Post by Ninmast on Apr 14, 2007 22:21:44 GMT -5
Cornet is a magical puppeteer who can talk to puppets and bring them to life with her horn. Together with the fairy puppet, Kururu, who has been her best friend since she was a little child, she travels the world searching for her one true love against the forces of the evil Witch-Queen Marjoly. Along the way, she gathers a force of puppet and monster allies and fights to keep the queen's henchwomen from getting the five elemental Heartstones.
Storyline: 8/10
With well-developed characters and a story that feels as if it's straight out of the Disney vaults, it's a charming little tale that warms the heart and delights young children, but may leave battle-hardened, destruction-seeking warmongers reaching for their copies of Resident Evil and Halo as they go into gore withdrawl from the lack of senseless, bloody violence. Not that it's a bad thing.
Graphics: 5/10
The graphics aren't bad, considering it's an older game, but with copyright dates of 1999 and 2000, it looks like it's about five olders older than it really is. Still, the environments are detailed and have a colorful, anime or cartoon feel to them. Its score would be higher if it didn't heavily reuse images. All caves and dungeons, for instance, are made from identical sections linked together, rather reminiscent of Pipe Dreams.
Sound: 10/10
With an astounding 23 full-feature, full-performance, original songs, this is where the game really shines. It seems like every five minutes, there's a new song, fitting perfectly with the section it's in.
Control & Interface: 10/10
Controls are simple. If you're using the control pad, you hold Triangle to run. If you have control sticks, just turn them on and push in the direction you want to go. Push lightly to walk, push harder to run. O is menu, X is examine and talk. The menus are wonderfully laid out, with descriptive section names so there's no hunting for the right selection. A massive secondary party list and the ability to switch allies in and out of your main party at any time outside of battle is absolutely wonderful, and the ability to save anywhere in the game, no matter if you're in town or on level 20 of the Netherworld dungeon, just makes it that much sweeter.
Replay: 2/10
There is some replayability from the standpoint of hunting down those extra dungeons, items, monsters and puppets, and some possible extra comments and alternate scenarios (not endings or storylines), but the simplicity of the game and the ease with which you level (I only used a recovery item a couple of times, and I really could have gone the entire time without one) would make it rather dull. Some scenes could certainly be fun to see again.
Overall: 6/10
It's most definitely a horse of a different color, and seems aimed toward younger audiences. The next time my niece visits, I'm going to let her try it. I'm sure she'll absolutely love it. Is it a bad game? No, not at all. It's nice if you want a taste of something different from blowing away zombies, dragons and tanks all day, but if you can find somewhere to rent it or someone to borrow it from, that might be a better option than buying it. And a lot of the songs are great, so the fact that it comes with a complementary soundtrack with all 23 songs is another selling point.
Storyline: 8/10
With well-developed characters and a story that feels as if it's straight out of the Disney vaults, it's a charming little tale that warms the heart and delights young children, but may leave battle-hardened, destruction-seeking warmongers reaching for their copies of Resident Evil and Halo as they go into gore withdrawl from the lack of senseless, bloody violence. Not that it's a bad thing.
Graphics: 5/10
The graphics aren't bad, considering it's an older game, but with copyright dates of 1999 and 2000, it looks like it's about five olders older than it really is. Still, the environments are detailed and have a colorful, anime or cartoon feel to them. Its score would be higher if it didn't heavily reuse images. All caves and dungeons, for instance, are made from identical sections linked together, rather reminiscent of Pipe Dreams.
Sound: 10/10
With an astounding 23 full-feature, full-performance, original songs, this is where the game really shines. It seems like every five minutes, there's a new song, fitting perfectly with the section it's in.
Control & Interface: 10/10
Controls are simple. If you're using the control pad, you hold Triangle to run. If you have control sticks, just turn them on and push in the direction you want to go. Push lightly to walk, push harder to run. O is menu, X is examine and talk. The menus are wonderfully laid out, with descriptive section names so there's no hunting for the right selection. A massive secondary party list and the ability to switch allies in and out of your main party at any time outside of battle is absolutely wonderful, and the ability to save anywhere in the game, no matter if you're in town or on level 20 of the Netherworld dungeon, just makes it that much sweeter.
Replay: 2/10
There is some replayability from the standpoint of hunting down those extra dungeons, items, monsters and puppets, and some possible extra comments and alternate scenarios (not endings or storylines), but the simplicity of the game and the ease with which you level (I only used a recovery item a couple of times, and I really could have gone the entire time without one) would make it rather dull. Some scenes could certainly be fun to see again.
Overall: 6/10
It's most definitely a horse of a different color, and seems aimed toward younger audiences. The next time my niece visits, I'm going to let her try it. I'm sure she'll absolutely love it. Is it a bad game? No, not at all. It's nice if you want a taste of something different from blowing away zombies, dragons and tanks all day, but if you can find somewhere to rent it or someone to borrow it from, that might be a better option than buying it. And a lot of the songs are great, so the fact that it comes with a complementary soundtrack with all 23 songs is another selling point.
