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 Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2010 5:48 pm
Howdy folks! Laharl here with another review! This time on a Japanese import. Except this import has already been sent to the Americas. So, why would I be playing the Japanese import? While the english version is the same gameplay wise, the Japanese has a different soundtrack, which means different songs, WHICH MEANS, different gameplay. That and my friend doesn't have the english version. xd
You might know the game as Elite Beat Agents. Well then, let's get to the review!
Gameplay
The backbone and most important part of any game. Ouendan is a rhythm game. You have a set of colored numbers inside of a circle. You press the numbers in order. However, you only press them when another circle overlaps them. Thus, you have to time it to the beat of the song. When going from one number to the next, there may be tiny dots directing you to the next number. These dots represent the time lapse you need to press the next number. An assist if you will.
Sometimes the number will have a long line attatched to it. When you press the number, a ball will appear, as will dots on the attatched line, and a constant circle over the ball, You need to keep your stylus on the ball as it moves. If there is an arrow at the end of the line, then the ball will make another trip through the line again, except backwards. If the end if empty, this means you can let go when it ends. So you need to pay attention to the end, and where to be ready to press next.
Finally, you will sometimes have a giant circle appear. You will have to rotate your stylus as fast you can to get the bars in the background to reach the top. If you spin it faster than anticipated, you'll get bonus points. All of this follows along with the songs beat.
Now let me warn you. This may sound simple, but this game IS NOT EASY. At all. I don't know if this apples to EBA as well. but in Ouendan, perfection is important. A perfect being when you get 300 points for pressing a button. 100 is when you get somewhat close and 50 is when you just "barely" made it. At the top of the touch screen is a bar. It is divided in red and yellow. When the bar is in yellow, this means you're doing okay. When it moves into the red, this means you're about to fail obviously. On easy mode, you generally don't have to worry about it, as getting 100 the whole song will keep you safe. Anything past this is another story.
300 will make the bar go towards the yellow again. 100 will not make the bar move. 50 will make the bar go down slightly. Missing will kill the bar by a huge chunk. When you aren't pushing a button on the higher difficulties, then the bar is constantly moving down. Which means you NEED to be getting 300's What usually results is missing one button, and throwing off your rhythm, and causing you to fail. Even if you do OK throughout most of it, one mistake is all thats needed to throw off your victory at the songs end. I have yet to beat the game on the second difficulty (Hard). And as expected, the placement and sequence of buttons change drastically depending on the difficulty. So some songs will be a matter of trial and error, and knowing when to press the button, and in what order.
Let me reiterate: THIS GAME IS NOT EASY. This game is VERY hard. I will not lie. I wanted to stab my stylus into my leg on one particular song on Hard (Which I have yet to beat.) This game will try your patience, and ultimately your skill. However, that does not mean the game is unfair. 90% of the time, the screw ups will be your fault, as you might be off-beat by a fraction of a second. But this is also what will cause you to lose in the song. Which is why it is so hard, because nothing is more irritating that getting a 50 on your last breath and failing because you were a fraction of a second late.
The other 10% is the game. In some songs, the rhythm of the button presses feel as though they're "off" by a quarter of a second. This can lead to a few unnecessary screw ups.
Now let me make one thing clear: While it seems as though I am bashing it, I must mention: This game is VERY addicting. The game is very simple, but also very fun. There's nothing more satisfying than seeing that 300 streak you got and still going on.
The game is not easy. But this is a good thing, because you certainly wont breeze through it. It requires actual skill and practice through failures. It's daunting, yes. But I shouted in happiness when I finally completed a tough song. It was good feeling, and a feeling I haven't felt in games for a while.
Music
Now, I'm not of Japanese descent, so I couldn't tell you if these songs are good by the standards of the Japanese, but most songs are very catchy and fun to listen to. Some songs include a single from Yaida Hitomi, while the final song in the game...well, it's a surprise smile I'll write it in white for the curious, but if you plan to play this game, you'll love the last song. (Especially anime fans.) Ready Steady Go! by L'arc-en-Ciel. AKA the opening song from Full Metal Alchemist the original. The songs are catchy enough to be listenable to over and over. Songs range from heavy rock, to light love songs. While some are hip-hop, and some are just plain...weird. It's a nice diversity of song choice.
