A simple RPG set in an odd world. Some will enjoy its basic gameplay while others will scoff at it. Great graphics!
Magical Starsign follows the typical story of "oh no (someone important) is missing, lets go rescue him/her/it!" You take control of either a male or female student at a magic acedemy who can use either dark or light magic (your choice on both male/female and light/dark) who decides to blast off into outerspace in order to rescue his/her teacher from the grips of KALE (dun dun dun) an ex-student bent onruling the world. Now I don't know about you, but I don't know a single student that would just take off into outerspacein order to rescue a teacher that will just give you a detention for being late. The "world map" in this game is 5 unique planets corresponding to each element (wind, earth, fire, ice, and wood). More planets are unlocked as you get further in the game to represent the light and dark elements. At first you just kinda drift along the universe, but eventually you can fly to which ever (very small) planet you would like in a super-ultra... lame ass rocket.
Now comes the battle system. Since the game is HIGHLY based on the use of magic (trying to punch and kick against tough enemies will result in your demise - you get no weapons) the battle system can be summed up to a Rock-Paper-Sicsors type format. Fire beats Wood, Wood beats Wind, Wind beats Earth, Earth beats Ice, and Ice beats Fire. Oddly enough light and dark are both effective against each other which can lead to some intense boss fights. A few nifty tricks in the battle system is how the positions of the planets can strengthen your magic (and the enemies), and the ability to charge up your magic attacks if you tab your character at the right time before launching the attack.
One of the coolest (sounding) features that I have yet to experience is it's online play. The Tag mode allows users to aquire and raise eggs that will grow into creatures that can help you during battle (I;ve tried this but not a single person has been available when I attempt to connect), while Amigo Mode allows the user to play online with a buddy in a special dungeoun that rewards you with items if you do well. Some may be put off by its childish graphics (think the old Super Nintendo/Legend of Mana type graphics), but the truth is they look wonderful on the DS. All in all I think this to be a good traditional RPG for the DS. In a time when everyone is trying to pull off something radical its nice to know that some developers are still here to makes us some enjoyable games that you can pick up and be like "yeah, i know how to do this" instead of being like "WHAT THE F*** AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW!?" The only down side to this is that it is HIGHLY repetitive and the story is quite lacking. Not at all good for a traditional ****RPG.
My Overall Rating: 7/10