RPGs You Shoulda Played vol. 4

[Fuyumine]

Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hands is one of those games that got praised in magazine and website reviews, but garnered little attention from gamers. Why? I can't be sure, but what I can be sure of is that this game is, by far, one of my favorite games of all time. And not just because it was created by one of my heros: Hideo freakin' Kojima. Hells yeah!

Boktai is an Action Role-Playing Game for the Nintendo Gameboy Advance released about six years ago. One of the things that sets this ARPG from others is its integral stealth gameplay (as you might expect from a Kojima game, right?) and its unique real-time Day/Night system that utilizes the cartridges light sensor to detect ultraviolet rays.

Its story is not by any means a stellar and complex story. I mean, to be honest, I don't expect that on a Gameboy game. But do not think for a second that it's not at least interesting. You play as Django, a Vampire Hunter seeking to avenge his father who was slain by The Count, and in doing so, a deeper, slightly more trickier tale comes into play, as it is revealed that he and a number of other "Immortals" are out to enshroud the whole world in darkness, making all life undead, unfeeling, and, in their minds, "peaceful." It's quick, it's too the point. There ain't much dialoging back and forth between characters—none of the stuff you might take glee (or despair) in from a Kojima game.

As I mentioned earlier, the game's integral feature is stealth. Django is to avoid being seen by the enemy throughout the game, attacking enemies from behind to kill or temporarily incapacitate them. Why? Well, if an enemy spots you you'll have to deal with an annoying omnidirectional assault that drains your health, which might not seem like a big deal to some, but try taking on a room full of baddies. That and, well, why not? It's fun. The enemies in the game are fairly dumb, I'd say on the same level as the enemies in the original Metal Gear games. Their field of vision isn't too great, and they don't care too much about seeing their comrades getting killed in front of their eyes. All you're really going to get out of them is a route pattern they make in various rooms.

A cool thing about the enemies, though, is that their swiftness goes according to how much sunlight your game's light sensor is getting. So, say that you're getting some pretty sweet sunlight. Sure, your solar gun, the Gun Del Sol, will regenerate its energy pretty fast, but the pace in which the enemies walk will be practically sprinting, making evading a little more difficult, so you'll have to run into some shade if you want the baddies to wind down a bit.

Also, as I briefly mentioned before in this savagely unorganized review, Django uses a gun called the Gun Del Sol that gains its power from sunlight. Shooting it drains energy, and you can regain energy by standing in the sunlight and pressing and holding A. Awesome thing about the Gun Del Sol is that as you progress through the game you'll find different "frames" and "lenses" that will give Django different elemental abilities and properties.

Overall, the game is freakin' awesome. I mean, sure it has its few faults in the stealth area, but aside from the that the game is pretty freakin' awesome. I would advise trying to emulate this game, being that you need a solar sensor to really enjoy it. Though, I'm sure someone out there created a way around that. LOL, but yes, PLAY THIS GAME! IT IS AWESOME!

[Inu]

Hideo freakin' Kojima

well, that's enough to have me get this.

[BlackJack]

lol "Gun Del Sol". "Gun of the Sun"? XD

This sounds pretty intense and unique, I may check it out. I don't have an Advance anymore, so I may not, though.

AND WHAT DO MEAN THERE'S NO GOOD STORIES IN GBA GAMES!? D<
Fire Emblem!?

[Fuyumine]

Well, those are just "good" stories, you know? What I meant to say was that when playing an RPG on a hand held system, especially like the Gameboy Advance, I don't get my hopes up too high for a epic, complex story that I'd find on a console title, you know? They're not GREAT, just... good.

But yeah, check out this game. It's unique in several ways, and worth the money. And I looked it up last night and found out that there's a patch for the Boktai ROM that will allow you to play without a solar sensor. Not sure how it will work exactly, but I'm guessing you'll be able to adjust the sun meter thing. S'all good, though, I only paid $2 for mine.

[Inu]

And I looked it up last night and found out that there's a patch for the Boktai ROM that will allow you to play without a solar sensor. Not sure how it will work exactly, but I'm guessing you'll be able to adjust the sun meter thing.

the No$GBA emulator has an option for the sun meter. it lets you pick indoors, direct sunlight, or no light.

[Fuyumine]

Ah, figures.

So yeah, if you cannot find this game anywhere, or you just don't feel like giving up the dough, you can go ahead and download the ROM! Lol. That sounds bad, but... I don't think there's a gamer out there that hasn't used emulators.