There’s something to be said about nostalgia when it comes to video games. As gamers, especially those of us that came from the heyday of gaming with Atari and onward, there’s something very attractive about looking back at what once was, and what once made gaming so great. Some of my best memories were of games that offered nothing more than simple bleeps and bloops.
I’m a big fan of RPGs, especially JRPGs, and I enjoy the traditional formula. Imagine my delight when I was approached to work with SideQuest Studios on a traditional strategy RPG by the name of Rainbow Moon.
In the weeks leading up to this game’s release, I got more and more excited. Every screenshot, video, article, interview…you name it, made me anticipate this game more. I love the fact that SideQuest seemed so devoted to making this as traditional a SRPG experience as possible.
Now that I’ve gotten my hands on this game, does it live up to the hype?
The simple answer: Yeah, it does! If you’re looking for a game that can give you the traditional SRPG experience once again, then look no further than Rainbow Moon.
The story is exactly what one might expect from a turned based RPG with an classic feel. You play as Baldren, who finds himself transported to the otherworldly Rainbow Moon during a battle. Of course along with being stranded in an unknown realm, a troupe of monsters has also been unleashed. You must fight your way to seal up the gate and return back to your home world.
The first thing that stuck out to me about Rainbow Moon is how gorgeous the game looks. Colors are vibrant and everything just pops visually. The art style reminds me a lot of what we saw in Bastion; similar 3/4 overhead view, similar character style, and a similar bright, almost watercolor-like environment. I’m in no way saying that one was influenced by the other, but Bastion was a truly beautiful game, and I’m glad to see that Rainbow Moon is just as gorgeous.
The gameplay is pretty much what you would expect from a SRPG. The nice thing is that Rainbow Moon gives you a few options. If you’re a classic RPG purist and look forward to the grinding experience, then have fun and grind until your thumbs crumble. If you’re not as into grinding, then more power to you, as most enemy encounters can be avoided. The thing that SideQuest seems to realize is that the days of forced grinding seem to be over, and there are only a handful of gamers that are willing to sit through a rigorous experience like that. Therefore, they made it optional. If you’re running around the map and you encounter an enemy, you can either walk away and continue on your merry journey, or walk right up to it and choose to do battle. Yes, there are still random battles, but Rainbow Moon just has more choice. I feel this is a much better way to give the player the option to avoid battle rather than making it based off of difficulty and simply making enemy encounters more or less frequent.
Battles play out in a pretty straightforward manner; you can Attack, Move, Skill, Defend, Item, Status, Gear, Escape. Anyone who’s ever played a turn-based RPG should immediately be familiar with this system. As with most SRPGs, movement is relegated to a grid system. Once a battle is initiated, a catchy battle theme starts playing, and you’re off!
The rest of the gameplay is rounded out by exploration and improving armor and weapons. Rainbow Moon is a fairly open world, and exploration is encouraged by the variety of items scattered throughout the world. This was actually a feature that really drew me in when I first started covering the game, but after playing it for a while, I’m starting to realize the game world is not as open as one might be led to believe.
The overall size of the game world is impressive, but you pretty much stuck on predetermined paths. Most everything else is blocked off by the environment. SideQuest did an admirable job masking the relatively linear nature of the game, as everything in the game world looks just like that….the game world. Upon first glance, all I really saw was a beautiful world begging to be explored. This is by no means a deal breaker…far from it, actually. The game still offers players a great deal of freedom to go wherever they want….it just better be on predetermined paths.
Of course, this all ends up lending even more to the “old school” feel to the game, so again, the restrictions aren’t necessarily a BAD thing.
Weapons and armor can be upgraded by visiting a smith. Certain items that you collect via exploration or through battle can be merged with your existing weapons and armor to increase their attributes. It’s not anything that we haven’t seen before, but it’s nice that Rainbow Moon seems to offer so many little gameplay mechanics.
And that’s where Rainbow Moon succeeds in being a brilliant little game. It’s one thing to sit back and say “Hey, let’s make an old school turn-based RPG game for the nostalgic crowd!” It’s a whole other beast to cram it as full of features as Rainbow Moon has. Rainbow Moon has exploration. It has the battle system, the item improvements, the story, a variety of characters, dungeon after dungeon, a number of boss battles, puzzles, a fairly meaty leveling up system, a fully packed bestiary, and even a feature where you can upload your stats onto the Rainbow Moon website.
This is a game that belies its $15 price tag (not that cheaper games can’t be good as well). All I’m saying is, if this game happened to be a full $40, $50, $60 dollar release, I’d be pleased with my purchase.
If you’re looking for a traditional turned-based, strategy RPG experience but aren’t looking to pull out an older game like Final Fantasy Tactics or Fire Emblem, then Rainbow Moon might just be your cup of tea. It’s a got a gorgeous art style, addictive gameplay, and a pretty palatable story. Yes, there are some annoyances (the HIYAH that your character says every…single…attack…comes to mind), and the fact that pretty much everything is buried in menus under menus might be a turn-off to some, but the overall experience of playing through Rainbow Moon is too good to avoid. Toss in the fact that this game is only $15, and you have an entry into the RPG genre that fans just can’t pass up. I had more fun playing through Rainbow Moon than I have had in a long time, and the huge grin plastered across my face is enough to warrant the purchase.
