My "Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins Of The Moon" Review

The following is reprinted from my original review from GameFAQs. You may read the original here.


"There's no other experience like this out there, and one that is unlikely to be repeated."

Metal Gear couldn't do it, Final Fantasy couldn't do it, Heavy Rain couldn't do it...

It might seem weird that I mentioned those other games but I'll get to those in a second. Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins Of The Moon is a hard game to categorize. It's not survival horror, despite the long time spent among ghosts, monsters and other creatures, as well as haunting locations. It's not a RPG, despite the leveling up involved, and the RPG elements in the game. It's not an action game, the game will often go for a whole half-hour before anything pops out to attack you, and even then it's easy to just avoid combat most of the time. I guess it could be considered an adventure game, as that is what it most closely resembles, but I don't even consider it that either. It really takes elements from a lot of genres to create an experience that is so well-crafted that is really rare in gaming. In an art-form seemingly bursting at the seams with space soldiers, whimsical cartoon characters, overly-complex and convoluted stories designed to insure that they can make sequel after sequel, and the games simply there to relax and party, it is very nice to see a simple story with well-rounded characters kept together for the most part engaging gameplay. Tri-Cresendo took a risk on the Wii and it pays off for the few who will play this game. It really isn't a game for everyone, but it saddens me that this game isn't for everyone, simply because it's different from other games out there. With such simple story, but with so much care put into it this game will be a cult classic for the Wii, and I really hope this game does get more playtime. However, if a sequel never comes out for this game, I would be happy, in fact, ecstatic, because it wraps up nicely and doesn't need to continue, similar to the way I felt about BioShock. I was happy the game did well, but honestly, I felt the game didn't need a sequel. Anyways, I'm rambling a bit, but that's because this game really touched me in a way that no other game could quite get.

Back to the games I mentioned at the top of this review, I mentioned them because many times, you could tell that those games really went out of their way to get an emotional reaction out of you. The one emotion all those games have tried at some point is sadness, and to try and make the player cry. While I did feel emotion during those games, and genuinely thought they were good, they never made me cry, something which is extremely rare for me. I'm not trying to say I'm some macho-guy, but there's only a handful of movies that have ever moved me to tears, and no video game has ever done that...

...until I played Fragile. Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins Of The Moon moved me to tears.

Graphics 8.5/10

There is some really strong tech here on display. Now, Wii is not a powerhouse of a console, when it comes to graphics, but this game makes the best of it. The character designs are not really realistic, which help the graphics out. The textures are very sharp in most environments, and the lighting effects are actually some of the best on the console. Characters are detailed and for the most part the game looks beautiful. The ghosts deserve special mention, because not only are they detailed but are actually somewhat translucent giving them this eerie look to them that really adds to the graphics. This game is one of the best looking games on the console, and while it's not perfect, this game shows that with some attention payed to the hardware you can get your game to look great on a non-HD console.

I have to touch base on the lighting again. See, in this game you have a flashlight and wander around in dark environments (mostly). Obviously since one of the central gameplay mechanics revolves around light, they payed close attention to this. The light controls and behaves very realistically in this game. It's one of the best games I've ever seen to make such good use of light, and while it's not the best (Silent Hill: Shattered Memories on the Wii alone, takes that title away, not including anything on the HD consoles) the effort was put forward and it shows.

However, there are still flaws. Occasionally, you'll come across a blurry texture, and some of the finer details don't come out as clearly as some other Wii games. Also, when you're at the hotel (which is the biggest environment in the game) the framerate will slowdown noticeably, and some times when it gets a little too busy, it will slow down. Even with these flaws, the rest of the game is so strong graphically that anything you find to be off is quickly forgotten as you look towards the dawn slowly rising beyond the horizon or walking down a corridor in an abandoned underground mall.

Sound 10/10

If there's something they payed more attention to than the graphics, it's definitely the sound of the game. Easily the strongest quality of the game, it holds it's head up high among games like Resident Evil 4, or anything from Silent Hill. Now, it's actually really hard to compare this game sound-wise to any other game that really does sound well, such as Modern Warfare 2 (which is one of best sounding games out there), because unlike a game like that, this game is really quiet. Hell, I even have reservations about comparing it to Resident Evil 4 or the Silent Hill series because even those games are loud compared to this one. This game uses music very minimally, but when it does, every theme is memorable and enjoyable (which, thank God, I got the soundtrack for this) and it helps the mood. Most of the time all you hear is the lonely footsteps of you walking along these abandoned places where people used to roam. The sound truly makes you feel isolated and alone, and when any enemy comes by, they sound threatening. The enemies don't exactly roar or snare at you, some cry, some laugh, and some really don't make noise at all. It's truly unsettling and will get to you.

