Away: Shuffle Dungeon

"Do not let this game get AWAY before you play it!"

I decided to write a review for AWAY: Shuffle Dungeon right after finishing the game for one specific reason, the lack of interest in this game.

Also, my main language is not English, please be indulgent for syntax or grammar errors.

STORY: 7/10

Every year, a villager disappears being taken by what they call the AWAY and it's been happening for the past 99 years, now is the hundredth, who will be the next victim.

The protagonist is called Sword and was found washed away about two years ago in the Webb Village where charming inhabitants all live. A girl that goes by the name of Anella is very good friend with Sword and it is clear from the start that they have feelings for one another. And just like to be expected, the AWAY comes and take someone. The event unfolds in front of Anella who sees Sword taken by a flashing light but just before he's long gone, she asks the AWAY to take her instead but he, being smart, makes a deal with Anella which she doesn't refuse.

You wake up, everyone is gone and your all by yourself in a village where pretty much everything is destroyed but your house... After searching far and wide, you find a light tunnel which guides you into a dungeon where you find a villager and bring him back. Your ultimate goal is to find Anella!!

The main plot will have more than one twist of sometimes absurd natures yet, it still feels fresh. The problem lies in some unanswered questions that would be obviously attended, especially with such serious changes of path with the storyline. While some of those mysteries could be guessed, the developer didn't care to deliver the information. Also, near the conclusion, the story is delivered in a short and fast paced manner as if the developers rushed the end to cover some illogical events in the story.

On another note, humor and drama are present as the story unfolds. All this throughout what would be an intriguing enough plot-line.

GAMEPLAY: 8/10

When it comes to gameplay, this game really shines for bringing something new AND fun. Each dungeons consists of top and bottom screen action and each screen at a time will slide to uncover a new layer of the level your in. Sometimes, it will be time flying by, it'll be every time you change screens or every time you hit a button that will make a layer go from one to the next. The goal is to get to the layer that will reveal stairs and get to the next level without being shuffled yourself. Each dungeons will require that you get to the bottom and re-do it backwards to get out of it once that dungeon is cleared. You may sometimes stumble upon villagers, rewards or boss fights.

You will find chests, orange and yellow, orange will provide you with gold and items to heal your character or sell for more gold. Yellow chests will have items that you can use to level up shops and gain access to a wider variety of purchasable items.

It's action RPG elements will make it fun to try and kill as many enemies as possible, gather all the chests and so on. You have energy a la Zelda and each hit will reduce your available health. On the other hand, you deal an amount of damage to your enemies and just like the genre offers, you'll find critical hits and variable damage dealt depending on equipment and level.

You'll also find traps and transporters as well as switches and also, FUPONGS. Now, these little fupongs add a lot of depth to the gameplay. They're little cute creatures that will provide our hero with special abilities. You'll find 4 kinds, red (fireball), blue (ice shield), green (healing) and yellow (auto-target thunder-strike). You can carry up to 6 fupongs at a time and each can level up, bringing their power to greater ability. To do so, you may combine fupongs of the same kind or feed them with specific items. The tricky part is that, once you use a fupong, you can't use it anymore on that same level, if you get shuffled, same goes for all your fupong AND if your fupong gets trapped, you have to get them back before changing levels, otherwise, you lose them for good.

GRAPHICS: 6/10

The characters are blocky and uninspiring in their design but it doesn't stop the game from being good looking. The game is colourful and the 3d quality as well as 2d pixel arts are good for a DS game and some little details (especially in the houses) will point the efforts from the developers who showed a great effort on Nintendo's handheld despite the ordinary characters which somehow becomes more acceptable after a while.

On the other hand, the dungeons which are good looking at first become quickly old fashioned and repetitive. So does the variety of enemies you'll encounter. It's little things like chests related to environments, switches, traps and whatnot that make these dungeons more bearable one after another which they failed to do. Don't get me wrong, you'll find variety, but just not enough for the length and content of the game. The problem with that is that even if the layouts are pretty much different from beginning to end, the way it's displayed makes them feel like they're being the same, put to that the fast-paced action that doesn't give much time for the player to acknowledge the different puzzles.

While in the village, you'll have 3d graphics where as in the dungeons, you'll have overhead 2d graphics but details that make them feel like a 3d environment. The boss fights will bring 3d graphics which add an extra fun factor to these encounters. You'll also find a few FMVs with dialogues as well which is fun.

SOUND: 9/10

I find the soundtrack to be good which is VERY IMPORTANT to the RPG genre. This will set the mood and may be a turning point for people who would or wouldn't finish the game. You'll find a good variety of different songs and where the graphics may feel like a let down in the dungeons, musics and sound effects will keep you entertained while your at it. Yet, don't expect any Final Fantasy quality type of song, only that it's good enough but also very appropriated to the mood and type of game that AWAY is.

I believe the sound effects was something very important to this game as it will keep your aware of the shuffling, your health, the action going on and the enemies spawning as well as fupongs getting trapped and so on... That sounds like a lot of things going on all at the same time and believe me it is, yet, it all comes out very clearly and in a way that you know what is happening when it is and also don't forget, you have two screens going at it!

REPLAYABILITY: 4/10

New Game+ ? Yes it does, DS Wireless Communication? Yes it does (although I haven't tried it), replay old dungeons? Yes you can. That doesn't make it a more re-playable game if you ask me, there are two valuable items that you can miss in the game but that wouldn't make any difference since you get them at the very end or almost and while they may prove useful, you can definitely deal without them. And I'm pretty sure that NOBODY would go through the whole game for those two items (that is considering that you did miss them).

It's a RPG and the first reason to play this game is for the storyline, replaying it again wouldn't give you anything extra or at least, not that I know of and I don't recall seeing an option to play it on a harder level and even if, I wouldn't see the point as your way overpowered and therefore, wouldn't have much fun from raiding those dungeons again.

CONCLUSION: 7/10

Away: Shuffle Dungeon is a fun game and a refreshing one at that. While it may not be perfect, it is definitely unexpected. Playing a game like Away, you wouldn't take it very seriously but the further you go, the more surprised you'll be and it is also challenging.

Not only that, you can find it for a very affordable price and it will be worth your while. Though I got to say, you may not get through the game in one shot. In my opinion, it's that type of game that you play a while, get somehow not bored but a bit tired, you put away for a month and then start where you left it and finish it. It takes a little time but once you get to those plot twists, you should be more and more engaged in finishing the game.

If a rental is an option, you could always consider it as some kids might find the puzzles challenging or frustrating... If you want to get all the chests, it will require patience as you'd have to wait for the layer to come back and sometimes, it may take a minute or two but at the pace (pretty fast) that it is going, it feels like forever sometimes.

Last, I believe this game could last between 15 to 25 hours depending on the skills of the player and the collectors who want every chests and what not.

I hope this review was helpful and I wish y'all a great play through! Please, take the time to rate this review!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/15/09

Game Release: Away: Shuffle Dungeon (US, 10/30/08)