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It’s like Animal Crossing, only for even younger players. |
Cute, cuddly, and lovable are just a few words I would use to describe the ever-popular amongst kids Neopets, but the PSP game, Petpet Adventure: The Wand of Wishing, is anything but. Don’t let the title fool you into thinking that this is simply for spoiled eight year-old little girls lucky enough to own PSPs.
It has a cute story line, but it’s in no way original – Neopia, the land of Neopets, is in grave danger when the Wand of Wishing disappears into a hidden portal. Now the Neopets are racing against time to retrieve the Wand of Wishing before the powerful villains do so that they can undo the evils the villains have visited upon the world.
The graphics are nothing to write home about, and the game takes unnecessarily long to load between different scenes and if there is one thing I hate, waiting would be it, so that aspect is a thumb’s down for me. However, once you get to play the game, it is somewhat fun and challenging.
The villains are by no means easy to defeat. Your ability to fight is somewhat limited, ranging from firing ranged weapons to wielding melee weapons such as a club or a stick. You also have magical powers but they rarely do anything damaging to your enemies.
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A rat fights a fox thing with a stick. Exciting! |
Throughout the game, you get smaller missions and depending on the amount of time you have on yours hands, you could choose not to complete them and still finish the game. But a lot of the missions are impossible to complete once you pass a certain stage because some areas in the game will not allow you to revisit, which I find somewhat frustrating. Saw a pair of leather tights with matching sequined top that you were hoping to return and buy after having saved up enough coins from slain monsters? Well, tough, you’ll just have to pray that the next town is as trashy as the last.
This game is definitely not your typical RPG, but then again, the game was intended for little kids. To get a better understanding of the game, think Pokemon with a darker twist.
It is a game for the type of people who are not looking for a challenging or visually- stimulating form of entertainment. Would I call it a complete waste of time and creative ingenuity? Not completely, but let’s just put it this way, if my daughter were to ask me for Petpet Adventure: The Wand of Wishing, I would tell her to go play with Barbie instead.