Treat or Trick- A Witch’s Tale Review

The accusation of bias seems to be thrown around with unsettling frequency within the gaming industry. At Tech-Gaming, we are frequently labeled, “NIS fanboys”- for the perceived partiality toward the role playing game publisher. A look at our review scores would seem to offer support for this argument- our site’s first perfect rating was given to Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days, while Phantom Brave: We Meet Again, Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy and Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman also received favorable evaluations. We would contend that NIS’s success is based on their decision to localize titles that traditionally have robust depth, superior playability, and skillful dialog. In other words, they seem to avoid bringing over the more middling titles.

Recent DS release, A Witch’s Tale would seem to that maintain that tendency. Like many title’s that bear Nippon Ichi’s fingerprints, the game’s protagonist is a humorously egotistical spellcaster with lofty aspirations. Young witch Lidell evokes Disgaea’s Etna in both appearance and attitude. Like the leader of the Prinny Squad, Liddell is dismissive of her peers, and identifies more closely with royalty. The target of the young sorceress’ admiration is Queen Alice, who vanquished and imprisoned the nefarious Eld Witch a thousand years earlier.

A Witch’s Tale begins as Liddell wonders through an ancient castle, on an impetuous quest for a powerful form of magic. As she reaches for a mysterious tome, Liddell inadvertently re-releases the nefarious Eld Witch, and incidentally wakes a sleeping guardian. The slumbering sentinel introduces himself as Loue the Vampire, and implores Liddell to return the Eld Witch to her confinement. Like many Nippon Ichi titles, A Witch’s Tale shirks the overly serious tone of many RPG’s, wisely settling on a jocular mood that employs contemporary language.

Although the game’s narrative is a sturdy enough to drive a twenty-five hour quest, the title’s execution is woefully lackluster. Admirably, A Witch’s Tale is designed to be an introductory RPG; the game’s overall level of challenge is kept at a near-constant minimum. While first time adventurers may enjoy Witch’s routine ease, they may become disoriented when the game doesn’t explicitly state that another player may be added to the party, or indicate that items must be transferred before entering battles. A few short tutorials would have assisted both role playing aficionados and genre newcomers.

Like the recently release The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road, A Witch’s Tale uses only stylus input as a control method. Moving Liddell in the middle of screen worked proficiently, but directing her near the game’s borders seemed unresponsive at times. The game’s main combat method requires players to drag and drop icons on monster symbols for melee and magic attacks. This technique proved to be both protracted and tedious; within hours players will likely be yearning for a more traditional control set. Later, players cast major spells by tracing rune symbols, which offers a hint of diversity.

Players might have been able to overlook the game’s labor intensive battle system, if combat was more stirring or strategic. At introductory levels, players can endure seven or more similar exchanges with enemy characters before defeating foes. To make matters worse, these tit-for-tat clashes play out painfully slow. Even with the game’s message speed set to fast, players will be tapping their touchscreens excitedly, hoping to advance the languid pace.
 
A Witch’s Tale has some well drawn-art, but overall the game’s suffers from a lack of animation. Each realm is impeccably rendered, and character design is clearly one of the game’s strengths. Yet, some of the game’s battle animations consist of screen flashes and sprite shakes. Magic effects, typically a pinnacle for RPGs, are disappointingly pedestrian. On the other hand, the game’s soundtrack is entirely commendable; the solo piano music in the game’s hub is wonderfully evocative, and is one of the best compositions from any DS game.