Welcome to the world of Opoona! In this playful RPG for the Wii you play as the titular character, Opoona. It is a story about becoming more mature, and taking on responsibility, but is it worth playing? In this review I will cover the game’s features in a spoiler free analysis in order to give you an idea of how it plays.
THE STORY
The story begins as Opoona, his two siblings, parents, and coworkers are on a voyage to another planet for vacation. The game opening as well as interactions will lead you to believe this may be a work related trip for Opoona’s parents. Disaster strikes shortly before arriving and in the aftermath Opoona is separated from his siblings, and his parents have fallen into a coma.
Magic healing crystals can be used to awaken Opoona’s parents, however this world uses them as money and as such, the amount needed is more than the government is willing to spare.
The solution is part of the problem. Apparently, in this world, everybody works. Even possibly orphaned children who just had their vacations tragically cut short before it began. Apparently, instead of sending them home, or putting them with guardians they decide to toss them head first into their society.
Because Opoona is a Tizan with a Pom Pom on top of his head, Opoona is decided to be best suited for a job as a ranger. When a Tizan has a Pom Pom for their feet instead, they are sages. At this point, two major plot holes become apparent.
First, Tizan are forbidden from participating in combat before adulthood. This is probably because they pass out when in combat for 2 minutes when so young. More information on that later.
Second, at this point, the society Opoona has been dropped in seems to be, well, evil. If you stopped to think about it, they took this kid, told him his parents won’t wake up unless he earns a ton of money, won’t let him see his brother or sister until he’s worked long enough, and the work they are giving him breaks the established law of his home world.
While on the surface it is a cheerful looking game, this darker undertone makes things more uncomfortable for those aware of it.
COMBAT
The combat system in Opoona appears to be interesting and involved at first glance. Using the Wii-mote you can direct the angle Opoona will throw his Pom Pom in order to hit multiple enemies or hit from behind.
Trying it out firsthand, I can say this is not quite true. You can select the angle you throw, but that is about it. You hit the enemies that happen to be along the path at the time the Pom Pom gets to that point,
Only two minutes per battle does not give much time to experiment or play around. Combat is serious business. Hit them as fast as you can and hope not to run out of time. Considering that the combat system is inherently playful, this seems to clash with it’s self making a potentially fun and creative system feel rushed and simplistic.
JOBS
There is a job system in this game. During the game, Opoona may need access to areas that are off limits to a Ranger, even though he needs to go there. The solution is to get a new job so you can go there.
One of the first jobs aside from Ranger Opoona gets is in fast food. you essentially get a mini-game where you memorize orders and serve them. Won’t go into detail on others to avoid possible spoilers, but it does seem to once again jar the willing suspension of disbelief that even though your job is to kill monsters, you need to have skills as a waiter to do your job.
MAP
Or rather, lack of map. While playing, the only map you have is on the pause menu, and it lacks any active tracking. Likely this is done so you have to use landmarks like with a real map, however the lack of a compass and even a personal marker makes getting lost extraordinarily easy. The game also has this habit of telling Opoona to move to a new area just as you would start to get used to moving around the current one. This also could be deliberate in order to maintain the sence that you are lost in a strange world. Personally though, it is annoying.
SUMMARY
Overall, Opoona OK in concept, but it could have used a little more touching up on nearly all aspects. The game is filled with potential that leaves a sour note in realizing that nearly none of the potential is ever reached.