Islands of Wakfu Review (Xbox 360)

Children, it is time. I can feel it coming... like a wave, consuming all. The stars are brighter, illuminating this moment of truth.

Islands of Wakfu is a game developed by Ankama, who are in the process of developing a turn-based MMO called Wakfu. The MMO is currently in beta, with an open beta starting at the end of April. The purpose of Islands of Wakfu is to introduce the player to the history leading up to the beginning of Wakfu, and there are account-linked features that garner rewards in the MMO for getting achievements in the XBLA game. My first impression of the game was that I really wanted to like it, but in the back of my mind was the nagging feeling that there was no way. I couldn't put my finger on why exactly; I simply was not really having any fun with the game. However as time went on and some things started making more sense to me, I found the game growing on me. Let me take you through a few examples of what I'm talking about.


When you first get into the game, if you do not have a great understanding of Wakfu, you are likely to be lost pretty quickly. I saw a bunch of text telling me about goddesses, the race of Eliatropes, dragons, etc. I'll summarize for you, though. You play as two characters at once: Nora, the Eliatrope, who is a close-range fighter who likes to pummel things with her fists and feet, and Efrim, her dragon brother (there's no real explanation why a wood-elf-esque girl has a dragon as a brother). Efrim can fly and has long-distance attacking capabilities. You can switch between the two characters on the fly, or if you have a friend on-hand you can rock some couch co-op, putting Nora and Efrim on screen at the same time.

Still with me? Good, because herein lies one of my biggest gripes with the game - the overall story. It feels at once convoluted, complex, multi-layered, a bit contrived, and either not very well thought out or a little too well thought out. You never get a really good explanation for anything. The ambiguity in the storyline results in you feeling no real motivation for your actions, and an unmotivated player is not likely to be highly invested in the story, and is even less likely to finish the game as a result. I'd like to tell you a bit of how the story unfolds but honestly... I'm still unsure. However, that's not to say that the game just falls flat, as there are some very redemptive aspects to the game as well.

First of all the graphics are a treat for the eyes. The cartooney visuals are well-rendered with crisp animations all around. I did find it kind of puzzling that when you change directions your character seems to "teleport" to face the new direction, rather than there being a transitory animation. That is basically splitting hairs though, as overall things look simply beautiful. Also, the musical compositions in the game are stunning. They set the mood very well, and are extremely well-composed. The sound effects, on the other hand, are a bit lacking. They are repetitive and I grew weary of them early on.


The actual gameplay is reminiscent of action RPG or adventure games of the likes of Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, and maybe even Zelda. Nora is your brawler, and Efrim is your ranged player. Different enemies seem to respond differently to either character, though I admit I found myself utilizing Nora much more in battle when playing alone. There are puzzles in the game that are not very difficult but make good usage of the teamwork needed by both characters. Overall the game plays very well, but this is also my other pain point with the game: there seems to be a difficulty spike in the game early on that is unfair and far too harsh. I remember feeling this way with the original Final Fantasy for the NES, but at least there you could grind your way to better stats before moving on. This is not the case with the sudden difficulty uptick found here. The first boss is so difficult I would imagine many players would stop playing then and there.

But like I said in the beginning of this review - the game got better as I went on. After some upgrades to Nora and Efrim's abilities, the playing field starts to level a bit and you find yourself getting into the swing of things: Buy time with Efrim's ranged attack, swoop in with Nora via teleporting behind the enemy while uppercutting, then launch into a crazy spinning attack move right after. It makes sense, and it makes the game more fun to play. It's just a shame that you have to get through such a steep initial spike in difficulty to get here!


All in all this is a good game. It's got a lot going for it in the graphical and sound department, and while the gameplay suffers initially from an unfair difficulty spike, if the player can tough it out and stick with it long enough to get some upgrades he or she will be smiling for the rest of the journey. Islands of Wakfu is out now on the XBox Live Arcade, and will set you back 800 MSP.

Platform:
Xbox 360
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Publisher:
Microsoft
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Developer:
Ankama
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Genre:
Xbox Live Arcade
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Release Date:
4/6/2011
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Game Features:
Offline Players: 1-2
EDTV 480p Support
HDTV 720p Support
Dolby 5.1 In-Game

Ratings :: 1
Average :: 5.5
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