Rarely does a title do everything right, especially in role-playing games which are often criticized to a degree beyond many other genres; RPG aficionados tend to be sticklers more so than fans of other types of games, and I am no different. Contact is not a flawless title, granted, but it comes so strikingly close to delivering a perfect and unique role-playing experience that the few flaws fall well to the wayside, and the end result is a must-have RPG. Contact is an isometric RPG for the Nintendo DS which features full stylus control, and full button control for that matter. In fact, the game is designed so that players can easily use either system freely and can switch back and forth without even going to a menu. Admittedly, tapping things with the stylus can occasionally frustrate, and the game easily allows players to switch to using the A button, such as when the on-screen character is visibly blocking a creature that you may want to click on.

Contact's narrative is genuinely unique, if for no other reason than it incorporates you, the player, as a central character in the game, in addition to the in-game character being controlled. At the beginning of the game, you witness a distressing Star Wars-style dogfight between two UFOs in space, and are summarily contacted via your DS by the visible loser of said battle. This individual is an 8-bit-looking professor with a pseudo Tamagotchi dog named Moichi (who, incidentally, wants to become a cat). This professor asks for your help, as you are the only one who can directly communicate with him using your handheld. To do this, you aid Terry, the on-screen character who somehow gets wrapped up in the professor's affairs as part of a "wrong-time, wrong-place" sort of ordeal. Sound confusing? It isn't, really, but the game does a great job of breaking the fourth wall, completely, while at the same time entirely immersing the player in the experience. Admittedly, it's a very weird and roundabout way of engaging a player's interest, but it completely works here. The story itself is an odd mixture of classic RPG fanfare and an alien-infested space science saga - it goes everywhere all at once but maintains a cohesive nature throughout.

Gameplay is also fairly non-standard. The game box even promises this: "Things you WON'T find in Contact: A dull moment. Normalcy. A guy with spikey hair and/or amnesia. Dramatic monologues. The same battles you've been fighting since the 16-bit era." In that self-appraising advertisement are some very blatant digs to various popular RPG series. But it is also completely true. The game whisks you from island to island with various locations, monsters, and characters, and there really never is a dull moment. Nothing in the game is monotonous. Battles are technically real-time, but can also be paused to allow for actions to be selected. In the simplest of terms, a player can put Terry in "attack mode" and select a target, and at any time the player can touch Terry to select an action. These actions have varying effects (some cause additional damage, some are magic spells, some may deplete the enemy's own EP), and all consume Terry's EP. To refill EP, Terry simply needs to defeat creatures so that he will eventually gain more points.

Additionally, the game features a job system, as Terry acquires new jobs as costumes are found throughout the adventure. Some costumes are laid right out for the player, while others require some extraneous questing. Each costume confers some statistical bonus, most of which are unique from the other costumes, and allow Terry to use a unique skill set. Additionally, some weapons can only be equipped if Terry is wearing a particular costume, and certain actions are likewise exclusive to particular outfits. These garbs can be changed into at the professor's galleon which Terry uses to move about the world in search for cells, the collection of which makes up Contact's central focus. Another non-conformity is the lack of experience levels in the game, for Terry anyway. Instead, in a fashion similar to Ultima Online or The Elder Scrolls series of games, Terry gains levels in each statistic by continual use of a particular attribute, of which there are very many. For example, by attacking with a sword, constantly, Terry will eventually raise both his strength and blade skills. By simply running around, Terry's speed will increase (and he will visibly run faster). Terry will also acquire fame, courage, and karma by attacking beasties and baddies, but will incur a karma loss by attacking friendly NPCs or fauna, or being noticed while trying to steal. Eventually, Terry will automatically gain new skills when he reaches certain levels in each statistic, some of which are passive, while others are active and consume EP when used.

Aside from the main quest , a player can amuse his or herself with various other activities across the island, such as thievery (pickpocketing), cooking, fishing, item collection, bug hunting, or wooing various females on island. In this way, Contact shares much with Konami's delightful Lost In Blue, both of which have a similar aesthetic quality and feature a cooking and fishing minigame. However, despite the parallels, Contact is definitely its own game. The game is on the short side for an RPG - about 15 hours or so - but with all the additional stuff a player can do, and the ability to jump online via WiFi and play with others via Nintendo's friend code system, the game can offer a considerably longer experience if one chooses.

Such games are rare, and I consider Contact to be a triumph of development. But, putting aside my assessment of its artistic merit, Contact is really just a fun, engaging RPG that Nintendo DS owners have been waiting for ever since the system was released. Maybe Contact is helped along by the the system's somewhat question RPG catalog, but Contact, by itself, is an experience no Nintendo DS owner should miss out on. The game may not be that long, true, but it is a game for every RPG owner's library regardless. Added to this, Contact is an Atlus title and historically will quickly become hard to find - so do yourself a favor and rustle up a copy before it is too late.

Nov 1, 2006 | 1 comments
Roger Helgeson