Neopets: The Darkest Faerie

"Average in the best possible way"

As a NeoPets fan, I've been waiting for this game since it was first announced for the original playstation. It was delayed for years without much reason given, and then moved to the PS2 platform. I wondered whether it would live up to the web version's creativity, which was also impressive for its expansive amount of things to do.

There were hints of what was to be expected through previous plots on the site, and they ended up being very close to what is offered here in The Darkest Faerie. Unlikely heroes set off to fight an undoubtedly evil force who threatens a certain section of Neopia - this time, a farmhand and a diplomat battling a dark faerie targeting Meridell and Faerieland with her revenge.

Story: 7

The game's story is quite obviously aimed at a younger audience, being very simplistic as the other plots are. A dark faerie helps to found a city, then tries to take it over, but she is sealed away for 1000 years. The curse is then broken, and the heroes must stop her as she plots revenge against Neopia. The game introduces new areas like Altador and Market Town, as well as familiar ones like Meridell and Faerieland. Given what it's attempting to be, the story is perfectly average.

Graphics: 7

The game started as a PS1 game, and it shows. The scenery is intentionally cartoonish, with not much texture at all. It leads to problems when dealing with water, as some is shallow enough to walk through, while some will cause an instant game over - you can't tell which is which because it isn't transparent and the surfaces don't look different, leading you to avoid water completely if possible. The NeoPets themselves look polished, and seeing NeoPets walking around is amusing. The big redeeming feature here is that the animation is very smooth, watching either of the two playable characters simply run around is satisfying.

Sound: 7

The music is nice, but not all too memorable save for one area - Faerieland, where you don't spend much time. The music speeds up when engaged in battle, which is a nice touch. However, there's an extremely irritating spring-sounding noise whenever your magic runs low, which is quite often since it's used up with every attack. At first I didn't know what it was, but it's terribly grating.

Gameplay: 7

Controls are simple and responsive in the game. There is one attack button, leading to a limited number of combos - you'll generally stick to the basic three-hit attack with Tor, and the rapid fire with Roberta. The challenge is determining which mote to use. Motes determine elemental alignment - you'll have to use the same element as the enemy you're fighting on your shield and armor, and the opposite on your weapon for the best effect. However, the motes are limited, and used up with each attack (dealt or received), so sometimes battle is best avoided. Similarly, you can give food items to "petpets" found throughout the game who will aid you by restoring health, magic, strengthening you, etc. as long as you keep them fed. In an odd twist, most normal enemies are harder than the bosses. The majority of the bosses can be beaten simply by running up to them and mashing the attack button, while normal enemies will block your attacks, leaving you open to counterattacks.

Towns are fairly sizable, and the world is big, which may be seen as a downside due to the fair amount of backtracking throughout the game. Not only this, but directions on where to go are sometimes unclear, and I found myself having to refer to the instruction manual to see the world map on a few occasions.

All in all, the game is solidly average. NeoPets fans will like it for the chance to see the pets as more than a jpeg on a website, but I doubt that anyone not interested in NeoPets would care for the story. Despite its flaws, it was fun and kept me wanting to play. I had worried that the game would be overly easy because of a younger target audience, but I was pleased to discover that it had a fair amount of challenge to it - I can't see much of the younger crowd making it very far in the game. The Darkest Faerie is an average game, worth a rental for fans of NeoPets.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/21/05