[Wii - Member Review] Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon
Posted by phonz · Leave a Comment
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon is a game exclusively for the Nintendo Wii that was produced by XSEED Games. It’s a Post-apocalyptic adventure game that follows the story of a young boy named Seto and his journey to find other humans.
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon is a game exclusively for the Nintendo Wii that was produced by XSEED Games. It’s a Post-apocalyptic adventure game that follows the story of a young boy named Seto and his journey to find other humans.
The controls are simple enough. The nunchuck controls the characters movement, crouching/standing, and resets camera position. The Wiimote controller defines the characters direction based on where the flashlight is pointed. The “A” button is your attack button and the “B” button puts you into first person view. While in first person view mode, the “A” button is used to investigate objects that you can pick up. And finally the directional pad brings up the in-game menus.
The game’s atmosphere does a good job of establishing the fact that you are alone. You travel from one ruin to the next which are usually pitch black. Your flashlight is your only source of light at most times as you travel through the dark corridors. The level of detail in the environments is amazing. Every single bit of the environment is covered in dirt and rust from years of neglect. Some parts of the dilapidated environment prove dangerous for Seto as some floors can break from under him if he’s not careful Sometimes you find writing on the wall left there by other humans. Usually, they are pleas of help written out of loneliness or fear. Angry spirits and hostile animals impede Seto on his journey. Sounds come from the Wiimote speaker to indicate their presence. From the growls of a feral dog to the sobs of a crying woman’s spirit, each first time encounter is unsettling. It’s further compounded by the fact that you can’t see your enemies until you get close enough to shine your flashlight on them. Wild animals stay visible even when you don’t have your flashlight on them but ghost are only visible when your light stays on them.
The daytime still maintains the atmosphere of isolation but reveals how beautiful the environment can be even when everything is in ruins. Unlike most games with a post-apocalyptic setting, Fragile Dreams throws out the usual gritty, gray, brown color pallet for a vivid pallet of warm, bright colors. The daylight also tends to betray the atmosphere by allowing you to see the lines in the texture matte for some of the walls but this is insignificant compared to everything else.
Fragile’s story is very much like an anime, so if you can’t stand that style you probably won’t get this game.
The story begins after Seto’s grandfather passes away. Upon finding a note that his grandfather wrote, he sets out on his journey to find other humans and to figure out the cause of the calamity that drove humans to near extinction. Along the way, he meets and befriends several different characters and NPC’s.
You can save your progress by visiting leftover bonfires that are placed everywhere. There, you can recover your HP and reveal mystery items you might have collected along the way. Sometimes you’re also given the opportunity to buy items and weapons from the merchant. You can also manage your inventory, which is important because you have a limited amount of space for carrying items. Your inventory is organized into two categories; items you have on hand and items in your briefcase. Items you have on hand are carried in a small bag with limited space.These items can be used any time you need them. You can arrange your Items on hand with a mechanic very much like the inventory system from Resident Evil 4. If you feel that you need to make some room for your items on hand, you can discard some items during your travel. Different items take up different amounts of space so you may find yourself making the decision to leave behind a potentially valuable item to save space for far more important items, such as recovery items and weapons. The items in your briefcase can only be accessed at bonfires. While managing your inventory at a bonfire, you can chose to put items into your briefcase or take items out of your briefcase so that you may use them. Your briefcase has unlimited space so don’t worry about filling it up with all sorts of items. There are special items, called memory items, that are picked up as mystery items. When revealed at a bonfire, they are trinkets that contain the stories of survivors much like the audiologs from Bioshock. Some of the stories are the last thoughts of a dying human or the words of a deceased person just trying to leave behind proof that they existed. Other memory items are a small part of a story. These stories can be very endearing. One may find themselves searching every nook and cranny in order to find these items.
There are some problems with this game. As Seto navigates through narrow hallways, occasionally, Seto’s flashlight will freak out as it tries to shine light where the cursor is pointed. This is more prominent when turning a corner because Seto might point his flashlight behind him rather than ahead of him. Combat poses another problem. You have 4 different weapon types to chose from. The different types each have their pros and cons.
Stick type weapons have a weak attack but make up for that by enabling you to use combos.
Pole type weapons have a long reach but lack the ability to use combos. They also leave you open should an enemy sidestep your attack. You can charge up your attack by holding the attack button. This will enable you to attack everything around you.
Heavy weapons have a long wind-up time but do the most damage to enemies. The attack can also be charged up to hit enemies around you but because of the long wind-up time, you might be attacked before you can unleash your attack.
Projectile weapons have the longest range but takes away your ability to use a flashlight, making it useless against ghost type enemies.
The combat system resembles the combat system from Silent Hill. You may find yourself taking cheap hits because of the lack of an evasion system. The timing for combos is also another problem. Mashing on the “A” button will perform a weak 3 hit combo but if you time your button presses right, you can perform a stronger combo. This does lead a problem because it takes a while to get used to the timing. You may often find yourself slapping an enemy once with your stick and having them back away to attack you from a different angle. Another problem is that weapons have a durability system, but no way to tell how much damage your weapon has taken. There are times where you find yourself wondering why your weapon broke against an enemy that resembles a jellyfish while smacking your weapon against an enemy made of metal still has your weapon good for another encounter.
There is an RPG element in this game but it does nothing but change how much damage you do and how much HP you have. It doesn’t matter how high you level is, enemies still do the same amount of damage with each attack. Because of that, as well as the incomplete weapon durability system, it’s better to run away from some battles.
Although Fragile has it’s flaws, it makes up for those flaws by having a great story that will draw those who want to know it. The atmosphere and environment provide a refreshing change from the usual environment found in most post-apocalyptic games. Exploration can be tense but rewarding for those patient enough to do so. However, I’d recommend “Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon” as a rent due to its length and the fact that it’s a story driven game. The game is 15 hours long even when you look around every single bit of area. There are unlockables for beating the game but nothing to alter the gameplay. Since Fragile is a story driven game, there’s no reason to play through the game again except to find other memory items that you may have missed on your first play-through.
Comments