There was a
time when gamers turned to RPGs for great storytelling. They’d spend 40+ hours
fighting through massive dungeons just for a few minutes of CG movies and an
hour or two worth of text. Though you’d spend most of the journey playing
the game, it was the story that ensured you’d be there till the very end,
regardless of repetition or unexpected annoyances.
Soul Nomad and
the World Eaters, another strategy/RPG from the long list of NIS releases,
ponders the opposite. There are story segments, voice-overs and the common batch
of SNES-style graphics. But Soul Nomad is not your typical strategy/RPG – this
is a game you’ll watch more than you play.
Where Nomad
Has Gone Before
Soul Nomad
combines several different RPG elements for a semi-enjoyable, semi-unique
experience. Revya, the main character, may be male or female. The game unfolds
similarly regardless of that character’s sex, but I’ll refer to Revya as a guy
for consistency purposes. Once you’ve gotten through the opening sequence, the
game introduces Revya’s best friend, a girl named Danette. The two argue and
quickly end up on a grid-based battlefield. Soul Nomad looks pretty common at
this point. You won’t have seen anything out of the ordinary (yet, but
everything is on the same level of quality as the other NIS strategy/RPGs.
Players attack,
use items and special moves by moving along the grid as in any other
strategy/RPG. Close (melee) attacks can only be executed when your character is
standing next to the enemy. Projectile attacks have a slight distance advantage,
but neither Revya nor Danette has that ability.
When an attack
has been made, most strategy games show the effect right there on the grid. But
in Soul Nomad you are transported to a side-scrolling battle view. No controls
are used at this point – these attack visuals are not to be altered mid-action.
As the attacker, you move first. Your opponent retaliates immediately afterwards
from the same side-scrolling view, and vice versa when you’re the one being
attacked. Thus, in a one-on-one battle, each character has two chances to strike
(even though you are only entitled to one attack per turn).
A look at Soul Nomad’s battle map.
But you won’t
be limited to one-on-one battles for long. The game quickly introduces its
manikin system, Soul Nomad’s version of the unit creation system found in
Disgaea and other strategy/RPGs. Manikins serve two important roles: they can be
added to your party and be used to form new parties. This is possible because
each attack group, referred to as a “room,” can store a specified number of
units. Rooms show up on the battle grid as individual units. The unit shown is
your captain, the most important unit in each room. If he or she is killed in
battle, that room is destroyed. You can get it back after the battle has been
won, but it cannot be used until then. If Revya dies the game automatically
ends.
Rooms are
“designed,” as the game says, by placing manikins (and any main characters) on
any of the available spaces. These character slots are randomized and fall under
one of three categories: front (F), middle (M), or rear (R). If your room can
hold four units, the setup is likely to have two Fs, one M and one R. But you
could end up with one F and three Rs or some other combination. Unit position is
an invaluable part of each battle for two reasons: (1) It determines who
receives each attack and (2) each unit has a different attack style, or no
attack at all, for each position.
Thus, you may
want to stick your Clerics in back because they cast Heal All from that
position. They’ll only heal one character from the middle position, and perform
Big Strike (a basic attack) when placed up front.
Once the room
is moved into attack position, the game takes charge and performs each move for
the player. All room inhabitants perform their moves automatically. Ally spells
(such as Heal All) are cast first; attacks (including spells against the enemy)
are performed second. This also applies to when you receive an attack – you’ll
be hit first, then your Cleric(s) cast their appropriate spells, and then your
other party members attack.
Next on the Soul Nomad Broadcasting Network: Extreme Room
Makeover.
I’ve Got
Soul. But I’m Not a Soldier.
The first five
hours are exciting, original, and will keep you engaged. It’s a very consuming
experience … until it runs out of gas. First of all, the story doesn’t go to any
spectacular places. You may like the characters but you’ll never love them –
you’ll never feel like their life or death is overly important.
That’s because
Gig, the can’t-be-killed scumbag that’s taken over the main character’s body,
plays the part of the main character. It’s supposed to be Revya, but Revya is
supposed to be you (the player), who is possessed by Gig. And you can’t
speak. Therefore Revya receives no voice-overs and speaks (in text) only when
necessary, which is usually when he needs to answer a rhetorical question. Gig,
however, constantly insults everyone around him. As a villain, he’s not supposed
to be likable. But he doesn’t feel like a villain, not when you are in control
of the one he possesses. None of these elements – nor the annoying voice track
from characters like Levin, who I wish would just shut up – make for a great
story.
Second, the
game isn’t very effective at being a strategy/RPG. Most turn-based strategy
games allow players to move their units at any time during their turn. Soul
Nomad acts like a standard RPG by making every character’s turn separate. This
doesn’t sound like a big issue until you have one unit standing in front of an
enemy you’d like to attack. Suppose that in this case your unit – the one
currently under your control – can only reach the enemy from one spot on the
grid, the same spot that’s blocked by an ally. That ally cannot be moved until
his turn. Therefore you’re stuck with what you’ve got. You can’t exchange
places, you can’t attack the enemy, and you’re most likely going to lose a few
party members as a result.
Third, the
gameplay can be broken down to quick moments where you make a selection (ex:
move Revya next to an enemy and attack) and lengthy moments where you are left
to sit and watch the action develop on screen. The average attack viewing time
per room, against or from the enemy, is 17 seconds. You will usually fight more
than 5 rooms per battle. Most battles involve a minimum of 8-10 turns before
completion, but let’s be fair and assume that the best players will conquer most
battles in 5 turns.
Do the math –
that’s still 5 x 5 x 17 seconds = 425 seconds, or roughly 7 minutes of time
spent watching the game per battle. Mind you, this is an extremely
conservative estimate that only considers the enemy’s attacks when there are
only 5 enemy rooms. It does not consider your own attacks, which add to the
watch time, nor does it consider the times when you’re fighting more than 10
enemies. More often than not, you’ll spend more than 20 minutes of each battle
watching the game play itself. If these moments were filled with interesting
story developments, it might be a welcome addition. But since this viewing is
only dedicated to gameplay, you won’t stay excited – or engaged – for very long.
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Gameplay: 6.0
Fun at first but not
for long, Soul Nomad doesn’t have enough “play” in its gameplay.
Graphics:
6.0
Not the best
character models. Most of what this game presents could’ve been done on the SNES.
I know that’s the trend for PS2 RPGs. But while some games make effective use of
old graphics, Soul Nomad just looks dated.
Sound: 7.0
Good music that’s
over played. The voice acting is a mixed bag of quality and annoyances, but the
bland story leaves few reasons to care either way.
Difficulty: Medium
Soul Nomad isn’t
like most RPGs, which give you a way to level up your party at any time or
place. By being restricted (and forced to endure many difficult battles without
first upgrading), Soul Nomad’s challenges are significant.
Concept: 7.0
A great concept that
took a turn for the worst, Soul Nomad’s side-scrolling battle animations are too
long for their own good.
Overall: 6.2
Soul Nomad appeared
to have a lot going for it. The gameplay was interesting and fairly different
from the norm, and the story seemed to have promise. But it isn’t long before
you realize that the game isn’t going anywhere. The story developments and
battle viewing are not much more than a process. Games need to be a bit more
than that, especially when you’re expected to stick with the journey for 30+
hours.
