Opoona

[Retro_Link]

Yeah that's wierd, maybe it'll get fixed soon?

[Magnus]

Judging by this thread, I wasn't alone in giving this game a pass based on its review scores. I've been on the look-out for lesser-known games recently, though, so I picked this up a few weeks ago.

 

It's actually pretty good.

 

Certainly better than the reviews would have you think, anyway.

 

It feels a lot like an SNES RPG. The story is simple and predictable, but it gets the job done. There are random encounters everywhere outside the domes/towns. The translation is rough at best.

 

But.

 

What I like the most about the game is how well it manages to create a world. All of the different domes feel like they're part of a bigger picture. There's a dome where children are raised and educated. And then there's a dome for the two biggest companies that produce everything in the world and the people that work for them. And there's a dome for artists and entertainment. They're all foreshadowed too, so it's pretty fun when you finally get to them. Most of them are pretty huge, so there's a lot to see, with shops and restaurants and people's homes and farms and...

 

And there are TV shows! Okay, so most of them suck (the "cat trilogy" is mildly entertaining, at least), but still. Some of the educational ones are pretty fun to watch, too. There's one that describes the different art movements in the game. Because, yeah, the designers made up their own art movements. And there are examples of them throughout the world.

 

The world of Opoona is built around job licenses, where everyone gets a license and quotas to fulfill, and once they've fulfilled all of their quotas, they get to retire to Sanctuary, which is basically the game's version of heaven. And of course you get to go there eventually - and there's a TV show about it, so you can find out everything there is to know about it long before you get to go there.

 

Opoona gets a ranger license when he arrives on the planet, and for much of the game, your job is to fulfill different ranger quotas. But it's okay, because they usually end up being related to the main story in big ways. There are also other licenses that you can get. Some of them are required for the main story, but a lot of them are completely optional. There's a cleaning license and a star license. There's even a license where you spend months playing... a banjo? I think it was a banjo. They can all be leveled up several times and have different objectives for each level. So you'll have to find an item for a diva who doesn't want to go on television without it, and once that's done the next quota requires you to fill in for a dancer on live television.

 

So there's a lot to do. There are also puppies and artwork to find and a bestiary to fill out. You can also make friends with people. You'll need seven (I think) for the final dungeon, but there are (I think) thirty people you can become friends with (though a couple are mandatory for the main story). If you go back to talk to them throughout the course of the game, they'll slowly become better friends with you and often give you sidequests. I should point out that despite playing the game for thirty hours or so, I didn't even find all of the friends. Nor did I find (or finish) all of the available licenses. So it's a pretty big game. Obtuse and confusing at times, but big.

 

While I hate random encounters, the battles are usually over pretty quickly and the battle system is pretty fun. You attack using Opoona's (and later his siblings') Bon-Bon, which you can angle in four different directions. That way, you can hit enemies that hide behind other enemies (or bombs, later on), as well as hit several enemies in a row once you've upgraded your Bon-Bon. You can also choose how hard you want to throw the Bon-Bon. Harder throws do more damage, but it takes longer before you can attack again. Other than that, it works just like any other battle system. There are several ways to upgrade your Bon-Bon - either giving it special abilities or things like more strength/defense - as well as items and magic attacks to use.

 

I quite liked the graphics. It's not Xenoblade Chronicles or Skyward Sword, but the graphics, like a lot of things in this game, are simple but effective. Some areas are even fairly impressive-looking, with a fairy grove being one of the highlights. The character design is a bit generic overall, though I did really come to like the design of Opoona and his family.

 

Um.

 

I guess that's it.

 

It's not for everyone, but if you were sitting on the fence because of the mediocre reviews, you may want to give Opoona a chance.

[Fused King]

Sounds quite Japanese like awesome:D

 

Something I'd definitely try, so I'll be addin this game to the ol' backlog list.

[killer kirby]

opoona is a fantastic RPG that easily got overlooked, which is a shame since it performs better gamepplay wise and fun wise compared to most of this generations home console JRPG's. Besides being composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto it's also made by the team which remade the DQ games on the DS, PS1 and PS2. So yeah people should have a go at it

[flameboy]

I always thought about picking it up and just never got round to it because above anything else it does look weird and fun.

[darksnowman]

Nice write-up!

 

Did you try playing Opoona nunchuk only, @Magnus?

[Magnus]

Did you try playing Opoona nunchuk only, @Magnus?

Since you need to have the nunchuk plugged into the Wiimote at all times, I never saw the point in just playing with the nunchuk. Though theoretically the controls should work fine, because the Wiimote just mimics some of the functions on the nunchuk and adds some shortcuts.

 

But yeah, most pointless control option ever, really. :p