This is the sequel to the excellent Magical Vacation on the GBA. Magical Starsign was developed by Brownie Brown and published by Nintendo, exclusively for the Nintendo DS, in 2006. Unlike its predecessor, Magical Starsign was given an official release in the west, in English.
The game mixes beautiful 2D pixel art with Full Motion Video sequences to tell the story, which once again features you playing as a pupil in a magic school. Your friends, each of whom you can rename if you want to, join you on an adventure across space and various different planets. Each character in your party has their own magical element speciality and abilities, and – like in Magical Vacation – they come and go from the party line-up as the story dictates, and can be swapped in and out as you choose. Characters’ star signs determine their magical element, and what they are strong and weak against. Each planet that you visit is also based on a particular element.
Once again you explore a scrolling overworld and engage in isometric, turn-based combat. And, like before: in this RPG you focus on magic during combat, and there are no weapons as such. You can wear increasingly more effective armour as you go, but you don’t have to worry about swords or axes and the like. Characters can punch, kick or hit, if you want to conserve MP, or if an enemy is resistant to magic.
Magical Starsign depends on stylus use for many things in the game, with the d-pad and ‘L’ and ‘R’ buttons used only for character movement and interaction. You can move your party around by dragging the stylus, or by tapping on objects, NPCs, or enemies. Sometimes it’s better to use the d-pad, and sometimes it’s better to use the stylus. Having both options, though, makes the game feel quite unique, and adds to its playability.
Unlike in Magical Vacation, in this game front and back rows play a more vital role in combat. You can’t use physical attacks from the back row, and magic spells cast from the back row target all enemies at once. Only from the front row can magical attacks target individual enemies. You can switch rows during combat, but that means using a turn doing it. So it’s often better to change rows beforehand, which can be useful if you anticipate a boss battle coming up.
One cool feature of battle in Magical Starsign is the “Spellstrike” system – a stylus tap, at the right time and in the right place, that can boost magical attacks. Getting this right does take some practise though. Initially I couldn’t work out how to do it, but later figured out that you have to tap your attacking character, just as the magic circle that surrounds them when casting spells, fades. If you can time it right, it becomes invaluable in battle. It’s a similar mechanic to what is used in Nintendo‘s Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga on the Game Boy Advance. You can also use a stylus tap for defence, too. Tap a character just before they’re hit, and they may dodge an attack entirely. Which again is very useful in battle, if somewhat tricky to pull off.
Another unusual mechanic in the game is the “Aura” system, which further boosts a character’s power, depending on where the planets are in alignment, in relation to Starsign sectors. A map of the system shows the planets orbiting around the central star, and if a planet is in a certain part of the sky at the moment of battle, the eligible characters will flash and then glow to indicate that they’re bolstered. You have to remember that enemies can also benefit from this aura boost. It’s all about elemental alignment, and it’s an interesting feature that adds to the game and doesn’t subtract.
Magical Starsign also has day and night cycles that really make a difference in terms of presentation, and also makes light and dark magic more powerful at the appropriate times. Even the map screen (shown on the top screen during overworld exploration) changes for night and day.
The game is also very funny in places. The bureaucracy of the Space Police I thought was hilarious, which is demonstrated during the errands quest in the Space Police HQ on the planet Puffoon. And the toilet paper request in the same place had me laughing too. There are some very funny lines uttered by characters as you play through the game, which indicates to me that Magical Starsign is extremely well-written.
Finally, I can’t finish without talking a bit more about the graphics, which I absolutely adore. Not so much the FMV sequences, which are okay, but the 2D pixel art of the environments, characters, and information screens, which are all absolutely top notch. Brownie Brown has a reputation for its great art, but I think that the graphics in Magical Starsign are among the best they’ve ever produced. There’s so much detail, and so many nice touches, that anyone without a heart of stone should appreciate it. All the artists should be commended for their use of colour, pixels, and animation. You did an outstanding job guys. Hip hip, hooray!
At the time of its original release Magical Starsign reviewed poorly, which I think is a travesty. I’ve talked about this before, but I’ll say it again here that IMHO the reviewers who couldn’t see how good this game was back then were almost certainly jaded; misguided, or just plain lazy. It does take some time and effort to appreciate Magical Starsign properly, and – if you’re reviewing a game in a genre you just don’t like – then you’re not being fair to the people who worked on it. While Magical Starsign isn’t perfect, it does have some great ideas in it, is packed with detail and is stunningly presented. It’s not the best JRPG on the DS (that would be Etrian Odyssey III, in my humble opinion), but it’s still up there with the best and should not be missed by anyone with a liking for retro level-grinders.
More: Magical Starsign on Wikipedia
More: Magical Starsign on GameFAQs
