On the Horizon: Nostalgia DS
With so many RPGs on the radar as of late, it's easy to forget about the little titles that haven't got quite as much coverage.
Nostalgia DS -- aka Nostalgeo no Kaze; "The Winds of Nostalgio" -- is one of those whispered about RPGs that's had a hard time building up buzz since its first announcement over a year ago. But why? As an original game created by all-star developer Matrix (the folks behind the FF DS Remakes) with a unique aerial steampunk premise, Nostalgia DS is certainly worthy of a few minutes of your time.
One of the most alluring things about Nostalgia DS is the way it uses realistic locales in its story to invoke a sense of, well, nostalgia in the player. As a steampunk take on the turn of the century (that's the the 20th century), your party travels between industrial London, Indiana Jones-inspired Cairo, and even the Amazon in search of fame and adventure. All that traveling would be an arduous undertaking if it weren't for the prevalence of airships, but you've probably picked up that part already, haven't you?
Nostalgia follows the
aspiring London adventurer Eddie as he travels the world with teammates Fiona, Melody, and Pad looking for excitement. Each of the four party members fill a specific party role (Eddie as damage dealer/knght; Pad a nimble thief) but
the real key to creating solid characters lies in the branching Skill Points system that unlocks latent skills and abilities. At the end of each random battle or mission doled out by the ubiquitous Adventurers Association, your skills are graded and scored, although it's not quite clear if that leads to more Skill Points or not.
Nostalgia has two distinct modes of contact: airship and party. Party combat takes place on the ground, and is your
typical old school, turn-based JRPG fare with the addition of an Order Table -- a manipulable list of who's up next.
Airship battles sound a bit more interesting, with tactical combat that requires you to properly position your ship for attacks, and use all aspects of your ship to take down opponents. It's a little bit
Skies of Arcadia (but not quite
Infinite Space) with a lot more airship added into the equation, but I'm curious to see how well the two elements balance themselves out.
Since Nostalgia should be hitting stores next month, we'll hopefully have answers to any outstanding questions in just a few days. As a much-needed original IP built from the ground up by the guys that proved 3D RPGs could be done on the DS, I can't help but root for the little guy.
If you've always wanted to explore the turn of the century in an airship, Nostalgia should make your wildest dreams come true October 20th.
1up
Gostei muito do trailer! Todo o jogo tem bom aspecto... quer as animações, mas in-game. Não tinha ideia deste jogo assim, não sei porquê...
