• Publisher: Koei
  • Release Date: Mar 25, 2008
Opoona Image
  • Summary: While on an interplanetary family vacation, the young boy Opoona crash lands on Planet Landroll after his spaceship is involved in a mysterious accident. Separated from his family, Opoona is forced to live alone. On the planet, Opoona must find a job, search for his siblings, and defend himself and the people of Landroll against creatures known as the Dark Rogues. Luckily for Opoona, he is the descendant of a long line of warriors known as the Cosmo Guards. Thus, Opoona’s adventure begins as he struggles to establish a new life and reunite his family. The game’s action-oriented battle system lets players use powerful "Energy Bonbons" against their enemies. Using just the Nunchuk, players can manipulate an Energy Bonbon’s trajectory in a number of different ways. All of Opoona's commands are also controlled by the Nunchuk, to allow a complete "single-hand control" of the game. Opoona is not just about battling; it is a “Lifestyle RPG.” As Opoona, players must adapt to a new environment, meet new people, and contribute to society through work, all while becoming aware of the precious world and people around him. As the game progresses, Opoona will develop relationships and uncover a broader range of activities including new jobs and clues to new adventures. [KOEI] Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 33
  2. Negative: 1 out of 33
  1. You need to invest in Opoona's world to get the most out of this title - but if you do, there's no traditional RPG on the Wii that comes close to its look and feel. [July 2008, p.56]
  2. For every negative aspect of the game that inspires burning frustration to spew forth from your lips, there are plenty of things to like about Opoona.
  3. Opoona fails as an introductory RPG for the young'uns, because it's not as easy and straightforward as it should be; and for more versed RPG players, it doesn't provide anything innovative or compelling.

See all 33 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 1 out of 4
  1. 8
    Opoona, much like many JPG starts out with Opoona (the main character , the chubby bald headed kid with the orange ball on top of his head) sleeping in. He wakes up, his ship gets attacked and gets separated from his family and has to find them on the alien planet known as Landroll. The game takes a few cues from the Metroid Prime franchise with this plot device, but never gets very far with it. Sadly with no voice acting and only ONE CGI cut scene the story is made out through dialog boxes, long boring ones if that. And it's sad to say that Opoona did not get the best translation job out there. Things may have been taken too literal and sometimes leaves players wondering where to go and what to do? But then again the first dome (city) Tokione is such a mess of a design that it's easy to get frustrated trying to find a certain shop or even the exits! Thankfully the city designs are much more functional once you get to the next domes. While getting frustrated with the city lay out and how the 'life style' part of this 'life style RPG' game works made me wonder about it even further. The game allows you to get jobs and make friends. In fact if you want to get outside of the first city you have to find a teacher to allow you to get a license to be a Ranger, go the Admin office, get a license, then exit the building. If you want to upgrade your hover board transportation you get, you have to work fast food and get a mining license, then you can go face the second boss. At times I think the game is commenting on the bureaucracy of other games with job systems or society itself. But let's talk about some more positive aspects of the game. The graphics and look of the game fit very well. Some of the domes look beautiful and have a real theme to them. The character designs of the main characters work well, the cell shaded visuals of the characters make them look more childish and innocent. Some of the other characters are so oddly designed you wonder what kind of sick plastic surgeon Landroll has, some women have beaks! Later in the game you come across some giants in an ancient forest, you’d swear they were created by a guy who just got his 3D modeling program the week before. Once you get out of the domes you can see some wonderful photo like sky boxes, which kind of clash with the cell shaded main characters. The music of the game offers some short tunes, no 5 minute epics here. Most are over and done and repeating within a minute and a half, which isn't bad for some songs like the third battle theme or the final baddie lair music. But some of the cities have quite annoying songs to them (Bravo Company!). The box of the game says it's one handed controls, only using the Nunchuck controller to do everything. I tried that, then picked up the Wii-Mote after 10 minutes and didn't put the Wii-Mote dow. It also supports the Classic Controller, didn't play with that. The controls work well. 'A' To action things, 'B' to cancel things, etc, etc. In battle it's push the analog stick back, forward or sideways to direct your balls in battle and attack. Sure there's magical abilities which speak of angles and such (but never given any insight into how these abilities come to be, could be called Healing Spell 1, 2, 3 really.) As you progress through the game you'll find more and more attachments to your ball and gives your characters a bit more flare. If you can make it to the second dome (Life Born) then you're going to be in for an RPG that will last 25- 40 hours, depending on your play style. The game has an odd quirky and cute charm that people have compared to the Super Nintendo cult classic Earthbound. I haven't played Earthbound yet, but Opoona has cult classic written all over it. Pick it up, give it a shot. It's most likely in a discount bin somewhere. Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. ChristianD
    8
    A vastly underraded RPG which sucks you into its charming world if you are only open minded enough.
    • 0 of 1 users said yes
  3. well Opoona , fails as an introductory RPG, and if you want to buy this game you may well be burning your money and i dont know how you guys can think this is a good game Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

See all 4 User Reviews