PSN Exclusive RPG Rainbow Moon IGN Review
Link: http://ca.ign.com/articles/2012/06/30/rainbow-moon-review
SideQuest Studios may be an unknown quantity to most gamers, but for the hardcore PlayStation Network audience, the small German developer has made a name for itself. Its two previous titles -- side-scrolling shooters known as Soldner X and Soldner X-2 – were popular forays into a retro genre. And for its third outing, SideQuest Studios decided to throw a curveball in the form of an equally retro RPG called Rainbow Moon.
Rainbow Moon may have a deceptive name suggesting that it’s more of an ‘80s cartoon than a hardcore role playing experience, but rest assured that it’s very much the latter. Taking inspiration from a variety of games from the past, Rainbow Moon combines obsessive grinding, equipment and character upgrading with strategy-based battling. While it doesn’t quite soar to the heights occupied by the best RPGs ever created, it’s still a worthwhile purchase for those looking to dump scores of hours into something that we don’t see too much of today: a bona fide old-school RPG
The plot of Rainbow Moon is simple and, like many old-school RPGs, largely unimportant. The game’s protagonist, Baldren, finds himself stranded on a mystical satellite aptly known as Rainbow Moon. The same dimensional rip that deposited him there also brought a plethora of monsters to the once serene moon, and it’s up to him, along with the various characters that join him on his adventure, to rid the moon of its unwelcome new inhabitants before getting back home. Don’t expect a story in the vein of Final Fantasy VI or Wild Arms here; Rainbow Moon emphasizes mechanics and gameplay far more than plot. Mountains of roughly-translated (yet strangely endearing) text and an almost complete lack of character development affirm this fact.
As soon as the game begins, it becomes impossible to ignore Rainbow Moon’s crisp graphics and vivid colors. Sure, the character designs leave something to be desired, but the enemies you fight might as well have been lifted straight out of Dragon Warrior on your NES. Battle a poison-hurling scorpion here, a laser-firing mech there, or a fast-moving zombie in another locale; the variety of enemies is fairly vast, but expect palate swaps as enemy types get stronger (no doubt a nod to the RPG glory days of yore). Rainbow Moon also benefits from a strong soundtrack with some truly catchy tunes and a limited voice track that gives virtually all characters you speak with quirky “hello” and “goodbye” sound bytes bound to put a smile on your face with their ridiculousness.
But let’s get down to the nitty-gritty: gameplay and, more succinctly, combat. As you explore, you’ll run into enemies both directly (like in Chrono Trigger) and via random battles (like in Final Fantasy IV). Regardless of how an enemy party is engaged, things typically play out the same way. Your party – which can consist of up to three characters at a time – will be pitted against a hostile crew that may only contain a single enemy, 20 enemies, or anywhere in between. Even if the way you initially get launched into battle proves conventional, the actual fights themselves are anything but.
Don’t assume you’re going to get a deep combat experience like Final Fantasy Tactics here, but you’ll still get something very much inspired by that kind of game. Turn-based combat plays out on a grid, forcing you to think more tactically than many other games in the genre. Your characters will have various skills at their disposal, varying speeds at which they move, and even a certain amount of moves they get to execute each turn. Enemy and character strengths and weaknesses also play a huge part in combat. Fighting is only marginally deep, but still exceptionally satisfying and quite different from what you’d find in other likeminded games.
Outside of battle, Rainbow Moon assaults players with all manner of options, upgrades, equipment and more. The game’s two currency types – Rainbow Coins and Rainbow Pearls – serve different purposes that make your party stronger in equally different ways. Coins purchase items, weapons, armor, skill scrolls and more, while Pearls upgrade specific character traits ranging from strength and defense to speed and luck. Purchased equipment can be further upgraded by using items found during and after battle. These items provide varying types of permanent statistical boosts to your gear that can make a strong character setup even stronger.
All of these features mix seamlessly with a fairly straight-forward questing and side-questing system that’s shallow on story but still fun to work your way through. The main quest often sends you from character to character for brief conversations, an occasional fetch quest or a foray into a deadly dungeon. Side quests have you doing all kinds of activities, from retrieving lost items to killing devious enemies. Combined with Rainbow Moon’s vast map to explore – rife with geographic diversity and plenty of territory to cover – the game is dense. For the audience that this game is aimed squarely at, that’s a good thing.
At the end of the day, the rub with Rainbow Moon is that it’s a time investment, and it’s not a time investment those of you who don’t like grinding RPGs will want to make. But for those of you that do enjoy a solid, old-school grind, spending time with Rainbow Moon is time well spent, especially considering Rainbow Moon costs a meager $15. Put bluntly, that’s a hell of a value. Put more bluntly, Rainbow Moon is a lot of fun, and RPG fanatics should play it.
