On paper, Spectrobes has many affinities with the Pikachu band. After capturing small monsters, we pamper them and then integrate them into our team so that they take part in the fight. At a certain stage, they evolve into another appearance and become much stronger. But due to its gameplay and its high-tech touch, we quickly realize that Spectrobes offers a completely different experience and stopping only at this comparison with Pokémon would be a bit simplistic. Explanations.
The Krawl Quest
Let's start with the beginning. We embody Rallen, a young man who keeps getting his ears pulled by his superiors because of his carelessness. Engaged in an interplanetary military organization, he is in a way a "Space Ranger". During a banal rescue mission, he discovers the survival capsule of Aldous, an old man from another star system who mysteriously disappeared ten years ago. After seizing a strange (but essential) object called Prizmod, he makes the unpleasant encounter with a group of Krawl, literally "devourer of planets" but was saved by the unexpected appearance of other creatures. Quickly making the connection between the presence of the latter and their intention, Rallen and his friends quickly begin a race against time to save their contemporaries. Firepower and human ingenuity being ineffective, Aldous reveals to them that their only chance of survival lies in a now extinct animal civilization. Always present in large numbers in the form of fossils, it will therefore be necessary to resort massively to archeology to unearth them and breathe new life into them thanks to the joy of genetics.
Each Spectrobe can evolve successively twice to reach the adult stage and then evolved. Each time they become much stronger and more imposing. At birth, the Spectrobes are indeed puny and are not able to fight. On the other hand, they are essential for the search for underground elements. Characterized by the range at which they can spot them around them, just press the R button or the creature with the stylus and a halo of light envelops it. If a shiny element appears, you can then click on it to start playing archaeologists. A color game informs us about what we can expect: gold for the fossils, gray for the minerals and finally rainbow for the cubes. These contain specific information about the Spectrobes and will unlock certain features (activate the DS wi-fi connection, the incubator, etc.); Mineralocs are popular food for Spectrobes. Allowing them to improve their minergie in one or more skills, you should not deprive yourself to stuff them as much as possible. Indeed, to level up in one of their skills (attack, defense, life points), it is necessary that their level of minergie in this one reaches 100%. Like a Trauma Center, it is your dexterity and delicacy that will determine the success of these mini-archaeological phases. The pressure increases as you hold the stylus in the same position, so it is better to be very careful and go in small strokes so as not to damage the precious relics. No less than 95% of the object's surface must be unearthed before it can be recovered. Each successful excavation increases his level of experience and therefore decreases the probability of breakage. In the same style, you can also get several more specific special tools for a fee, for example blowing on the screen to remove some debris without fear. In addition, depending on the state of conservation of the fossil, it may have retained up to 80% of its minergie as well as an elementalist accessory. An additional motivation not to relax his attention. Back home, the laboratory in the basement of the ship allows them to be brought back to life. To do this, you must maintain the level of your voice for 3 seconds at a level determined by a gauge. All that remains is to ask our friend Laurely Birba if he thinks he looks classy with it in the Paris metro…
Dig them all up!
The Krawls moving in the form of a black vortex visible on the map, thus avoiding the frustration of repeated random fights. They will of course seek to pursue you, but they are relatively easy to avoid if you don't want a confrontation. As soon as you come into contact with them, the environment transforms into a closed circle and the fight begins. Taking place in real time, Rallen is accompanied by 2 Spectrobes, one on each side, who closely follow him every time he moves. Controlled by you thanks to the side keys of the console, you have to wait until the endurance gauge is perfectly full to launch an assault. A bit of a shame restriction because it pushes you to always use the same move with the same creature. We have the possibility of placing up to 4 Spectrobes in support whose arithmetic average of their power allows to boost the skills of their friends in combat: attack, defense, speed or energy charge. On the other hand, let's not even talk about the attacks of Rallen. Pitiful is the word. The mastery of the sword, the use of a plasma cannon, nothing helps. Worse, the latest technological equipment available (suits increase the number of lives, gloves defense, etc.) do not really change the game. The investment is also expensive because we keep the logical utopia that it should work out with better equipment and that it is impossible to resell it. However, he still has the possibility of exploiting the potential of the Spectrobes to the maximum by charging energy for a certain period of time. The latter can then launch special attacks – however, we regret some aiming problems – even a combo affecting all the opponents provided you have the energy bar at the maximum. The trick is therefore simple: since it is possible to charge your energy on the move, you just have to turn around the combat environment and chain the combos. Easy as pie.
The principle of the collection is highlighted here with no less than 500 creatures to discover. The game also comes with 4 punch cards out of the 12 possible. An additional way to encourage exchanges between players. The community aspect is also favored by the simple organization of tournaments with up to 16 participants. If completeness is at the rendezvous, the Spectrobes are unfortunately not as charismatic as any Pokémon. If the lifespan was enough on its own, the scenario is silly as possible and adds a layer to artificially increase the playing time. Small example: after recovering a gem for a treasure hunter, we go on a few missions later that it is fuel from an alien ship. Nothing abnormal except that we are forced to cross a labyrinth again to "realize" that we have not recovered the gem of the bounty hunter. Of course, he will entrust it to us on condition that we bring him an object of the same value. Small problem, the relic is in a place where the air is corrosive. To protect yourself against it, you have to buy a special suit… available at a price of gold. And here we go for two or three hours of intensive combat. Another example: if Spectrobes can reach their evolved form via the laboratory's incubator, it will be quicker to go to the desert to find the hidden challenge of winning around thirty fights in a row to win a special Mineroc . Without being very detailed either, the Spectrobes graphic result remains correct and proves that the DS can try out 3D without blushing. On the other hand, we are less forgiving with the level design and we encourage developers to review their copy for the next time. The cities are not very ergonomic where it is difficult to find a merchant or the environments whose poverty leads us to go around in circles several times without even realizing it. Used in the menus, the dual screen is also used as a direct extension of the lower screen.
