Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand

"Go play outside... it's a beautiful day... for monster slaying!"

Yo, fellow gamers! Or rather...

"TAIYOHHHHHHHH!"

That's the battle cry of the heroes of this game. From what I know, it's Japanese for "Sun" or "Sunlight", and that is the key to winning this unique and fun game I like to affectionately call "Metal Gear Solar".

Background---

This game is an ambitious brainchild of the great director Hideo Kojima, of the famous "Metal Gear"series (Not the only reason for the comparative nickname, as you'll soon see).

The premise is an adventure game with a built in solar sensor which would affect gameplay elements such as lighting and weather, but more importantly, would be vital to the player as a source of power. The obvious idea being to coax young children to get out into the sun more,the gimmick is a fascinating gameplay mechanic which may seem cheesy and weird (some of the more polite phrases shared by some casual gamers I've known), but it actually works. For me, feels like it adds excitement to the game. Somehow, it feels very rewarding to play this game in the brightest sun possible, not just because of my love for the outdoors, but for the fact that I'm storing up energy to be used later on if needs be, and earning bonuses in the process ( more on this in Gameplay below )

I understand that you may need to be convinced that the gimmick is built around a decent game. After all, gimmicks might sell games to kids, but most gamers care only for games: if the game isn't good, the gimmick sucks right along with it. allow me to put those fears to rest, fellow gamers, as I tell you what truly makes this solar powered game shine.

Gameplay---9

The basic gameplay is a third-person action RPG in a 3/4 view. For those unfamiliar with 2-d gameplay lingo, that means you see from the top down and at a slight angle, so the character moves diagonally-north is up-and-right, south is down-and-right, et cetera. You move fairly well, in 8 directions, with a fair field of vision. It has all the trappings: overworlds and dungeons, a few head-scratching pushing-block puzzles, but very few of them hair-pullers... it's a little like Zelda, with a projectile weapon, and the odd viewpoint, but there are a few big differences.

The second reason I compare this game to Metal Gear is that it borrows many elements from Kojima's elder brainchildren. Enemies have ranges of sight and hearing, and you need to learn how to approach them without being seen or heard so you can sneak around them or destroy them without danger. You may, like in Metal Gear, choose to kill everything that moves, but this becomes a problem if you're, say, deep inside a Vampire's manor or a volcanic cave, where you can't get a lot of sunlight. You need that power for your main enemy,and you can only carry so many recharging "solar nuts" to keep you going. Also like in Metal Gear, you have the same skills of flattening against a wall to creep silently around, knocking on walls to attract an enemy, even having a "look" button that keeps you still but lets your move the screen a certain distance for a peek ahead. There is no Soliton Radar, or some such, however, so the enemies locations can only be seen by "look mode", and their visual ranges are completely unknown to you-you have to learn by observation how sharp one enemy is over another. The difficulty this style of gameplay presents should not be unfamiliar: if you die a lot in Metal Gear, prepare to die a lot here too.

Okay...WHY do you need the sun so badly? What powers does it give you? There's a very good reason for that. You see, most of your enemies are undead creatures, most notably zombies called Boks. Your only means of defeating them is the Gun del Sol, which is, for all intents and purposes, a solar-powered magical gun. It collects sunlight and fires it in damaging pulses or in lightsaber like "spreads". This was when I said to myself, "Fighting zombies and vampires with a solar-powered laser gun? Heh! Cool!" But there is so much more to the game than that. For instance, shortly after the second dungeon area, you find "the Solar Tree", which allows you to grow healing items by planting two of your own. the growth time and harvest all depend on how much sun you can collect as you play. Flame jet traps in certain dungeons shoot faster in bright light, and there are bridges in the dungeons made of light that exist ONLY in sunlight. These elements all add up to an effective use of the solar sensor. Layered on top of the sold gameplay, this is a winning combination.

Now, the problem with that is "Does that mean I can only play in the daytime?" Allow me to explain that you don't HAVE to play this game entirely in the sun. If you can get by ona certain amount of energy and recharging items,as well as "solar stations" which are like banks for sunlight accumulated during outside play, you can play even in the blackest night ( with an SP or Game Boy Player of course). However, there ARE places that have puzzles only the sun can solve: bottomless chasms spanned by bridges of light that only exist in sunlight for example. Also, while the bosses first forms can be battled without the sun, that only puts the boss into a coffin. In order to finish it off, you need to drag it back to the beginning of the level (the game will often provide some shortcut passages to make it easier), and use what they call "the Pile Driver", a magical symbol drawn on the ground, with solar reflectors/magnifiers in all four compass directions. The Pile Driver NEEDS sunlight to work. The game sensor can tell artificial light from sunlight, so this is not an option. the Driver shoots beams of light into the coffin, burning off the evil force that makes it undead. the monster's spirit doesn't take kindly to this though, and attacks both you and the generators, hanging on for dear unlife, as it were. The stronger the sunlight, the quicker it works, and eventually you'll win. A triumphant trumpet flourish and you'll be graded on how many times you were seen, how many times you continued, and how much sun you absorbed during the mission.

So the game doesn't pin you down entirely to it's gimmick,but it DOES make you use it, leading to the frustrating premise of beating a boss and dragging the coffin to the Driver, only to have the sun go down, or for clouds to roll in, prompting you to save the game and try to finish off the boss on a sunnier day. Which leads me to another nitpick about this game. The save system awkwardly restores you to the last entrance you passed through, or the last big event you witnessed in that room when you resume. This means that if you cross a difficult room, claim a major item at the far end, and then save your game BEFORE moving on to the next room, when you come back later, you'll be at the entrance to the room, as if you JUST entered it, without any of the items you may have picked up when you saved further down the road. this can be annoying, but doesn't take too far away from the game though. These two flaws are the main reasons for the loss of a point though. In all, this is a satisfying adventure game, with sound gameplay. Even without the solar gimmick, this game would still be playable, but only half as unique or fun.

