Over the past decade or so, I’ve covered almost every NIS America game that has released and they have a certain look to them. With the exception of odd ball titles like A Rose in the Twilight, they’ve had a distinctly Asian look to them, but Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers is different. It looks and plays more like a Western title, making it interesting for the company, while also being a concern. Given Nippon Ichi Software is very well versed in RPGs, it should be fine but with a number of other changes, is this a step in a bright new direction or is it a classic case of a company changing what works and in turn screwing up their success? Here’s our Destiny Connect Review.
Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers is very much so a slow burn. Initially you’re introduced to Sherry and her mother, with an explanation that her father is a busy man that is overly focused on his job, and the town of Clocknee. After doing some tasks around town, something mysterious occurs and time stops. If that isn’t weird enough, inanimate objects have come to life and all of this seems to be linked to what the cute boy from the boring movie said.
During this time Sherry finds a secret room where she meets Isaac, a time traveling robot that is, unsurprisingly, incomplete that is tasked with defending you and a whole host of interesting things. As you continue on to find a way to return time to normal, while also traveling to different time periods, some of which have and have not yet happened, a number of mysteries and things will be revealed making for an interesting story after the initial hurdle.
Part of what makes Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers hard to get into is the way everything is presented. After about an hour and two chapters worth of gameplay you get your first real introduction to gameplay and it takes the interesting assumption that you’ve never played an RPG. I don’t mind tutorials per se, especially ones I can skip, it’s just a lot of things that make it harder to get hooked. When you have a world with ‘50s style televisions and flying irons that think they’re hot, it’s sometimes better to work on pacing. For those that give it a chance, not only does the story eventually hook you, gameplay starts to stand out.
Even if I can’t say I am particularly fond of the art style, I can apricate the overall style. Characters and enemies both have their own unique charms and some of the fun is seeing the crazy attacks or the way you overcome this or that challenge. It also helps that it is a rather familiar experience.
While some might criticize Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers playing it safe with gameplay, I can appreciate it’s something of a failsafe. Players have normal attacks, special attacks, the ability to use items and flee. All of this is presented in the form of turn-based combat that relies on a bit of forethought to be successful. As you use moves and level, new powers and abilities will unlock allowing you to overcome whatever the past or future holds for you.
Outside of combat there are side tasks and items to equip. You need to do more than just kill enemies to find success, though it’s a shame that these elements have limited impact to the experience besides increasing or decreasing stats.
Even if combat is familiar, the camera is pretty rough. The way everything is presented does not bode well for motion and the camera will sometimes change to different locations or blur the world in a way that isn’t appealing. This is not a game breaking problem, but it is something that might turn off certain people.
Destiny Connect Review – Verdict
Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers feels like an experiment that doesn’t quite hit all the marks. There are good elements and certainly things that will not appeal to certain people but for the most part it works. Sherry and her crew have their own charm, and not in the ways typically associated with Nippon Ichi Software, allowing it to stand on its own. Even if it’s rough in some places and could be better in other places, there is more than enough to check out this adventure, if only to smack those televisions until they work.
[Editor’s Note: Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers was reviewed on PS4 platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]
