Opoona (Wii) Preview

To start with, it should be clarified that Koei is acting as the publisher of this new role-playing game after Square Enix's Yuji Hori (the creator of the Dragon Quest series, currently working hands-on with Dragon Quest Swords, also for Wii) hooked development team Arte Piazza with the company most known for its strategy and action games at last year's E3 event. Koei has already gone on record to state that the unique control capabilities and the vision of Arte Piazza together will make Opoona an experience like no other.

You may be wondering exactly what Arte Piazza has done in the past and why they are associated with Yuji Hori of all people. Well, the team has past experience working on four instalments of Square Enix's multi-million selling Dragon Quest series of RPGs. Opoona is set to be a showcase for the talent of some of today's most creative game designers. This includes the Art Director Shintaro Majima, Planning Director Sachiko Sugimura and Composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, who is probably most acclaimed for his work on the soundtrack for Final Fantasy XII. So already you should be getting slightly excited before even hearing about the intricacies of the game itself!

On that subject, though, Opoona's story revolves around a young boy by the same name, who is a descendant of brave warriors. Known as the Cosmo Guards, these warriors spend day and night striving to maintain peace across the entire Universe. One day they take a trip to the planet Landroll, but during this adventure Opoona's family suffers a terrible accident and unfortunately he becomes separated from them. Whilst Opoona's parents heavily injured and recuperating in hospital, a worse situation has befallen his sister and brother

As for how the game itself plays, it adopts an action-style battle system approach that is currently known as the rather unusual 'Active Bonbon Battle', whereby player will be able to pitch 'Energy Bonbons' at enemies. By snapping the Wii's Nunchuk controller, you will be able to manipulate the trajectory of the Energy Bonbons in various different ways

But Opoona is not simply about battling as it is being classed as a 'Lifestyle RPG'. Basically this means that players must adapt themselves to new environments, as well as meet new people and contribute to the society around them through working procedures. Whilst carrying all this out, they must also become aware of the precious world and people around them. As the game goes on, players must develop new relationships with others in order to improve their 'Tomodachi Level'. This Tomodachi Level alters throughout the course of the game as Opoona's various relationships evolve over time. When the Tomodachi level increases, Opoona will uncover a broader range of activities including new jobs and clues to new adventures.