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Contact (video game)

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Contact
The Japanese cover art for Contact.
Developer(s)Grasshopper Manufacture
Publisher(s)Marvelous Interactive (JP)
Atlus (NA)
Designer(s)Akira Ueda
Platform(s)Nintendo DS
ReleaseJapan March 30, 2006
United States October 17 2006[1]
Europe October 2006[2]
Genre(s)RPG
Mode(s)Single player / Multiplayer game for up to 8 players.[3]

Contact is a game published by Marvelous Entertainment in Japan on March 30, 2006 and by Atlus in North America on October 19, 2006. The game was developed by Grasshopper Manufacture, the group responsible for Killer7.

Storyline

The story begins with the Professor flying through space, fleeing from a mysterious enemy known only as the Klaxon Army. He ends up crash landing on a strange planet, scattering the "cells" that power his ship, preventing him from getting his ship off the ground. He enlists the help of Terry, a young boy who mistakenly came with him. Terry agrees to help the Professor and sets out with a mysterious set of "Decals" from the Professor. Helping the Professor is the only way that Terry will be able to get home. However, as the game progresses the Professor's intentions are slowly thrown deeper and deeper into question. One of the more remarkable things about the storyline is the inclusion of the player as a separate character from those appearing on screen. Throughout the game, the Professor will talk directly to the player, to give hints on how to control Terry.

Gameplay

In Contact, the Professor knows about the existence of the player by talking directly to him in order for the player to execute actions to help Terry.[3] The game also differs from ordinary RPGs in that experience gain is instantaneous, meaning that leveling up in the middle of a battle is required, complementing the real time combat system.[3] Rather than the tradition in RPGs where a character "levels up" increasing multiple statistics at once and making the character stronger after fighting in battles and gaining experience points, in Contact's experience system Terry's over 30 statitistics increase individually as he performs different actions.[4] For instance, when Terry takes damage, his defense increases; as he damages an enemy, his strength increases. This system is similar to Final Fantasy II, the SaGa series of games, and the popular online game, RuneScape.

Contact makes use of two main gameplay systems. Giving the game somewhat of a loose connection with Killer7 is a costume system[5] through which the player makes Terry change into different costumes, earning new skills along the way. Up to eight[6] costumes can be obtained throughout the adventure, turning Terry into such forms as a fisherman, a cook, and a pilot. With greater use, a costume will add extra powers to its associated skills and statistics, including elemental magic and magical properties. For instance, the Aqua suit increases Terry's water magic power and defense.

Outside of the costume-based skills, Terry also has weapon-based skills. These weapons can be gathered as the player and Terry work through the game. There are many weapons including fist (gloves), blunt (clubs and staves), and slashing weapons (swords). Each skill can be upgraded by using each type of weapon throughout the game. Each enemy has its own weakness it is susceptible to, so some of Contact's strategy involves switching to the appropriate weapon to exploit an enemy's weakpoint. This system resembles a variant of Secret of Mana and Vagrant Story's weapon-strengthening system.

The last gameplay system centers on the "Decals" or stickers. The player can stick multiple "Decals" to Terry, resulting in added powers. "Decals" can also be used to attack enemies, heal the character's wounds, and other functions of combat.[7]

There are other statistics that affect Terry's relationship with the game's non-playable characters (NPC), including fame, courage, and karma. As the character can attack any NPC at will, there is a level of freedom not found in other typical console RPGs.[citation needed] As animosity towards Terry grows, townsfolk actually start to attack Terry on the street.

As indicated by the game's director,[8] the main storyline provides a framework of diversions, or minigames. Which harken back to Atari 2600-style graphics, and include a side-scrolling RPG reminiscent of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest and an F-1 racing game.[citation needed]

Online connectivity

The game makes use of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection much like Animal Crossing: Wild World. In the single player adventure, upon reaching the WiFisland, all friends who have been contacted through friend codes appear as non-playable characters, sharing tips and items.[9] Up to 8 players can be stored as NPCs in the WiFisland.[10]

Visual style

File:ContactScreenshot1.jpg
Contact's dichotomy of art styles

The game has a simple, pixelated style on the top screen, reminiscent of the Commodore 64 and the Mother series of role-playing games (RPGs). The top screen is where the professor will observe and offer assistance to the main character, a boy named Terry (as well as the player controlling him), who moves around on the bottom screen. The bottom screen has a pre-rendered, lavishly detailed art style. When the professor goes onto the bottom screen, or vice versa, these styles clash in an interesting way.

This differenciation has been done purposely as it underlines how the player and the Professor are aliens to each other. They must make contact, communicate and co-operate to make it through the game,[8] and to create feelings of nostalgia; just like the interplay between the "real" and "game" worlds.[11]

According to Akira Ueda, Contact's director, the game uses the touchscreen in several ways through the game.

We've endeavoured to use as many of the DS' features as we could, but not in an obvious way. Our philosophy was 'How can we use these fantastic features properly?'. We wanted them to work for the story rather than dictate it, which is something we feel is incredibly important for an original concept like Contact.[8]

Reception

Gamebrink qualified the game with 9.0 points out of 10.0, comparing the statistics and level systems to games like Oblivion.[12] The site praised the story, job system and, especially, the music, but defined the battles as "fairly shallow."[13] On the other hand, the game recieved a 6.5 out of 10 in the November 2006 issue of Nintendo Power. Its major complaints were that the game was "frustrating because your objectives are often obtuse and unintuitive and the game can be brutally difficult."

Trivia

  • In an early promotion for Contact, the Professor was actually mistaken for Doctor Andonuts of the Mother series.[14]
  • During the opening credits, the game displays the text "Marverous Interactive", an example of Engrish.

References

  1. ^ "Contact". Atlus. Retrieved 2006-09-05.
  2. ^ "Search page". Nintendo of Europe. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  3. ^ a b c "Contact". Atlus. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  4. ^ "Stat System". Marvelous Interactive. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  5. ^ "The Costume Change System". Marvelous Interactive. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  6. ^ "Basic System". Marvelous Interactive. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  7. ^ "The Decal system opens up a wide range of possibilities". Marvelous Interactive. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  8. ^ a b c Jon Jordan (2006-04-18). "Making contact with Contact's makers". Pocket Power Media Ltd. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  9. ^ Mark Bozon (2006-08-22). "Contact Hands-On". IGN. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  10. ^ "Wi-Fi is expanding the world of Contact!". Marvelous Interactive. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  11. ^ Akira Ueda. "A very special message". Marvelous Interactive. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  12. ^ Bebpo. "Contact (Japan)". Gamebrink. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  13. ^ Bebpo. "Contact (Japan)". Gamebrink. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  14. ^ "Mysterious Countdown". Starmen.net. Retrieved 2006-09-07.
Official sites
Unofficial sites
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