Eerie Vs Scary Horror: Fragile Dreams Review
These days if someone says Horror to you, you'll probably think of monsters jumping out suddenly in an attempt to scare the socks off the viewer, player, or reader.
However Japan at least still likes to unsettle the audience rather than scare the audience when it comes to horror, some of the time.
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of The Moon is never scary, and only really creepy towards the end. For most part, it is more... eerie. And it does seem to have had an effect. It is a game that concentrates on provoking an emotional response, and if you can play the game all the way through, and listen to all the memory objects, then you must have a heart of stone or something.
It is hard to class what exactly the game is. You could call it a survival horror, but it really doesn't feel like it, specially with the levelling up. Also dying is actually kinda Hard until the last few bits of the game (curse you creepy doll people!) It feels more like a run of the mill Action RPG.
In many ways, it actually reminds me of Fallout 3, but aimed at a younger audience, a "My First Post-Apocalyptic Action RPG" if you will. The environment you go around in is "After the End of the World". You don't find out until late in the game what happened, but you are almost entirely alone in this world... you... and the Ghosts, that is. Rather than going for mutants or anything, this "After World's" main threat are "thought Entities" or more simply, Ghosts. The world is also extremely run down. In the game you explore a underground train station, a shopping mall, a theme park, a hotel, and one other location I will leave to you to discover. All eerily lonely. All completely run down, with some rather splendid detail, for a Wii game.
The gameplay isn't too impressive really. You run around the environment, hitting enemies with sticks for most of the time. Enemies can only be seen when you enter their area, though interestingly, you can hear them from a distance, through the Wiimote's speaker, which is certainly a nice touch. The way the torch works is also a good use of the wiimote, and adds a lot of atmosphere. However combat, which thankfully not wiggle based, is mostly tapping a over and over. There are a few different types of weapons, but it is really run of the mill stuff in terms of gameplay.
When exploring, enemies will drop items, and you will find items on the ground in set places. However, you only have a limited space to how things on your person, that increases as you progress through the game. The inventory shuffling to make room for everything is in a way a part of the game, but is one of those things that ranges from making the player feel clever, to exceedingly frustrated. It should also be noted that, until the first time you get to a camp fire to check them out, all items are mystery items that you can't recognise. Precious Gems are always mystery items until you get to a camp fire, though after the 3 time you see a certain enemy drop a T-Block item, you'll most likely have a good idea as to what you are picking up.
The game also seems to random decide things. Random enemy item drops are fine. However the random "Now your weapon breaks without any warning" is kinda irritating, as in the weapon that might decide it was broken all along when you first try to use it, thank you Mister Flash Blub. It fits really, since everything is in disrepair, and everything you try to use is old and in most cases, has been laying about the whole time (in strange brown paper packages). It is still annoying though.
Character and enemy design can be either really interesting, like the ghosts of children who appear was simply a pair of legs dressed in shorts who skip playfully around you, occasionally teasing you with with a cry of "Here I come" as they run over and kick you; to kinda dull and predictable, such as the dogs. Sure you eventually get a giant flaming dog, but... isn't that actually more cliche? All the characters are very interesting designs and personalities, though the time you spend with them tends to be sadly short.
The Story is strange... It feels very fairytale like, yet there are parts that are far from childish, and even disturb a full(?) grown adult like myself. I suppose it is simply a case that Japan has very different ideas what is safe for children than the West. The story really tugs at your heart strings a lot, and made me want to cry often during the course of the game. It makes no attempt to soften the blow of death, death has a very strong presence in this game. There are two kinds of story, see, one the actual story and plot of the game; and two, the story of those long gone, their memories imprinted on many of the non-random Mystery objects you find in the game, or Memory Items.
The Memory items are the games Audio Diaries. Seems every game has them these days. A Collectable that gives you story. Pick up a Memory item, and go to a camp fire, and sit down ready to listen to some of the really tear jerking stories left behind. They are read out with some good voice acting (at least the Japanese is). It is these that give the most interesting story. It is these that really hit the hardest. It is these that almost had me in tears the most. I managed to find all but one Memory Item. You will also search for every item with reckless abandon.
The stories really do not pull any punches. Whatever happened to the world, people knew it was happening. The interactions between people are somehow both heart-warming and depressive. They leave you feeling very disturbed, and specially towards the end of the game, you really get drawn in as you want to find out what happened, to what else happened to those you just read a little about. Towards the end of the game, I was having late night, after late night playing this game.
