Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times

Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times
Developer(s)	Konami Vanpool
Publisher(s)	Konami
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS
Release date(s)	JP November 12, 2008 NA May 11, 2009 EU March 13, 2009
Genre(s)	Life simulation, social simulation, RPG, Adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer, online multiplayer
Rating(s)	CERO: A ESRB: E10+ PEGI: 3+
Media/distribution	Nintendo Game Card

Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times, known in Europe as Enchanted Folk and the School of Wizardry and in Japan as Tongari Boushi to Mahou no 365 Nichi (とんがりボウシと魔法の365にち^?, lit. "365 Days of Pointy Hats and Magic"), is a fantasy-adventure and life simulation game for the Nintendo DS where players are tasked with attending classes in a Magic Academy, to learn the mysteries of magic and the art of casting spells, while building relationships with other students.

Gameplay

At the start of the game you can create your own character, by selecting the gender, your name and appearance. The game involves learning new magic spells from the other characters in the school. These spells will be put to use in a series of 52 adventures. ^[1] There is also an option of customizing your character and decorating your own room. Magician's Quest also features Wi-Fi cooperative play, and you will be able to use a "magical alphabet" to chat. ^[2] Since the game uses the DS internal clock, at certain times random events may occur. The game is strikingly similar to Animal Crossing: Wild World on the same platform but offers far more to do and a much bigger world to live in.

There are plenty more things to accomplish; for starters, depending on the gender of your character you can have multiple girlfriends/boyfriends throughout the course of the game (more than one at a time), you can host an exchange student by way of Wi-Fi, you can have your friends move into your dorm temporarily, you can form a band (each villager plays a different musical instrument ranging from the violin to electric guitar) and you can play with your favourite villagers one-on-one. There is no debt to pay off to a Tom Nook figure like in Animal Crossing, and there is a greater variety of villagers (you can even have a blue cell phone in your town, and multiple undead creatures and plants like roses and hibiscus). Once a month "Mystery Time" will occur when the Nutcracker score plays and the gameplay is different; you can have exclusive lessons and catch exclusive bugs and fish. The following day, a strange villager will appear with a quest. These quests are not difficult, and a reward is earned after each one you complete. The Mystery Time villager could range from Satyr, a hippie who wants to have a "jam session" with you, to Death, who you must find if you can't give him candy. There are also dragons and fairies and everything in between.

Upon release, many criticized Konami for copying several elements of gameplay directly from Animal Crossing: Wild World. Official Nintendo Magazine compared it to other games that attempt to emulate first party titles and called it "Everything that's wrong with the gaming industry."

References

1. ^ "Enchanted Folk and the School of Wizardry". Konami. http://uk.games.konami-europe.com/game.do?idGame=198. Retrieved 2009-02-28. 
2. ^ "Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times Press Release". Konami. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/magician-s-quest-mysterious-times-the-latest-on-konami-s-adventure-cum-rpg. Retrieved 2009-02-28. 

External links

• [http:// Official website]
• Official website (Japanese)
• Preview from GameSpot
• Enchanted Bros Wiki and Forums