REVIEW

Rodea The Sky Soldier Review

by Rob Pritchard, December 12th, 2015

Back in the days of the Nintendo Wii, a game by former SEGA employees under the name of Rodea was in development. For reasons unknown, it never received a release outside of Japan, but thanks to the efforts of NIS America and Kadokawa Games, Rodea the Sky Solider has landed on European shores, as well as the rest of the western world. Instead of a direct port of the abandoned software, the entire game has been re-imagined, although it does borrow several elements such as cut scenes and musical interludes.

Rodea the Sky Soldier takes place in a land named Garuda, that has come under attack from the Naga Empire. The Princess of the Naga Empire, Cecilia has decided to rebel her warlord father Emperor Geardo, and steals a legendary artefact known as the Time Key. After splitting the treasure in two, and using some of its remaining power, she sends her robotic bodyguard Rodea into the future, thus preventing her father from taking the land he seeks to conquer. During the thousand year anniversary of their initial defeat, Rodea is awakened in the future, where the Naga Empire has once again begun to attack Garuda. Although his memories have been lost in the time warp, he decides to fight alongside his rescuer to defeat the invading forces.

The gameplay style of Rodea shares its roots with one of SEGA’s greatest creations, Nights into Dreams, which is not surprising given that the original concept of the series was developed by Yuji Naka. The robot protagonist Rodea is able to move around a 3D world in third person view, with the ability to use his boosters to fly to anywhere he can see. He can also use weapon gear provided by his human helper Ion to attack enemies, and scrap components from enemies to upgrade his basic stats, such as his armour, strength and speed. When you jump into the air, it is possible point your reticule at anywhere you can see, and as long as you can see a red dot, you can blast to that location, or home to the enemy for an easy defeat. The current objective is always marked on the map, although sometimes you will need to search the areas with precision as important objects such as collectable items are often missing. If you fly into the first of a line of collectible treasures, you will move along the entire row, increasing your current combo substantially as you do so, allowing you to gain a higher score at the end of the level.

Each of the twenty five chapters in the game are set in a different area in the continents of Garuda, which follows the usual RPG conventions such as a forest wilderness, a desert palace or a fiery plain filled with volcanoes and lava. Each area succeeds in feeling unique, but the level design tends to feel the same after a few chapters. While the combat and gameplay mechanics are fun, there are several problems with the flight system. The original Wii version of the game allows you fly anywhere without any time restrictions, but the Wii U version requires you to recharge after a certain amount of boosting and traversing the skies to increase the game’s difficulty, which puts a severe clamp on the ability to soar through the air. This is particularly detrimental when the camera decides to position itself behind the nearest piece of terrain, or move to a location that completely hides Rodea from view.

The soundtrack of Rodea the Sky Soldier is one of its greatest strengths. Whether it is the jingles that accompany completion of mission objectives, or the gentle acoustic piece that plays on the world map, there are very few reasons to complain about the musical elements of the game. Some of the voice acting is a little bit strained on occasion because of the voice direction, but fortunately you can mute any aspect of the game’s sound if you find it unbearable. Purists will be disappointed to learn that only the English dub of Rodea the Sky Soldier is available on disc, and with the region lock in place on the Wii U, it is a situation that cannot be resolved without importing a Japanese console.

Perhaps the biggest surprise from the Wii U version of the game is that it is based on the 3DS remake, rather than the original Wii release that never saw the light of day five years ago. In the visual novel sections, the improved resolution makes for a wonderful upgrade, but in the game world, the models and environments which would impress on a handheld device look unpolished by comparison. Graphical tearing and jagged edges are present on almost every surface, and whilst the frame rate stays mostly consistent at 60fps, there are several occasions where slowdown and stuttering can break the immersion that Rodea sets out to create. Quite possibly one of the worst decisions was the lack of touch screen aiming of the reticule, which is definitely a feature on the 3DS version of the game. Although the Wii U version is not designed to be portable, many Wii U games have utilised the Gamepad’s touch screen in this way, so it seems a little bit unusual for it to be omitted outright.

Overall, Rodea the Sky Soldier is an interesting adventure. While it does have many elements that are enjoyable to experience such as flight based combat, plenty of unlock-able extras and a wonderful soundtrack, some of the restrictions on game mechanics and lower quality graphics are entirely unwelcome. The lack of touch screen and accelerometer support is quite frankly an unforgivable oversight in the port of a game from the Nintendo 3DS, and the limits on the amount of time you can fly make this less of a trip into welcome skies, and more into uncharted territory.