The Wizard of Oz is a classic tale of imagination that was first introduced as a novel in the year 1900. Later, the tale was translated into one of the most classic movies of all time, which has held up as a masterpiece over the last 70 years. Nearly everyone has seen the classic film and most would agree that its majestic portrayal of the Emerald City makes it one of the most enchanting stories to date.
RPGs have been a way for gamers to experience masterful storytelling in videogame form and experience something even more interactive than merely watching a film. During the beginning of gaming, gamers have used their imaginations to bring these games to life and nowadays, through powerful technology, some RPGs rival even the movie industry in terms of story and production value.
It’s safe to say that there are quite a few similarities between the classic tale of Dorothy and the world of RPGs. However, it’s also safe to say that anyone in their right mind would have the same reaction as me when realizing what The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road brings to the table: The game is an effing JRPG. That’s right, we’re talking full out anime, over the top graphics and music, and a story translation where Dorothy and the gang wield staffs, axes, and magical spells as they attempt to convince the great Oz to grant their wishes. Are you kidding me?
But you know what the most baffling part of the entire experience is? The game is actually good.
Pleasant Presentation
One of the first things I noticed when turning on the game is that it is by no means shy of embracing its attempts at JRPG classification. Aside from the anime characters and Dragon Quest reminiscent baddies, the title screen begins with a twang of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and immediately segways into an all out, Japanese dubbed title theme song, complete with fully orchestrated instruments. All along the way, you’ll be floored by the production value in this game from the excellent looking graphics to the pseudo-fully orchestrated, strongly composed soundtrack (it most certainly does service to the classic movie).
The game begins with a brief sequence in a Halloween-reminiscent town where a witch begins to read the story. Immediately, gamers are taken into the book and briefed on the early setting of events. Though the initial sequence is an animated video, the first pages of the book read more like an actual storybook where you’ll see a few different pictures as you turn the pages. Thus, Dorothy is whisked from her home in Kansas and comes before the great Wizard of Oz who explains her need to fight by the following statements:
“First here is a pair of magical shoes. With these you will be able to move about this land as if it were your own. Next, some weapons and armor. If you wish to attain better equipment, you must come to my castle. Hm? Why do you look surprised visitor? I know not how your land is, but here, progress is impossible without defeating enemies.”
Thus, I like the fact that the game doesn’t beat around the bush with the fact that it is an RPG and not just a reenactment of the actual story from the movie.
Good Gameplay Mechanics
The game’s controls are all touch screen based but actually are quite solid. Running occurs by moving a track ball, which feels a bit awkward at first but is very easy to get the hang of (I felt it worked quite well, to be honest). Though the labyrinthine levels are sinister in length at times, Dorothy is capable of running quite fast to make movement feel anything but a chore. Also, battles are not randomized, but rather you can avoid enemies you encounter by dodging them (either outrun them or move by them when they don’t see you).
Battles look and feel very similar to ones from Dragon Quest, or Phantasy Star, the classic RPGs of our time; there are no visuals of your characters on the battle screen but instead, each of the monsters is fully animated. These turn based battles have a small twist though, which is actually a bit unique compared to your typical RPG:
Each turn consists of four actions, which the game refers to as the ratio of the battle. Players choose which of their characters will participate during each turn and choose their actions to perform. Thus, a turn can consist of multiple characters attacking or only one attacking multiple times. There are a few strategy elements coupled within this 4-action, turn based system, such as the fact that any character left out from a turn cannot be attacked, as well as the fact that gamers can use it to play on the weaknesses of their foes according to each character’s affinity (in a four tiered version of Rock Paper Scissors).
Further adding to the strategy elements is the fact that each character expends a different amount of the turn’s ratio than the others; though Dorothy and Scarecrow only take up one fourth of the ratio, the Lion takes up half (with added power and defense) and the Tin Man takes up 3 fourths (with the best strength and moves but slowest stats of all). Thus, you can see that there are individual strategies that must be made for each battle and each situation accordingly (Dorothy and Scarecrow, for instance, are great for healing as they only take up one fourth of the turn for each action they commit).
Of course, no RPG would be complete without some special abilities for our heroes and this game provides these as well. Characters wishing to earn these skills cannot do so merely by gaining levels but must find the three “Father Dragons” throughout the land and defeat them in friendly combat (reminded me a bit of Spekkio from Crono Trigger). There are only three skills for each character so each one of the Father Dragons you defeat will net you a new skill for each of your heroes.
Other aspects of the RPG world are kept fairly simple throughout the experience (which can be seen as both a good and a bad thing). For one, the only real “town” is the central hub, Oz’s Castle, where you’ll buy all of your equipment and save your game. Destinations are selected on a world map rather than moving from place to place in an over world. Also, equipment is limited to weapons and armor meaning each character wields solely a weapon and a piece of armor (thus no hats, shoes, artifacts, etc.). Even the money is simplified, where currency is normalized to as small of a value as possible (recovery items are worth 1 coin, weapons and armor are in the tens); these small values can be maintained as coins are somewhat hard to come by and must be found either lying around the environment or won from battles occasionally (though only one coin can be awarded after a battle).
Pronounced Problems
It’s safe to say that the game has a lot of things going well for it but there are some quirks that I don’t enjoy as much. For one, the game’s aforementioned labyrinthine level design is maddening. With no map to guide you, it is easy to become lost in your current area which means you could spend some time backtracking unnecessarily. There are signs throughout the world that you can label with one of five different symbols to guide you along the way but this mechanic, though novel at first, became more of a hiccup in the game’s flow in my opinion (it was far easier to keep running at a fast pace and risk back tracking rather than stop to mark the signs).
What makes the levels even more frustrating is the lock-and-key type of level design where you’ll be forced to find switches necessary to open previous doors, then you’re left to backtrack back to the door to progress. This happens throughout the game and makes traversing the levels become very old very quickly. As you play through the game, you’ll also gain the power of four different elemental spirits, which serve as the special keys from the Dragon Quest series; these elementals are used to light torches, tip scales, and blow wind chimes to create new paths on your adventure.
I also felt that a few of the menus and touch screen buttons were a little bulky at times (for instance, the buttons that change the camera do so in far too slow of a fashion for my own tastes while the action button can only be activated when Dorothy is stopped in her tracks, which takes a few seconds). This adds to some of the game’s issues with misdirection.
Finally, though each area you visit is uniquely designed, the level design itself is far too repetitious. Unlike most great RPGs where you’re consistently provided with new environments and varied level design, this game becomes repetitious within the first few hours of gameplay. You do encounter a large amount of different enemies throughout the way but this doesn’t redeem the game in terms of keeoing the experience fresh.
Summary
Overall, I was more than pleasantly surprised with The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road. I can’t tell you how afraid I was of the game when I first received it because I thought for sure that a game featuring Dorothy and the gang in JRPG form would do little to hold my attention. However, the game consistently impressed me with its top notch presentation, solid and fairly different gameplay mechanics, and aspects from already proven RPGs on the market. You may be as befuddled as I was but don’t mistake this game with the countless other pieces of shovel ware available on the DS.