First Impressions: Dew Prism

Although one could suspect Dew Prism of being one of those half-baked new "franchises" Square has been germinating as of late, after I played the game, my fears dispel, as it seems Square has finally made the kind of title that Brave Fencer Musashiden should have been.

Coming across as somewhat of an action/adventure game with an emphasis on action, Dew Prism sends your character through a completely polygonal environment, with a jump button and two action buttons, which usually trigger a vertical or horizontal sword slash. The interesting thing about the game occurs whenever you kill an antagonistic woodland creature. It will leave behind little tokens, which, when picked up, allow you to turn into the creature that left them. Like DMA's Silicon Valley to some extent, Dew Prism also benefits from great graphics and tight controls.

The graphics are bold and colorful, and they avoid any sort of polygon clipping while minimizing texture warping. This is a very pretty game to look at. Control - both analog and digital - is fast and responsive, with button functions being kept to a minimum, enhancing the "twitch" nature of the game. Due out late this summer, Dew Prism may not be the next Final Fantasy, but anyone who overlooks it will be missing out on one of Square's best efforts in a while.