottle and generally had a really good time. I?ve now just set sail for Chef?s Island as a detour before heading for the next island, of which I can?t remember the name off hand.

Now I really don?t get on with rpg?s at all, just not my thing but couldn?t resist the setting and idea of this game and I?m chuffed I got it. Great graphics, quirky and funny dialogue and just plain njoyable. It really is rpg-lite which is fine by me.

I?m already looking fwd to my next go?

[Spatial]

Had a little go at cooking but so far have only cooked some meat on it's own. Nothing will combine yet it just says "He can't cook that yet" or "Those won't cook"

Same here, I haven't been able to find a successful combination yet. Although I did end up with some mystery meat which cooked up nicely (almost filled Terry's stomach with it too). Oh and I've managed to create plenty of charred remains

Has anyone sussed out how to use Mochi properly yet?

I know the more you play with him when Terry's sleeping the more he should power up to help you (bit disappointed that the interaction seems quite limited), but every time I slap the transfer down he either wanders on and just cleans himself or scampers off doing 1 point of damage to enemies.

[stainboy]

Just been playing with some cooking, got fed up being nice and peaceful and have started slaughtering all the animals I find so I can get hold of more meat Meats I've cooked alone are Chicken (dropped by bats ), Meat, Game Meat, Mystery Meat and Rotten Meat and it all turns into BBQ and even the Rotten BBQ is edible. Created loads of coal but the practice has earnt me the Chef Etiquette stat which "allows the preparation of level 1 meals". Now it lets me try combining

The only combination that's been a success so far is coffee beans and water which (suprise!) makes a cup of coffee. Though where the cup comes from I don't know It let me attempt to mix chicken and spices but Terry either dropped it or it turned into coal so I probably just need more practice.

As for Mochi I'm assuming he needs more playing with, now I don't know if calling him into battle will level him up or just playing with him will be enough. I hope he gets to be a cat one day though

[Spatial]

The only combination that's been a success so far is coffee beans and water which (suprise!) makes a cup of coffee.

I've just managed to make some packet soup

And I did manage to find a recipe list for making burgers, but I feel that's way beyond my Terry's talents at this point in time.

There's certainly an odd choice of health items in this game (I think you can even make

->Open Spoiler<-

Kebabs

) but it's all very in keeping with the overall style