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Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django
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Graphics & Sound:
At first glance, the graphics in Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django aren’t top notch, but as you progress through the game, you begin to have a better appreciation of it. While not overly flashy, they fit the game like a glove. There are some nice particle effects going on, and the lighting is quite good (for a 2D game). One thing that I did notice was that, because of the sharp-styled artwork featured in the game, you notice the motion blur caused by the LCD screen a tad more. While this isn’t very annoying, it could cause your eyes to strain a bit more than usual, as they lose a little bit of focus following action on the screen. This, however, is not the fault of the game and is more like a side effect of LCD screens.
The sound is another good part about this game as well. The music has sort of a new age twist on a southwestern theme, and the score is just pleasing to the ear. There are also a great variety of tracks in all, with each level having its own score. Even though the music is essentially MIDI (not orchestrated or anything), it still sounds good coming from the little speaker on your GBA or SP.
Boktai 2 also contains a little voice acting (just a little, though), which is used at certain times in the game to emphasize a line or two in text. There’s also voice sampling done for a few of the in-game sound effects -- several enemies used voice sampling for their taunts and growls. Overall, I think this was used to good effect, even though it might border on being hokey to some. |
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Gameplay:
Wow, does this game have a lot in it. Basically, Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django is an action game with RPG elements. For instance, your battles are entirely real-time, but each enemy that you vanquish gives you experience points that go towards an eventual level up. This action-style RPG essentially removes a lot of the time wasting formalities of your average RPG, and just leaves you with the meat and potatoes of your game experience. It’s also a lot less trying with your patience, as you can choose for yourself if you want to go out of your way to battle that pesky little enemy that may not be worth your time.
One thing that is integrated tightly into the gameplay is the solar sensor on the cartridge. This solar sensor faces up on your GBA or SP and detects the level of sunlight around you. This sunlight can be translated in-game to your energy, which means you are more powerful in the daytime. Solar battery stations all over the game slowly charge while you are in the sunlight, and keep that charge for when you need it most. Energy and money are also transferable, so you can convert extra energy to money and vice versa. This is usually the only way to get money as enemies only drop items.
There is also a day/night and weather system integrated into Boktai 2. The scenery will actually change depending on what time of day it is (morning, afternoon, night, etc.). Every now and then, it’ll also become cloudy and even rain, blocking out some of the sun that the solar sensor collects. The rain and sun can also hurt the dark alter ego of your character, so you have to be careful and wear a raincoat or sunscreen.
The solar sensor is also used in a process called Solar Forging. In Solar Forging, you create a new weapon using a combination of two other weapons. The weapon you create depends on the two that were used in the forging process. Solar forging is the fastest way to get better weapons, as if you just go with what you can buy or what you find, you will be very weak for much of the game. However, solar forging is very time consuming, and it requires decent timing skills to create anything wonderful.
With all the good things that you can use the solar sensor for, there are also negatives. You absolutely need sunlight to get anywhere in this game. While most levels can be explored quite thoroughly without the light, others require it to move on or to find key pieces and trigger puzzles. All bosses also require the sunlight to defeat them, meaning if it’s cloudy for several days on end, you will have trouble getting anywhere in this game. |
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Difficulty:
Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django is about at an average level of difficulty. Since it is played in an action-style instead of your traditional RPG-type battling, the level of your skill and coordination denotes how often you get hit, so you can beat the hardest enemies even at level 20, or you could die horribly at level 99. It really is more up to the individual skill of the player. Well, being at level 99 doesn’t hurt, either.
Speaking of levels, you get level-ups at very good intervals, which means if you want to go straight through the game, you won’t have to go around doing pointless leveling-up like in most traditional RPGs. That being said, it makes the game seem a bit short if you go right through it. I was able to finish the game at level 99, with most of the best weapons, inside of 40 hours -- and that includes all the time I piddled around when it was nighttime.
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Game Mechanics:
Most things are kept quite simple in Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django. You are by yourself in battles, so there is no party to have to worry about; you just take care of yourself. The menus are smooth and straightforward. Leveling up is also a quick and pain-free process, as it is in most RPGs.
In Boktai 2, there are four different types of weapons: sword, hammer, spear, and gun type. Each of these types has their own strategic advantage and disadvantage. Sword-type weapons allow you to strike the fastest, but they are the least damaging weapons of them all. The hammer-type weapons are generally the strongest, but they are slow striking. The spear-type weapons are far reaching and are about of average strength. The gun-type weapon is the farthest reaching, but takes a lot of energy to use. Generally, you must pick the right weapon for the right job, and you are forced to think constantly.
Each weapon skill also “levels-up” independent of the other, which means if you use the sword weapons for most of the game, you will have incredible sword skills, but will have pathetic spear, hammer, and gun skills. Each skill level for each weapon also determines how powerful of a weapon you can use.
I really, really like this game, so it’s hard for me to give it a lower score. The reason for the lower score is, of course, the dual edged sword of the solar sensor. On the one hand, it’s an incredibly good idea, which really does integrate well with the gameplay. On the other hand, I could see it as being an annoyance to some people. I would recommend this game to action/RPG fans alike, and I would ask you to not pass it up because of the solar sensor alone. This is really a great game, and you would be missing out on a lot if you did. |
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-Z64freak, GameVortex Communications AKA Bret Hall |
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