Gaming experience - Solatorobo: Red the Hunter

Oof... this is gonna be hard!

I saw the game cover once around 2011 or so, when I was little. Walking around the mall, near game store and there it was. Then, several years later, around 2021, I saw it again but somewhere else (that being a grocery store). It was there, laying in the bargain bin. I remembered I saw it somewhere. I HAD to buy it. I HAD to know what is it!

When I was booting up this game, I expected another mediocre Nintendo DS game. Little did I knew that game would hook me in with its story!

Salut! What is it?

Solatorobo: Red the Hunter is an action RPG released in 2010 for Nintendo DS. Published by created by CyberConnect2 and published by BANDAI NAMCO (Worldwide) and Xseed Games (in North America) and its... well, it's a... hmm... I have no words how to describe it, so I guess "unique and fascinating".

The game is a part of larger game series called "Little Tail Bronx", in which, this title is second in their series. It is also a sequel to their previous and first game, "Tail Concerto" (PS1).

Solatorobo didn't sell well, probably because paper magazines were starting to go away and be replaced by internet magazines, and also probably because DS wasn't popular anymore at that time. It still made an impact on the people by the story and the characters. Its uniqueness made it stand out but also make it fall in "forgotten games" category.

The game uses 2.5D technique in this game, you'll see the places fully 3D rendered and sometimes just 2D pictures with walkable places, but one thing you will see everywhere: Friendly NPC's are 2D sprites.

About the style of the game... When you'll be playing it, you will start noticing that most of the surroundings are inspired by old Europe: from the buildings, to the country side. To make it feel like you're somewhere there, they hired Japanese voice actors to voice some French words for the game.

How's the gameplay?

The gameplay is pretty simple: You just mash buttons and that's it.

...

I'm just kidding. It's not just mashing, you need to hit that combo and be careful not to get hit.

But yes... you need to be prepared to mash those buttons sometimes.

You take hunter jobs, normal jobs, side quests and maybe sometimes weird quests.

The Story

Its story is better if you experience it yourself, with probably the most basic spoilers.

You play as an anthro dog(?) named Red, who is taking on contract missions for about 8 years or so.

His sister, Chocolat, is helping him out. She's a mechanic and a pilot of their ship. She flies them both across the floating islands to so many adventures. While on missions, Red takes his robot, Dahak, in case he would get into any fights.

The game is a part of larger game series called "Little Tail Bronx". Chronologically, the story is far away into the future (so it's probably the last chronologically). It is also a sequel to their previous and first game, "Tail Concerto" (PS1).

That's all you will get for now.

So now, I'm adding some pictures for you to soak in the atmosphere and art-style.

Et voilà!

And that's the game. Bright, pretty, colorful, simple game with a great story and atmosphere.

If you know how to emulate a game, I highly suggest giving this game a try, because HOLY MOLY!

The prices for this game on online stores can reach up to 200€!

I was lucky to find it just for 50€. O_O

If you really don't want to play it, then watch YouTube videos or before doing that, at least listen to OST first. You'll miss out on great songs, like "Little Tail March", "And Then, to CODA" or "Slums of Basset"

The game is amazing. The story is amazing. Probably the best DS game of all time.

2 Kudos

Comments

Displaying 0 of 0 comments ( View all | Add Comment )