The Game's endings answers some questions, but... leaves you with several loose ends. I still don't fully understand who the main character's Grandfather was, and while I have an idea what the strange ghost masks were, I have the feeling I am wrong, and that they were really not fully explained in this game, a belief coming from the fact you hear their voice at the end of the game too, but it could just be a final curse taunt. And then there's the ending, which leaves the player wondering what happens next, but at the same time dreading what happens next because of the strange log entry like part we hear that seems to suggest something rather sad, though the actual ending shows no sign of it. And Also, WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THE WHOLE BEFRIENDING CATS THING!??! Seriously, as one of the more strange elements of the game, you find cats around in the game. I befriended every single one of them, but I don't know what the use of doing so was really. Did I actually need to, or did I wave a cat toy about for 30 seconds a cat for no reason at all? They didn't seem to add anything at all. I mean, couldn't they have given me items or bigger bags or something? I feel rather... misled.
The Game is also full of graffiti writing, and interestingly, later on in the game you get a torch that allows you to see invisible graffiti, some of which can be really haunting. There's a lot to search out of find, if you want to spend you time and enjoy it, though a lot of it leave you thinking "I came all this way for THIS?!?!", like some graffiti that said "I want to eat doughnuts."
The Game also gets plus points for the fact it contains Japanese language with English subtitles. I think it also includes an English Language version too, but I played it in Japanese. Also it even translates the writing in the environment, simply go into the first person view, look at some Japanese writing head on, and if they choose to set it up, a translation will appear for you. It's a pretty nice feature, though it is rather limited what they translated. But we're lucky this game got any translation.
In conclusion, the gameplay was weak, the difficulty really easy, the character designs interesting, the story eerie to creepy. I preordered the game on a complete whim. I'm glad I did, as it was very interesting to play. It will probably leave its mark on me somewhere in my head, that will probably bring tears to my eyes the next time I see a Paper Crane, or a biscuit tin, or something else that was a memory item in the game. The Game wasn't scary, and only got really creepy towards the end, but all the same, it will probably leave me unsettled for the rest of my life. It has definitely brought some kind of emotional response from me. I won't go as far as to call it a masterpiece, but if you want a somewhat different "Survival Horror" that is more emotional, then this is worth a try.
One other thing it has reminded me, how damned creepy it can feel when you're in the dark, with only a torch to light your way and reveal to you that there are no monsters... or at least, show you where the monsters are...
However Japan at least still likes to unsettle the audience rather than scare the audience when it comes to horror, some of the time.
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of The Moon is never scary, and only really creepy towards the end. For most part, it is more... eerie. And it does seem to have had an effect. It is a game that concentrates on provoking an emotional response, and if you can play the game all the way through, and listen to all the memory objects, then you must have a heart of stone or something.
It is hard to class what exactly the game is. You could call it a survival horror, but it really doesn't feel like it, specially with the levelling up. Also dying is actually kinda Hard until the last few bits of the game (curse you creepy doll people!) It feels more like a run of the mill Action RPG.
In many ways, it actually reminds me of Fallout 3, but aimed at a younger audience, a "My First Post-Apocalyptic Action RPG" if you will. The environment you go around in is "After the End of the World". You don't find out until late in the game what happened, but you are almost entirely alone in this world... you... and the Ghosts, that is. Rather than going for mutants or anything, this "After World's" main threat are "thought Entities" or more simply, Ghosts. The world is also extremely run down. In the game you explore a underground train station, a shopping mall, a theme park, a hotel, and one other location I will leave to you to discover. All eerily lonely. All completely run down, with some rather splendid detail, for a Wii game.
The gameplay isn't too impressive really. You run around the environment, hitting enemies with sticks for most of the time. Enemies can only be seen when you enter their area, though interestingly, you can hear them from a distance, through the Wiimote's speaker, which is certainly a nice touch. The way the torch works is also a good use of the wiimote, and adds a lot of atmosphere. However combat, which thankfully not wiggle based, is mostly tapping a over and over. There are a few different types of weapons, but it is really run of the mill stuff in terms of gameplay.
When exploring, enemies will drop items, and you will find items on the ground in set places. However, you only have a limited space to how things on your person, that increases as you progress through the game. The inventory shuffling to make room for everything is in a way a part of the game, but is one of those things that ranges from making the player feel clever, to exceedingly frustrated. It should also be noted that, until the first time you get to a camp fire to check them out, all items are mystery items that you can't recognise. Precious Gems are always mystery items until you get to a camp fire, though after the 3 time you see a certain enemy drop a T-Block item, you'll most likely have a good idea as to what you are picking up.