Going back to the music, I want to make a special mention about the opening (Hikari) and closing (Tsuki No Nukumori) songs as being two of the most fitting songs for a videogame ever.

Anyways, the game includes a brand new English dub as well as the original Japanese voices. There is a lot of voice acting in this game, with very talented voice actors to give off great performances. To be quite honest, you really should listen to it in Japanese. The English dub isn't bad, and it's actually one of the higher quality dubs out there for a game, but trust me on this one, the Japanese voice actors really give stand-out performances that overshadow the quality English dub by a long shot. I'm just happy that they included the option, and thankfully there are subtitles. Unfortunately, the subtitles are dubtitles (meaning they just took the dub's script and placed them as the subtitles, which is not as accurate as a direct translation) however, the script is extremely faithful and close enough to the original that it really won't bother you. If you know Japanese, you'll notice that there is a more accurate way of translating the dialogue, but if you know Japanese, you'll probably just turn the subtitles off. However, the script has only a couple of extremely minor differences so it won't really make a huge difference and you'll get the story.

Story 9/10

Seto is a 15 year old boy, and seemingly the last human being in the world. After living with an old man for a long time, that old man died leaving Seto completely alone. The old man leaves behind a note telling Seto to go to a red tower to find other survivors. The world is barren and empty, lacking any sort of life. Plant-life has taken over the cement jungles of Tokyo, and memories of people are left behind in artifacts of the world.

In his journey to find other people, he comes across a silver-haired girl. The first sign of life he's seen ever since leaving on this journey has run off. He is on a quest to find her, and hopefully share his thoughts, his feelings, and live out the rest of his days searching for a meaning to all this, with her.

There's more to this game, but the less you know the better. The story is extremely well-crafted and while the pacing of the game is very slow, it matches the tone of the story. Most of the game unfolds in gameplay, and while there are cutscenes, you never feel overwhelmed by them and feel like you add to the story instead of being dragged along by the nose, despite the linear nature of the game.

Gameplay 7/10

Here's where the game has the most flaws. The combat is a bit wonky and a little slow. The game also could have been improved with a lock on system but it actually doesn't make combat all that bad. It's not the best combat system in a game but it never gets so frustrating that you'll stop playing. However, the game does allow you to switch between projectile gameplay and close-quarters combat with some pretty easy finesse. The inventory system is a bit of a mess, but not so unmanageable that a little planning ahead can't solve.

However, this game excels at exploring environments. The flashlight controls feel 1:1 (without Wii MotionPlus) and the shortcuts to menus mapped to the D-Pad are natural. Trust me, it's pretty awesome, and you will wander for hours enjoying every minute of it.

The game will get you to love the little moments through it's gameplay and will truly deliver an experience like no other. However, the flaws are there, but you'll be able to get through the game without too much complaint. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention them though.

Final Thoughts

Fragile is a game like no other. It's like no other game out there in this industry. I've never played anything like it and I don't see anything like it coming out anytime soon. Tri-Crescendo has breathed life into this game world like no other game out there. The story is extremely well captured and it's one that doesn't have the same effect if it were to be adapted into another medium. This game stands high in showing why videogames qualify as an artform.

I love this game, and I really want to overlook the flaws of the game but despite that, there are still flaws that need to be noted. Trust me, this is a game worth playing, and if you let it, you will be sucked into this game like no other. It's a hidden gem on the Wii, hell, it's a hidden gem in gaming, period. I really hope this review gets you to buy this game, or at the very least play it. Take a Saturday night off, stay in, turn off the lights and let this game work it's magic.

8/10
Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/28/10
Game Release: Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon (US, 03/16/10)

-Author's note, stay tuned to Undefined Gamer where I'll go into more detail into why I love this game. For those of you who remember our Heavy Rain review, know how much that can be.