"So weird. So normal."

Rather than providing a description of the story and gameplay, the back of the Contact box gives us a list of things we will and will not find while playing the game. The game's pledges – that spiky-haired amnesiac heroes and dull SNES-style battles are a thing of the past – seem to indicate that we're in for something unusual, something unique, something like that which no one has ever seen.

Ah, but Contact, how deceitfully ordinary you are! You're a million ways to be cruel, indeed.

Oh, sure, the setup is ingenious, I'll give it that. Players are meant to feel that they are participating in the game's events as themselves, as they make, um, contact with the characters using their DS systems for communication. We follow the story of a professor simply named the Professor, as he travels around the planet on a search for gems used to power his ship. He recruits the help of silent protagonist Terry and is dependent on the two of you to help him out of this mess. (“You can even pretend it's just a game.”)

The writing is funny and surprisingly up-to-date – I mean, there's a freaking massive damage reference in there – and the story is cryptic but appealing. Contact is the videogame equivalent of a David Lynch movie, never quite making sense or providing all the details and leaving it up to the player to put the pieces together. I give points to Atlus for trying hard to make this a fresh, original experience, not only in the script, but in the presentation as well – note the difference in visual styles, with most of the game sporting a storybook image while the Professor and his lab look like they were pulled out of Earthbound.

But it won't take long for the truth to sink in. It turns out that all this weirdness in the plot and presentation is simply used to cover up the fact that Contact is a very simple, unspectacular dungeon crawler. Nothing more, nothing less. The gameplay itself is simplistic and repetitive, with very little in the way of charm or creativity. If it weren't for the bizarre story, the inexplicable cast, and the constant joking references to gaming culture, there would be nothing particularly noteworthy about the game.

The box claims that I'll never find a dull moment in Contact, and yet the game is full of them. The levels themselves are nothing more than glorified mazes, with enemies, chests and save points placed in almost random locations throughout. There are almost no puzzles to speak of; in fact, there are very few non-plot-related situations in which you must put your brain to straining use. It's very bland all around.

Combat is the biggest offender, mainly because there's very little player interaction involved, as it's largely automated. Getting close to an enemy will allow you to switch to “battle mode,” after which Terry and his foe will exchange blows in a turn-based manner until one is defeated. For my money, this isn't too far off from selecting “attack” repeatedly in a Final Fantasy game or clicking on an enemy over and over in your typical Diablo. The difference is that in Contact, the game does the work for you. There are some special attacks you can utilize and a few clever boss battles, but for the most part, there's no strategy. Just set yourself up and sit back while the game plays itself. (Heehee!)

What's worse is that you'll have to be harvesting experience if you want to have a fair shot at taking down the game's tougher enemies. You're in for a lot of waiting.

That said, Contact isn't particularly bad; it's just very run-of-the-mill and unexceptional. If you're into these games, these dungeon crawler hack-a-thons, you may have a good time and will more appreciate some of the game's better qualities, such as the random doses of innovation every now and then. I'll give you an example. Whenever you save your game, you're briefly taken to the Professor's lab, where you can spend a moment interacting with his dog/cat/thing Mochi using the touch screen. The feature serves no purpose whatsoever, but it makes me smile nonetheless.

If only the entire game was so charming.

Pros

+ Crazy, thought-provoking story.
+ Clever, at times hilarious writing.
+ Interesting clash of visual styles.
+ Occasional bursts of innovation, and some bright moments.

Cons

- The gameplay does little to stand out.
- Combat is simplistic and bland.
- And you'll need to do a lot of it.
- The box fails to keep its word!

Overall: 6/10

I can best wrap up the review by saying this about Contact: You'll want to keep playing, but it won't be because you're having fun. Honestly, take out the puzzling story and excellent script, and there would be almost nothing in Contact worth going into great detail over. As is, it's the kind of game I imagine will stir up a cult following as time goes on. I'm glad I played it, but it's not an extraordinarily memorable experience, and I'm in no hurry to play through it again. If you think you'd love a great story and presentation in place of exceptional gameplay, you might want to think about picking this one up at a low price, but buyer beware. So I kind of recommend Contact, but not nearly as strongly as I wish I could. Bummer.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 03/16/07