The Denpa Men 3: The Rise of Digitoll (Nintendo 3DS) Second Opinion Review

The Denpa Men 3 starts quickly enough: at the onset the player is made to catch their first Denpa Man creatures using the AR capabilities of the 3DS. Denpa Men are superimposed over the real world using the 3DS cameras, and the player must then fire a net to catch free floating Denpa Men. They may be found dancing around the living room sofa, hanging around the TV, or hovering over the family cat. Once the Denpa Men are caught, they can be used in RPG turn-based battles.

This is the main use of the AR feature - catching more Denpa Men to fill the party. Users are encouraged to take their 3DS to different areas to catch more, as the number at each location will quickly be depleted. A large number can be caught, but only so many can be brought into the battle party at a given time. Thus, Denpa Men can be swapped out at will whenever the player is in a safe location like a town or small village.

The RPG elements are straightforward and the stats cover the basics that RPG fans have grown accustomed to. There's the usual health, attack power (same as magic power), attack, defence, speed, and evade. Each Denpa Man, depending on his colour, also gets element boosts. Battles are turn-based, with each Denpa Man getting his chance to perform an action.

The other interesting aspect of Denpa Men 3 is the simulation side of the gameplay - it almost feels like Animal Crossing merged with an RPG. Each Denpa Man caught gets his own house, and homes can be customised, expanded, and remodelled. The little men can also be decked out with a large array of different wardrobe outfits. Fishing and gardening offer still more gameplay options.

The title is polished. This being the third entry in the series, it's clear the developers know what they are doing and how to execute their vision.

The problem, then, is that in the end none of it feels particularly compelling. On paper it seems like a dream mash-up, but in reality the player may never feel a real hook in the game world. The RPG elements are fine enough, but the combat feels stale and boring. There are no random encounters - enemies spawn directly on the map - but encounters are still so frequent that they feel no less annoying. Sometimes the enemies spawn so near the player they might as well be random encounters. The tedium of the combat only serves to make matters worse. The game world size feels artificially inflated because of how long it takes to get anywhere due to the incessant battles. It's a chore to travel. This is a problem in an RPG.

The cute presentation - while clean and proficient - also feels like it's trying too hard to be charming. The dwarfs who inhabit the main world talk in a stilted way that starts to wear thin almost immediately, and the Denpa Men talk in a sort of Animal Crossing style babble that screams, "Look at me, aren't I so adorable?"

Many RPGs can suffer these kinds of problems, but manage to still be engaging due to a compelling story. Part of the reason Denpa Men then fails to grab the player is the lack of anything interesting in the plot. The player is looking for a friend called Crystal. That's the narrative hook.

Despite these shortcomings, Denpa Men 3 does do a lot of things right. The unspectacular RPG gameplay is at least decent enough to support the game, and the sheer amount of things to do mean that those who do find the world charming will be entertained for some time. Furthermore, there's never any ambiguity about the next objective: it's always clearly labelled on the bottom screen.

Hitting the right trigger will further elucidate the motivation behind what needs to be accomplished. It's sort of handholding, but it's a good thing here as it prevents additional tedium from traveling to the wrong places. The ability to instantly jump to any major location after it has been reached is also extremely handy. If the journey to new places is painful, at least traversing to past spots is quick and painless.