Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland Impressions

[SwordBreaker]

October 5: So I finished the 2nd Island. Apparently, not every Island has a dungeon. I kept looking everywhere in the island for a dungeon, but there was nothing. I got a long side-quest out of it and that was it. Apparently, it was more important than I initially thought, which made me sink into a fatal mistake in terms of rupees. See, after I helped out the NPC of this side-quest, I'm supposed to ask for rupees in reward. I should put in the amount I want, but I was afraid to get too greedy. I asked for 60 Rupees when he could've gave me more.

Thankfully, I didn't need to restart my game despite this fatal mistake. Just quested around in the 2nd Island for items, which I sold, then gained enough Rupees to go to the third Island.

Speaking of progression, here's how things work. There's this Rupee tower in which you throw Rupees into its lake (think A Link to the Past). Once you throw enough Rupees, the tower becomes bigger. With each growth a new area opens up. Here's the frustrating part; think of the tower as an animal which needs food. I can't leave the tower without Rupees for too long or else it'll shrink down in size...that in turn forces me to backtrack occasionally to the tower. The thing is that there's lots of side-questing and exploration involved in this game...and it gets downright boring to stop adventuring just to go back and feed the tower.

So anyway, in the third Island I've also had an encounter in which I ask for a reward. Went with 700 Rupees this time. Thankfully, I got it.

I've also gotten to know more about the bodyguard system in place. Remember when I talked about combat? There's this bar in which you hire a bodyguard who accompanies you and helps you fight. Lots of characters and types are available, obviously. And the bar isn't the only area you find people to hire. There are freelance people, too. I tried out 4 different bodyguards so far, and each one actually behaves differently from the other. Mind you, combat is still simple. But with a bodyguard, there's an added depth. You approach an enemy, a cloud of smoke appears, and you're in a fight. Think of Tom and Jerry cartoons where a huge brawl is in place that's blurred by the cloud. See, what you can do here is move around and gather multiple enemies inside the cloud, along with your bodyguard of course. The more enemies you gather and the more you tap on the cloud, the better the results; you beat your enemies faster and get more items/Rupees. Simple and fun.

More about cooking. You have a pot at home. You can gather ingredients from felled enemies or just by exploring. You'll have to look for recipes hard, although you do have the option to cook freely without a recipe in hand...I've never made anything successful out of that by randomly experimenting, but one of the NPCs mentioned a recipe (after bribing her, obviously) that's not officially in the menu list, and all I had to do was experiment on the amount of ingredients needed to make it. So keep an eye out for those. All in all, cooking isn't exactly different from other games which use item forging systems. I still need to see if it becomes deeper later in the game.

I'm starting to get used to bribing the right amount of money for information, but there are still a couple of frustrating moments in which I have to pay a lot higher than usual...so what I do is save occasionally and play around with bribing a particular person, and once I get it right I restart my game and give him/her the exact amount of money needed.

That's it for now. I have I dungeon I need to finish on the third Island...and yes, the dungeon does ask for Rupees to enter. Madness, I tell you!

PS: Oh yeah, one thing to add to the PEGI 12+ rating...a male worker in tight clothes with a visible crotch bulge who occasionally does a thrusting motion with his hips. Disturbingly funny.

October 2: Freshly-picked from the UK, people!

Imported it a couple of days ago.Played for the first time today. 45 minutes. Done with the first dungeon.

It's very appealing so far. The characters and humor are unique and funny. There's one part where I finished up a puzzle with my partner, and he brings up a jukebox out of nowhere, plays it...and here comes the classic Zelda chime. Hilarious. I don't see why they gave it a 12+ PEGI rating so far. However, Pingle, Tingle's girlfriend, is slutty. She moans as I save the game. Disturbing, I know.

Anyway, gameplay is certainly different from your typical Zelda game. In fact, this is more of an adventure-type game with RPG elements. Think of it as Dreamfall or Trace Memory with a unique twist. You explore towns and dungeons, talk to a lot of people, and pay up rupees frequently for bribing and whatnot. Rupees isn't just a currency; its the meat of the game. It's your health. It's how you access new areas. It's how you solve puzzles and gather information. Then, the trial-and-error parts come in...it all depends on how much you're willing to pay up in order to get what you want. If you pay a lower-than-expected fee, you don't get your Rupees back so you'll have to pay up again until you get it right. Occasionally, it's vice versa and you'll be in a position where you ask for Rupees. Don't ask for too much or you won't get it. It's fun, yet a bit frustrating since you'll never know when you're hot or cold.

Not much going on regarding action. There's a very basic "battle system" in place. Just approach an enemy and keep on tapping the touch screen until it dies. You'll have a partner to direct orders to if you pay up the right fee. Bosses, however, seem to be really unique. I fought the first boss, and it was a nice battle which reminded me of the Zelda series.

Nice, colorful graphics. Cool animation. Very weird music. Nothing special, yet not bad.

I'm liking it so far. I'll update my impressions as I play along. Keep your eyes peeled.

[KakTheInfected]

I like it, but I got to the scavanger hunt part and just decided it's not worth doing to finish the game.

[Cecilff2]

I wouldn't go anywhere near that man.

[Dunther]

I've only tried it because I don't have much time in this period (and I'm still busy with other RPGs)...the idea is nice and I like the style (and the fairy with boobs XD )

[Raziellink]

I've been wanting to buy this game for weeks, but the shops can't seem to get a hold of it.

Nintendo fanboys apparently made a major move towards this game.

[atmuh]

got this a few weeks ago

played it for 5 minutes

was overwhelmed by the gay

[SwordBreaker]

Updated Impressions in the first post. Enjoy.

[Wipomatic]

I would enjoy the game a lot more if the money you paid to people to talk was cumulative instead of having to pay more and more each time. Pinkle tells you to try and keep expenses down, but trying to pay less money to get all the info just means you have to pay again and again to get it all. It's really annoying.