Opoona : An RPG with WTF [Wii]

Caswynben · March 2007

http://www.opoona.com/movie.htm

I didn't see a thread about this.
This game looks pretty damn awesome. Sort of like Dragon Quest VIII, but on crack, and way cute.
1 up had this to say :

1up wrote:

Shintaro Majima heads art direction on this project, while Sachiko Yukimura, who has worked with Yuji Hori several times on the Dragon Quest series, joins as planning director. Most exciting for RPG fanboys, however, is Hitoshi Sakimoto, the composer of Final Fantasy XII's excellent soundtrack, penning the music.

Here are some screen shots for fun! (Ganked from kotaku)

Now...We talk about how we think this uses the Wiimote!

deadonthestreet · March 2007

is this Wii, or Wii/PS2?

Caswynben · March 2007

The official site mentions nada about PS2.

Sheep · March 2007

I saw this twice yesterday. One, at some type of developer conference thing, and it looked awful. Then I saw the official trailer, and it looked more or less interesting. I'd play it, now, and I hope that it serves as a nice RPG diversion until some of the more bigger titles come*.

Not expecting anything ground breaking. I will be surprised if it's even translated.

*If. I mean, how many RPGs are announced that are not from Nintendo?

poik007 · March 2007

Also it only uses the nunchuck.

Lunker · March 2007

Caswynben wrote: »

Now...We talk about how we think this uses the Wiimote!

Funny you should mention that -- this game controls using only the nunchuk.

Yeah. Think about that.

Honestly, I'm not one for console RPGs but the fact that a developer is undertaking an RPG with nothing but an analog stick, two buttons and the nunchuk motion control has me mad curious as to how the game plays.

... dammit, poik!

Fall · March 2007

Why would that make you wonder? Japanese RPGs require nothing more than movement, a "use" key and the ability to scroll through a menu during "combat". JRPGs are the only type of modern game on the market that would be fully playable with an NES controller.

Looks like a little kids game, but hey... those Japs will buy anything that's linear, has a bad story, cute characters, and gameplay that plays itself.

I like the little main character guy though.

Spanky The Dolphin · March 2007

poik007 wrote: »

Also it only uses the nunchuck.

:^::^:

That's awesome. I've always thought that the Nunchuk seemed like a perfect one-handed controller for RPGs.

Fireflash · March 2007

poik007 wrote: »

Also it only uses the nunchuck.

That doesn't make any sense. The nunchuck doesn't work by itself.

Spanky The Dolphin · March 2007

Fireflash wrote: »

poik007 wrote: »

Also it only uses the nunchuck.

That doesn't make any sense. The nunchuck doesn't work by itself.

Oh, come on... :roll:

You plug it into the Remote and then use it.

At least try, man...

Kuratosu · March 2007

Fireflash wrote: »

poik007 wrote: »

Also it only uses the nunchuck.

That doesn't make any sense. The nunchuck doesn't work by itself.

I think they probably mean it works like the classic controller. You have to connect it to the wiimote to use it, so you connect the nunchuck and use it alone.

EDIT: Beat'd

tehremo · March 2007

Fall wrote: »

Why would that make you wonder? Japanese RPGs require nothing more than movement, a "use" key and the ability to scroll through a menu during "combat". JRPGs are the only type of modern game on the market that would be fully playable with an NES controller.

Looks like a little kids game, but hey... those Japs will buy anything that's linear, has a bad story, cute characters, and gameplay that plays itself.

I like the little main character guy though.

Agreed. Japanese gamers will buy a whole slew of games that Americans would laugh at, this looks like one. I'm not judging, I'm sure its the same way (vice versa) over there. I would hate to play an RPG with just the nunchuck.

Fireflash · March 2007

Spanky The Dolphin wrote: »

Fireflash wrote: »

poik007 wrote: »

Also it only uses the nunchuck.

That doesn't make any sense. The nunchuck doesn't work by itself.

Oh, come on... :roll:

You plug it into the Remote and then use it.

At least try, man...

Yeah but, if you have the remote plugged in, might as well make use of the extra buttons instead of having it laying in your lap, no? nunchuck only has 2 buttons.

bruin · March 2007

The screens and videos I've seen so far really don't look so hot to me, but the nunchuck-only control scheme is too interesting to ignore.

Akatsuki · March 2007

Looks hot, even though graphics aren't anything noteworthy. They're cute though.

Spanky The Dolphin · March 2007

Fireflash wrote: »

Spanky The Dolphin wrote: »

Fireflash wrote: »

poik007 wrote: »

Also it only uses the nunchuck.

That doesn't make any sense. The nunchuck doesn't work by itself.

Oh, come on... :roll:

You plug it into the Remote and then use it.

At least try, man...

Yeah but, if you have the remote plugged in, might as well make use of the extra buttons instead of having it laying in your lap, no? nunchuck only has 2 buttons.

Considering that it's a JRPG and that they haven't changed much since about 1990, you only really need two buttons for yes/no and a D-pad.

Plus there's also the waggle function.

Sharp10r · March 2007

Dodgeball: The RPG.