But the problem is, there are only 13 songs to choose from. Which I'm guessing is lack of space on the DS. It is still disappointing however. I suppose this is why the game is so difficult. And you'll probably get annoyed the next time you hear the song that gave you trouble, since the bad memories will flow back. razz
Story
You play as the Ouendan (literally: Cheer Squad. Meaning a bunch of guys who cheer.) Your goal is to go around the city and help the citizens who are...well...unfortunate. For example, you have to cheer on a little boy who wants to win over a girl he really likes. Problem is, he's a big sweaty nerd who isn't very athletic. Plus the coolest kid in school is in love with her as well. And how do they decide who gets the girl? Dodgeball of course! So you have to cheer him on by helping the Ouendan dance to the song. The stories are all out there, and presented in Manga form on the top screen.
What's cool, is even non-speakers will understand the story through the drawings. I can't speak or read a lick of Japanese, but I could navigate the menus and understand the storyline trough the pictures. I might be off a bit, but I'm pretty sure I got the idea.
All of their stories become connected at the end, which leads to a very epic ending with an awesome song to back it up. The story is fun, and simple (?) with lots of Kanji characters, so you'll have to have a bit of experience in Japanese to read it. The stories all range from silly, to serious, and even to a love story. (It's also pretty weird, but still.)
Now, during the game, the story will progress differently. For example, if you get to the next story part while in the red, you'll watch as your citizen you're helping screw up royally. If they're in the yellow, they'll be given a boost of confidence, and do something they couldn't do normally. Now, this won't change the ending, but it makes it fun to see how each story progresses by your actions.
Graphics
Since it's Japanese, you should expect to see a lot of rich and beautiful drawings of all the characters. The in game sprites are done beautifully. Their dancing is also done well, and doesn't look clunky or off. Unfortunately, with the chaos going on below screen, I couldn't tell what was going on above screen, but from what I noticed it looks very good. On the bottom screen, there are a lot of colors happening at once, yet they never really get in the way.
In short, there's nothing wrong with them, and they fit the overall theme of the game.
Overall
If you like rhtyhm games, this one's for you. If you like Japanese humor and music, this ones for you. If you want something simple yet challenging and difficult, but is easy to pick up and play, this one's for you. Really, it's hard not to recommend this game. You'll be getting mad at the harder difficulties, and you'll have fun doing it.
Recommended? Yes. You'll be better off buying it at Ebay or Amazon. Since it's a Japanese game, prepare to pay $30, even though the game came out in 2005. But trust me: It's worth it.
Hope you enjoyed!
TLDR;
Gameplay: Fun but very difficult. Addicting. 90% of problems are your own, 10% the game for seemingly being off beat on a couple songs.
Music: Good and varied with an awesome treat at the end of the game. However, disappointed at the small number of songs.
Story: Quirky, weird, and fun. You'll enjoy it even if it is in Japanese, as the pictures tell the story pretty well. Enough to get the gist of it anyways.
Overall: Good for almost anyone who likes music based games, and Japanese media. Non-Japanese will enjoy it, too.
Go buy it NAO.
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Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 12:06 pm
I LOVE EBA, and I was fortunate enough to play a little bit of this game when I borrowed it from a friend. I totally agree that the last song is EPIC. I'm curious about the sequel they came out with though, since I'm also kinda wishing that they would make an EBA sequel over here...
One thing about the giant circles though...I hate them. Aside from the fact that some of them are kinda difficult, I suspect that they played a part in messing up my DS's touch screen to an extent. I can't really do it lightly... sweatdrop
Read into that innuendo as much as you want, kids ninja
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GoldDiggingWhore Vice Captain
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