"Something wasn't right..."

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE

INTRO
Alright, so here's the first review we have for this game. I finished it a while ago, and I never thought of posting a review here. Well, I obviously finally did. Overall, the game seemed to jump around too much, and was just filled with way too many fillers. I'll admit, I was addicted and had fun once I got into and used to the game-play, but I probably won't play it again for a good long time, because it appears to have no replay value, unless you're one of those people who needs to get every little thing in a game in order to feel as if the completed it. Now, onto th more serious review...

GRAPHICS - 7/10
I'll admit I've seen much better for the DS. It fit the game decently though, and I'm feeling generous. They weren't exactly top-notch, but they weren't stick figures, either. When you bought a spell, or something like that, the character's weapon would glow a certain color. Also, when speaking to somebody, the top screen would show a face, which was very nicely done. However, the bird's eye view graphics seemed to be lacking a few things.

SOUND - 8/10
To be honest, I didn't really pay much attention to the sound. It flowed well when I did notice it - it wasn't the sort that was repetitive and made you want to listen to something else.

GAME-PLAY - 9/10
Ahh, what really makes a game worth playing. The Squirrel's Store system seemed well-done to me. You can buy different weapons for different characters (Susan has a bow, Lucy a dagger, Peter and Edmund different swords), flags (I'll get into that a bit more later...), etc. Although a good bit of the things were high-priced, it would require time to collect enough currency to purchase.

The weaponry really reflected the character using it. The 4 different characters could learn different abilities, along with different ways of helping their brother(s)/sister(s) in battle. I don't know about other people, but I really loved how this game implemented battle. It wasn't the repetitive sort, but it did require a bit of button-mashing.

The RPG bit was done very nicely, if I may say so. After each level, you can assign a point onto an attribute in order to upgrade strength, defense, etc. The only problem is that leveling up is difficult, unless you're the sort that is able to fight the same enemy over and over until you get the desired amount of EXP. But even with that flaw, the fact that better weapons do more damage and that your character upgrades as you play, it's very good, IMO. Many may disagree, though...

Anyhow, it was addictive.

REPLAY VALUE - 2/10
Honestly, I don't think there was much to replay this game for. Bunches of little things that don't really matter. The many optional things don't have rewards of any sort, which takes away the need to do them. If you've played a Zelda game, you know what good side-quests are like. In this game, however, the sidequests take time to find the person you need to find, and all in is just plain boring.

OTHER - 3/10
There were dungeons that you needed to complete, which meant defeating a boss-like enemy to save a noble creature, in order to help Aslan (the lion). There weren't any maps for these dungeons, and they were fairly large and easy to get lost in. There aren't many things that stick out either, so a bunch of it all looks the same. Thankfully, the different dungeons have different tile textures...

There is a flags sidequest which requires you to find an ally, talk to him/her/it, do a side-quest or two, then get a flag for them from a Squirrel's Store. Mind you, different stores have different flags, so this can get REALLY annoying. And add onto the fact that there are a good bunch of flags needed to be found and given, and they cost 50 currency each. I say 'currency' because there aren't really 'dollars'. There are three different kinds of currency, and I couldn't decipher what they even were. That's where the graphics didn't do the best job ever. The best weapons and accessories at the stores are around 1000 normal currency each, which is about 2000 per character. And that's if you ONLY get those top-notch items. If you build your way up the scale, you'll probably end up spending up to around 5000 currency per character. Currency is common, but it's not everywhere, and most times you only get currency in stashes of 1 or 5 at a time... *sighs* The game creators really want you to play their game, and the many fillers are horrific.

OVERALL
There were many flaws with this, but thanks to the lovable game-play, I'm rating this a bit higher. I would say borrow the game from a friend for a week, and you'll have played as much as you need to.

~TheHylian

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/05/06