Story---8

A post apocalyptic fantasy future is the setting of this game. A phenomenon laughably dubbed "the Undeadening" has reduced much of the planet to desert waste, with scattered forests, that while lush, are infested, as indeed the rest of the world, with zombies and ghouls. Dark Matter from a mysterious source has turned all it touches into unliving, undying, shambling masses.

The people of San Miguel live in fear of the outside world, in fear of the evil coming from nearby Istrakan: the City of Death. Their greatest Vampire Hunter, Red Ringo, has vanished without a trace beyond the City walls, leaving behind only his scarf, his weapon, the Gun del Sol, and a small boy: his son Django.

A few years pass,and Django predictably follows in his father's footsteps, right into the City of Death, with the Gun del Sol, and a powerful spirit guide at his side. He is Otenko, the Messenger of the Sun. A bit like Obi-wan Kenobi..if Obi was a cartoony flying Sunflower with a surprisingly deep voice. Otenko follows you around, giving you advice, and giving you the power of the Pile Driver. It's your job to find the evil Count of Bloodsoaked Earth, the vampire who is rumored to have slain your father, and all his undead kind, confront them on their own ground, and drag them out into the sun, where the Pile Driver waits to burn away the Dark Matter, purifying the creature so it does not return to this life.

You're not completely alone though. Otenko is always at your side, and a few other characters will come into the story. Not going to go into great detail here, But there IS the requisite damsel-in-distress

What is the source of the Dark Matter, Klorofolun? Is the Count of Bloodsoaked Earth really the power behind it, or is there a greater force at work?

You've asked similar questions in countless other games before, but this game does the old plotlines no great injustice, and is still serviceable.

Graphics---9

The GBA has respectable graphical power, and Boktai doesn't lack for the use of it. The game has good all around graphics, reaching for a kinds of cartoony, brushstroked feel. Nothing groundbreaking in terms of special effects, but it does it's job. The graphics do possess some sort of unexplainable "interlaced line effect", for lack of a better word. I suspect this graphical style is intended to make the game easier to see in bright sunlight,and it seems to do the trick. Clouds of smoke appear to be made of sprites drawn with missing pixels to create transparency, like the bushes in Super Mario World or the early Genesis Sonic games. This minor pixelation effect is nothing to complain about..but it just looks..odd to me. Also there's a few cases where Otenko speaks and you see a close up of him on screen. He looks very pixelated, like a Mode 7 graphic, or like someone drew him with the broad line tool of Photoshop and forgot there's smaller brushes to work with. Still these piddling points don't subtract too much from the good visuals. The only other problem I can think of is the boss graphics getting in your way in "Battle Drive" mode, when using the Pile Driver to cleanse the Dark Matter. These are all minor nitpicks, and shouldn't even bother you all that much.

sound---8

Again, a solid foundation with a few oddities stacked on top. The music is decent, but seems to consist of an odd mishmash of high-grade 16-bit musical effects,with 8-bit sounds dusted on top. The songs themselves are fairly decent, but few memorable tunes except perhaps the music for the Battle Drives. That music stuck in my head, I'm happy to say. Suffice to say that the music sets an appropriate mood, but with the possible exception of the Pile Driver music, you won't be humming it five to ten minutes later.

Sound effects are fairly standard. The zombies squeal in different tones to note changes in alertness status. It seems to fit their character though, and to a degree, their odd squawk upon sighting and attack is just as shocking and frightening as the sound of a guard in Metal Gear turning on you (complete with exclamation mark over their heads).

There are some short voice samples as well. Bosses laugh derisively at you, or upon your death, Otenko will urge you to "Keep the sun always in your heart." The voice sample one will most likely become very familiar with is Django grunting with pain when he takes damage, or his death scream when he loses all health or falls down a hole. Still, the games sounds do fit their respective places, and that's all that really matters. Plus, I may just be weird here, but there's something oddly fun in hearing Otenko lay the Pile Driver down screaming "TAIYOHHHHHH!"

Playtime---10 Replayability---9

this game is very well paced for it's genre, not too long, not too short. There are lots of optional areas, especially accounting for the fact that you can often choose one of two roads and get to the same place without ever NEEDING to go back to the other. However, playing in all possible paths gives you more items, maybe even more "Life Fruits", like Heart Container pieces in Zelda games, as well as modifications for the Gun del Sol.

After the game ahs been finished once, you can restart with all your items from the last play, on a higher difficulty level if you so choose, and there's always the Azure Sky Tower. The Azure Sky Tower is a multi-level extra challenge that I went through my entire first run through without ever finding it. It's strictly an extra challenge for completists, which gives the game high playability. The only loss on points is the fact that it's hard enough to find the right times and places to play this game the first time around, without having to do it again. The choice of whether or not you want to do so, or go back inside, is entirely up to you..but it's well worth it for this game.

Overall---9

There you have it. One of the greatest, most gimmicky games for the GBA, and now that the sequel is out, less than twenty dollars. It is highly recommended that you have this game by summer, and hopefully finish it in time to pick up the sequel ( which I'm currently working through ) by fall. Those who enjoy a VERY tough adventure game, and love the sunlight on a warm spring day no longer need feel so conflicted, for Boktai is here to slay two vampire bats with one ray of light. Hey, forgive the cheesy paraphrase, but what else can I say?

Ohh yeah. Pick this one up. It won't let you down.

'til next time, fellow Solar children, keep the Sun always in your heart.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/27/05