Nostalgia review

It doesn’t take long to understand the reasoning behind the game’s title. If the conventional opening sequence doesn’t quite give it away, then fighting rats in the sewer most certainly will. Nostalgia is exactly that- a tribute to RPG tradition. If you can appreciate very old school RPG gameplay, and if the sound of “highly influenced by Skies of Arcadia” intrigues you, then this may be your cup of tea.

Nostalgia takes place in the 19^th century and the neo-Victorian feel is everywhere. I was excited as soon as the opening had a credit for “airship designer”. The game starts off with Indiana Jones-inspired adventurer Gilbert Brown facing off against an armoured knight in the Tower of Babel. Yes, it is as amazing as it sounds. Brown saves a girl and gets her onto his airship, but doesn’t make it himself. It is around this point where I learned that while airships are cool, airships with giant swords at the bow are so much cooler. Now, back over at Gilbert Brown’s house, we see his son Edward (the real protagonist) and his wife receiving news that Gilbert is missing. Inevitably, “Eddie” (I wish the game would have referred to him as Edward) sets out to find his missing father. But wait- you wouldn’t dream of going on any kind of adventure without getting an adventurer license! After passing an initiation test involving the previously mentioned sewer-rats and obtaining a party member while doing so, it is time to head out of London. From here on out, it’s a globe spanning adventure that successfully combines “Steampunk”, “Indiana Jones”, and “Around the World in 80 Days”. I have no complaints with that match-up.

I am pretty enthusiastic about this setting. As a long time fan of neo-Victorian, I had been really looking forward to this game. Unlike a lot of steampunk, it doesn’t just feel like the creators poured a bucket of random brass things all over the place. Not everything is brown or wearing goggles. In a way, it’s a more realistic portrayal of the aesthetic. It certainly is over the top with its theme, but in a very charming way. You will be fighting dragons with an airship, when saving there is a sound effect like a clock winding, ancient artifacts and mythological places play an important role, and I learned that normal witches are not steampunk however if they have goggles on their witch hat then they quite clearly are.

As the game had been touted for its heavy inspiration from RPG classics, I had been expecting 2D instead of the Phantom Hourglass-style DS 3D. After an initial disappointment, I quickly adjusted and was impressed by the graphic detail, especially the background textures. My only significant complaint here is the jarring difference between when you would see an enemy in the story and then when battle starts, the design is completely changed. The game’s music could have used a few more tracks, but all of it effectively complimented the atmosphere.

The gameplay in Nostalgia certainly lives up to its name. The basic flow of gameplay is to navigate from town -> dungeon -> next town -> next dungeon -> etc. Combat is very traditional with a party consisting of a sword user, gun user, offensive magic, and defensive magic. Yes, the healer is a girl wearing white. Combat is turned based Final Fantasy style, with options “Attack, Special;Magic, Item, Defend, Run Away”. Special skills are unlocked by spending SP points on a grid system. Leveling one skill to a certain extent will unlock a neighboring skill. Since the skills are not revealed until unlocking them, it becomes guesswork anyway. I’m not really sure what the point of having the grid present was for. The enemies are never too tough, and grinding shouldn’t be necessary in this game, especially if you went out of the way to reveal the entire map of each room since the encounter rate can be annoyingly high. And before the boss of each area is a save point in the dungeon that also completely replenishes health and mp. You may be wondering how they got around the fact that you could endlessly grind while having practically infinite hp and mp- they didn’t. It’s a poor design choice that gives the player an option to overlevel incredibly easily.

The most notable aspect of the gameplay- along with being why legions of Skies of Arcadia fans are highly intrigued- is the inclusion of airship battles. Each party member controls a different weapon on the ship. Sword user has the giant sword attached to the ship, the gun wielder uses the guns, the witch uses the cannon, and the healer fires some kind of laser orb. Enemy ships and flying creatures can appear to the sides or front, and different weapons will be stronger or weaker against certain sides. Expect to be doing near 100 damage to an enemy positioned in front and around 30 for an enemy to the side. The airship battles are fairly robust and often incredibly challenging. One problem I have with the game is the unbalanced difficulty between land and air battles. In the dungeon, fighting isn’t really a problem and I died once (in the first dungeon). However in air, you’ll be facing against iron clad behemoths that take down your puny ship in two hits, leaving you wondering if this is really the right direction since you are clearly under-leveled. But no, it’s just really ridiculous.

Many will find this game completely unappealing. It is saturated in RPG conventions and clichés. The gameplay is simplistic and perhaps overly traditional and not particularly difficult, airships aside. However, there will be plenty of old school fans who will love the straightforward intend and fall for the charm of the atmosphere. It successfully accomplished in being a tribute to games of old, while being a polished and enjoyable game in its own right.

[ Review copy provided by Ignition Entertainment ]