Atlus is known for publishing obscure games in North America, such titles as Shin Megami Tensei, and the two Disgaea games on the PS2 have made Atlus almost as famous among gamers as the titles they publish. Their latest, Contact, has all the qualities that fans of Atlus games look for. An intriguing story, genre defying game play, and best of all, lots of stats on everything you can imagine. But will this be enough to make Contact worthwhile? Read on to find out if we want to keep touching this game.

Facts and Features:

• Help Terry as he tries to recover power cells for a mysterious Professor.
  
  
• Find costumes that give you new abilities like cooking and digging.
  
  
• Make Contact with friends both wirelessly and over the net.

Arriving
When it comes to story, Contact has it and then some. We have never experienced a story so odd, but at the same time funny and amusing. No, we're not exaggerating. The story begins as a Professor, (who shall remain nameless) as he is cruising through the cosmos. For some reason, our Professor is terribly lonely and he begins to send out signals through space. That is when he makes contact with you, the player on your Nintendo DS, of course. While chatting it up with your new friend some unforeseen events began to take place. Suddenly, the Professor’s ship is attacked. During the attack, the ship’s power cells are knocked loose, and they scatter across the surface of this green glob of a planet. So needless to say, our Professor lands and enlists the help of a boy named Terry. Oh, and since his ship is crippled without his precious power cells, he combines it with an abandoned galleon. Yeah, that very ship which is the sea faring variety from long ago. Now having witnessed these events, our professor wants your help to guide young Terry to retrieve his precious power cells.

Yeah the story isn’t what you would call standard, and neither is the game design itself. You can control Terry by using the touch screen, but you can still use the plus pad and face buttons for most actions. You can also just use a combination of the two, which seems to work best. Essentially, Contact’s design is reminiscent of a very traditional RPG. You begin a level by fighting enemies, solve simple puzzles, and ultimately fight a boss and retrieve a power cell. This same routine is done over and over until you complete the game. Where Contact really shines is how it injects new ideas and methods into this game design.

One of the things that set Contact apart is all the abilities Terry has at his disposal. Some are very typical. For example, Terry can equip weapons and use them against his foes. After using a weapon he can perform what the game calls Techs. These are specialized attacks that do more damage. He can also use items, but one of the neat things is most items have a time setting due to how long it takes Terry to digest them. This really adds a new dynamic to the game, and believe it or not, it isn’t the strangest aspect of Contact.


Step aboard my space ship/Spanish Galleon.

Bring Your Shield and... Sticker?
The Professor didn’t want to send Terry out without some ordinance to protect him. What he came up with was a series of decals that can be placed on the ground to assist Terry throughout his adventures. They work like any sticker; you simply peel them, and stick them on enemies, or the ground. Their effects vary from restoring Terry’s stamina, turning enemies into animals, to even sending out the Professor’s own kitty cat Mochi to help fight off his enemies. Each decal can only be used once, but a quick trip back to the Professor’s Galleon will easily replenish your sticker collection. Using these stickers is fun, but doesn’t bring that much of a dynamic into the design. It just seems like the designers were searching for ways to implement touch-screen elements into the game.