Fragile Dreams Review (Wii)

'Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon' was released for the Nintendo Wii by XSEED games, a relatively recent company that has translated and released several top-notch Japanese games to the US public. The American version of Fragile Dreams is a direct translation from the Namco-Bandai produced version and comes out a year after the Japanese one was released in 2009.

In Fragile Dreams, you take control of young Seto who is, we are led to believe, one of the last survivors on Earth after an unnamed catastrophe has wiped out the majority of civilization. Throughout the game you fight ghosts whose spirits are locked into this world and will attack you if you get too close. You can collect weapons and items to help you out along the way, and several items have no other purpose than to be a link in the deep storyline that is presented to you. And yes, the story is deep, and it will be quite the challenge for young Seto as he looks for companions in this post-apocalyptic world.

Seto is controlled by pointing the wiimote at the television as if it were his flashlight... and since the majority of the world is in darkness, the game acquires a chilling feeling found only in horror games. By pressing forward on the nunchuck, he moves toward the point of light of his flashlight. This isn't the easiest of controls to use, but it will soon become second nature after just a few minutes of play. Turning around is a challenge, however, and this is the only fault of the movement system. Several times I found myself trying to turn around quickly but unable to do so quickly.

This is where the game excels. The animeish characters look enchanting and are really memorable. And while the eyes and mouths are not overly emphasised, each one displays a range of emotion just through their body language. The backgrounds are memorable and well crafted... and even though you can't interact with everything, it does show a desolated world with great success. Even the outside looks so vibrant that you can almost smell the dew and chill in the dawn air.

Now one of the great things that XSEED has done here is not ruin the backgrounds by erasing the Japanese kanji and ruining the background by putting in English... but instead they made subtle subtitles that appear when you look at words on a wall or on a sign. A class-act move. Now, every once in a while I did notice a floorboard or wall-spot flashing a brighter shade than the rest of the area, for just an instant for no apparent reason, but honestly, that's a truly minor complaint as the rest of the graphics are astounding and, dare I say, beautiful.

The music is just as lovely as the graphics are, and is another high-point for this title. The music fits perfectly with the story and it never gets old. I usually get tired with music in games as they repeat, but throughout this game I left the volume up, not only to hear the characters speak, but to listen to the music as it brings you deeper into the game. The music didn't try to become a bigger element in the title, but was content on only enhancing it. And if video game soundtracks are your thing, then you'll be happy to know that you can purchase the official soundtrack on iTunes for a very decent price.

Seto, Ren, and the personal frame were all done by amazing voice actors. Their recital of the lines felt natural and it was well worth listening to. But one of the problems was the lengthy pauses that were placed throughout their speech patterns after commas. And, as a personal plea, will someone please tell these gaming companies that it really is ok to hire children to voice children? I am so tired of listening to women do their best little girl voice and failing miserably.

While Fragile Dreams has an incredible storyline and amazing graphics, it is the gameplay where it falls desperately short. Combat is simple and unimpressive. There is a great deal of hand-holding at the beginning of the game compared to other RPGs. The enemies are not too challenging at the beginning of ther game, but get brutally difficult later on. Now, some of the tasks that Seto must fulfill are sometimes a bit confusing, even though there is a map on the screen, and it can be simple to get lost in what you need to do next. Luckily, picking up the wiimote and holding it like a telephone will sometimes enable one of your companions to give you a hint as to where to go next.

Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed this game. Its story-line, while a bit slow at times, really made you feel isolated and kept the feel of the game dark and foreboding. It made you feel quite alone while successfully keeping the spooky factor high. The characters were a complete draw-in for me and I felt true emotion for them. And if a game can make me feel emotions for the characters... then it's a game that usually sticks hard into my memory.

If you like story driven JRPGs and don't mind exchanging a complex combat system for amazing characters, visuals, and a deep storyline... then 'Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins on the Moon' is a game that will entertain and amaze you. XSEED has quickly become one of the companies that I consistently watch to see what they are bringing out next. Their dedication to gaming and accurate translations make them a heavy-hitter in today's market.