The DS has become the system to have
for fans of old-school dungeon-crawling RPGs. Whether you’re into roguelikes,
like Izuna and Shiren the Wanderer, or traditional Western-style RPGs like
Etrian Odyssey, Nintendo’s little system has got you covered. Up till now,
though, most of the dungeon crawls have been fairly standard in style and
execution, taking relatively minor liberties with the classic formulas. Away:
Shuffle Dungeon, from Mistwalker isn’t like this. It’s a dungeon-crawler that
doesn’t remotely resemble any other game in the genre. And while some might not
like the changes it’s made, it’s certainly a unique experience.
The game takes place in Webb
Village, a small but bustling town. For the last hundred years, the villagers
have had to deal with a mysterious phenomenon they refer to as the Away: every
so often, a villager will simply disappear, never to return. It’s happened 99
times over the last century, and everyone’s anxiously awaiting its next attack.
But when the Away tries to abduct Sword — the game’s 17-year-old amnesiac hero —
his friend/love interest Anella jumps in the way, deflecting the mysterious
force. So instead of taking Sword, Away takes Anella instead, along with the
entire population of Webb — even the houses and shops are destroyed in the
attack. Sword is left alone in the village, but soon discovers that he can
retrieve the townspeople from Away by traversing the mysterious dungeons that
have started appearing all over town.
Sword washed up on the shores of Webb two
years before the game begins,
and quickly became friends with the kind-hearted Anella.
These dungeons are the real stars of
the game. Each dungeon is displayed across both screens. Like the title implies,
the game’s major gimmick is the way one of the screens “shuffles” every few
seconds — the dungeon layout that was there disappears, and is replaced with a
new set of walls, enemies, switches, and treasure chests. On each dungeon level,
the screens shuffle in and out in a specific order, and you’ll have to memorize
which sections follow which in order to make it through to the next floor. It’s
an interesting mechanic that definitely keeps the dungeon exploring intense —
since being caught on a screen as it shuffles knocks you back to the start of
the floor, you’ll have to move quick if you want to progress. The game forces
you to think on your feet — with three seconds to the next shuffle, is that
treasure chest worth the risk? — leading to a much more frenetic experience than
your standard dungeon crawl.
When either the top or bottom screen
starts shaking and the timer gets low, it’s time to move.
No dungeon would be complete without
plenty of monsters to face off against — Away uses a simple action combat system
for fighting enemies. The A button lets you bust out physical attacks, and
repeated presses let you chain together a basic combo. Your other attack options
come courtesy of the fupongs, little blob-like magical creatures that Sword
discovers in the dungeons. Fupongs follow you around, and pressing X uses their
magical abilities. There are four types — reds cast fire magic, blues create ice
shields, greens heal Sword, and yellows grant electric attacks. There’s a basic
monster-raising minigame involving the fupongs — you can feed them different
foods to increase their abilities, both in strength and in how often you can use
them. The combat in Away is about as straightforward as it gets, but the game’s
not really about fighting; enemies in this game are there more to serve as
dangerous obstacles, to get in the way when you’re trying to escape a screen at
the last second.
Your fupongs follow close behind you,
their appearance changing as they get more powerful.
Outside of the dungeons, the game
uses a 3D graphical style and viewpoint similar to Animal Crossing’s. As you
rescue the citizens of Webb they return to the village, rebuilding their shops
and homes. There’s a little bit of Dark Cloud-style world building here, as you
can choose where to rebuild each particular building, and certain locations can
help or hinder the shops or houses you choose to place there. By collecting
special items in dungeons, you can level up the various shops and facilities
around town, causing them to stock more powerful items as the game goes on.
The game’s biggest problem is how
little there is to do outside of exploring the shuffle dungeons. Sure, you can
interact with the townspeople a little bit (which can reveal cute storyline
side-elements, like the rival shop owners who are both in love with the town’s
fortune teller), or spend some time powering up your fupongs, but usually
there’s nothing really to hold your interest besides pursuing the next dungeon.
So your enjoyment of the game will really boil down to your enjoyment of the
shuffle dungeons themselves. And while the shuffle mechanic is clever, it never
really evolves past the gimmick stage into something compelling enough to build
an entire game around. The puzzles never get all that challenging, and each
dungeon is just three floors deep, so just about the time you’re getting
interested, you’ve reached the end.
At least the game looks and sounds
polished. The game overall uses a colorful, blocky cartoon style that’s unique
and attractive. The 3D overworld looks good on the DS, and the characters have a
nice cel-shading, which supports the look of the game. The 2D dungeons look
pretty good, although some of the dungeon floors look kind of cut-and-paste. The
dungeon shuffle is a cool graphical effect, and the monsters all feature
interesting designs. The audio elements are one of the highlights of the game;
the score comes courtesy of the legendary Nobou Uematsu, and is easily as
beautiful as any DS RPG out there.
Mistwalker has come up with an
appealing and unique take on the dungeon crawler genre, they just didn’t develop
it deeply enough to move it past the gimmick stage. With a little more depth and
challenge, Away: Shuffle Dungeon could have been an exciting and distinctive
alternative to the standard dungeon crawl experience. As it stands, though, it’s
simply an interesting but flawed mutation of the genre.
Gameplay: 6.8
Make your way through the game’s various “shuffle dungeons”, being careful to
move quickly to stay one step ahead of the clock. The central idea — the
constantly-changing dungeon floors — is strong, but never moves past the gimmick
stage into true innovation. Combat and exploration are too simple to ever really
grab your attention.
Graphics: 7.8
The blocky art style is certainly unique, and the 3D elements are fairly
impressive for a DS title. The 2D dungeons look good, too, but there’s a little
too much repetition in the dungeon designs.
Sound: 8.2
There’s a little bit of voice work in the game, which is nice, and sound effects
are your standard fantasy fare. The music is great — Uematsu shows us once again
why he is one of the most celebrated game composers of all time. The game’s
score is sweeping, epic, and emotional.
Difficulty: Medium
The shuffling mechanic can take a little getting used to, and the quick movement
and sure navigation required to make it through each level can get fairly
challenging. That said, combat’s a breeze, even against bosses, and once you’ve
determined the shuffle order for a given dungeon floor then it’s relatively
simple to make it through.
Concept: 9.2
The central idea to the game — the shuffling dungeon floors — is a genius use of
the DS’s two screens and a great innovation on the genre. While the execution
doesn’t use the concept to its full potential, the mechanic is still pretty
brilliant.
Overall: 7.2
Away: Shuffle Dungeon has a lot of charm and a great central gameplay system,
but the gameplay is too shallow and simple to ever really draw the player in.
It’s a cute, simple dungeon crawler with a great gimmick, but unfortunately it
never really becomes anything more.
