Though my Wii and my 360 have sat stagnant in my room during the last few days, my DS been brimming with excitement thanks to Lunar Knights, the recently released action-RPG from the acclaimed Kojima Productions. In the cold of winter, this surprisingly enjoyable title has kept my hands warm with activity. Normally, I prefer to sate my RPG cravings with a more substantial platform, but Lunar Knights has proven itself to be a very hearty adventure worthy of curling up next to the fire with.

Lunar Knights is an isometric action-RPG that focuses on a pair of young boys who are out to save the world from a dastardly race of vampires.

Lunar Knights is an isometric action-RPG that focuses on a pair of young boys who are out to save the world from a dastardly race of vampires. Told through a series of animated cut-scenes, in-game text sequences, and voiced dialogue, the handheld tale offers a remarkable presentation of a solid story; the sheer amount of data crammed into the cart is absolutely amazing. While the narrative itself isn't going to win any awards, it is a fairly gripping tale that will entertain those not looking for something on the scale of a console RPG—and it even turns out to be a little darker than you might initially have expected.

The gameplay will be familiar to anyone who has played an action-RPG before: jamming on the attack button for repeated combos with the liberal use of magic powers and other various special moves—some involving the touch screen, some using button presses. On the surface, the combat system resembles last year's cult classic Contact.

Lunar Knights is actually the spiritual successor to the innovative Boktai series on the GBA, which featured a sun sensor built into the cartridges and a variety of gameplay mechanics that built from the fundamental principle of staying in the light. Lunar Knights nixes the sensor but maintains the mechanics: your two characters' energy points run off of the sun and moon respectively, so you'll need to pay close attention to the lighting conditions and the time of day in order to prolong your ability to fight. Though items can help sustain you for a while, you'll ultimately need to carefully ration the use of both characters while keeping an eye out for natural sunlight or moonlight to recharge your powers. This adds an incredible layer of depth to what would otherwise be a standard game, and though it isn't used as ingeniously as it was in the originals, the entire experience is far more flexible for those of us who don't like natural sunlight. Combine the innovative aspects of the combat with a variety of weapons and two completely different characters and you have a serious arsenal at your fingertips.

There are also a few little derivations from straight combat that enrich the gameplay experience. A unique but limited crafting engine awaits those who pine for an improved weapon, and a series of space-based, ship-clad shooting levels are periodically played out during parts of the story. Smash cops heat hack ios. While the shooting engine couldn't stand on its own, it's a nice little mini-game that breaks up the action once in a while. Some people may not like the stylus-only control, but the missions are so easy and so infrequent that it's really a non-issue.

Kojima Productions really outdid themselves on this title. The anime cut-scenes are gorgeous—yes, even compared to the intro of Final Fantasy III—and are liberally peppered throughout the adventure, harkening back to a time when the animated scenes were a reward for the diligent player. Though the entire game is sprite-based, the graphical presentation is gorgeous: the characters and their subsequent animations are highly detailed and the environments are varied and well-crafted. The gameplay is tight and the adventure is long and hearty. This has quickly become my favourite RPG on the system, and I sincerely suggest that you check it out. In an age where the likes of Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 can sell for $60, this game is most certainly worth $29.99.

Verdict: Buy
Price: $30
System: DS
Developer: Kojima Productions
Publisher: Konami
ESRB Rating: Everyone 10 and older
Other recent minireviews: