Eyeshield 21 Review (Wii)

Eyeshield 21, for the Nintendo Wii, might look like a traditional American Football game, but it isn't. In actuality it's a mini-game collection centered around the staples of football such as running and passing the ball. The main-game has less to do with actually playing football but rather acting out the scripted scenes from the manga/anime; in the 15-Scenario Single-Player you will only play two full matches of football, with the remaining thirteen scenarios being dialogue, one quarter of a match/two minute warnings, and obscure mini-games. There is a football game here, but you'll only be playing it in Exhibition and Tournament modes.
Unfortunately, while Eyeshield21 does offer an extremely unique take on how a football videogame can play none of it comes together to form a compelling experience. And it isn't just that the aspect of football is lacking, but gameplay also.

The Running Mini-Game is both Inconsequential and a Total Waste of Time

Eyeshield plays out in a simple manner; both offense and defense are limited to five actions, be them enacting a style of play or defending against it. You can run, pass, line-dive, field goal, and punt (on 4th down). For offense each of these plays incorporate a mini-game, while defense mostly has you waggling your Wii-Remote to initiate sacking the QB or kicker based off a timer that you speed up. For defense though there's hardly anything noticeable about picking the right defense; for passing and kicking it shortens the amount of time the QB/Kicker has to set the ball off, but for running and line-defense it's virtually invisible.
Passing brings you into the eyes of quarterback. Pointing your Wii-Remote at the screen you can survey your three receiver's (who always run the same routes) and choose which one to pass to. It does not matter whether one appears open or heavily guarded; the mini-game and chance of success/failure is always the same. Choosing prompts another mini-game where the ball is seen coming at you in the air; both offense and defense point their remotes at the screen and click the ball when a target surrounds it. If offense clicks first the catch is received; for defense it's swatted away or intercepted.

This is a Special Move, but there is no difference between a special run and normal run

Running the ball allows you to choose either your fullback or halfback, but the only difference between them is their special moves (which is detailed below). The runner can be controlled by the Wii-Remote but it is inconsequential; the defense is faster, and they need only be in a proximity to the runner to initiate a mini-game. This mini-game is the largest error of the game; it brings up a "Guess Which Way" prompt where offense and defense swing their remote in a direction. If their the same defense tackles the runner, but if not the runner stylishly passes and continues. The issue here is, beside the Wii-Remote not always reading your swipe, is the amount of time this mini-game takes up. There are two videos in it, and each video is between 5-10 seconds, with the mini-game being three seconds. This may not sound long but it is never singular; all running plays will throw you right into the midst of at least three defenders. The moment you pass one and end the mini-game the next starts, frequently before your runner can even put his foot down. Each running play ends up eating about a minute of time, and at the end of it you'll be lucky to discovered you ran more than three yards. This is no exaggeration; running truly gets you nowhere, as you will always face at least three defenders and by the end of them your character is out of stamina. The moment a fourth defender catches you, which will happen immediately after passing the three, you will be tackled.
Kicking/Punting is the same, and surprisingly simple. A bar on the right goes up and down; flick your Wii-Remote at the top and the kick is a successful one. Line-Diving opens a mini-game where offense and defense waggle their Wii-Remote in a game of two-round tug of war. A bar at the top designates who is winning and at the end of a few seconds whoever has shoved more wins, allowing a successful dive of a few yards or blocking it.

Seeing from the Eyes of the QB is cool, except there is nothing that separates one QB from Another

Akin to anime titles, there are special moves, but like the rest of the game they are essentially inconsequential. Based off five-bars in the corner of the screen, some players have special moves that use up those bars (between two and three bars each). As seen in the pictures above, using a special move while running initiates a flashy move where the runner passes the defenders; the problem is that there is absolutely no difference between a special-move run and just running. It follows the same rules; used the special move but swiped the same as defense? You're stopped. Use the special move and pass the defense? The next defender right next to that one stops you and initiates the same mini-game again anyway. Passing is the same; even if your QB sets the ball on fire with his bullet-pass it goes the same distance as it normally would, and whether or not your receiver catches it is based off the receiving mini-game regardless.
The two that actually do anything are the Line-Dive and Receiver special. Using a special on Line-Dive wins the tug-of-war after only one round, while with receiving this allows your receiver to keep running after he catches it.

Verdict:
Going to my "Verdict" all of a sudden seems hasty, but really I have nothing else to say about this game other than the description of its controls and gameplay and how most of it doesn't work or do anything. Eyeshield 21 boasts unique ideas, but it contradicts itself by making 90% of the game immaterial. Most of it doesn't do anything, or just eats up time making you watch a video of something you'd rather be in control of. And really, the game just isn't fun. You can run the ball and waste a whole minute for a yard or two, or just pass the ball ten yards to a receiver who isn't able to keep running after he catches it. But really; there's just nothing fun about any of it. The game has the graphical charm to lure a gamer in, but actually playing it is just repetitive, dull, and lacking in any sort of incentive. It isn't an exciting anime despite its cosmetic, and it isn't a sports game despite its cosmetic. And honestly, I don't know if this is even a videogame, because nothing the player does actually seems to matter.

 The Language Barrier
If you're still adamant on getting this game than you're fortunate; there is virtually zero language barrier. While you won't have much of a reason to play the single-player as it's 80% dialogue, the core game itself is very easy to grasp. Upon starting the game is a forced tutorial that goes over each element of the game individually, and is even paired with visual Wii-Remote demonstrations to make sure you're doing it right. This game is 100% playable even if you do not know a lick of Japanese.

Earth Seeker (Wii) - Impressions

Earth Seeker, developed by Crafts and Meister, is a Wii action game that is, in simplest explaination, a clone of the massively successful Monster Hunter games. There's a hub town where you accept quests, build weapons and food, and an off-branch of the town where you employ some rather alcohol-saavy, pint-sized creatures called Gajiin to assist you. Gameplay is handled by going out into an apocalyptic Earth and battling your way through highly-challenging monsters that don't support HP bars, finding treasures of the Earth-past as well as mountains of materials, and then returning home, cashing in, and doing it all again. In truth, this game really is a clone amongst several others, but like 2010's MH-clone (not to mention overwhelmingly underrated) title, Gods Eater Burst, Earth Seeker does a lot to not only differentiate itself from its idol, but is also a downright solid videogame that is just a ton of fun to play, language understood or not.


Language Barrier
Earth Seeker is very playable, and there are several hours of gameplay before any "required" sleuthing within the more complex game world becomes apparent. While the brief introductory moments may cause the less-creative of import gamers some confusion (which you can remedy by checking out the First Hour Gameplay Video here on Youtube), from there on it's pretty much blind, enjoyable sailing.
It's worth mentioning that I have a miniscule knowledge of Japanese writing, but that, with Earth Seeker, the little bit of it didn't do a thing (for those wondering, Earth Seeker does not have Furigana outside of the instruction booklet). I've been playing completely blind, but in the 8 hours spent I have not hit a single hiccup or aimless frustration, and this game has been one of those surprising imports that just really succeeds by its gameplay alone. Accepting quests is handled by a single desk which reveals a list of lined objectives, and from there its only a short run to the huge ship in the middle of the hub-town which transport you to the location of the quest. The gameplay I can assure to be understood within minutes, and the controls are basic and singular. Knowing when a quest is complete is also unanimous, as either a large golden font will collapse into the center of the screen, or your tough-nut Gajiin will successfully drop a collected part onto the ship (more on this below).
But it isn't a perfect import. The meat of Earth Seeker comes down to collecting materials, customizing your weapons, and managing your team of Gajiin. While the former two are more blatant and easier to grasp, the latter is a downright pest, and this is a serious issue. While you will be neither forced nor stalled due to the complex tablet of upgrading and structuring your team of Gajiin, it's undeniable that you'll be nagged, subconsciously at least, and the frustration of not knowing how or if you're actually maximizing your team is pretty bothersome. The little guys play an important role in your battle abilities (they alone can utilize elements), and not knowing how to boost them appropriate to your ability will be an enlarging tumor as the game progresses.
Still, the language barrier, as far as I've been slumped by it, comes down strictly to your team. There's no halt to actually playing the game though, and the enjoyment of it is never hampered by the language barrier. This is a highly accessible import title, and certainly surpasses the bar of "possible."



Gameplay
There are two aspects of Earth Seeker's gameplay; the peaceful Hub-world (which is accompanied by a wonderful, sleep-inducing melody) where you accept quests, organize your things, upgrade weapons and manage your team, and the vast, dangerous ruins where you will be battling monsters and pillaging the loot randomly strewn about.
Let's talk about the battle first.
Earth-Seeker is an action-title with a Time-Stop battle system. When you are out in the ruins and come across a baddie, pressing the A button pauses the in-game world and brings up a combat menu. Here you select which available attacks to use, then initiate them with a press off the Z button. Which attacks you can choose are subject to the amount of Action Points (AP) stored, which is shown by a series of red plates on the bottom of the screen. Each attack, be it a blazing melee strike by your main character or a spell from your accompanying Gajiin, takes a certain amount of AP, and not having sufficient AP renders the attack-option inoperable. While this style of gameplay may seem like it would disrupt the gameplay heavily, it's quite the opposite. While the first operation may have you carefully analyzing and choosing your attacks, it quickly molds into a very fluent, hasty process that never feels as though it's halting the action. In defense of the pausing occurrence though, I can't stress enough how important your choosing of attacks actually are; when you select a melee attack, your character withdraws her blade and marches right up to the monster, then starts swinging. While choosing constant melee attacks is alright for the little guys, it'll show to be a one-way ticket to Game Over when you're up against a far more hurtful, if not larger, badass. Having the combat menu is a surefire way of the game knowing what you want; if you decide to stampede the monster with blows and die, then it is entirely your fault, a quality that, while damning, is well-sought and praise worthy.
Other aspects of the battlefield would be the variety of missions, which are quite selective. While there are plenty of "Kill the Big One and get his Treasure" missions, there also "Slay X amount of this creature," "Get the Treasure (Which involves finding a teleporter which brings you into a big, cyber-like Freight chamber)" and "Find the Spaceship part." The first three are practically the same; explore the area until you win. The latter though is unique, and worth discussing. While I don't know exactly why you're building a spaceship (which you can check and watch it's growth at the Hub-Town), the rarer missions require you to head out to the field and find a large segment of the dismantled ship lying around. This mission-type brings to mind the videogame Pikmin; when you find the piece, your Gajiin will circle it, lift it up, then head back for the ship (entrance/exit) in the level, completely defenseless and unable to support you. While carrying this, you're assured a plethora of monsters to show up and try and stop them, and it's up to you, the lone melee fighter, to prevent them from knocking out your creatures. It's a tough mission type, but without a doubt edge-of-the-seat inducing and downright fulfilling when its mastered.


The majority of the game though takes place in the hub-town, Panga. It's a clean, vacant place that is readily adorned with a bakery, weapons shop, storage robot, quest desk, art museum, spaceship works and a vast tomb mostly occupied by a lonesome old woman named Rosa who is in a huge metal suit accompanied with still, liquid chambers reminiscent of the Mako Chambers from Final Fantasy 7. There's also the grassy underworld of the Gaijin, accessed by taking a floating branch. Again, I can't read the script, so I really don't have a damn clue why for any of this.
For language-ignorant, interactive purposes, you'll mostly be obliging three portions of the hub-town; the quest desk, the storage/save robot, and the weapons desk. While the Storage Robot may require some trial-and-error to understand, the actions of these places is quickly recognized, and whether you're choosing to upgrade your blade or take on another quest is pretty apparent. Other places, like the Item Shop and Spaceship Works, are probably going to be downright confusing and most likely ignored, but the Art Mueseum is a readily available place worth checking up on. The main objective of each Quest is, when not to fetch the rare Spaceship part, to acquire an artwork, which is modeled in the golden "Complete" text when you finish a mission. These artworks are Earth's, the real Earth's, best, and be them the statue of David or Van Gogh's Starry Night, the historic artworks acquired from the main quests are then stored in a 7-story cylinder located in Panga, which you are free to view and grow pensive over whenever you like.
The land of the Gajiin I can't actually explain, because this has been the single article of Earth Seeker that I just cannot get a grasp on in any way, shape or form. There isn't much to it either; a building where you manage your Gajiin (hiring/firing, equipment, Rank and skills, etc:), and an ominous hole where bright yellow eyes stare at you and ask you for... something. I dunno; I can't understand it. Whatever is going on down there thought, it's here that there isn't a single "click" that will give you results of imminent activity, not unless you spend some serious, concentrated time out in the battlefield figuring out just what exactly you did. I won't muddle you with my "thoughts" here, as quite simply I just cannot grasp a single of the Gajiin area's offers, but it's probably safe to say you'll avoid it for as long as possible.



Worth to Import?
Earth Seeker is a highly practical import title, and I was incredibly surprised by how readily playable it has been. I can't stress this enough, even for the Japanese-absent, and that even though it bares the scope of a console title, I believe anybody with just a pinch of patience can get a solid amount of playtime and enjoyment here.
There are some things to consider though. As of this blog, Earth Seeker has only been out for little over a year, which is a far cry from labeling it an ever-import title. Localization takes time, especially when Earth Seeker's distributor, Kadokawa Games, doesn't have a western agent. Xseed has also already expressed an interest in Earth Seeker, and their upcoming localization, The Last Story, may very well decide for them the choice on whether or not they consider the Wii a worthwhile expense for localizations. On the pessimistic side though, Earth Seeker only sold 5000 copies on its release week, so if Xseed's intrigue falls through it's highly possible no other company will choose to take a chance on this title.
As a game currently available only in another language though, I do consider Earth Seeker a grand example of an import possible, will really give you a lot of fun alongside a surprisingly low amount of frustration, and is one smooth, cool ride until the more demanding aspects of the game take mental hold. I've had a terrific time experiencing Earth Seeker so far, and am enthusiastic to get back to exploring the strange and fascinating world within.