Captain Subtext · March 2007

I really dislike cell shaded graphics that use thick cell outlines only for characters and not for objects in the environment. You get this weird superimposed effect as a result. Like everything has been filmed in front of a cheap blue screen. This game would look way better if they ditched those outlines; make it look more like windwaker.

Rocketlex · March 2007

The nunchuck-only idea really reminds me of Kirby's Air Ride for the Gamecube, a racing game played with only one button and the analog stick. I liked KAR...and I guess that has nothing to do with how much I'll like this game.

Arde · March 2007

The Wii is quickly becoming a hotbed for big publishers for experimental ideas in console games.

From EA's rhytm game to this nunchuck only RPG, it's a good time to be a gamer, fellas!!

Zephyr_Fate · March 2007

More elevator music.

Oh yay ....

Backlash · March 2007

This game looks really, really generic, but if it can capture some of the DQ charm I'll definitely give it a look.

UncleSporky · March 2007

Hardly impressive (or even particularly appealing), but I wouldn't have bought a Wii if I thought that graphics were what was most important. It's not going on my radar until I get some story and gameplay impressions.

Dr. O · March 2007

I'm trying not to be a graphics whore, but is it so wrong of me to desire graphics better than those on the PS2? I'm not saying the game won't be fun or endearing, but a little polish couldn't hurt either. Still, the idea seems interesting.

Sonos · March 2007

Dr. O wrote: »

I'm trying not to be a graphics whore, but is it so wrong of me to desire graphics better than those on the PS2? I'm not saying the game won't be fun or endearing, but a little polish couldn't hurt either. Still, the idea seems interesting.

i agree. when the wii came out people complained that it only had the power of last gen's xbox but so far all i've seen is last gen's cube. i wish they'd stop rushing stuff and make then RE4 quality at the least. some of this crap looks thrown together by college students who arent trying.

Katchem_ash · March 2007

Hmm, good going Wii. A JRPG and an interesting looking one at that too. Must pick up this when I get my Wii.

Glorfindel · April 2007

The textures in that first shot almost look like a shot from the world map in FF VIII. Developers are just ass lazy on the Wii, surely they can make things look better than this. It is kind of frustrating, because the Wii could look a lot better than this, but . . .

BushidoGamer · March 2008

This sold me:

That and Arte Piazza are big fans of EarthBound.

IdolNinja · April 2008

BushidoGamer wrote: »

That and Arte Piazza are big fans of EarthBound.

I've seen Earthbound mentioned a few times already by people who are playing it. That's more than enough to grab my interest. Plus, it looks like it might be one of those quirky niche games that will be nigh impossible to find later. Once I wrangle up some cash, I'll be plonking it right back down and picking this up.

Oh, and I love the art direction.

DoctorArch · April 2008

One of the recent 1up yours podcasts had a good breakdown of the gameplay. Didn't seem like my type of game, but to each their own.

Zilart · April 2008

To me it looks like the game has great art, I love the characters. But if the gameplay is a little too weak, I might not pick it up, as that is the most important element in a game for me personally.

BushidoGamer · April 2008

Only a few hours in since my copy arrived later than I expected. I'm really enjoying Opoona so far. The battle system is actually more fun than what reviews have been giving it credit for. Enemies attack at a fairly brisk pace in real time but not to the point of overwhelming though. You don't have to charge your attack the whole way like I've seen in most videos. Although, I haven't met a monster that has required it yet at least. It's actually more efficient (time and damage wise with a small trade off to missing a little more) to pop off a few repeated attacks if you hold the control stick until your energy gets under approximately 75%. Any higher and your attacks connect too slow while you're vulnerable, left to wait for your energy to get back to 100%. You can also curve your attacks that do differing amounts of positional damage depending on the monster's design, similar to Paper Mario but not as restrictive. This gives you a bit more tactical leeway and makes fighting more dynamic compared to most other JRPGs. Expect to encounter fights anywhere between 4 to 40 second spurts. Battles only last about 3 to 35 seconds depending on the number enemies on screen which can be between 1(bigger more, powerful) to 9 (weaklings). It's ridiculously easy in the beginning as they give you plenty of healing items, an allowance and a bank account. Despite the adorable atmosphere, I read that the difficulty gets old school later on.

If there's a complaint I have, it seems like they made this game for lazy RPG fans. Everything's so damn convenient. Once you get the ability to do so the main menu allows you to deposit any money you've earned into your savings account (unlike other games, this actually builds interest after a day!), shop for items online (~15% more expensive) after you purchase something from a vending machine/shop, look up terminology of this universe you don't understand, watch TV (more like slide shows) and a few more things anytime you like. That's all I can really cover game play wise since I barely started.

