This intergalactic adventure sees the player taking the title role of Opoona, a youngster looking forward to his first interplanetary family vacation. Why on earth would a father take his beloved family into a dangerous environment is never fully explained, but soon enough Opoona has to abandon ship and crash land on Planet Landroll. Suffering no evident cracks, Opoona has to find a job, locate his family, pay their medical bills and develop the fighting skills associated with a descendent of the warrior Cosmo Guards.
It is refreshing to experience an RPG that shuns the cyberpunk industrial setting in favour of a gleaming, sterile and minimalist futuristic environment. This is certainly more Phantasy Star Online, Xenosaga or Burning Rangers territory than Final Fantasy. Yet Opoona does not shun the RPG traditions by including a dose of Dragon Quest style, which comes as no surprise given the heritage of the development team. ArtePiazza have tried to incorporate new elements into Opoona in the attempt to forge a 'lifestyle RPG' as suggested by the promotion jargon. Originally forged by the Harvest Moon series, Persona 3 tried a similar tact with much success and in Opoona you have to socially integrate with residents, but also contribute via working. Such a twist will not be to everyone's taste given for some an overriding need to escape the monotony of real life.
The planet of Landroll consists of domes where the residents live in reasonable luxurious and safe surroundings. These domes are spread out across the environment and feature all the facilities a civilisation requires including shopping and sporting arenas. Exploring such facilities should be fun and straightforward yet in Opoona it soon becomes extremely frustrating and soul destroying. There are several design factors responsible for this, which work in tandem to great a towering menace of annoyance.
Firstly the lack of a decent map, just like in Overlord it is small and limited, verging on being worthless. Oh, how Gamestyle would have loved the option to program your hover board or hail a cab, or just follow a directional arrow. Then the problem of the domes themselves is that moving around is mainly achieved via unmarked lifts that only move up one floor. This sees you scrambling around looking for the right one, only to loop around the facility for about ten minutes. Least we forget the game camera that is thankfully controllable, but constantly takes up positions behind walls, or outdoors shows a limited almost side on perspective.
In-between these towering domes exists the great wilderness. Here you can actively explore, gain experience through combat and perform many of the jobs available at the local centre. These areas are home to a large variety of monsters who are all equally aggressive and will attack on a regular basis as you explore the ruins. It does sound like an offline Phantasy Star doesn't it? In a way such a comment is not a criticism, as PSO is one of the finest exponents of the genre, yet here Opoona is a solitary experience. In spite of every character offering a text response it cannot hope to fill the void. The other jobs often involve roles at many of the internal establishments within each dome. The main aim of these is to earn currency but they are so badly paid and boring, that you’ll look to fighting as a more effective way to raise funds.
Many RPG’s nowadays reveal all within the first few hours, allowing you to carry on with the story, safe in the knowledge that the battle system is all you’ll have to cope with. Opoona is a slow burner, an almost bland opening few hours that will threaten to turn off many owners. Visually Opoona adopts the cel-shaded approach that has grown out of fashion of late. This combined with a decent resolution, artistic originality and graphical prowess, results in a decent looking title, certainly one of the better third party attempts on the system.
Opoona for all its positives is a by the numbers RPG that arguably has been toned down for the staple younger Nintendo Wii owner. The combat is played out in a real time confrontation (against a timer) where you simply throw your energy sphere (known as a bonbon) at each target. ArtePiazza has attempted to inject some variety into this disappointing system by allowing you to curve and toss your sphere yet it still comes down to timing and the balancing of resources. Random battles are commonplace and often you'll have to retrace your footsteps encountering the same creatures as before. The only realistic threat is that you will run out of replenishment items before your reach the sanctuary of a nearby dome.
Much has been made of the ability to use the nunchuk device to control onscreen events. Initially this does prove to be a novelty, allowing you to leave the remote on the table and direct action with a flick of the stick or occasional button. You can debate whether this is a wonderful decision or symptomatic of a game that is too straightforward for most experienced players. A key element of any RPG is the battle system and here it is sadly lacking, even if you can use the remote or classic controller there isn't much point as to why.
Within Opoona there is a really original game fighting to be discovered. Unfortunately the technical issues contained within and a mundane RPG battle system dimishes the overall gaming experience.
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