Contact

Contact was written for computer geeks. Almost every level of the game has some Internet-culture humor - even the instruction manual is written as if it's the professor's LiveJournal, each page an entry describing his newest project (parts of the game interface). All the dialogue is excellently crafted; the professor's absent-minded descriptions of his inventions are endearing, and all the NPCs have something entertaining to say.

If you're unfamiliar with the plot, it starts with the professor trying to make contact with a being (the player) from another dimension (the one with DSes). However, shortly after "meeting" you, the professor's spaceship comes under attack, and his power cells become fragmented and scattered across the planet. He makes an emergency landing right next to mild-mannered boy Terry, who's quickly rushed into the safety of the professor's ship to avoid deadly laserfire. Then the last of the ship's remaining energy is used to get to safety.

The professor ends up "merging" his ship with a pirate galleon he found lying around, which allows him to travel between islands, searching for his missing power cells. But he's not strong enough to do it on his own, so he needs Terry's help; and Terry's not smart enough to do it on his own, so he needs your help. And so begins the adventure.

I've already described the basic gameplay devices in Contact. What I didn't mention is that there are a number of outfits Terry finds within the first half-or-so of the game that you use to gain new abilities and/or strengths. There is a suit for each of the four elements, which each amplify a certain character trait - for instance, the water suit increases your magic abilities, and the rock suit increases your stamina. There are also three special suits that enable cooking, fishing, and thieving (the thief suit allows Terry to pick locks). Each outfit has a corresponding character level, and higher levels bring new abilities and moves. (Similar enhanced abilities and moves come from leveling up each of the three different weapon types.)

Yeah, there's a huge amount of opportunity for character customization. One problem I'm running into now is the experience curve; I'm already nearing the end of the game, and don't even have half of the abilities for anything. Given the lengths I have left, and that higher levels naturally take more grinding, I feel like I'm missing out on the highest echelons of abilities, and may never actually get to them.

But, I may be speaking too soon. I still have the final castle to do, and that's not to mention the game's bevy of sidequests. For instance, on specific islands, there are girl NPCs who are... shall we say, easily wooed by gifts and a particular trait (e.g. one of them likes flowers and your Courage stat). Once a girl is sufficiently impressed, she moves onto your boat and will travel with you. In fact, you can have all four of them on the boat at the same time. Contact Terry is already more of a player than real Terry ever was.

Everything about Contact is pure fun. It's certainly apparent where someone might not like it - the difficulty level, for instance, is not for the weak of constitution - but this is the kind of brilliant game I've been waiting for for a long time. I feel obligated to knock off some points for the experience curve, but there's still time for that to change, anyway.

Progress: 5 Power Cells