During an annual duel with his arch-nemesis, Baldren is caught off guard and pushed through a gate that sends him to an unknown world. His arrival in this world causes an imbalance that allows legions of creatures to infest the land. As Baldren searches for answers, he must also deal with the new menace, but It will not be easy.
Rainbow Moon is an isometric role-playing game with an open world brimming with content. The game offers four different play styles that appeal to gamers of all skill levels. Each play style offers a different level of assistance and difficulty.
Careful and Secured equips your group with start up gear; Well Supported supplies your group with Rainbow Coins so you can purchase your own start up gear and/or items; Forward Looking provides your group with a small survival kit that contains potions, torches, and other useful items; and Adventuresome offers no help at all and is intended for hardcore gamers. The in-game difficulty is also increased.
Rainbow Moon’s world is massive. There are countless dungeons to crawl through, wooded areas to search, and towns to visit. Along the way you will encounter NPCs that offer quests to help you become familiar with the game world. Towns offer a diverse selection of NPCS that range from quest givers to merchants. Some merchants like the priest can heal your health and mana for a fraction of the cost.
An in-game Network NPC allows you to connect to PSN and upload several character statics from previously saved games. This allows you to compare your progress with other players. The Savant NPC increases your character’s attributes by using the Rainbow Pearls you acquire during combat. When you visit this NPC, he will convert the pearls for inclusion in the following areas: Strength, Speed, Defense, HP, and MP. Your character attributes have level caps. Once they reach their capacity they cannot be increased again until you level.
Exploring the game world is less frustrating than some role-playing games. Since the creatures are visible, it is easy to avoid them. You don’t have to worry about being forced into a random encounter at the most inconvenient of moments. Even after clearing an area, the game will use a window system to alert you when more monsters are present. You can choose to fight or continue on without incident.
Combat is turn-based and is very reminiscent of games like Vandal Hearts. The playfield is an isolated grid-sized map where movement is restricted to a small area. A command window is located at the bottom left of the screen allowing you to attack, defend, move, and use items like healing potions. It’s important to note that using a command from the menu, much like moving, consumes a turn. So even drinking a health potion to revive HP must be planned accordingly.
Moving your hero around during combat can be a slow process at first. Once you select ‘Move’ from the action menu, blue, flashing indicators appear around your party members. In the beginning, you can only move one space at a time — forward, back, left or right. Your movement restrictions do improve as the game progresses.
Attacking an enemy works in the same fashion. After selecting ‘Attack’ from the action menu, a flashing indicator will appear under any creature within striking distance. Pressing the left analog stick in the creature’s direction will initiate an attack. Once this is done, your enemies will either retaliate or move in closer. It can be argued that the combat system is cookie-cutter in design, but it’s executed so well. It takes all the intricate nuances of games like Final Fantasy Tactics and simplifies them.
Skills can be found throughout the game world as items. Basically a form of magic, these skills can be learned by selecting the item from the inventory / item menu. Once learned, a party member will gain a new attack skill for use in combat. Each skill is unique and has its own attributes.
No role-playing game is complete without a crafting system. While difficult to find at first, weaponsmiths can upgrade your current armor and weapons. By using items that are recovered from chests and combat, you can strengthen your equipment with additional stats like strength, defense, etc. You are limited to how many times you can upgrade your equipment, so you must choose wisely.
Rainbow Moon also includes a day and night cycle that changes the way the game plays. Traveling at night is more difficult and requires a torch; these can be purchased at local vendors in most towns. If you’re too far away from town to heal your group, or if you would rather travel during the day, there are camping grounds where you can rest until the sun rises. It’s features like these that make Rainbow Moon a pleasure to play.
As a role-playing game, Rainbow Moon has little-to-no faults. It’s a solid entry into the RPG genre that includes countless side quests that extend gameplay. This doesn’t include the time spent exploring the game world for hidden chests, bags of money, and dungeons.
Colorful 3D graphics and impressive character models do a fantastic job of conveying a nostalgic RPG feel. The dungeons are especially impressive as they are dark and uninviting. Even the music is memorable with a selection of tracks that range from mellow to Japanese-esque rock music. To put it bluntly, there is little not to like.
It has been a long time since we have seen a network game of this caliber. Gamers will appreciate Rainbow Moon’s simple combat mechanics and intuitive leveling system. Fans of the genre owe it to themselves to play Rainbow Moon; games like this do not come along often.
Mike Pittaro
Platform: Playstation 3 (Available on PSN)
Developer: SideQuest
Publisher: eastasiasoft
ESRB: E 10+ (Everyone 10+)
Price: $14.99
eastasiasoft’s Official Rainbow Moon Website
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |  |
| Gorgeous 3D graphics bring the game world to life. | |
| Sound | |
| Upbeat music adds to the atmosphere. | |
| Gameplay | |
| Entertaining and intuitive, Rainbow Moon offers countless of gameplay | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| This is one role-playing game worth owning. | |
