Okay Geek Farm
Wii Review - Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon
Ricardo Trejo
Fragile is a Nintendo exclusive that came out a while back in Japan, and due to popular demand it’s made its way out west, but honestly… I gotta say that I wish it would’ve stayed in the land of the rising sun. I really want to like it but it ended being an experience more boring than engaging.
Story
In a post apocalyptic world, of what can only be Japan, there lives a lonely boy in an observatory who seems to have absolutely no clue as to why the world is in the state it is in. His caretaker of sorts has recently died and leaves him a somewhat cryptic note that advises him to find the ‘Red Tower’. This is where our story begins.
On his way to the Red Tower he discovers a singing ‘silver-haired girl’, (she was more of a blonde than silver but I digress.) When the boy approaches her she falls over and hurts herself, leaving our poor hero to think she’s dead, and so he touches her to make sure. The girl freaks out at the fact that he’s touched her and runs off. Now the boy is on a search for this ‘silver-haired girl’ as he desperately desires for someone to talk to other than himself.
It’s an intriguing start and I was really getting into until the main character got in the way. I mean, nothing is truly explained about the kid’s origins or if he even knows what’s going around him. Nothing seems to surprise him, which is strange considering there’s ghosts and paranormal monsters engaging him in combat at every corner. Not to mention that at time he isn’t aware of technology, which again feels like we’re missing a piece of the puzzle. And doesn’t make it easy to swallow when at every chance he gets he delves into how lonely he is and how bad he feels about his state - he’s quite the open book with his emotions. The funny thing is that that’s just one bad aspect of the game, the main character.
The story is broken on so many levels, as it never fully explains itself; the world, the characters, and the overall conflict and resolution are so empty that when I finished I felt as if I hadn’t even experienced a single thing.
Gameplay
Fragile is a Wii exclusive for a reason; the game makes good use of the Wiimote’s motion controls but with a slight hiccup. The nunchuk controls the characters movement, and the wiimote is in charge of which direction he faces as well as where his flashlight is pointing. The problem with this is that the game doesn’t register quick movements that well, so to do a complete 180 degree turn took a lot longer than I would’ve hoped.
As for the actual frame in which the game plays out, it’s a little bit Resident Evil, mixed in with Silent Hill, and topped off with some RPG element for good measure. Too bad it fails on all three fronts… let me explain.
The story is about searching for both a location and a person, so the gameplay revolves mostly on exploration. Oh, and since the world is pretty much abandoned there ain’t no power in any of the locations, hence why the game requires the use of a flashlight. The light doesn’t really do much at all except “slow down” enemies, which even that is debatable. Most of the time is spent finding out where to go next and finding trinkets left behind by the souls who have long since been gone. Whenever you find an object in the world it’s either a health item or a “mystery object”, which needs to be taken a campfire (Save spot) where it is than identified. There are a multitude of items that lead to short bits of monologues of dead persons, though none of these stories have any consequence on the actual story and serve more as a backdrop - an unnecessary one really. And as for the items that are needed, you are only given a few spaces in your pack to fit the ones you can use at a time - think Resident Evil; Each weapon and health item takes up blocks of space in your bag, so space management is needed to help utilize the best out of your equipment.
As for combat, it’s few and far in between; it’s done in real time, and every time an enemy is defeated you gain experience points, which can be monitored in the status menu. The baddies, the handful variety of them, whether they be a ghostly pair of legs or a possessed crow, they’re all push overs and aren’t that difficult! The game offers up no challenge whatsoever - even the final boss is a huge let down. And the RPG aspect of the game is so shallow that I almost forgot to talk about it. Every time the character gathers enough experience he’ll level up, which will translate into an extra added sliver of health and a few more numbers worth of damage. The leveling system is pretty much unnecessary as the difficulty in this game is so low that a 5 year old could probably finish this game with little effort. So grind all you want, you’re not going to need it.
Visual/ Audio
You’d think there’d be some pretty neat stuff to see in this game, but as time passes the visuals remain as dull as ever. There are certain occasions when a beautiful backdrop will be present, such as a nicely colored sunset, or the eerie vibe from a dark, abandoned carnival, but those are rare instances. Most of the game will be spent in colorless hallways and corridors. To say that the visual are bland would actually be giving it a compliment, since it’s they’re as boring as possible. The only thing that keeps your attention are the bright and colorful anime characters that sit on top against the dark, undetailed environments.
Music is almost non-existent but this is done on purpose. The soundtrack for the game literally consists of only 11 songs, but that because you only hear music when an enemy is nearby or if there’s a tense cut scene happening, and even then it’s mostly generic piano ambiance. So for the 90% of the time you’re wandering aimlessly around the empty buildings you won’t hear a thing. Though, there is one cool thing that they were able to do with the sound design. If you ever find yourself in a bind you can hold the Wiimote up to your ear and one of the characters that accompany you will offer you some advice on where to go next - a helpful feature indeed. And on that note, let’s talk about the voice acting.
The game offers the choice of the original Japanese voice track or an English dub. I chose the English dub and the voices chosen all did a pretty good job. I wouldn’t expect any less from voice actors who can be recognized from countless animes and video games. Johnny Young Bosch (voice of Ichigo from Bleach, and one time Black Power Ranger) voices our main character.
The title theme, Hikari, is performed by Aoi Teshima.
Final Thoughts
The story is what drew me in, I mean there’s a lot you could do with the atmosphere and back story of a post-apocalyptic world, but sadly Fragile took it for granted and turned it into another J-drama of kiddy proportions. The trailer that I first saw nearly two years ago was very charming, but none of that charm transfered over into the real game. It’s slow and to be honest, quite boring. The game doesn’t pick up any speed as it goes along. Enemies repeat from beginning to end and there’s hardly no strategy involved in taking any of them out. Exploration is mundane, there are no puzzles, and the story itself is a joke.
It’s nothing special. Fans demanded it and I’ve read some reviews of people saying this is a masterpiece, but I gotta say that as an avid anime viewer, manga reader, and anime-con goer, this game was as bland as they come. It wants to be an RPG, it wants to be a Silent Hill, and it wants to be a Resident Evil, but unfortunately it isn’t any of those and fails quite obviously on all fronts. I really wanted to like it but there was nothing worth of value in Fragile for me.
