Fragile Dreams: Goodbye Ruins of the Moon Review

I followed the development of Fragile: Goodbye Ruins of the Moon carefully in Japan from its early stages to its release.  The game’s combination of post-apocalyptic setting combined with Japanese aesthetic felt as though it was tailored to my unique tastes.  Upon its surprising release in the West, I found that it received little press and the majority of it was negative.

Had the game that had made such an impact on me fallen short, or was this a match made in post-apocalyptic heaven?

Story & Setting — Tokyo Tower

Fragile is about a boy named Seto beginning a journey across post-apocalyptic Japan in search of a girl he barely knows.  Being raised some time after humanity’s collapse, he is seeing what remains of civilization through new eyes.  His journey will bring him through abandoned malls, hotels, underground tunnels, and a variety of other familiar locations.

Everywhere he goes the echos of a distant humanity gently stir.  Seto will find relics from the past that can be inspected at bonfires (the game’s save point and item-sorting refuge).  These items will contain a memory of a person (or sometimes an animal) whose last days were spent with that item.  These memories are what give humanity to the empty world of Fragile — some are brief and poignant, others are long and sorrowful.  Either way I found myself consistently moved; more so than I recall any game impacting me for a long time.

The main story is equally satisfying.  I felt for Seto, I wanted his loneliness to come to an end.  The simplicity of his quest, which despite being a fairly common theme (guy wants to rescue girl), I found accented by the game’s setting.  Just wanting to rescue a person is one thing, but if it’s possible they are the last other living person on Earth? Now that is a purpose.

The player slowly learns of how humanity met its end, but I had to read between the lines of the main story and gather clues via the memories scattered throughout the game.  This method of piecing things together gave what happened a sense of impact and gravity by entwining so many people’s lives.  This manner of presenting the story was very unique and effective.

Mechanics — Personal Frame

At its core, Fragile’s battle system is hack-n-slash, a system that has the potential to be boring and repetitious.  That was my main concern upon starting the game.  Seto explores the dark with a flashlight and lashes out with an equipped weapon.  Pointing the Wii remote aims the flashlight and the joystick on the nun-chuck is used to move Seto.

Sound is an important ally in Fragile. At certain times eerie noises emanate from the Wii remote.  Generally this is to alert you to the presence of an enemy.  It is also a clever problem solving tool for the game; if you needed to follow someone or something, the sound gets louder if you point in the right direction.  Towards the end of the game however, when embroiled in longer battles, the noises were a bit repetitive and irritating.

There are a number of different weapon types which range from fast to slow, short to long range, etc.  Thankfully, wild arm-swinging is not necessary to attack: the player can simply push A.  Long range weapons require the player to aim with the Wii Remote however, disabling the flashlight and making them effectively useless in dark areas.

Using a bow (long range)

melee weaponry

Weapons break whenever they damn well please: there is no gauge representing how broken a stick is.  While it was somewhat annoying to purchase weapons and have them break a few swings later, it did makes sense: not all post-apocalyptic golf clubs are equal, and surely they have no way of alerting someone of their quality.

Carrying weapons and items utilizes a “briefcase” system.  Items take up a certain number of squares on a grid and have a certain shape.  Whatever you can fit in the confines of that grid you can bring with you.  Everything else goes in storage.  It gives a new dimension to item sorting and I appreciate the realistic aspect of it.

Defeating enemies earns EXP for Seto, who can level up.  Increasing in level only affects HP and offensive power, which are the only two stats in the game.  It sounds like a very simple system, and it is.  But when it comes to combining genres (in this case hack-n-slash meets RPG) the simpler the better.

Concerning my hack-n-slash fears, initially arranging Seto to attack enemies was a bit difficult.  I would be swinging wildly, leaving myself open to even the slowest-moving floating jellyfish specter.  By the end of the game I was a pro.  This suggests that the mechanics are solid, but there may be a bit of a learning curve when it comes to the controls.  The difficulty level in the game is balanced but remains moderate; never really becoming challenging.

Presentation — Sai

The graphical ceiling for the Wii is low, so I wasn’t expecting much from Fragile.  Still, I will be the first to admit there are other ways to improve a game’s appearance without involving lasers or the 4th dimension.  Thankfully, the game maximizes in other areas to keep it relevant with today’s generation of titles.

One aspect of level design I really appreciated was just looking at the walls around me — they are littered with graffiti and posters (most of which seem laboriously hand-drawn) and reflective of the past:

Similar advertisements, doodles, and hidden messages litter the walls in Fragile, echoing the fact that each dungeon was once a place where humans roamed.

The menu system in the game also has hand drawn elements.  My favorite may be the map of the current area which, depending on the encounters Seto has had, change over time.  For instance, after passing through one room very much filled with cats, I examined my map to find a crudely drawn cat face, an arrow pointing to that room, and a note that read “Filled with cats!”  I found this dynamic mapping system both interesting and a clever way of showing Seto’s childlike mentality.

Each character’s unique and highly stylized appearance is a direct reflection of their background and personality.  Whether it’s Seto’s many trinkets, Ren’s delicate dress, or the Item Collector’s mascot-like appearance — every aspect says something about the character.  Since each character plays a hand in the story I really can’t go into to much detail as I wish to avoid spoilers.  What I can say is that by the end of the game you will feel for — and have a profound understanding of — each character.

Conclusions — Glass Cage

I was surprised to find so much humanity in a world nearly devoid of people.  I was also surprised to find such a moving experience in a video game.  Is Fragile an evolution of video game story telling?  It certainly felt like it.

It was great to have my doubts shattered and my instincts confirmed.  I would say Fragile is my most pleasant surprise of 2010 and has instantly become my favorite game for the Nintendo Wii.

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