Contact - Reached Habara

So now that it's the holidays and I'm visiting my parents, my gaming will be pretty much confined to games that are portable. On the plane ride, I played a bit of Animal Crossing: Wild Word, but I am really getting burnt out on that, so I figured Contact woud be a good break.

I mentioned in my last post about Contact, that while it has several quirky elements, it still feels like a fairly typical modern 2D RPG. One thing I do appreciate is that you can see enemies so you can choose whether to fight them or avoid them. It's a bit like Chrono Trigger in that sense as you don't have to fight an enemy unless you get too close to it.

Some of the quirky things that are supposed to set Contact apart work well and some don't. I like cooking, but it frustrates me when I attempt to combine things and it tells me "You can't make that yet." I want the freedom to experiment and if my cooking skill isn't good enough to make it, just have me fail. Also, some of the super-decals seem really gimmicky. I can't figure out what use calling Mochi is, and have been desperately playing with him every time I save. The balloon blowing also seems ridiculous.

Still, I'm enjoying this game as a fairly light-hearted romp. The plot is still way beyond me. I can't figure out what the CosmoNOTs are up to or what their motivations are. The professor seems benign, but I wouldn't put some sinister motivations past him. And I'm really clueless on where the natives of this planet fit in with regards to the outer space people or why Terry is so special. Having me be a character in the game makes plot developments even more interesting and makes Terry being a silent protagonist less of a cliche.

I didn't get it from the name, but once I arrived, I immediately realized that Habara island was a tribute to the geek neighborhood of Tokyo, Akihabara. What with all the people there looking for video games and toy figures. Very cute. The translation on this game is top notch. "Hit its weakpoint for massive damage!" and "I wish a base like this belonged to us." being highlights.