Rainbow Moon Preview (PSN)

Things aren’t going so well for Baldren – the protagonist in strategy RPG ‘Rainbow Moon’. Expecting a duel with his arch-nemesis, instead he finds himself tricked and pushed through a dimensional gate where he lands on the titular Rainbow Moon. He’s not the only thing to have landed there, as many monsters have also made the journey, transforming the planet into a dangerous battleground.

Rainbow Moon’s inhabitants aren’t best pleased with Baldren, believing he is responsible for the monsters. To set things right he must scour dungeons to find the right materials to build a dimensional gate staff, which will seal the gates and hopefully put things right. This is going to be a long trip, so buckle up…

The first thing that strikes you about Rainbow Moon is the presentation. Viewed from an isometric point, the game evokes memories of classic 90s RPGs but with beautifully crisps models and backgrounds. Characters are all of the stubby-proportioned variety, but this adds to the charm. As one would hope, when a battle pops up the effects get flashier with the screen erupting in a fountain of colour.

Speaking of battles, they are turn-based affairs that start off fairly easy to get you into the swing of things, but quickly ramp up in difficulty. When one starts you’ll be placed in a grid based arena, with enemies dotted about the place. A menu then presents you with a number of options such as ‘Attack’, ‘Move’ and ‘Skill’. Things are fairly limited at first, with only one option open per turn, but this soon increases, adding some tactical depth to proceedings.

You’ll need to think smart, as whilst very early enemies can mostly be rolled over, there’s a point in the first dungeon where a handful of powerful enemies are thrown at you and they need to be approached with much more caution. I tried to be a bit of a hero and ended up staring at the “Defeat” menu and wondering where it all went wrong (I’m rubbish). Luckily the penalty for being defeated isn’t too severe, and you will reappear just before the battle with your health reduced to 1 point.

In fact there are a number of instances such as the one above that makes Rainbow Moon a bit of an odd combination of hardcore and noob friendly. For example – the battles have the potential to be very in-depth, yet 80% of the ones I came across were voluntary and could be avoided. You can also escape fights with 100% certainty without a penalty.

For those who enjoy stats and loot, fear not. Winning battles will see your character gain points, which eventually lead to a level increase. Winning battles will also see you collect Rainbow Pearls, and these can be taken to a Savant and traded in for a boost in a number of areas such a strength, defence and hit-points. Special skills learnt throughout the game also level up depending on how many times you use them. There’s also an old-school hunger meter, meaning Baldren must continue to eat various things to keep it from dropping too low.

Your weapons and armour can also be crafted into something new by merging them with various items found in chests throughout dungeons. Sometimes the new item will only offer a marginal improvement, but even a small edge can be crucial to winning a battle.

Currently I’m fairly early on in the game, but apparently there is over 40 hours of play to be had from Rainbow Moon. As well as the main story, there are plenty of side quests to be conquered as well as a whole heap of end-game content. So far the game has been extremely compelling, and whilst initially it might not appear as complex as Disgaea this makes it far less daunting to sink your teeth into.

For a PSN title (with a price to match) this is looking very impressive indeed. Expect it out late June/July.