The game also seems to random decide things. Random enemy item drops are fine. However the random "Now your weapon breaks without any warning" is kinda irritating, as in the weapon that might decide it was broken all along when you first try to use it, thank you Mister Flash Blub. It fits really, since everything is in disrepair, and everything you try to use is old and in most cases, has been laying about the whole time (in strange brown paper packages). It is still annoying though.
Character and enemy design can be either really interesting, like the ghosts of children who appear was simply a pair of legs dressed in shorts who skip playfully around you, occasionally teasing you with with a cry of "Here I come" as they run over and kick you; to kinda dull and predictable, such as the dogs. Sure you eventually get a giant flaming dog, but... isn't that actually more cliche? All the characters are very interesting designs and personalities, though the time you spend with them tends to be sadly short.
The Story is strange... It feels very fairytale like, yet there are parts that are far from childish, and even disturb a full(?) grown adult like myself. I suppose it is simply a case that Japan has very different ideas what is safe for children than the West. The story really tugs at your heart strings a lot, and made me want to cry often during the course of the game. It makes no attempt to soften the blow of death, death has a very strong presence in this game. There are two kinds of story, see, one the actual story and plot of the game; and two, the story of those long gone, their memories imprinted on many of the non-random Mystery objects you find in the game, or Memory Items.
The Memory items are the games Audio Diaries. Seems every game has them these days. A Collectable that gives you story. Pick up a Memory item, and go to a camp fire, and sit down ready to listen to some of the really tear jerking stories left behind. They are read out with some good voice acting (at least the Japanese is). It is these that give the most interesting story. It is these that really hit the hardest. It is these that almost had me in tears the most. I managed to find all but one Memory Item. You will also search for every item with reckless abandon.
The stories really do not pull any punches. Whatever happened to the world, people knew it was happening. The interactions between people are somehow both heart-warming and depressive. They leave you feeling very disturbed, and specially towards the end of the game, you really get drawn in as you want to find out what happened, to what else happened to those you just read a little about. Towards the end of the game, I was having late night, after late night playing this game.
The Game's endings answers some questions, but... leaves you with several loose ends. I still don't fully understand who the main character's Grandfather was, and while I have an idea what the strange ghost masks were, I have the feeling I am wrong, and that they were really not fully explained in this game, a belief coming from the fact you hear their voice at the end of the game too, but it could just be a final curse taunt. And then there's the ending, which leaves the player wondering what happens next, but at the same time dreading what happens next because of the strange log entry like part we hear that seems to suggest something rather sad, though the actual ending shows no sign of it. And Also, WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THE WHOLE BEFRIENDING CATS THING!??! Seriously, as one of the more strange elements of the game, you find cats around in the game. I befriended every single one of them, but I don't know what the use of doing so was really. Did I actually need to, or did I wave a cat toy about for 30 seconds a cat for no reason at all? They didn't seem to add anything at all. I mean, couldn't they have given me items or bigger bags or something? I feel rather... misled.
The Game is also full of graffiti writing, and interestingly, later on in the game you get a torch that allows you to see invisible graffiti, some of which can be really haunting. There's a lot to search out of find, if you want to spend you time and enjoy it, though a lot of it leave you thinking "I came all this way for THIS?!?!", like some graffiti that said "I want to eat doughnuts."
The Game also gets plus points for the fact it contains Japanese language with English subtitles. I think it also includes an English Language version too, but I played it in Japanese. Also it even translates the writing in the environment, simply go into the first person view, look at some Japanese writing head on, and if they choose to set it up, a translation will appear for you. It's a pretty nice feature, though it is rather limited what they translated. But we're lucky this game got any translation.
In conclusion, the gameplay was weak, the difficulty really easy, the character designs interesting, the story eerie to creepy. I preordered the game on a complete whim. I'm glad I did, as it was very interesting to play. It will probably leave its mark on me somewhere in my head, that will probably bring tears to my eyes the next time I see a Paper Crane, or a biscuit tin, or something else that was a memory item in the game. The Game wasn't scary, and only got really creepy towards the end, but all the same, it will probably leave me unsettled for the rest of my life. It has definitely brought some kind of emotional response from me. I won't go as far as to call it a masterpiece, but if you want a somewhat different "Survival Horror" that is more emotional, then this is worth a try.
One other thing it has reminded me, how damned creepy it can feel when you're in the dark, with only a torch to light your way and reveal to you that there are no monsters... or at least, show you where the monsters are...
