Magical Starsign

Magical Starsign

Magical Starsign is the western version of the Japanese sequel to the GBA game Magical Vacation, it is a traditional turn based RPG with a strong focus on magic.

Presentation/graphics 8

It is a nice looking game packed with lots of cool effects on magic and nice spriting techniques,MS plays from a top down perspective in full 2D although some 3d effects are seen in battles, said battles that scroll trough both screens.

A nice presentation as well, the game is filled with FMV´s, all scenarios, menus and characters are also beautifully drawn, being both colorfull and detailed.


Music/sound effects 7

The music is somewhat repetitive and kinda uninspiring but the sound effects are powerful, when you release the power of your magic, expect a big "woomp" from the speakers.

Gameplay 6

OK, here we go, well, as the title suggests we have a strong focus on magic, so all you characters are casters of magic in a different element line and in a very cliché´d way each element has an edge over another more so in the fact that each element is governed by a planet and the alignment of the planet in the sky affects you magic but fear not because your MP replenishes at each round.

The beef for me is that aside from the overpowered magic there´s little to do, you can´t equip weapons and your only melee attack is a feeble kick, all of the puzzles are based on the elemental magic that they wield and it takes a donkey to figure out each element to each situation, mix that with a weak storyline that takes forever to move on and you got Magical Starsign


DS factor 6

The game is fully controlled by the stylus and all battles spread across both screens but the touchscreen control is very unnecessary.

Learning curve 7

every one of us who played any Final Fantasy knows exactly what to do, for the ones who never played an RPG, it may take a couple of hours.

Lasting appeal/game modes 5

Not so many gamemodes beside the main quest that is too brief.

Final considerations

it could be better, because the DS needss good RPGs, but it is not the end of the world either, if you are hardcore on the RPG scene, buy it, if not, a rental should do the trick.

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