Dewy’s Adventure, from the same team that brought us Elebits, is a simple game. Some might even call it childish — and I’d agree with them. What I wouldn’t say, however, is that the game is solely for children. There’s enough here to keep any open-minded gamer interested for at least a little while, despite its simplicity.
As explained in the game’s opening segment (where the voice is borderline horrifying) this is the story of Dewy, a small water droplet who is on a mission to save his pristine world from the Black Water that threatens to destroy it. In the process, he must rescue the Eau — the funny-shaped inhabitants of the land — from the evil Don Hedron. The theme is somewhat reminiscent of the de-sludging and Pianta rescuing in Super Mario Sunshine, although the games play much differently.
Dewy’s Adventure is a novel work, and players may get a sensation similar to the one brought about by the innovative Loco Roco. The game puts the Wii remote to good use, requiring players to tilt the device in order to move Dewy around his world. Imagine directing a marble sitting on top of the remote and you’ll get the picture (Marble Madness for the modern gaming era). The point is to reach the end of each stage while freeing as many Eau as possible from the Black Water. It plays something like Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, except jumping is not controlled with a flick of the wrist, but instead with the 2 button (and there’s more of it). Special gestures are reserved for actions such as creating a gust of wind (shake the Wii-mote up and down) or calling forth an earthquake (shake the remote side-to-side), as well as context-sensitive wagglings during boss battles and to interact with certain parts of the environment.
Being made of high quality H2O, Dewy can use the air temperature to his advantage. Players can raise or lower the temperature with the d-pad, after which it gradually returns to normal. While in the altered climate, though, Dewy takes on new identities as either a block of ice or a small cloud of water vapor. Each of these forms has its advantages. In ice form, Dewy is fast and lethal, with a more advanced attack than in liquid form. He can also travel safely across now-frozen bodies of water. In mist form, he can target his foes and fire bolts of lightning that either deal damage or leave them stunned and vulnerable.
The controls work well for the most part, but like that age-old classic Marble Madness, can take some getting used to. Players may find themselves falling off ledges more often than they’d like – especially on narrow pathways – but after a bit of practice (and tweaking the tilt sensitivity), the controls become more amicable. Soon, navigating obstacles, saving Eau, defeating enemies, activating switches, and collecting items becomes second nature. Unfortunately, it can also get a bit boring over time, and the game’s extras do little to ease that.
Accessible from the Hotori Village, which acts as a hub world, are a handful of galleries for characters, music, and tips players have encountered throughout the game, as well as a place to view photos (read: screenshots) they have taken. It’s nothing very exciting, and likely will not captivate anyone but the most impressionable of small children.
In addition to the main story mode, Dewy’s Adventure also includes what is called Goody Mode. Here, players have access to a group of single- or multi-player games, as well as a level editor in which to create backdrops for those defeat-all-enemies, collect-all-stars, and time attack tasks. The level editor is a nice touch, but players will soon come to realize that the effort tends to outstrip the reward, as original levels just don’t seem to play as well as the prefab ones. You can trade levels over the internet, though, so at least you can share your defeat with friends.
Graphically, the game has a whimsical storybook appeal to it, but nothing more. It is a simple visual representation with minimal assets and effects. The environments could have easily appeared on videogame hardware of generations past. As for the audio, it is nothing but simple, short loops and lots of repetitive character vociferations
Dewy’s Adventure is not for everyone, but although the game seems to target the more youthful demographic, it has the potential to appeal to individuals from all age groups. Those gamers who are interested in new, offbeat titles might want to give it a try, but don’t expect to be floored by any aspect of the production. I’d recommend a rental.
