Well I wrote a review for the game, so I'll post it here so you have info other than that potentially misleading ad.
THE "DENPA" MEN: They Came by WavePlatform: 3DS (eShop-only)
Developer: Genius Sonority
Genre: Platformer
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Known in Japan as Denpa Ningen RPG, or roughly translated (or rather, Google translated because I'm lazy) "Human Radio," referencing the titular humanoid creatures that ride on the radio waves all around us. For those of you who've played Mega Man Star Force, think Mr. Hertz and the EM beings. Anyways, the game suddenly was mentioned a few weeks back as being localized. The second entry of the series, Denpa Ningen RPG 2 hit the Japanese eShop last Thursday (September 27, 2012), the same day the North America eShop received the first entry, the one you're reading a review for right now.
The game is touted as being an Augmented Reality Role Playing Game, in that you use the 3DS Camera to scan your surroundings and reveal the little Denpa Men floating along like fish in the ocean. For those that don't want to use the camera but still catch Denpa Men, there's a handy Manner Mode which turns off the camera and replaces the background with a blue wireframe. The first thing you'll notice about the Denpa Men is that they're all pretty much wearing a bodysuit, somewhat like a Mii but with arms. The second thing you'll notice is that those suits are different colors.
Here's the fun thing: those colors determine their elemental strengths and weaknesses. Black bodysuits have no strengths or weaknesses. White ones are strong against Dark without weaknesses. Red is weak to water and strong to fire, whereas green is strong against wind and weak against water. Then there's striped Denpa Men, such as the one below. Danny there is red and light blue, meaning he's strong against fire and ice. The third thing you'll notice is that some have antennas and some don't. These determine their abilities; each Denpa Man can only have one ability, but they can grow. Occasionally you'll find a Denpa Man with an Antenna Root; those grow into rare abilities and are rare themselves depending on where you live. And occasionally you'll even come across shiny Denpa Men that appear white on the touch screen radar; these Denpa Men hold rare abilities and are rare themselves.
When you start a new game, you'll get a Hero with a random name like all the others, random facial appearance, and a random color. The hero will always have the Revive ability though. From there, you catch a few more Denpa Men to make your party grow. Your home base is Digitoll (a pun on digital), an island that houses many things. You'll find an antenna which captures Denpa Men, a house for all your Denpa Men to stay in, a shop run by a dwarf, a shrine to revive fallen Denpa Men, a PC to scan QR codes to receive Denpa Men from others, a museum that shows every antenna ability you've seen in the game, a port to see the World Map and head out to other islands, and the first dungeon. The handy part about the World Map is it tells you a recommended level for each island, which is its own dungeon.
When you first enter a dungeon, you'll see its name along with an episode title akin to anime and your hero will talk to you. You explore the dungeon in old-school RPG fashion, which is wandering aimlessly looking for treasure and the next floor. Enemies appear on the map, so you can flee them if they haven't seen you yet or if you're sufficiently leveled to outrun them when they chase you. A handy map is also filled in on the touch screen, useful for the inevitable repeat trips through the dungeons for treasure and experience. Within every dungeon hides a healing fountain (except the first) that restores all your HP and AP and removes all status effects. Occasionally you'll find a dwarf who'll give you a recuperative massage (I think) with the same effect.
You'll also find a warp when you're near the boss of the dungeon. This is useful in most dungeons as it gives a safe way to heal, and you can check out the scenes before each boss battle without triggering them (you still need to walk up to the boss in most cases to trigger the battle) and then run back and leave. The game autosaves whenever you return to the World Map from a dungeon or finish doing ANYTHING on Digitoll, which is useful. When you get into a battle, which you will, there's four things you can do. Let the computer decide, make everyone attack, choose everyone's attacks yourself, or run. The AI is pretty good too; often I'd leave it up to the AI and it usually would do what I wanted, though it also became predictable on some grinding trips so I had to compensate with some manual orders a few times. Overall, it's useful and speeds up the battles. And if your quests go unsuccessful and everyone dies, you can recapture lost Denpa Men with the Shrine. Just be prepared to spend a lot of Offerings if your guys were high-level.
And speaking of battles, the monster designs are great in this; there's a few designs I'm surprised I hadn't seen before, but I'll leave those as a surprise for obvious reasons. I loved encountering new enemies and seeing the clever designs, though the staple palette swaps were in full supply as usual. The game is full of a quirky charm, and a quirky sense of humor in everything from the text to the monsters. One Denpa Man I caught asked me, "Is this some sort of scam?" Another inquired, "Is my beauty a crime?" You can also talk to them in the Denpa House and get some seasonal dialogue based on the internal clock. The music is also quite quirky, handled by Hitoshi Sakimoto and Basiscape. Honestly, I love all the songs, and was surprised he was behind it.
One of the fun things about this game was that within every dungeon you would find some sort of upgrade for something on Digitoll, and after every dungeon the shop stocked new items. It became rather exciting, seeing my home base grow with my Denpa Men, new features coming as a reward for clearing a dungeon. It was also nice being able to upgrade my Denpa Men with accessories and clothes to reflect the changing environments in the game. Yeah, your team of firebending Denpa Men who can't be touched by wind may be good for one dungeon, but you may need to switch that up for the next dungeon; that one has a lot of water, and your fire team will be extinguished. There's a balance, you find, and exploiting that is the best way to survive in this game. It's surprisingly tactical when it comes down to it.
So is this game worth it or should it have stayed in Japan? Personally I didn't even know it existed until I saw the sequel on a Japanese Nintendo Direct, and I fell in love instantly. Everything about it is quirky, and it's a breath of fresh air. It also has some pretty good 3D, if you like using your 3DS for that. There's a free demo on the eShop that everyone should check out; not only can you save your progress at any time, you can save transfer data to the full game. This allows you to keep your progress and Denpa Men intact for the full game, which is only $9.99.
It also has about 20 hours of gameplay for the
main storyline. Notice the italics; you probably know what the reason for that is. Yep, once you beat the final boss a post-game storyline consisting of three dungeons with recommended levels ranging from 40 to 60 opens up. I haven't quite started on those yet, but I look forward to seeing what they look like and the enemies present within. And, of course, treasure hunting. I may just update this review when I finish those, and I may not. Either way, I foresee a lot more time with the Denpa Men in my future. Perhaps you'll spend some time with them as well... Until next time, game on!
to note: since i wrote this review, i have started on the post-game dungeons. and they're great. i enjoy them a lot.
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