«©NCSX» The future is a dark and forlorn place. Humanity has been waxed from the surface of the planet after civilization collapsed into a steaming pile of rubble. Amidst the darkness and ruins of the world, something stirs with steadfast determination. It's not a roach nor a rodent but rather a waifish boy named Seto.
Seto has survived Armageddon but it's not much of an existence since he doesn't have anyone to talk to and the future literally looks bleak. Despite the dystopian environment that he lives in, Seto trudges on and serves as the hopeful protagonist in Namco's Fragile action-adventure game. At the outset, Seto is inside an observatory that's dark, possibly dank, and filled with dusty objects. Control is handled through a combination of the Nunchuk and Wii Remote where the Nunchuk moves Seto around the world and the Remote moves a targeting cursor on the screen. To look around and/or change Seto's orientation, simply move the cursor in the direction desired and he'll obey without hesitation. The first objective is to scale the winding stairs to the second floor and retrieve a flashlight. Once in hand, the light illuminates a fairly big area in front of Seto so that the world isn't so murky anymore. Seto starts the game with a battle-stick which he uses to smack enemies and spooks that appear during the adventure.
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Region Lock-out
Please note Japanese Wii games will not boot on USA or European Wii consoles due to the inherent region-lockout on Japanese Wii game discs. A Freeloader (and a Wii with 3.2U firmware) is required to play Japanese Wii games.
NCS Game Notes & Spoilers
» The introductory sequence starts off with a luminous globule that moves in the center of the screen. The imagery changes to clouds, darkness, and an observatory at night. Seto narrates the prologue and some gameplay hints are given at the outset of the adventure.
» The indoor environs are really dark at the outset of the game. To brighten things up, walk towards the wall directly in front of Seto with the sparkly cue. On the wall is a wheel that may be manipulated to open up the hatch on the ceiling a little wider so the moonlight can stream through and thus illuminate the room a bit more.
» To find something that'll brighten things up even more, head towards the stairs and scoot onto the second floor. Look for the sparkly cue on the other side of the room. Move across the the fallen tube/pipe and stand in front of the sparkly cue. To grab whatever's indicated by the cue, press and hold the "B" button to focus in and then press the "A" button to grab a flashlight that's behind two books. Once it's in your possession, it'll turn on automatically and light up the area in front of the protagonist.
» The Game Controls are:
NUNCHUK
Analog stick: Movement
C-Button: Crouch
Z-Button: Center camera
REMOTE
D-pad: Access stats, inventory, area map
A-Button: Attack
B-Button: Look closer (camera pops ahead)
"-" Button: Focus out area map
"+" Button: Focus in area map
» Waving the remote around will move a green cursor on screen which swivels Seto around to look at things and orient him in different directions.
» There's a one-room library on the first floor of the observatory. If you go in, check out the left wall and look down. Child-like scrawls and artwork may be found scribbled on the wall. One of the illustrations looks like a deformed Sackboy and another appears to be a porcupine.
» A cat may be found wandering inside the library but the area of interest is in the back. Once Seto reaches the rear of the library, a floating disembodied mask appears and speaks to him before a battle sequence opens up. Smack the mask a few times with the stick and it'll disappear. A sparkly cue then pops up on the desk and Seto holds a soliloquy which explains a bit more about the background story. In the next sequence, a cinematic introductory sequence plays which shows Seto wandering the ruined world which is filled with derelict equipment, black water from a faucet, and destroyed buildings. Despite the damage however, the green of nature is still sprouting and insects are still scampering around... things which offer a little hope for the future. The animated sequence then cuts to a young girl who's also alone but at least she has a cat as a companion.
» After the cinematic intro, Seto is outside under a full moon. If he walks forward, he'll find himself in front of a body of water that's lit by illuminated water hyacinth blossoms. A girl is singing. Seto looks up and finds the white-haired girl from the earlier sequence. He steps on a squeaky slipper and startles the girl who drops from her perch and knocks herself out for a second. They introduce each other and they're both somewhat surprised that there's another human being still in the world.
» The visuals of Fragile are pretty flat but the colors in the night time sequence are lush. Maybe it's the disparity from the earlier grayish-dark observatory to the colors of nature that made it such a stark difference.
» The audio speaker in the Wii Remote is utilized during the game to relay the sound of insects, voices, and other sound effects which complement the sound from the television/monitor speakers.
» Later in the game, Seto finds a contraption inside a room which he straps to his back. Around this time, tremors cause the ceiling to drop bits and pieces of plaster but that's just a visual effect for now. Exit the room and a cue will appear over a little bin that's full of wood planks and pieces. If you move Seto over to the bin and inspect it closely, he'll automatically create a fire and warm his hands in front of it. You will be given the option of saving your progress to memory card. A total of five save slots are available.
» In the same room where Seto made the fire, he can now venture into the far side of the room (which was blocked before) and enter the public bathroom. At the back, he'll find a better weapon to wield than the stick he started the game with.
» When he exits the bathroom, Seto encounters spirits that look like a cross between jellyfish and Blue Slime (DQ) since they have smiley-ish faces. They're no threat however since a few smacks from Seto's new weapon destroys them in a flash. When the spooks appear, ominous background music starts to play but stops when they're all defeated.
» If Seto goes into the ladies bathroom, he'll battle a group of arms that project from the wall but like the jellyfish ghosts, they're patsies. In one of the stalls, he'll find a golden key.
» After exiting from the ladies' bathroom, Seto will run into someone who might be human at first glance except he's wearing a huge chicken head costume and is pushing a shopping cart filled with junk. The short conversation that Seto has with him reveals that he isn't human...
» The responsiveness of the Wii Remote-controller cursor can make for some herky-jerky and jittery screen moments when Seto's moving around the world. It doesn't ruin the game but it is somewhat annoying.
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