Gamertell

There’s an influx of DS RPGs coming. It started this month with Blue Dragon Plus and Dragon Quest V, and is going to continue throughout the next few months. The next game in the surge is the March 10, 2009 release Avalon Code, from Matrix Software, Marvelous Entertainment and XSEED Games.

Avalon Code is an action RPG requiring players to smack important items with a book so when the world ends, those items can be saved/restored. Sounds unusual, and possibly a bit difficult to picture, right? Don’t worry - you don’t have to imagine what it’s like any longer. A free, brief demo is now available on the Nintendo Channel.

So you’ve got a Wii and a DS, you could be enjoying a preview of the Avalon Code goodness right now. Just stop by the Nintendo Channel, check for DS demos and it should be there waiting for you. You’ll have to be quick about it though. This demo is only going to be available until March 1, 2009. After that, you’ll have to go back to demos for Personal Trainer: Cooking or Brain Age.

In case you don’t have access to the Avalon Code demo, Gamertell’s here to tell you all about it. If you do have access to the demo, you may want to stop reading here, as this is going to go through everything that happens.

The whole demo seems like it is the tutorial segment taken directly from the full game, so you’re instantly dropped into the male protagonist’s shoes. (In the full game, you can choose to be male or female). Yumil’s just acquired/been chosen by The Book of Prophesy. Now Rempo, the fire guardian who’s attached to the book, is showing Yumil how to use it in the field.

The first thing you learn is how to smack things with your book. Because that’s how you save things. Save things without forcefully smacking them? Unthinkable. Rempo tells you to smack a flower that’s nearby. Once you do, information on it appears on the bottom screen. Hurray! That flower will now survive the apocolypse!

Now that players have learned how to properly smack things, you continue onward and discover a Metalize tablet. Rempo explains that some of the book’s pages are missing. That’s what they look like, out in the world. Smack it, and it gives you the formula to create a Gladius.

Rempo then turns the book to the sword’s page. You’re now looking at a Rusted Battle Sword. Here’s where things get interesting. Everything you can smack, and then have entered in that wonderful book, has a code. Once you have it’s entry, you can tweak the codes in the Mental Map which makes up the item.

I have to interject and say that this concept is awesome. Rempo explains that if you alter the code, you can remove the element that is making it Rusted so it can transform into something new and better. Once I drag and remove a block with a skull on it (an ILL Code) from the sword’s Mental Map, it turns into a Copper Sword!

The lesson seems to be going pretty well. That is, until a goblin shows up. And not just any ordinary goblin, an exceptionally strong one. Rempo directs Yumil to smack the creature with the book from behind to find out what’s up with it.

Easier said than done! That goblin was fast, and pretty relentless too. I had to lead him around the rocks a few times before I finally got into a position where I could smack him.

It turns out he’s an Iron Goblin. Rempo tells me that if the IRON Code is removed from the Mental Map in its entry, it’ll be a much more appropriate adversary. Once again, dragging and removing that code turns it into a new creature - a Justice Goblin.

Now it’s time to defeat the monster. The X and Y buttons control the swords in Yumil’s left and right hands. The Y button controls the left sword, and the X button controls the right sword.

Once you’ve defeated two, Rempo teaches you the Judgement Link move. When you’re behind a monster, or a monster’s attack has just missed, you can press A to launch it into the air. You can then juggle it by hitting the X and Y buttons at the right times. If you can keep it up, you can defeat the monster in a way that earns you an item.

After that, you just have to defeat a swarm of Justice Goblins. No big deal. Since they’re not Iron Goblins, you should have no trouble with them. Yumil didn’t take a single hit when I was playing. When you’ve finished exterminating them, the demo ends.

An interesting thing to note - Rempo has personality. Try pausing the game during the demo. He’ll nag you. He’ll ask “What’s up?”, “Are you listening?” and “Don’t tell me you fell asleep.” It’s a nice touch. Especially when he asks if you’re listening - he floats in for a close up, like he’s actually checking on you.

Site [Avalon Code] Site [Avalon Code (Japanese)]