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'Feyruna - Fairy Forest' Review (PC)


Submitted by thankeeka on May 31, 2007 - 12:13pm. Exclusive Game Review

Witch TrainWhen I think of butt-kicking action stars, fairies don't come to mind. Sorry, but to the best of my knowledge, Tinkerbell never did anything but flit around and sprinkle dust. And Cinderella's fairy godmother, well she turned a pumpkin into a carriage, but she never beat anyone up. Well, it's time for that to change, and Feyruna is looking to give you an action star, who just so happens to be a fairy herself.

THE STORY SO FAR
You play as an unnamed fairy in the land of Feyruna. It's a dark time to be living in Feyruna, as the Princes of Darkness has unleashed a horde of evil, baddie monsters across the land, and they are being a nuisance everywhere they go. As a fairy who has just had enough, you take it upon yourself to combat the evil forces, and bring the light back to the land of Feyruna. In general, besides the opening text to tell you what you are going to be doing any given level, there isn't much of a story to be had besides that which sets up the gameplay.

GAMEPLAY
Feyruna is strictly a single player game with nary a multiplayer game anywhere in view. The core gameplay mechanic is the same from beginning to end, with it being that, you play as the fairy with no name, and you'll use your mouse to glide your fairy around the single computer screen level, and she'll glide wherever you point. This flying mechanic that hinges on your mouse movements is the bulk of the controls, though some mouse clicks come into play later for some abilities like that of being able to hurl a fireball of sorts to take your enemies down.

Cloud HatOn each level, a tug-of-war of sorts is happening, where you are trying to bring as much light to the world, while the evil beings are trying to bring darkness. In order for you to cleanse the land and move one step closer to finish the game, you must collect the glowies, yellow bugs that flitter and fly around in various patterns, though mostly that of the rolling wave. For every glowie you collect you'll increase a health meter, which shows how much light has come to the land – collect enough glowies to fill it to max and you'll beat the level and move on. To make things harder, you've got the evil creatures, such as giant bumblebees, parachuting goblins, dark bats, and other creatures, who are going out of their way to eat the glowies, and for every glowie they eat darkness moves in closer – if their darkness meter rises to max then you lose the level. Besides them eating the glowies and increasing their meter, you'll also make their meter go up if they hit you. So, though while you can't die by hitting them, you do make it harder upon yourself to actually win the level.

The hardest thing about Feyruna is that most of the time the glowies will appear on screen, and instantly put themselves on a path, so a bumblebee will automatically start eating them up, all before you even know they are there and can make a move to gather them yourself. The later stages also have a ton of enemies on the screen, attacking you, eating glowies, and shooting poisonous goo at you or slowing your movement down with potions. Thankfully, you've got weapons of your own to combat the foul creatures, like earthquake potions to get the witches in the trains stopped, red glowies to give you more light health than usual, potions that let you use fireballs, and potions that put a protective shield of magic around you, so anytime one hits an enemy, the enemy disappears and a gap in your rotating armor appears.

Though there were some close calls at times, the game isn't all that hard, making it a good casual game that both young and old gamers should be able to jump into and find some enjoyment from. It's not Halo or Grand Theft Auto or any of those high caliber game, but when rating it as the casual game it is, there is some fun and excitement to be had for its relatively cheap price-tag. Though there are three, throwaway minigames you unlock throughout your adventure, the story mode (and the only mode really) is long enough with enough increasing difficulty to keep things fresh and your mouse gliding across your desk as you control the fairy.

Eye GlobsGRAPHICS
The graphics aren't overly complex or highly detailed, but they look pretty good. The animation was surprising, as it was very smooth and detailed, a mix between traditional Disney animation and a Pixar film. The backgrounds, though mostly flat with a little roundness to give the perception of 3D, have a little animation to make them pop a bit more than the usual static background.

SOUND
An occasional buzz here, a zap there, and some music when leaving a level. There should've been a light, fairy tinkling song playing over the action of the game, or have the sound work be a little more robust and not so flat. The sound work is also lack, because when a ball of magic hits an enemy it should be a big and powerful zap of magic, not a tiny charge of static shock jumping off your finger.

IN CONCLUSION
For a cheap casual game, Feyruna – Fairy Forest is a nice diversion that should appeal more to the younger crowd than anyone else. If you want groundbreaking gameplay and high-def graphics, you won't find much to like here. But as the casual, quick and easy to play game that it is, there is fun to be had.

Rating: 3star
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