Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon Review

Typically, my appreciation for adventure games takes the form of a dawdling growth curve; admiration comes only after a protracted play period. Not so with Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon– the title’s poetic grace immediately pulled me into its desolate world.  As the game’s protagonist scours a decaying landscape combing for companionship and life sustaining provisions, players might be reminded of Cormack McCarthy’s The Road, a novel which chronicles the post-apocalyptic pursuit for any survivors who haven’t succumbed to moral corrosion is a devastatingly inhospitable environment. Like the acclaimed book, Fragile Dreams is full of moments of evocative solitude amid scenes of unsettling menace.

The story begins as the game’s lead- Seto, describes his detached relationship with his living companion, an timeworn man. After placing the elder to rest in a shallow grave, the young protagonist discovers a note compelling him to travel east. As Seto reads the letter aloud, the narration is concluded by the departed man, embedding the game with a moment of Spielberg-esque sentiment. Only the truly impenetrable will not be touched by the poignant passage.

Sadly, many of the game’s design decisions belie Fragile Dream’s promising premise. Several of these puzzling choices revolve around the game’s combat system, which makes the frequent battling of respawing foes more tedious than gratifying. While requiring players to use the Wiimote’s IR functionality to weaken foes is an engaging dynamic, striking the foes can be cumbersome without any kind of lock-on system. To further aggravate the problem, some enemies are translucent, unavoidably causing gamers to swing at antagonists directly behind them.

Additionally, the game’s weapon system and inventory management are bound to vex gamers. Items have the disturbing tendency to break at the most inopportune moments. Without any kind of statistic describing the durability of the weapon, gamers are either forced to scavenge for a replacement or carry a reserve bludgeon. Regrettably, the game’s Resident Evil inspired, grid-based inventory system allows for a minimum of implements to be carried at any one time. Although gamers can swap out items at the nearest campfire (which also serves as a save point), they’ll find their carrying capacity will often be crammed with unidentified clutter dropped by dispatched opponents. As such, players can expect to spend a healthy amount of time backtracking to a location where these items can be analyzed.

Fragile Dream’s saving grace might be its detailed visuals, which evocatively illustrate a world filled with both urban decay and natural beauty. From crumbling subway stations, deteriorating amusement parks, and ghostly old hotels, each of the game’s environments are devotedly rendered, as convey a persistently melancholic ambiance. The title allows players to choose between a competent English dub and the original Japanese voiceover, which is assured to please fervent fans. Like The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces, the game ships with reversible cover art; XSEED clearly knows how to please enthusiasts.