Game #1164: Eragon(Nintendo DS)

  Eragon is most definitely not a Dragon.

 You can say a lot of things about Eragon on the Nintendo DS, but it lacking ambition is not one of those. This is a 3-D adventure game that feels straight out of a PS1 game. No chibi-proportions here, proper character models with human-like proportions. Open fields to explore as well as towns... It's ambitious, very much so, however a few annoying flaws keep it from being as good as it could.

 In Eragon you play as, you guessed it, Eragon, and the game follows the plot of the movie, kinda, as some parts were extended or tweaked, to make room for more game, as well as adapting some scenes that never made it into the final cut, such as a few scenes with Katrina. And this is something I know because midway through my playthrough I decided to watch the film itself!

 The adventure is fairly linear, every map has a single entrance and a single exit. Some of the field areas are rather large, but also, rather empty. To pad out the game, there are a fair amount of sidequests, but most of them reward you with useless concept art. They are also fairly silly, usually a checkpoint race, finding a specific area under time constraints or collecting a certain amount of a specific item that is just lying around. There was a single instance of having to collect bracelets, dropped by enemies. For the most part, they are just filler. There are two optional Dragon Towers that feature some of the hardest puzzles and challenges in the game which are more interesting and reward the player with spells.

 There are a few collectibles that you can find hidden around the world of Eragon, even lying inside bushes, which are red candles and blue gems. Every five candles you get a dragon tooth, and for every three dragon teeth you extend your life bar. The blue gems turn into MP extensions, so it's in your best interest to explore as much as you can, whack every bush and defeat every enemy. Defeating an enemy with your dagger/sword/sword and dagger, your bow or your spells will work towards leveling up that specific object. Leveling up your bow and spells makes them stronger, while leveling up your bladed weapons will grant you new moves. In fact, once you get the Sword, it will then evolve into the sword and dagger, which is much stronger and cooler.

 The combat system is where the game starts to falter a bit. Melee combat is decent enough, you have a lock-on system, you can roll around enemies to dodge attacks, can mix weak and strong attacks for different combos. It works decently... at first. Eventually enemies and bosses just gain the ability to enter a counter-stance, EVEN WHILE you are hitting them, and if you hit them in this state they'll counterattack and deal a sizeable amount of damage. It feels very unfair. Later in the game, there are two bosses that, once halfway through their HP bar, will start RUNNING AWAY, and you must hit them to direct them towards your dragon, since only she can harm them. It's very tedious and boring, and takes too much time for something so mindlessly easy. Using the bow is decent enough, you stay rooted to the spot, but can shoot in third person if locked on to an enemy, or freely aim in first person otherwise. It's serviceable.

 But magic and items? Oh boy, you must draw silly symbols on the touchscreen. At least the healing herb symbol is usually registered correctly, but sometimes you'll draw the symbol and the game either won't register it or give you something else. You can temporarily freeze time, mid combat, to help you, but it's not all that great, since a spell symbol, once properly inputted, will net you a rune that you must aim by throwing it OUTSIDE the touchscreen, by rapidly dragging it with the stylus. Super cumbersome, to the point I didn't even bother with spells. This slow-time mechanic was also annoying because every time you pick up something or talk to an NPC the game will close the bottom-screen map, and many times, trying to bring it up again, and I accidentally triggered time freeze MANY times instead of opening the map. Very annoying.

 Oooh, but let me tell ya about the game's most innovative mechanic... During cutscenes in which Eragon communicates with his Dragon, Saphira... you have to draw symbols on the touchscreen. These goes on and on and on, and if you get it wrong you'll have to sit through this a few more seconds. Why? Honestly, WHY? Such a dumb waste of time.

I think that if Eragon didn't try to use gimmicky touchscreen inputs.. it could've been a decent game. But as it stands, it's an ambitious game, and y'know, even with a limited budget it still did a decent job in many respects. It's a shame its clunky combat and unnecessary and unwanted touchscreen gimmicks just drag the game down so, so hard.

 5.0