Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6043 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Nintendo
• Model: NTRPAVCE
• Released on: 2007-02-09
• Rating: To Be Announced
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platform: Nintendo DS
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .50" h x 5.50" w x 4.50" l, 1.00 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
The students of Will O' Wisp magical academy have a little problem: Their teacher has mysteriously disappeared. After commandeering a handful of rockets to rescue her, they've wound up on a strange (and sometimes scary) adventure through outer space. Now players must rescue both their classmates AND their teacher and just maybe the whole solar system while they're at it.

Game storyline:
Madeleine, a respected and powerful teacher at Will O' Wisp magical academy, tells her students that she will undertake a dangerous mission in space and trains them for combat should the need arise. After not hearing from her for some time, the kids stumble upon a hangar of rocket ships. One by one, they board individual ships and crash-land on distant planets alone. The player hops from planet to planet assembling the group of classmates. Once together, they learn of an evil sorcerer - a former student of the academy who now has ambitions to destroy reality - and set out to stop him. Characters: Players can choose between a male or female human character. The students in the academy make up the rest of their party. Each student specializes in a different kind of magic.

How to progress through the game:
In Magical Vacation, players begin their quests as students at a magical academy. As they progress through the game, they will travel to new lands and cities, fight monsters to earn experience points and buy weapons, armour and items from shops. Characters will gain levels and power as they earn more and more experience points. Later in the game, players become free to wander and explore the world.

Multiplayer amigo dungeon and tag mode extend game play by giving players a unique amigo dungeon they can explore with a total of six people. Additionally, tag mode allows players to exchange data with one another and grow unique egg characters that slowly grow and hatch over time.

Special powers/weapons/moves/features:
The game's combat plays like a traditional role-playing game. The difference comes from the command wheel and the stylus interface. Players tap on the attacks they want to use and then tap on an enemy to target. The game focuses on magic attacks: Each character has a sign linked to one of the planets that determines the type of magic he or she uses. As the planets move through the solar system, the effectiveness of magic spells shifts, requiring an ever-changing battle plan: Monsters and characters grow stronger as their planets shift into prominence and weaker as they move out of those positions. Players can check the planets' positions by tapping on the astrolog.

Characters can occupy two battle ranks. From the front rank, they can attack individual enemies physically or with magic. From the back, they can attack groups of enemies with magic, but they cannot use physical attacks.

Customer Reviews

Magical Starsign is a sign of a great RPG
To start off with the main storyline is all about classmates from the Will O' Wisp magical academy take to the stars in search of their teacher, a well respected and powerful magician called Madeleine, when they suspect that she has gone missing after leaving on a fairly routine diplomatic mission 3 months ago.

The classmates begin their search by commandeering rockets hidden within the academy itself, but once they take off they soon become separated in the coldness of space. It is all up to you to reunite yourself with Madeleine and if that wasn't enough, your fellow classmates too!

When you begin the game you are given a choice about which element you wish your main character to be aligned to, Light or Dark. Choosing Light gives you access powerful light based attacks and healing spells, choosing Dark allows you to have special Draining abilities and Dark-based attacks. Your other 5 classmates are already aligned to their own element, Wind, Fire, Earth, Water and Wood.

In the Solar System the game takes place are 5 elemental planets, and you guessed it, are those I listed above. The Solar System is also split up into 5 elemental zones one for each of the aforementioned elements, the purpose of which will be explained in a mo.

Throughout the game, the planets cycle in orbit around the sun at the centre of the solar system (pretty obvious, huh?) and they also pass through the 5 elemental zones. When a planet whose element is the same as that as the zone it is passing through then magicians aligned to said element will gain an extra power boost during battle for his or her spells. However the Light and Dark element is far simpler due to the Day and Night system installed, though it does not follow RT (Real Time) exactly which makes it far more flexible.

A simple moving diagram of the solar system and the alignment of the planets in each zone can be found in the main menu screen and during battle so you always know which characters gain power-ups and when. Another useful diagram shows the pecking order of the elements so you know which element has more power over another. This is available during battles only.

