Welcome to Talea. Your name is Trey, and you have a lot of stuff to do—including recovering your memory. Our game of the day, Lumen Tale: Memories of Trey, tells you half the plot in the title. What it doesn’t tell you is that this game is a significant nod to the Pokémon franchise, and that’s not a bad thing.
You will recognize the similarities quickly. You have orbs, called Bilia, you need to use to capture the Animon (mystical creatures) so you can use them in battle against other, wild Animon. Sounding familiar already, eh? As you wander through the game world, you have to navigate an area to find and (hopefully) capture some Animon to help you do battle.
At the end of each section there is a boss battle. These are usually with a larger Animon, so try to be prepared; that is, capture as many helper Animon as you can.
The game world, Talea, is laid out with some very good visuals. The graphics are a high resolution 2D environment with good use of color, perspective, and design. As for the soundscape of the game, I have mixed feelings. The action sequence music uses a harpsichord sound in the mix, which holds a particular appeal for me. The music conveys the appropriate sense of tension and urgency without being a distraction, so this part is all good. The background music you hear as Trey wanders around looking for whatever comes next is a bit less than thrilling. By this, I mean that the music is pleasant, but a little too soothing. If you’re a little on the tired side, it may put you to sleep!
There is a good story to be had, as well, despite the trope of the hero with amnesia. It may be well-used, but it can be an effective tool to encourage the player to explore the world to gradually uncover who you are and what’s really going on. I’m not going to drop spoilers, but there are some good story-telling elements which make the game a bit deeper than you might expect. The supporting characters are well-written and engaging. Of course, there are plenty of townspeople who may have one juicy tidbit of information, or may only have a sort of “where’s my cat?” dialogue for you.
Getting around in this world is quite easy. There is no jumping or climbing, although there is some dropping/falling, and there is a barrier to keep you from getting into places you don’t need to go, including falling off a cliff. This keeps things simple and lets the player know “nothing to see here, move along.” The rest of the world is mostly open to explore; you will need to complete one section to open the next area, but once the area is open, you can wander freely.
As you explore, there are items to collect. This is as easy as picking stuff up off the ground. Keep your eyes open, these things will usually show up as a little dot of sparkly light, and some will be item drops.
Since time passes in this game, you may need to find a place to rest for the night. There are spots with what looks like a water fountain where you can take rest after a long day, or after defeat in battle. You have some options here: rest for a short while, rest until morning, etc. You can choose to catch a nap and see what’s roaming around at night in this world, as well. The resting place is also where you can experiment with creating things you can use. This is one spot which can use some improvement; the creation process is lacking any tutorial or guide to let the player actually get the gist of making stuff.
Let’s get to the battle portion. Here are a few facets to discuss, and not all of them are happy. As you might expect, any time you encounter wild Animon, there is a battle to be had. The Animon are territory sensitive; you do have a chance to back away if you think you are not ready to take on the critter before you. If you see a lone Animon and think to yourself, “Self, you can take this one, no problem,” you may want to remind yourself that just because you only see one Animon that doesn’t mean the game won’t throw two Animon at you once the battle starts. This can heighten the challenge and uncertainty, but it feels a bit like a bait and switch.
Once the battle starts, it is a standard turn-based affair. There is a single list of all the Animon on the field, and turns are in order of the list, so you don’t necessarily have to wait for all the enemy units to go first before you get a turn. The order seems randomized, so fair’s fair on this one. There are a few options you have with each Animon, like using a heal potion or a primary attack or special attack or an action to buff your defense. You are loaned an Animon at the start of the game, so it’s technically not yours and you don’t have control over its actions.
The last two facets of the battle features of this game were the most frustrating to me. You have a weapon which works a bit like a yo-yo. You have to press the R button to let the game know you are using this weapon, then you use the right joystick to aim the weapon (the game will at least show you a line and reticle to see where it will go), then you have to release the R button to fire. This bit of finger gymnastics was much less than intuitive, leading to many flubbed shots. A two handed approach, even with an additional button in the mix, could allow for a better way to control the aim with a normal X or A button press to fire. As it works now, it is touchy at best to keep your weapon on target.
Last is the Animon capture sequence. After you have endured the deploy-target-fire sequence and you hit your intended target, to actually capture the Animon you have to press one or more buttons within a certain—and possibly different—timeframe to actually succeed with the capture. The number of buttons may change, the button you need to press may change, and the time you have to hit the right button may change. This is way too complicated and could easily become a point of frustration.
All things considered, Lumen Tale: Memories of Trey has great potential. The game looks good, and there is plenty of playtime to be had, places to explore, story to unfold, and so on. It falls down a bit when it comes to some of the game mechanics, especially with item creation and the battle/Animon capture part. Unfortunately, the weakest points are the most important points for playing the game.
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