Rainbow Moon is by far the hardest game I have had to review during my time at PlayStationer towers. It has nothing to do with my playing ability nor the difficulty level of the game but the fact that it is such a big game. We are voluntary writers which means we have to do our work for this site in our own time. This is something I have been short of since moving in with my girlfriend, and no it’s not for the reasons you’re thinking either.
I will start off with a public apology to EastAsia Soft. I am sorry I haven’t had the time to get this out closer to the release date and I feel fortunate that you decided to release a demo which gave me a second window of opportunity. Thank you.
So without a further ado…
As with many RPG’s this game opens up with an annual event. A fair? A parade? The rejuvenation of a dying crystal? Nope, A fight. Our protagonist could actually be accused of being an antagonist as he sets off to fight Namoris, an evil wizard type character. There is zero to no reason for this so let’s just go with it for now. Baldren is overly confident of his victory over Namoris and agrees to meet him in, the portal-infested, ellje woods (it’s okay, I read it as Elijah Woods too). Walking through in the moonlight Baldren finds himself face to face with one of these said portals and before he knows it he is cast in to it by the evil wizard.
Welcome to Rainbow Moon. . .
Upon discovering the new moon (which has vegetation and life forms that are almost identical to Baldrens home planet) you soon find a little village and some people who are quick to accuse of opening the portals and bringing the monsters onto their land. It is at this point that you realise this game is going to make you fight, A lot. For the warhammer players out there or fans of games like Fire Emblem and pretty much every Nippon Ichi title, you are going to be right at home with the battle system. To start with you can only move 1 turn at a time (This is increased as you level up). You can choose to move, attack, defend, heal or leg it (although that is the least effective way to beat this game and you may find you have a harder time later on if you try to rush through). Later on you will be allowed to cast spells and summons too.
As you can see fights aren’t limited to a handful of grunts. These situations often happen and can easily get out of control. If you throw a green slime in there it’s “goodnight sweetheart”, “au revior”, “See you on the other side Ray” for the player that wants to rush the fight because those beautiful gelatinous goops love nothing more to multiply when they are almost down and out and it’s a 2 for 1 deal too so numbers suddenly become a problem. Luckily for you they target the weakest member of the group eh? No, she is the distance fighter and really useful! *spoilers* I am not saying any more about her.
So why fight? well it would be a pointless game if you didn’t but you need the variety of things these battles give you. I can’t say one is more important than the other because they all have a use. Moon Pearls are used to upgrade your character. Unlike other RPG’s when your character levels up you don’t initially benefit from the new found experience points. You need moon pearls to fill your experience meters in order to reach a predefined limit, this limit is increased every time you level up. I highly recommend the DLC to save some time in doing this.
The monsters also drop gold, money, moolah. You will never have enough so take it all. Every last cent. You will need it. You will use it to buy new equipment, stay at inn’s and instantly heal your team and revive all mana from one of the vendors.
Finally there are the items. These can be anything from water bottles and food to body parts (Alchemy stuff like wings and stingers) and key items needed to complete quests.
You will spend most of your time fighting. So when you do make sure you have a good party to hand. Initially you are alone and things are quite difficult but as you help the villagers and meet new people you will find some very helpful characters come to your side. You are restricted to 3 at a time so it can be a bit tiring when you have to level up one of the reserves because their skills are more suited to a specific situation. It’s typical party affair to be honest and you will identify your favourites as always.
I briefly mentioned alchemy earlier, it is as simple as this, collect x amount of body parts give them to the villager that has requested them and get cool stuff in return. It really is that simple. Now for our very first *PRO TIP*
Speak to every villager before spending a penny. You will find them useful folk who will provide you with enhanced items for a few minutes worth of gathering. Not only does this mean you get armour/weaponry for nothing but you are given an added incentive to gain XP. It’s a win-win situation.
The main quest in Rainbow moon is split into two sections. The first is set in the villages while the second is set in the monster filled, hard-to-beat dungeons. The villages in the game are vibrant places both in design and the wealth of people to speak to. It is worth taking your time to fulfil side quest requests for the wonderful people of Rainbow Moon. Not only can you get armour, weapons and potions but you may also find secrets or even add someone to your party.
The dungeons are the dark side of the moon. These are oppressive places with many fight to be had. Why vendors inhabit them is any ones guess but you will be glad that they do. for those of us that have to complete things 100%, the dungeons will anger you. You cannot do most of them in one go. Unless you fancy battling a level 70 demon at level 4 (I really wouldn’t recommend it). There are plenty of secrets to be found in most of them to so keep testing those walls!
Rainbow Moon is massive there is a lot on offer and it is wrapped in a little package of love. From colourful visuals that are pleasing to the eye to the wonderfully entrancing soundtrack (now available on PSN). Rainbow Moon delivers on every level. It’s only setback being the amount of fighting (Grinding) you have to do. Seriously this is for the uber-patient player and for those of you that put the time in you will be rewarded well.
Rainbow Moon is available on the store now for a mere £9.99! That works out at less than 10p per hour of game play.
91/100