Opoona

Opoona

Opoona is a tiny spaceman with a big story. While on an interplanetary holiday his spaceship crash-landed on the Planet Landroll, separating him from his family leaving the titular hero lost and stranded. Not one to dwell on his own misfortune, Opoona immediately begins the task of finding a job, reuniting his family and, because he’s a nice chap whose also a bit handy in battle, helping to defend the people of Landroll against some nasty creatures known as the Dark Rogues.

Dubbed a ‘Lifestyle RPG’, Opoona requires more than just simple hacking through a thousand enemies on a tired journey to save the world. Rather the game’s emphasis is on contributing to the society in which your character finds himself, meeting people, developing relationships, taking on jobs and embarking on new adventures. In real terms this translates to a long list of occasionally mundane tasks: delivering room service, vacuuming a café, going fishing, reading fortunes and so on.

The game’s cutesy, charming presentation goes a long way to turning missions which, in real life, would be the definition of tedium, into a compelling series of challenges. Lush, vibrant environments play backdrop to the game’s cel-shaded characters who go about their daily lives with good humour and some charming dialogue, even if it’s a little too saccharine in places for our tastes.

Much of the game is spent applying for job licenses and taking on new missions, before searching through Landoll’s expansive domed habitats for wherever it is you’re meant to be going to carry out your missions. Ineffective mission descriptions mean that often it’s a case of speaking to every NPC in an area before you’ll trigger the next task and this can be a frustrating slog.

The text in the game, while endearing, is often also misleading. This is a game, as evidenced by its playful visuals and simple story, that has clearly been designed with the younger player in mind. But the complex environment layouts and frequently broken in-game instructions will be a high barrier for younger gamers, if not a few older ones too.

In battle things are much more intuitive, especially with the one-handed Nunchuck control scheme making play slick and enjoyable. Using just the analogue stick and two buttons you can pick out targets and fling your projectile weapon (known, saucily, as a ‘bon-bon’) to take out the Dark Rogues.

While Opoona takes 20-odd hours to get through if you stick to the main quests, this length can comfortably double if you get involved in the plethora of side-missions. Sadly the vast majority of these errands become tedious and the never-ending supply of fetch quests and routine tasks simply draw out the length of the game with out adding any depth. As such this is a game recommended to much younger players, albeit those with long attention spans and hardy perseverance.

3 out of 5