Avalon Code (Read: Under appreciated game)

The game allows you from the start to choose to be male, if you’re a guy, or a female, if you’re a guy who wants to be a girl. (Side-note to Xéro: I chose male B<) This only reflects the optional dating side-quests; the rest of the plot carries on the same. The plot boils down to “the end of the world is coming,” but subverts its usual “scrappy-peasant takes us arms to save the world” in favor of “scrappy-peasant-decides-what-should-survive-in-the-next-world.”

You acquire the titular Avalon Code (a.k.a the Book of Prophecy) along with an annoying fire spirit named Rempo who instructs you about how to use the book just as an Imperial soldier (yeah can’t dodge all the clichés sadly) turns into a minotaur and attacks you. Afterwards you go on a quest to hit people with books and save fairies!

Sadly, not present

The graphics are surprisingly well done. The 3D models look like high-end PS1 graphics, which on a DS is high quality. The characters are all nicely designed, with elaborate outfits, the only real nitpick I have is it’s established your character is poor but he dresses more extravagantly than most of the nobles that belittle your status. While everything is nice and colorful, it is also “brown’d” to give it an old story book feel, which works given the setup.

The only thing that tops this is the minigame in WarioWare: Touched where you have to stop an egg on a gear.

Screw the graphics though; game play is what is important! Thankfully the game plays even better than the graphics. It controls much like a Zelda game (ironically, not any of the DS Zeldas). Top-down perspective, movement with the D-Pad, items with the face buttons, the basic stuff that works and makes killing monsters and solving puzzles fun and easy. However it wouldn’t be a DS game without some touch screening, and that’s where the Avalon Code itself comes in. The Book never proves a nuisance as brining it up pauses gameplay, allowing you to edit your weapons, items, and monsters on the fly in the heat of battle.

The book is always open on the bottom screen showing information you’ve collected. You obtain your items and weapons by hitting things with your book. It’s hand-waved that for some magic reason no one notices when you leap in the air and bash them over the head. For the various objects you get a picture, name, and a grid containing icons known as “codes” (more on those later). You can also tap under the picture to get info on said object.

Now let’s move on to the codes, the part of the game that is the most intuitive. Every thing barring the maps, you and the spirits have a grid to place codes. You can get many codes from NPCs based on their personalities but disappointingly they aren’t affected by the addition or subtraction of codes (except some cases where certain combinations allow you to remove negative codes that are bound to them, like your childhood friend’s terminal illness). Monsters and weapons are affected the most inversely. Monsters’ stats depend on their codes. If you think a monster is too tough, take off its good codes slap them on your weapon, give them a disease, and wreck it!

Weapons and items are handled uniquely here. You never actually have a real one but a magical copy of whatever you scanned. This also allows you to dual-wield the same weapon. Furthermore you’ll never run out of items, however to balance this and summon food and items you need to use MP. Throughout the game you will find tablets to Code Scan that allows you to morph your items and weapons through various code combinations. On a humorous note, Codes bestow titles on what they are affecting, so you’ll often find yourself carrying around Dog-Loving Cookies.

A cat is fine, too

Another amusing mechanic added in is the Judgment Link, which is fancy-speak for juggling your enemies into space. It’s initiated by pushing the “A” button which will knock the enemy skyward, you can then keep the target up by hitting it with your weapon. If you use the same weapon you send the foe aloft higher and higher, or you can switch to your other weapon making it easier for you to keep the combo going. This is also used in Judgment Battles where you play a game like 4 square, where the ball will leave the atmosphere.

So, in summary, Avalon Code is a gem that shouldn’t have got past the radar. It’s beautiful with a game mechanic that makes it truly unique and intuitive. It’s riddled with clichés and the music is only memorable in some areas, but it’s still charming. Now if you don’t mind My Cat-Loving Fire Gladius and I need to swat around some Sickly Goblins!

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