Avalon Code

A blood-red sky...
A World choked by flames of destruction.

The same dream has plagued you for many nights. But is it only a dream? Or could it be something else entirely...?

A strange voice calls out from within your thoughts.

"A new world shall arise from the ashes of the fires of destruction. Now reach out your arms and receive me. Know what is righteous, for it shall fill the coming world..."

You awake lazily from your midday nap.

Atop the grassy knoll, you look up at the familiar stone monolith looming over you.

With a shiver, you realise it's the same one that's been appearing in your dreams. Just as you reach a shaky hand towards the tablet, a sudden blinding light beams from its stony face. You shield your eyes from its brilliance, but when you look again, you find a book resting in your hand.

This book is the same Book of Prophecy from your dreams. Now, guided by the Spirits of the Book of Prophecy, you shall embark on a journey. A journey to fill the pages of the book with things of value, to being them over to the new world...

From the creative minds behind Rune Factory and Harvest Moon and the development studio responsible for the Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy IV DS remakes, Avalon Code is an action RPG boasting incredible graphics, a deep and engrossing story and innovative game play mechanics. Using the main character's ‘Book of Prophecy', players can modify the rules of engagement during battle as well as weapon and monster attributes. The player even has control over the story as it changes depending on which gender the player chooses, enhancing the ability to immerse him or herself in the story, including having romantic relationships.

Watch the trailer.

Features

• Collect information on the on various monsters, inhabitants and locations to fill up your book
• Use the code to change the world to your advantage
• Create customised weapons and items using the book
• Incredible graphics and sound
  
• Extensive voiceovers and dynamic animated opening sequences
• Immersive storyline

User reviews

Now we have a unique action role-playing game with Avalon Code. While it presents players with the familiar premise of controlling a humble young hero destined to save the world, it features a game mechanic called the Book of Prophecy that is unlike anything I've played before. There is a learning curve and the book isn't as intuitive as it could be, but players willing to put in the time will find a deep and visually impressive DS game here.

The premise is that the world is coming to an end, and you have been selected to make a record of everything worth keeping in the Book of Prophecy. Almost everything you encounter in the game can be recorded, including people, monsters, items, weapons, and flowers. The idea is your journal will be used as a reference when the new world is created. Sure, it's a little morbid, but if the world is going to end anyway you might as well have a say in what the next one is going to look like.

This is a pretty linear action RPG where you split your time between conversing with people in town and venturing out to battle monsters in the countryside. Most of the time, the game tells you exactly where you need to go next, and you just need to fight your way there. Dungeons are included, but instead of being open areas they are divided into rooms, each of which has a specific objective in order to pass. You may have to defeat all monsters, light all torches, or flip all switches within a certain time limit. It's an interesting design, and a welcome change from your typical action RPG.

Guiding you along your journey are four elemental spirits who will explain how the book works and provide hints as to what you should do next. Not only can you record people and items in your book, you can mess with their attributes. This is the meat of what Avalon Code is all about. Everything in this world is governed by "codes," which are characteristics the book can add or remove to its entries. For instance, you might encounter a really tough monster. Once you've copied its data into the book you can add an illness code that will drastically reduce its health. Or if you need to light a torch in order to open a secret door, you can add a fire code to your sword and give it a swipe.

There are limits to what you can do with codes, though. You can only hold four in reserve, so you'll often need to do some rearranging with the various characters and items in your Book of Prophecy. Each entry can also only hold a certain amount of codes, although this will be increased over time. Finally, codes come in different shapes and sizes, and getting them to fit on an entry is a puzzle game in itself. So this is a deep mechanic that requires a lot of your time but also offers customization options.

While the spirits are here to help, the user interface still isn't as friendly as it should be. I like using the Book of Prophecy a lot, but it can be clumsy. Navigating the tome is slow, finding a particular entry or code can take a while, and it doesn't always provide enough information. For instance, the effect of some codes is obvious: the ice code imbues a character or item with the ice element. But others, like "freedom" or "dog" or "pride," are less apparent and you'll only discover their meaning if a scripted event explains it to you.

The Book can display a map of your current area, but there isn't an overall world map for reference. This means it's easy to get lost in the first half of the game before you have the ability to warp to locations you've previously visited.

Controlling your character is done with the D-pad and face buttons, but you'll need to keep your stylus in hand in order to peruse the Book of Prophecy. There are a couple irksome control issues. Sometimes it's too difficult to make contact with an enemy. If you try to scan objects that are close together the game may choose the wrong one. These aren't deal-breaking issues, but they are noticeable.

Thankfully, frustration is kept to a minimum because if you perish you can always continue from the screen you were on. Enemies and objects will be reset and you won't have full life (a la Zelda), but at least it doesn't throw you all the way back to whenever you last saved the game. Saving can be done at anytime, by the way.

Our hero has the bizarre but glorious ability to launch enemies into outer space. If you can catch them off guard, you can initiate a "Judgement Link," which is a timed mini-game where you see how many times you can bounce them into the air. With each hit they will soar higher and higher, until they evaporate in space. True story. It's really weird and totally grinds the pace of the game to a halt, but it's definitely fun. Reaching the maximum height will replenish your magic points, so there is a point to it all.

Avalon Code is a very good looking DS game. The world is rendered in 3D and presented very cinematically. I was humming along with the orchestral soundtrack, and there is a good amount of voice acting. This is a technically impressive portable effort.

Avalon Code offers a unique experience among action RPGs. Capturing people and objects in the Book of Prophecy and playing with their attributes is a compelling mechanic you won't find anywhere else. The interface isn't perfect, but it's definitely engaging. Avalon Code is also paced very well, and doles out new abilities to the player at regular intervals over its 20+ hours. Players looking for a cinematic DS experience will find it here. Now that the groundwork has been laid, let's hope for a sequel that refines the interface.

Pochama014