Review by: Neilie Johnson

In an entertainment medium dominated by loud music, explosions and gunfire, it's not often you see a game take the quiet, poetic approach. Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon by Japanese developer tri-Crescendo (makers of 2007's gorgeous and unusual RPG, Eternal Sonata) is a study in gentle, pensive game design. The game follows the footsteps of Seto, a lonely teenage boy who just may be the last person on Earth. Following a mysterious cataclysm and the death of his guardian, Seto goes out into the world looking for other survivors. He soon encounters a beautiful silver-haired girl who immediately runs away, thus becoming the focus of his search.

The game starts in Seto's house where a series of tutorials teaches you how to recognize items of interest (indicated by swirling fireflies) as well as how to move around using the Wii remote and nunchuck. The game is predominantly played in third person, but you can also enter first person “search” mode using the B button, which allows you to pick up objects and read signs or messages. It's here where you find your main tool of investigation—your flashlight. The flashlight is essential for seeing things in Fragile Dreams' murky environments and is aimed by moving the Wii remote as if you had a flashlight in hand. Right off, you'll notice how clunky this control scheme is. While using the Wii remote as a flashlight sounds good on paper, the reality is that the Wii remote just isn't suited for precision control. Since the Wii remote controls the camera as well as the flashlight, you'll often find your viewpoint dithering dizzily around or you'll find yourself struggling just to look at something. This situation is disagreeable by default and only gets worse once you're in combat.

Fragile Dreams is not an action game, as its aggravating combat system will attest. In a world where people are presumably extinct, the enemies are either animals or ghosts. (Interestingly enough, cats are friendly, but dogs attack you on sight.) Once again, the flashlight is essential, since ghosts can't be seen without it. Spirit enemies represent what's left of the diverse human population that once inhabited the rubble-filled landscape and as such, come in some truly unexpected forms. You first encounter ghosts that look like glowing jellyfish and later, you run into things much more nightmarish: ghosts of ghoulishly giggling children that manifest as humans from the waist down, shapeless wisps from the waist up, lurching bio-bots and terrifying four-legged, fireball-shooting monstrosities, to name but a few. You'll fight all of these off with a variety of melee weapons found lying around—anything from a butterfly net to a katana. You'll also have to protect yourself from flying enemies (like really nasty pigeons) using discarded slingshots and long bows.

Whatever you're fighting, and whatever you're fighting with, the four-letter words are bound to start flying because combat as a whole is terribly clunky and difficult to control. Again, it's that awkward nunchuck/Wii remote setup. Movement with the nunchuck thumbstick happens as it does on any console controller, but aiming with the Wii remote is just unreliable. It's worst if you're in a confined space because then the flashlight reticule bounces off the geometry, forcing your character to turn in a jittery circle rather than facing the target—a sure way to get the Seto kicked out of you. Further, there's no way to dodge (although your enemies often can) and when you're hit, your recovery time is so slow, you're likely to get stuck in one place and be hit again and again until you die. Oh, and did I mention enemies respawn every time you revisit an area? Gah! In spite of this silliness, combat does serve a purpose—sort of—since you gain XP and levels by doing it. There's no actual choice regarding upgrades though; at each level you're merely granted greater attack power and more health.