"One of the best RPGs in recent history."

With so few RPG titles available for the DS, this game is certainly a much-needed boon. It features an entertaining storyline and interesting play mechanics, included the hyped alignment system, where your party members grow stronger when their planet is properly aligned.

The story is pretty simple: As students of a Magical Academy, you set out to rescue a teacher who goes missing. In the process, you stumble upon a quest to save the world. Standard fare, though it can be fun. The specifics, which I will leave for you to discover, can be very interesting, despite the generic "now we're off to save the world!" Routine.

There are several planets to visit, each which will be visited multiple times as part of different quests. As you return to planets, you will find more to explore, as more areas open and new challenges await.

One downside to this is that the game tends to be very linear, and even very simple and obvious tasks sometimes require you to go through a mechanical process before you are allowed to do it. You might think to try using a specific approach, try it, and then find out it's available a few lines of dialogue later, after the conclusion is drawn for you.

The controls are rather simple: The touch screen controls movement, interaction, and combat. The D-Pad/Face Buttons can walk around as well, and the shoulder buttons can be used to run and for some interaction, but such interaction is limited (You can't interact with certain key items or talk to moving figures). This is frustrating, as I actually prefer the D-Pad to the stylus controls for walking. The touch screen can be problematic as a control, also, as it's easy to talk to the wrong people, even with multiple calibrations. In combat, certain enemies can also be difficult to target.

The controls, while sometimes a bit clunky, serve the game well. The function of the touch screen to select commands is more intuitive than using the D-Pad and buttons to select menus and sub menus. Tap party members at the right time to power up attacks or to lessen the blow of enemy strikes.

While I am not impressed by the graphics and sounds particularly, there is little bad about them, as much as lackluster. They don't take away from the gameplay or the story, and on a few occasions can even be quite impressive.

There are six main playable characters, though you will not always have access to all six characters. There are also bonus characters (Egg characters) which are unlocked and gain experience through the multiplayer (amigo) mode. I cannot comment on Egg characters, as I know nobody with both a DS and an interest in RPGs. The main characters consist of one character aligned with each element (Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, Wood), and the main character, who can either be aligned with Light or Dark Magic. As with most games with elemental magic, each type of magic has strengths and weaknesses against other types of magic (Light and Darkness are equal to each other). Your enemies get stronger too, which means fighting them while their planet is in alignment will be harder than at any other time.

Magic is the heart of the system. While you can do normal attacks, you will normally be better off with magical attacks than physical. Remember, even your beefiest, toughest brawlers come from a school for magic users. As such, the planetary shifts can be fairly important.

This game makes great use of both screens: The top screen is the map, status screen, and astrolog (Which shows you where the planets are), as well as extra viewing space for cutscenes or particularly large battles. The bottom screen is the main action screen, as well as the interface for menus and such.

Starsign's difficulty can prove to be challenging, as it gets significantly harder pretty quickly. However, this lends itself well to providing a challenge. You can get through the game without much mindless grinding as long as your strategies are sound. This is a huge boon to the game's playability.

This game combines traditional RPG elements with a friendlier interface. This makes for a fun, if sometimes gimmicky, combination. The story is enjoyable, and heavily worth the investment in terms of both time and money,

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/10/06