The Down and Dirty

After being imprisoned underwater for 1000 years, the Darkest Faerie has emerged and is looking to cause some trouble. Enter heroes Tor the Lupe and Roberta the Acara, who team up to put a stop to the Faerie's plans and return their world to safety.

The Goods

The Neopet website has been an addictive phenomenon for quite a while now, though many players may be unfamiliar with it. On the site, participants raise and care for a Neopet of their choosing, doing everything from feeding it to buying it toys to getting it a pet of its own (called a Pet Pet, natch). One might expect the game, therefore, to be some sort of Tamagotchi-esque zoo, but Darkest Faerie has more in common with Zelda than Pokemon. For one thing, although the playable characters are animals, they've been anthropomorphized so that they can walk, talk, and fight. Players start the game as Tor, a fighter-type character, but eventually the magic-using Roberta also becomes available. Players can switch off between the two characters on the fly, depending on the situation. Some obstacles and puzzles require the specific use of either Tor or Roberta, but for the most part it's up to the player's individual preference.

Although Darkest Faerie has been designed so that even gamers who've never heard of the Neopet site can enjoy it, fans of the site will recognize many gameplay elements, as locations and characters that show up on the site also appear in the game, and vice versa. Another staple of the site, the Pet Pets, are also key to the gameplay in Darkest Faerie. There are many kinds of Pet Pets in the game, and each one has a different ability or benefit, such as leonine Niol, which replenishes the player's health just by hanging around. Other Pet Pets might refill magic or improve jumping ability, as long as players can keep them well-fed. Item collection and side quests round out the basic "rescue the kingdom" action of the main story arc. When complete, Darkest Faerie should boast 100 different enemy types, 12 unique bosses, 14 types of magic and scores of hidden goodies.

One particularly nifty aspect of Darkest Faerie is that the entire game is one enormous, seamless environment. Players can run from the opening location of the game to the final area in one shot, with absolutely no loading. The lack of loading times makes the game feel like more of an actual universe, as opposed to just chopped up levels, and makes revisiting locations in search of hidden booty far more inviting.

The Verdict

Despite its kid-friendly trappings and graphics, Neopets: The Darkets Faerie isn't meant to be a kids' game. With more than 60 hours of gameplay and a healthy challenge, the developer is hoping that older gamers can look past the cutesy image and recognize Darkest Faerie as a solid action title. Collection junkies and action fans should be on the lookout in late Summer/early Fall of this year.