Alphadia Review

If role-playing games are your kind of thing, then Alphadia is one to add onto your list. Just like typical RPG games, the game revolves around the hero, Ash (whom you play as) and either his/her friends or family will be around to form your party. If you’re not a fan of story and reading, then I would say this might not be the best game for you as this is all about the story, hence why it’s a role-playing game.

The start of the game is quite immediate, you get thrown into a battle straight away as you protect a girl called Shion and a soldier named Wied from getting killed by Schwartzchild soldiers. As the game progresses you will begin to learn the hidden identities of this mysterious pair and together along with the rest of your party, protect the world from the evil Schwartzchild Empire. As a fan of RPG’s, I like the game for the story and the art work so the storyline for Alphadia was interesting to follow. At some points it does get quite boring, but once you have passed the certain dry parts the story picks up again.

The controls are very simple to grasp, either use the thumb stick or d-pad to move your character and press the X button to open up your menu. In the menu there will be icons such as ‘equip’, ‘save’, ‘load’, pretty much everything you need is in one neat location which is very helpful. Enter battle-mode! When a battle starts sometimes you will be lucky enough to get a pre-emptive strike, meaning you will be able to attack before the enemy which is a HUGE advantage, especially during hard battles! However, if you’re not so lucky, the enemies can ambush you meaning they will be dealing the blows first so tread carefully! The magic option in this game is known as ‘Energi’ which comes in different forms of elements, such as; fire, water, wind, earth etc. You can delegate different energi elements to your party however you like but what works best with each character will have to be found out with trial and error.

There is a negative point about the movement of this game which I do not like and this is the speed which you move. So if you want to speed up your walking, forget it, you are stuck at that speed forever, no running allowed. Also, your character is constantly walking, regardless if you are standing still, chatting to villagers and even when you’re on the world map! It’s such a weird feature to experience as you don’t do that in real life, so why add that in a game?

The secret you need to know about RPG games, is to always talk to everyone and check every nook and cranny for hidden items as there are bound to be secret chests waiting to found. Side quests will automatically start when you talk to a NPC, and once you complete their requests you will receive some sweet rewards so they are definitely worth your time.

The graphics in this game is quite simple but nice. The art style is that of anime’s but generally everyone is just a sprite on a 2D map. Usually in RPG’s there would be an opening song and scene before you start the game but with Alphadia you start off straight away on the ‘New Game’ and ‘Load Game’ menu. For such a simple styled game, it is quite nice to look at, especially during the battle phase when you see the actions and attacks being used by your party.

Since this game is on the 3DS, anyone would assume that there would be some 3D effects that occurs in the game, but unfortunately the 3D screen has no effect whatsoever. Another thing is if you want to tap ‘New Game’ or ‘Continue’ using the touch screen, then don’t bother as the game is based solely on the use of buttons and not the touch screen which is a shame in my opinion.

The variations of sounds you hear throughout the game is quite limited. When you enter a town, whether it is old or new the same ‘village’ music will be played through the speakers. This is the same circumstance with the battle phases and when you enter dungeons or dangerous situations. During the dialogue there will be a ‘beep’ sound every time you finish reading some text which isn’t as annoying as it sounds (no pun intended).

After playing through this game and familiarising myself with the characters and gameplay, I did enjoy it but sometimes there are annoying parts where I have to give myself a break before continuing (you’ll know what I mean when you start playing). However, I enjoy games with good art style and pretty graphics and even though the art style in Alphadia is nice to look at, I still feel a little unsatisfied with what I’m seeing. Nevertheless, RPG’s are a great, so if you fancy being a hero and begin a new adventure, then Alphadia is ready for a hero like you!

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo 3DS code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.