Solatorobo: Red the Hunter

Solatorobo is a title full of great ideas, which were wasted with shoddy execution. Nevertheless, those interested in games with great stories should check it out.

A great swan song for the DS. Its production values are stellar, the game plays very well, and is chock-full of some sweet content. Plus, it's literally as close to MegaMan Legends 3 that any 3DS owners are likely to get in terms of play, style, and overall feeling.

CyberConnect2 did a great job and hopefully Solatorobo will not be forgotten as its predecessor, because of the games of the last gasp of the DS, this one is certainly worth the investment.

Solatorobo: Red the Hunter is easy to play and appropriate for all ages.

There are moments where it can feel more than a bit uninspired, and many times the tasks Red and company have to take on seem beyond trivial. The difficulty is sorely lacking. The gameplay needs more diversity. And while the story is enjoyable it's hardly award winning. Yet, at some point in the second half of the game I found myself having a pretty good time.

It's easy to pick up, simple to get a hold of, and while it's not terribly challenging, it's fun. That's perfect for the DS, if that's what you expect from the handheld.

I can't marshal too much frustration at Solatotobo, even if I'm bothered by its overly simplistic mechanics. It's a fun introductory action/RPG, but experienced players should consider a more sophisticated title. That is, unless you love your game heroes to be covered in fur.

There's plenty of incentive to explore, with a bounty of side quests at each of the towns where you stop. These provide bite-sized adventures that take just a few minutes, cementing the fact that casual players using their DSes on the go will get the most out of Solatorobo.

Why settle for this shallow, repetitive interactive adaptation?

This game has the potential to be the sleeper hit of 2011.

If you can get over a cast of characters talking and talking and talking but not really saying much of anything, you may find Solatorobo much more enjoyable than I did -- though the game's patronizing insistence on holding your hand through just about every challenge can be just as frustrating.

The story may take awhile to get truly interesting, but the early portion is not unappealing, and the rest of the game is quite worthwhile.

Solatorobo is slow to get going, and neither the combat nor the puzzles are ever anything more than mildly challenging. But it's a true original, beautiful to look at, lovingly made, characterful and always ready to surprise you with some mad, bizarre new idea.

A high-energy romp with a fun, 90's anime style story (the G Gundam references are much-appreciated), easy to grasp mechanics, and plenty of things to find and collect. But I think its real strength is that lush world and the truly outstanding cel-shading, which makes me want to take back every bad word I ever said about the Nintendo DS and its 3D graphical capabilities.

Solatorobo is a carefree, fun experience, a portal directly to our childhood. There's something endearing about the characters and their growth that still holds a special place in our heart.

Solatorobo was clearly a labor of love for its developers, and their enthusiasm for its world, characters, and play mechanics shines through in every moment of the game. [Sept 2011, p.80]

If you own a Nintendo DS, Solatorobo is a unique, fun and mandatory experience.

While the game is trivially easy and it's frustrating that so many of its mistakes were easily avoidable, the fun combat, huge variety of missions, great graphics and instant likeability make this a little gem of a game that comes recommended.

Rich in character while on minimum wage mechanically. [Issue#112, p.114]

A great rpg with fantastic characters, music and environments. It's a shame it's a bit too simplified.

Solatorobo's short attention span is occasionally 
its undoing – good ideas and mechanics are dropped 
as readily as bad – and the button-mashing combat 
can occasionally fatigue, but this is an adventure both 
epic and bite-sized, with the kind of charm that 
makes its weaknesses easy to forget, and hard 
not to forgive.

A fantastic-looking RPG, packed with innovation and able to grab your attention. [Sept 2011, p.95]

The very fact that Nintendo went out of its way to pick up this Third Party game and market it in PAL territories should be enough evidence of how incredible Solatorobo: Red the Hunter is.

Solatorobo: Red the Hunter can be warmly recommended to all fans of fantasy and RPGs on NDS. The game offers an awesome story, a beautiful world, and a lot of quests.

RPG fans - pry your eyes away from Xenoblade; Solatorobo may be the biggest surprise of the summer.

A game that we highly recommend. It has been crafted with care and in painstaking detail, incorporating a lengthy, well-written story with engaging battle mechanics and an impressive variety of quest styles.

It may not offer much of a challenge, but Solatorobo: Red the Hunter has enough variety and quirky charm to stand out from other action RPGs.

Solatorobo is the typical DS hidden gem. A very nice adventure with a fascinating story and good characters, and a peculiar fighting system. There is a very strange but also very welcome surprise at the end of the game. I don't want to spoil it but... let's just say that maybe the end it's not what it seems!

A nice surprise and possibly the last great RPG for the Nintendo DS, Solatorobo is a craftsmanship work by CyberConnect2 that deserves public recognition.

It's hard to define Solatorobo: Red the Hunter as some sort of "big surprise", since we already knew the qualities of CyberConnect2's last effort. The partnership with a range of well-known japanese artists led to something great for the Nintendo DS from a graphics standpoint, and the overall experience is engaging and fun.

A great roleplaying action game, with a very well told and structured story, and lots of additional missions which guarantee a lot of hours of play.

It's a true original, beautiful to look at, lovingly made, characterful and always ready to surprise you with some mad, bizarre new idea.

A rugged, handsome and confident adventure that while not the deepest or most original game, still wears its heart on its sleeve for all to see. [July 2011, p.62]

Quotation forthcoming.

To celebrate its 15th birthday, CyberConnect2 went all-out in order to father a spiritual follow-up to its original game Tail Concerto, full of love and passion. Pretty, with a world that shares some common traits with the work of H. Miyazaki, and an accessible yet satisfying action gameplay and nice characters, it's a perfect game to offer to younger gamers... if you can't bear to play a talking dog yourself.

It feels familiar, but it's unlike anything else - and even on DS, where good RPGs are plentiful, this is in the top tier. It should have been called Awesome Robot-Riding Dog Adventures, of course. But you can't have everything.

Consistently surprising, technically accomplished and instantly likeable, this portable adventure has more good ideas than it seems to know what to do with.

Spirited, full of life and packed with ideas, this is one-of-a-kind.