The controls of the game are fairly straightforward as it is almost completely controlled using the touch screen and you hardly use the A, B, Y, or X buttons at all, as they are only used as an alternative to moving your characters instead of the D-pad or using the touch screen, which is actually a faster mode of movement by simply clicking on your destination or dragging for more accurate movement. To interact with characters and objects just tap the sprite once when you are right next to it.

For the DS this game has very good cut-scene graphics which unlike other games are used frequently (from what I've seen so far) throughout and often uses both screens to capture it. The rest of the game is very colourful with unique landscapes in all the locations and the sprites are also beautifully designed.

During normal game-play where you are your party of magicians (the term applies to both male and female magic users) are exploring the alien landscapes of the 5 elemental planets of the solar system, the top screen at most times is filled with a overview of the current planet your party is located on, or of the Planetary Alignment Chart, and the bottom screen showing the main action. Sometimes when your characters move into a particular area on the map the top screen is then used to complete the landscape for dramatic effect at times and the map and alignment chart disappears.

During battle the main action takes place in the lower screen and during most of the fights the top screen is just there to fill in the background detail, however when a character casts a spell from the back row then you can clearly see the arc of the spell rise up from the character and after passing through the top half, falling back down again on the creature(s) you are fighting. At other times the Planetary Alignment chart takes position for a short while if you select to view it or when the planets automatically shift into a new position during battle.

The game features standard random battles and a Turn Based battle system based on character speed, thankfully the randomness is not as frequent and annoying as some other RPG's. To select your commands the stylus is needed to tap on the particular Action Icon (an icon to represent the different commands your character can perform) and if the Icon was either a magic attack or a physical attack then you will also be given a option of spells or techniques, and then you tap a particular enemy on the screen to perform said attack on.

The soundtrack is fairly good and it uses decent sound effects often, though it has no Voice Acting it's not the "end of ze world" as there was a time before the PS2 when RPG's didn't always have it. To some Voice Acting is a fairly new fangled technology.

I have yet to access the multiplayer feature of the game, though that doesn't mean I don't know anything about it. The game has on the main menu the "Amigo Mode"; there are 3 options, Tag Mode, Amigo Dungeon and Amigo List. The Amigo dungeon is where users can join with others to play through an additional dungeon, the tag mode allows you to exchange information with each other and hatch and raise unique egg characters over time.

In my opinion if you don't like the Turn-based random battles then this game isn't for you, but you are missing out on a fun and unique experience that is rarely found on any handheld other than the GBA.

I give this game 5/5

Best DS RPG?
Quite possibly.
Has an interesting combat system where the row your characters do battle in effects which monsters are targeted by their magic. Sounds complex but feels very natural after you get to grips with it. The actual range of spells and items isn't huge but it definitely keeps you occupied and is diverse enough to keep the game fresh.

All the games actions are controlled using the stylus, which works well but takes some getting used too. The graphics are pretty good if you're into that mario superstar saga cartoon style. The use of the two screens is pretty cool as well with some spells moving between spells as they arc over ranks of monsters. Pretty flashy stuff.

The plots farely solid but won't exactly win oscars. Its just about some kids at a magic school travelling in space trying to find their missing teacher. Pretty generic but the characters are lovable, if a little cutesy, and the creatures you encounter are often hilarious and full of fun. Watch out especially for the pot village on the fire planet.

Haven't yet played the multiplayer but the single player is worth the ten pounds i got the game for on its own. If you like RPGs then i can't recommend this game enough.

Hidden gem !
I had never heard of this game until I read a few reviews across the web. Even after reading about the game and how good it was, I was still a little dubious. Well I needn't of been. A really good rpg with proper elements including turn-based battle, leveling up, buying new equipment in towns/villages, etc. The graphics are pretty good and the story line pretty good too. All in all this is a really good game that is well worth the £10 or so that it go's for. The game is set in space and you must travel to various planets (towns) to gather information, tackle side quests, buy new equipment etc. This feature works, and works well. Giving the game a good degree of originality.
One last thing, keep an eye on the time when your playing it! As its pretty hard to put down !!