Lost in Blue Hands-On

The Lost in Blue series has produced three games so far for the Nintendo DS. Last night, Konami announced a fourth entry in the series with Lost in Blue for the Wii. Although it has yet to receive an official title to help distinguish it from the DS games, we spent enough time playing to see a few ways this game is taking advantage of its new home on the Wii.

Lost in Blue for the Wii will introduce a new story and characters, but will be told in a similar way as the earlier games. You're a survivor of a crashed cruise ship and find yourself washed ashore on a small island in the middle of the ocean. Later you'll make your way to another island with plenty to explore, including the sunken remains of a ship and a volcano that is very much active.

We had the opportunity to explore the beginning of the game. The build we played was entirely in Japanese. This made understanding the story and dialogue rather difficult, but we were able to develop a good idea of what to expect from the basic exploration aspects. You begin the game by choosing from either a male or female character. Once you begin, you find yourself with a pet monkey by your side. These pets, which you find more of throughout the game, help with item gathering and provide a general source for entertainment and cuteness.

With little information available to you from the get-go, your main task is to fulfill your body's basic needs: eating and drinking. You find several berries on the ground, but you can also go up to a tree and shake it with the Wii Remote to drop a coconut. You'll also find waterfalls with drinkable water and plastic bottles to store some in for later.

Once you get your body back in working order, you can begin exploring. Much of this involves wandering about the island picking things up. While on the beach, you can spot mysterious lumps in the sand and dig them up. This is done by using the Wii Remote to brush away sand, revealing objects of interest such as small shells and, if you're lucky, slightly bigger shells.

We managed to collect some rope and driftwood: the perfect combination of materials for a raft. Once you're ready to build a raft, you use the Wii Remote to saw pieces of logs, and then make hand gestures to mimic tying knots with the rope. Unfortunately, our time with the game ended just as we finished building this raft, so we weren't able to see where it would take us.

Lost in Blue will also feature multiplayer. You and a friend can take part in upward of 40 minigames, both of the competitive and cooperative varieties. You can expect to see it released this fall.