Just finished up opening my presents for Three King’s Day, which is something I’m sure most of you never even heard about. But then again, that’s natural, considering most people don’t even have a second christmas like we do. Eh, comes with the package of living in such a dump, I suppose.

The name’s Noi by the way, 7th ranter to join the lovely circus family that is DRE. I suppose I should thank Len for the invite, though that would be completely unlike me, plus he might actually ENJOY that. Besides, most of the ranters already know me, so I’ll be skipping the formalities (Might as well leave that for the 100 things segment, which I am SO not looking forward to doing). Since this would otherwise be a rather short post, I’ll start this off with a quick review for one of my favorite PS2 games, Steambot Chronicles.

Otherwise known as Bumpy Trot in lovely old Moon land, Steambot Chronicles takes place in a world where vehicular research has gone one stet further and created walking machines called Trotmobiles, which have all but replaced the vehicles we know today. Among this lies a young blonde called Vanilla Bean, who at the time suffers from amnesia (which is apparently something which 90% of japanese game protagonists suffer from).  Floating on a wooden plank near a shipwreck, Vanilla is found by typical female lead Coriander, who is a member of the “famous” music band, the Globetrotters. Both of them are attacked shortly afterward, which leads to Vanilla discovering an abandonded Trotmobile in an old shack (which surprisingly enough isn’t a legendary mech with unlimited power that only he can ride for mysterious reasons), and soon after, Vanilla joins said band using his trusty Harmonica, the only thing he had after he was found. It might sound cheesy by this point, and it actually is, considering the game doesn’t seem to take itself very seriously.

Presentation – ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆ /  (5/10)

The graphics aren’t really this games selling point. There’s some pretty 3D textures for both the trotmobiles and the environments, but there’s something about the character models that makes them look not so good. Even then, it’s not like the visuals are all that bad, and it’s easy to get used to them after a few hours of play. While the character animation is rather stiff, the Trotmobiles (which are arguably the main draw of the game) are smoothly animated, while the visual effects don’t get in the way of seeing were your enemies are and whatnot. There’s plenty of pretty environments to look at, like a very thick jungle full of huge trotmobiles as well as a desert that just seems to go on forever. The day/night system in the game only further increases the ambience, as certain locations look even better at certain times of the day.

Gameplay – ★★★★★★★★☆☆ / (8/10)

Steambot Chronicles is a mixed bag. The core of the game lies in the “mech” combat, in which you explore the world while taking on whatever rogue pilots get in your way. You can rip off objects from the environment like trees, cards, boulders and postlights, or even other enemies, to use as weapons, or just throw them for some quick damage.

Movement is done with both analog sticks, similar to the Katamari games, as pushing both in one direction will make the mech go in said direction, pushing one upwards and the other downwards at the same time will make it turn in one direction, so on and so on. You can customize your Trotmobile to have a large variety of weapons, one of the left and one on the right arm, which are used by pressing L1 and R1 respectively. Said equipment can be used for either combat purposes (Blade arm, Cannon Arm), Job Purposes (Drill Arm, Pickaxe Arm) or even Music purposes (Stage arm), the latter of which I’ll be getting to in a bit. There is a weight limit to what equipment the Trotmobile can carry, which changes depending on the Trotmobile’s frame and legs. Bigger/Heavier trotmobiles have a lot of Fuel and Health, but are also slow and cost a lot more to maintain. Smaller/less equiped Trotmobiles cannot equip some of the heavier, more powerful weapons, but are also faster, and much cheaper to refuel/repair. In addition, there are also grill frames, roof frames and back frames, which can serve for both decorative or practical purposes.

Alternatively, there’s also a rhythm game built in. For some reason, Vanilla seems to be extremelly talented at playing all kinds of instruments (though that skill obviously depends on you, the player), specially his trusty harmonica. As a member of the Globetrotters, you can participate in gigs and concerts, or you can just play out on streets for some quick cash. Each instrument has a different play method, ranging from simple, easy intruments (Harmonica, Trumpet) to the Insanly hard to play instruments (Harmonica, Drums). Most of the string instruments play alike, with the only difference the direction in which the right analog stick has to be pressed.

Finally, there’s the meat of the game, which lies in it’s non-linearity. It’s been said that this game would what would result if Hayao Miyazaki of Nausica, My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away fame made a sandbox-style game, and I certainly agree. Once you’re given the option to run around doing whatever you want, you can do so without any need to follow the game’s main plot, outside of advancing the story and unlocking new places to go to.  There are tons of ways you can obtain cash to spend on new Tromobile parts, instruments, food, clothing or even your own Bachelor pad, as well as furniture for said pad. You can play to stock market game, dig up fossils, play on concerts and gigs with the band, buy materials at a low price and sell high in another town, the options are nearly endless. Even in the stock market, you can buy stocks from a failing market, go out in your trotmobile and help said market, and manually force the strocks to go up in price. It’s a lot of fun just going around town and seeing what new things you can find and do. The choices you do in the game also determine wether you will be the typical hero, or join the game’s villains in conquering the world.

Music – ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ / (6/10)

Seeing how music is very important in this game, you would think that the people who did the translation job would have funded some better singers for the voice acting. Nonetheless, the music in the game is very nice and fits the ambiance well, but the way the voice actors sing them could have certainly been better. I haven’t heard the Japanese versions of the six songs in the game to be able to compare, but they did a decent job, for a niche game that could have been much worse.

Overall – ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ / (7/10)

Steambot Chronicles is a decent niche title, whose replay value and fun factor is completely dependent on the person who plays it. You can either burn through it quickly for an easy game, or try to discovery everything the game has to over, which can take quite a few hours to do. If you’re a fan of the sandbox style of GTA. Rhythm games, mech combat or all three, you might want to check the game out. The cheesiness of the game might be a bit of a throw off at first, but it’s something you can easilly get used to. Like the game itself says, “Get ready for an exciting non-linear adventure, Steambot Chronicles!”

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go play Wii Fit and spend the $85 I got for Three King’s Day.

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Update:

So now it’s $125. Not bad for a holiday no one outside of Puerto Rico has. Still gotta go to class tomorrow though…