Dewy's Adventure
Score: 90% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Konami Developer: Konami Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 4 Genre: Platformer/ Puzzle
Graphics & Sound: Dewy's Adventure, like Konami's other unique Wii title, Elebits, is a fun, fantasy-filled game that shows off yet even more interesting ways to use the Wii's controller. It seems like Dewy's Adventure also shares some visual similarities with Elebits as well. Not only do both games have a low-detail and smooth shading feel to all the models and levels, but the cut scenes are done in the same painted still-frames. When it comes down to it, the visual style of this game is just plain cute. Even the various enemies are round and slightly chubby to give off just the right feel. As for the game's audio, it's there, but ultimately forgettable. During the game, it isn't really anything you will notice and if you do pay attention to it, once it is off, you aren't going to give it a second thought. It isn't that it's bad or anything, it just stays out of the way. Since none of the characters really talk, there is no reason to get annoyed at random, but typically repetitive comments from your character, so that is a plus.
Gameplay: Dewy's Adventure starts off with a woman telling a story to a young boy under an old and dying tree. Her story is about the Tree of Seven Colors and how a long time ago, it was attacked by the Black Rain. During that time of crisis, the tree created a small hero named Dewy to fight off the Black Rain. He succeeded and the inhabitants of the tree, called Eau, lived in peace for a long time. Then, one day, the Black Rain returned and captured six of the seven color fruits. With its last bit of power, The Tree of Seven Colors once again called for Dewy, and now you have to help him get back the missing fruit and save the kidnapped Eau. Dewy is a water drop that can change into two other states, ice and vapor. With these simple powers, Dewy will release trapped Eau by sliding into them and take on enemies with his various types of attacks. In his water form, Dewy can jump and slam on top of Black Rain grunts, while in the ice state, he can spin around and knock them out. In the vapor state, Dewy can't move, but he can send down lightning bolts to either destroy or stun his enemies. The game has a simple design and basic principal that makes it really easy to get into, and also really hard to master. Since you don't physically run Dewy around the screen (he slides around, but more on that later), you have to be really good with your timing and have some quick reflexes so that you can switch between the various states on a moment's notice in order to be the most effective Eau Savior you can be. If the Story Mode was all Dewy's Adventure had going for it, it would already be a pretty solid product, but to help appeal to a slightly wider audience, namely tweakers, this game also offers an Edit Mode. That's right, you can create your own levels full of enemies and puzzles to not only play by yourself, but also share with your friends over the internet. As you progress in the game, more types of locations, landscape pieces and enemies become unlocked so that you can make bigger and more intricate levels to play and share.
Difficulty: Dewy's Adventure is, true to classic platformer style, seemingly simple, but surprisingly difficult. I found that there were quite a few levels that require multiple attempts in order to make it past some of the more intricate obstacles. The first time I had to make my way across a bridge of disappearing blocks caused me to lose all of my lives. I found that I was able to make steady progress, but there were always the sections that required multiple attempts to get past. Then, of course, there is the added challenge of trying to free all of the Eau's. I hate to say it, but there were several times when I had to complete a level with less than 100% of the little guys saved.
Game Mechanics: Dewy's Adventure's controls are one of the main reasons this game is so interesting and fun. Like the Mercury line of games, you have very little direct control over your character. You tilt the level in order to slide Dewy in the direction of your choosing. The first item of note is that you hold the Wii-mote sideways as if you were playing a racing game. You tilt the world by tilting the remote, and since the various levels are comprised of small floating islands, you will have to be careful about falling off the edges. You cause Dewy to jump with the (2) button and attack with the (1) button. The D-pad is used to change Dewy's temperature, and thus his state. You do this by tapping the Right button (to increase the temperature) and the Left button (to lower it), of course, when holding the controller sideways, these buttons are Up and Down. There are also a couple of actions you will have to do by shaking the Wii-mote in different ways. Shaking the controller up and down causes a wind to sweep across the land, side to side creates an earthquake and sometimes you will have to shake your controller in specific ways in order to interact with objects in the game. When it comes to it, Dewy's Adventure is just a fun platformer that's good for either a few minutes or a few hours of game time.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
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