Just a warning though before you watch their children's educational drama TV show:

Starring adorable, plucky kitten

. Children's educational drama TV show=Side story in Super Mario Galaxy

Not sure if I should spoiler these but they're minor in-game events everyone should experience for themselves firsthand:

The game encourages you to control the camera at the start, a game play mechanic I'm definitely not fond of. So I start playing, crash land on Landroll and wake up inside Starhouse; (*cringe* yeah... creative names) a cleanly designed, futuristic academy with five floors. It's morning and I explore the balconies only to come up with a muted skyline on the fifth floor, the same uninteresting skyline again on the fourth and so on. That is, until I get to the last balcony. There's a pond littered with flowers and lily pads right underneath the translucent blue floor, a nice surprise. Even nicer still was a woman welcoming me to this wonderful star. I swing the camera around to the front while enjoying the skyline with her trying to stifle a laugh, not because Opoona is ridiculously short when compared to the woman but of the handrail blocking his eyes and nose. Leaving only his eyebrows and mouth exposed when his idle animation turns on, Opoona proudly places his hands on his hips and smiles

. Reminds me of Mike from Monsters, Inc : ).

Once you get your passport, Hitoshi Sakimotos' fingers begin to gently caress the piano... at that point, I knew I was in for one hell of a ride.

I'm given my first assignment and head outdoors. The camera captures a side scrolling view as I run left through a small, generic forest. After fighting a few battles, I talk to somebody and press onward. The path bends as I come across a canopy that leads out, light pours through the leaves and I slow down to take in the sights. At the end, I'm welcomed with a vast, lush landscape dotted with a variety of trees and flowers that are alien yet somehow feel familiar.

Opoona is filled with stuff like this. The horrible and generic localization done by Koei makes me wonder how much more affectionate the original characters are. Don't expect any outright surprise or laugh out loud moments. The game approaches everything with a gentle, quiet warmth just like Earthbound did so many years ago. It doesn't have the spit and polish of Nintendo but even with all of its minor flaws Opoona is good enough for me : ).

urahonky · April 2008

Bah! I wish I hadn't read your impressions. :P I read the reviews online and they were ho-hum, so I was going to avoid it and save me some money. BUT it sounds like it's actually fun.

OptimusZed · April 2008

UncleSporky wrote: »

Hardly impressive (or even particularly appealing), but I wouldn't have bought a Wii if I thought that graphics were what was most important. It's not going on my radar until I get some story and gameplay impressions.

Here's an impression:

I bought it yesterday (around lunchtime) for my girlfriend as a "ha, she'll like this but probably only for a couple hours" type thing.

It's now 11 am (23 hours later) and she has been playing constantly since we got it. I think she passed out for a while last night, but she was up and running again this morning when I got up.

My impressions of the game:

Seems fun. I'm probably not going to play through it myself, as I'll have seen everything once already (well, at least most of it). The combat was a little frustrating for her at first, but she's kind of a noob at videogames in general, so that's to be expected. Once she got the hang of it, there's little threat to any of the random encounters and boss battles seem kind of easy to be honest (I was disappointed about this, she thinks it's awesome).

75%+ of the game is running around doing non-combat related stuff. There are definitely some kiddy-type aspects to the game (you get a puppy, you're taking classes, etc) but overall it's handled well enough that it's very enjoyable. Some of the missions are frustrating (at one point you're cleaning crumpled up papers off of a tennis court with a timelimit, my fiance literally hurled the nunchuck at the screen after failing for the umpteenth time forgetting that it was attached to the thing in her other hand), but that's to be expected from this sort of game.

Overall, I'd give it an 8/10. My fiance, if she could pry herself away from it, would probably go 9 or 10 out of 10.

2 Marcus 2 Ravens · April 2008

You can't use the nun-chuck without it being plugged into the Wii-mote, which means I have to kill Wii-mote batteries when I'm not even using it. That's pretty damn balls to me.

OptimusZed · April 2008

Marcus and His Band Of Mysterious Disco Ravens wrote: »

You can't use the nun-chuck without it being plugged into the Wii-mote, which means I have to kill Wii-mote batteries when I'm not even using it. That's pretty damn balls to me.

You were hoping the nunchuck would power itself?

MiserableMirth · April 2008

Man I love the idea of playing slower paced games (mostly RPGs) with one hand. I did this for FE:RD. I think they should have used the remote only though.

Gaming-Module · April 2008

I just learned about this game a minute ago while reading up on Baroque, which is awesome too.

This game just looks like it is constantly fun. Not bursts of intense fun but just a steady, consistent good time.

Fireflash · April 2008

OptimusZed wrote: »

Marcus and His Band Of Mysterious Disco Ravens wrote: »

You can't use the nun-chuck without it being plugged into the Wii-mote, which means I have to kill Wii-mote batteries when I'm not even using it. That's pretty damn balls to me.

You were hoping the nunchuck would power itself?

With the power of imagination and fun!

OptimusZed · April 2008

Ok, define longshot:

I know I'm one of about a half-dozen people here who has seen the game actually being played, but I've got a question for everyone else here who has (sblocked for potential Star License spoilers);

How the frack do you get a Star License? I know about the Mira/Sweeper mission way, but apparently that's too hard (see my earlier post). There's supposed to be a woman named Nikita and a kid who watches too much TV who give it out too, as well as the ukulele guy. We've tried the ukulele guy, but it's not panning out. Does anybody know where to find either of the other two (Nikita or the Kid)? Thanks in advance.

Davoid · April 2008

So, I've been reading mixed reviews of this, and I am pretty interested in it.

Does it compare to Earthbound at all?

Penny Arcade

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