"Interesting,if bizarre Storybook RPG."

INTRO: Storybook RPG? What is that again? Yes,a storybook RPG is,my friend is where linearity is not an issue and where you help a certain character form a storyline.I'll explain more what this game is about.

STORYLINE:Nanatsukaze no Shima Monotagari or the English title,''Tales of the Seven Windblast Islands'' has indeed a pretty intriguing,if cute storyline.Seven windblast island was once a magical place,where anything could happen and almost nothing can go wrong...until a black wind howled across the land,blowing away the place and artifacts. You get to play as Dr. Garpu,a chubby draconian person that is very intelligent and must uncover the artifacts of Seven Windblast Island.The key items include strange rocks and minerals,rare bug specimens (such as the literally titled pencil-fly ^-^),strange fish and bizarre,colourful plants of this strange island.

There is no dialogue between the characters,only the narrator does the dialogue.Very intriguing concept,even though I'm not used to it,but oh well.It won't hurt to do new things.And to people whom are expecting the typical ''Let's destroy the evil villains before they destroy us'' RPG or ''Let's save a helpless prince/princess in distress'' RPG,you have definatly came to the wrong place.

CHARACTERS:Here is where it gets very interesting.I thought Dr.Garpu and his friends were very cute,especially Kitsuke,a child rabbit with scissor hands.But the other characters just keep on getting far out as the game progresses.Garpu will encounter Master of the wind: Kaze Lion,an old lady with many arms,a giant snail,a little dragon-like trouble maker with a secret grudge against him and many many other helpful (and sometimes mischivious) inhabitants of this magic-filled island.

GRAPHICS:Two words:Very Beautiful!No CG FMVs,but a combination of hand-drawn Yoshi Story-esque graphics and Stop-motion animation is a rarity in most RPGs now-a-days.Seems like you can almost never go wrong with CROWD inc./Keita Amemiya.

GAMEPLAY:Here is an RPG with some VERY different play control.It starts out as typical action RPG like play control,but be prepaired to point and click on various things here and there.

CHALLENGE: Medium challenge.Not way too difficult,but not too simplistic either,especially when it comes to clicking on things or on whom to trust and whom not to trust,because dang it,you never know what the crazy inhabitants of Seven Windblast island are like.

OVERALL:Pretty good game,even though it is rather strange and takes some getting used to,because this is not your typical ''let's get rid of the enemy right away'' RPG.

WOULD MITORA PURCHASE THIS GAME?:I did a long time ago ^-^!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/26/01, Updated 03/26/01