Nintendo Wii Review: Opoona

Nice visuals and battle system make this one-player RPG game well-rounded (excuse the pun) as your orange protagonist, Opoona, battles the Dark Rogues while trying to get back home. Stranded on Landroll, you may long to reunite with your little brother Copoona and sister Poleena; you may discover more resident characters like Chaica… you also may take your time and smell the roses among the appealing scenery and epic landscapes. Opoona is a great social role playing game that also lets you earn money and gain accomplishments from several activities.

The single hand controls consist of the nunchuk, plugged into the optional Wii Remote (you can use left and right arrow button to pull the camera behind Opoona). The challenging combat, a real plus here, requires unique concentration and asset management during the dodge ball-like battles. There’s no movement required, but timing moves with your various meters and icons becomes crucial for success. Angles and points of attack also play into this engaging battle system, packed with a large amount of strategic challenges and rewards.

Reading skills also help players succeed quicker as the dialogue provides guidance, tutorials, and extra hints. Veteran RPG players might set the dialogue on the fastest text speed, but be sure not to skip over the battle system hints, which can save you precious time and grief. This game can get lost in translation at times causing a little confusion and uneven gameplay from bureaucratic errands, where most of the story (mostly linear) exists.

This game is no button-mashing exercise. Players must carefully pick their real time battles (try firework attacks or using fire then ice on the baddies). Hasty decisions can leave you unconscious and depleted until you sleep, get some food, etc. Once you get some speedy vehicles, avoiding some often unexpected battles (a nice action element) would be wise. Leveling up Opoona in battles progresses everything, but the navigation and a few cringe-filled layouts increase player frustration a bit.

Players do get plenty of optional missions, which consist of small tasks you master until you gain a license in that given area mining and farming. It will take tens of hours to complete this game (even more if you want to collect everything), but the classic format and nicely organized inventory menus help a lot. Composer Hitoshi Sakimoto (“Final Fantasy XII“) complements all the action with a memorable music score. A surprisingly solid purchase that you’ll always find yourself revisiting again and again.

Opoona is rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) by the ESRB for mild fantasy violence, mild language and suggestive themes.