Atlus uncovers another gem from Japan and brings it stateside in October for the Nintendo DS. Contact is an interesting mishmash of collection and role-playing with some pretty neat Nintendo DS features that gamers of all stripes should enjoy.

The story of Contact is very different from most action role-playing games because it stars the player, a boy named Terry, a space traveling professor and his pet dog Mochi (who, oddly enough wants to be a cat). The story goes that Terry, a school skipping youngster out playing hooky wakes up at one of his usual hangouts to witness the professor crash landing in the park. The Professor is being pursued by some other alien ship and Terry finds himself seeking protection in the Professor's crashed ship. After escaping the menacing pursuit of the unknown alien menace and crashing on a small unknown planet, the professor seeks Terry's help in recovering what makes the ship run properly: Cells. These cells were scattered throughout the world and power his ship in some unknown way, so he must find them if he wants to continue his journey onward. Terry agrees to help recover these cells and the professor uses what's left of the ship to create an alternate mode of transportation. Thus begins the adventures of Contact, a DS game that goes out of its way to offer a lot of different activities that make extensive use of various DS functions including the touch screen and even the DS microphone.

At first glance Contact looks like your standard 3D DS RPG. Players move through the world using either the cross or the touch screen and stylus and can interact with NPC's and the environments by using the DS' buttons or simply by tapping the game world object on the touch screen. But underneath all that are a couple of fun aspects of gameplay that change the way the game is played.

For one there's the collection aspect of the game. Terry can collect a number of outfits, and besides giving him cool new threads to wear, each outfit offers Terry some special skills -- and sometimes affords him more hit points. These outfits might allow him to cook or go fishing, as examples. It's funny the first time you try to cook in a kitchen and realize that you don't need some object like a pot or a pan but the proper attire. There are lots of different outfits that Terry can use and the activities associated with each one are pretty fun.

Then there's Decals. Much like a sticker, you peel these decals by using the stylus from the top of the sticker to the bottom, effectively peeling it off. Some decals are used in the world to cause random effects on people and things, while others are for Terry's personal use. The world decals might be used to change an enemy into an animal or to safely handle the Cells you are looking for, while Terry's decals give him stat boosts of vary degrees of power. Finding decals seems to be random in the world of Contact and Terry has four slots to use them in. The decal aspect of Contact is pretty spiffy and fun and who can really complain about getting stat boosts or the ability to change some guy into a sheep?

But the fun doesn't stop there. Players can use the DS microphone for some interesting gameplay like blowing balloons up by breathing into it. This is accomplished by finding a special decal. By blowing the balloon up players can deal some extra damage to enemies. It's a pretty interesting way to interact with the gameworld and it's not just some silly gimmick - this can be pretty useful if used at the most opportune moments.

As already mentioned, Contact is, at its heart, a cute 3D action RPG. And the gameplay in Contact flows very well. Players interact with the world and characters by moving close to it and clicking on them via the touch screen. This brings up a small list of actions like talk, attack, or special attack. For NPC's you obviously don't want to attack so it allows you to chat with them. By clicking on the attack button you put Terry into attack mode using whatever you have equipped. the combat is pretty straightforward and you can enter attack mode or exit it at any time by hitting the "B" button or clicking the happy icon on the touch screen. Combat can be enhanced by using the aforementioned decals or by using one the myriad of skills in the game including special attacks and magic. Much like an MMORPG, players level grind stats simply by doing things. Each of your stats has it's own level so you depending on what you do, you may grow in one stat while not growing in another stat. Beyond the action stats (both active and passive), players also learn skills by wearing outfits and by using certain items. Skills that you can use in combat are listed in that special attack option we mentioned earlier. Leveling up in Contact is pretty easy as well because there isn't any penalty for dying. When you die you end up back at the Professor's ship in your bed. Pretty straightforward and fun.

It's also important to note how recovery items work in the game because they are totally different from any game I've ever played (on the DS or any other platform for that matter). Most recovery items are foodstuffs like bread, herbs, food you cook, etcetera. As you east these items they fill up your stomach until it is digested. Each food type has its own digestion time, so if you fill up on too much food you won't be able to eat anymore until you wait for room in your stomach. This makes for some planning when eating - especially when you have a massive boss battle to deal with. So eating has to be planned out a little better so that you have room in your belly when you need it most.

The art style in Contact combines Terry's adventures in the 3D world with the professor's 2D control room presentation. As they player you link these situations together because you can see both. The professor isn't very interactive for the player with his DS (who the professor talks directly to at times) but he provides a ton of information and guidance to Terry during his search for the cells. It's a refreshing mix of both and with all the other unique aspects in this game rolled in, Contact is a pretty solid gaming experience.

Finally we need to mention the most interesting aspect of contact: it's Wi-Fi capabilities. The game lets players invite their friends to Wi-Fi islands and creates a special NPC that resides in the world longer after your friends have exited the world. This special feature effectively creates a permanent character in the game that offers some pretty interesting goodies and gifts to the player that we won't spoil for you. Needless to say this is a pretty exciting feature that I'm personally looking forward to. While we didn't get the chance to play this part of the game the concept sounds exciting.